Retention Customer Service Conference

Folks have asked that I let them know when I will be speaking at a conference or some public venue they might attend. So, I will be doing that. Here's one for the second week in July in Boston. I will be giving three presentations there on aspects of customer service, retention, marketing and technology to support them.

Blending High Tech and High Touch:

Improving Customer Service and Student Retention

Boston, MA

July 12 & 13, 2007

Register by May 29th and save $100!

http://www.innovativeeducators.org/product_p/75.htm

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Overview

Due to the increasingly competitive atmosphere in higher education, providing excellent service to students is more important than ever. Institutions must provide good services that initially attract students to their institutions, but they also must continue to offer students the services and support that make them feel valued and help them achieve their educational goals.

Conference sessions are designed to showcase the innovative customer service strategies that institutions of higher ed are implementing (e.g. alternative delivery systems and 24/7 customer service hours) while staying committed to building relationships with students.

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Institute Topics

· Customer service essentials

· Applying corporate customer service models to higher education

· Low-tech strategies that work

· Cutting edge technology solutions

· Why students leave and what you can do about it

· Developing a customer service training plan

· Potential obstacles to implementation

· Successful customer service assessment strategies

· Engaging parents in the college experience

· Designing a college-wide plan to create a customer service-focused culture

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Who Should Attend?

- Vice Presidents

- Deans

- Admissions Directors & Staff

- Enrollment Management Administrators & Staff

- Marketing & Communications Professionals

- Student Services/Affairs Administrators & Staff

- Financial Aid Advisors

- Faculty

- Recruiters

- Front Line Staff

- Advisors

- Anyone involved in improving customer service and student retention

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Speakers

Dr. Neal Raisman

Most importantly, Dr. Neal Raisman is Emma’s and now Jack's “zaddi” or grandfather which he considers his number one job. But Dr. Raisman is also the leading authority and consultant on customer service in higher education. Dr. Raisman’s number one selling book Embrace the Oxymoron: Customer Service in Higher Education has been purchased by 52% of all colleges in the US. His customer service blog www.academicmaps.blogspot.com, with its discussions of recent research and solutions to customer service issues, is very popular and widely read by colleges, universities and business that work with academia.

His work in customer service began in 1999 when hired to figure out why a large multi-campus college was losing students. The answer he found was customer service. Not the customer service of the corporate world but of the academic enterprise where the customer can be wrong – especially on quizzes and tests. Since then, Dr. Raisman has worked with over 150 colleges in the States and Europe to research and solve customer service issues. He also works with corporations and businesses that wish to better understand the higher ed market and students.

He has a PhD from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in neurolinguistics; was a Fulbright Fellow in France; has published three books and over 80 articles plus the blog www.academicmaps.blogspot.com; won numerous academic and marketing awards and accolades. But, little makes him prouder than his family and when his dog Pip listens to him.

Dr. Geri Anderson

Geri Anderson currently serves as Associate Vice President and Provost for the Colorado Community College System. Prior to that, she served as Vice President for Student Learning at Front Range Community College, Associate Director of Undergraduate Academic Affairs at the University of Colorado, and Director of Competency-Based Teacher Education at Regis University. She began her career as a middle school science teacher, has served as an associate and was co-founder of the Regis Institute of Chemistry Education and has over 25 years of higher education administrative experience.

Geri was instrumental in the development and implementation of customer service strategies at Front Range Community College. She designed a call center, which focuses on developing and sustaining customer/ student relationships. She also created the great communication plan, which is a marketing strategy based on customer service principles. She has over 22 years of higher education administrative experience and has a unique and fun perspective regarding customer service. Geri earned her Master’s degree in Secondary Science Education from the University of Nebraska and holds an Educational Doctorate from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Susan Brown

Susan Brown has sixteen years experience working at Northeastern University. As the Associate Director of Parent Programs and Services, Susan is responsible as serving as a campus liaison to its 15,000 undergraduate parents. She has developed a comprehensive and needs based program to involve parents and students in the Northeastern University community.

During her time there, she developed Northeastern’s first Parent Advisory Board and the university’s first Parent Association. Susan also developed the national APPI conference (Administrators Promoting Parent Involvement). She has spoken at several national and regional conferences, including NASPA, AACRAO and NODA. In addition Susan has contributed to many articles relating to parent involvement.

Susan believes a supportive family helps students succeed and that parents need to be involved in the college process. By providing parents with information and services they are able to help their students achieve their academic goals.

Robert McCullough (aka Bob) is Dean of Admission at Ursinus College, a highly selective liberal arts college near Philadelphia. He has worked in college admission for over ten years, specializing in strategic usages of technology to connect with prospective students. Both at Ursinus and during his previous post as Director of Marketing and Communications for Undergraduate Admission at Case Western Reserve University, Bob has implemented a variety of solutions, homegrown and vendor-based, to achieve aggressive recruitment and enrollment goals.

Eric Hodgson helps colleges and universities with Web strategy, content management implementation, site maintenance, training, and staffing. Serving multiple industries, Eric has kept a firm grip throughout his career on using technology to accelerate marketing strategies. Eric specializes in the higher education market as an Interactive Consultant with Estrada, implementing specialized Web strategies and solutions for his clients ranging from small liberal arts colleges to four-year public institutions.