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Join host and CEO of GradComm, Cheryl Broom as she sits down with higher education experts to discuss trends in marketing, communications, advancement and student success.
74 Episodes
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It’s an exciting episode of Higher Ed Coffee and Conversation as we welcome our first-ever College President on the podcast! Dr. Annebelle Nery is the President of Santa Ana College, where her strategic marketing approach has had an extremely impactful result. In our conversation, we’ll learn how Dr. Nery has used a data-based approach to marketing to increase enrollment by double digits semester after semester since the pandemic. Dr. Nery also gives some great advice on sur...
Website search is one of the most-used tools on a college website, but for many institutions, it’s also one of the most frustrating. Prospective students often type a question into the search bar only to get outdated meeting minutes, random PDFs, or irrelevant pages. In this Quick Take episode, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom is joined by Joel Goodman, VP of Growth Strategy at Squiz, to unpack why this happens and what colleges can do about it. They discuss the limitations of common search tools, e...
Is your marketing really working, or are you just measuring the wrong thing? In this episode of Higher Education Conversations, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom sits down with Jeff Greenfield, CEO of Provalytics, to tackle one of the biggest challenges in higher ed marketing: proving ROI in a world obsessed with clicks. For years, marketers have relied on clicks as the gold standard. But Greenfield argues that overemphasizing last-click attribution has led institutions to misallocate billions in ad ...
Student search behavior has changed dramatically, and if your college isn’t showing up in AI answers, your prospective students may never find you. Why? Today’s students are using generative AI as the starting point of their college search, often long before they ever visit a college website. In this quick-take episode, Cheryl Broom, CEO of GradComm, explores what happens when prospective students ask AI tools like ChatGPT questions such as “What college has the best nursing program near me?”...
Today’s students are telling colleges exactly what they want. Are we listening? In this episode of Higher Ed Conversations, host and GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom sits down with high school students Dylan and Piper for a candid conversation about how colleges are and aren’t connecting with prospective students. From inbox overload to the outsized role of social media, these students share their unfiltered perspectives on what actually grabs their attention during the college search process. This ...
Welcome to the very first Higher Ed Conversations: Quick Take, a new, bite-sized episode format designed for busy higher ed marketers who want actionable insights without a full-length listen. In this inaugural Quick Take, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom goes solo to share five of the most important lessons uncovered after analyzing over $4 million in digital marketing campaigns from community colleges across the nation. Drawing from GradComm’s latest research, Cheryl breaks down what’s actually wo...
Fundraising events often get a bad rap in higher education. Too much work, too little return, and a whole lot of stress. But what if events could actually work as a meaningful part of your fundraising strategy? In this episode of Higher Ed Conversations, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom sits down with Roger Devine, founder of SchoolAuction.net, to unpack how experience-driven fundraising events can generate real results for colleges and universities, but without ice sculptures, endless lines, or bur...
What happens when your workplace values aren’t just posted on the wall, but actually shape how people lead, teach, and show up every day. In this inspiring conversation, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom talks with Andy Vaughn, President & CEO of Alliant University, about what it takes to build a campus culture of authenticity, inclusion, and mental wellness from the inside out. Vaughn shares his personal journey as a leader in higher ed, how Alliant’s impact values were created by faculty and st...
In this thought-provoking episode, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom sits down with Leslie Vargas, Senior Public Affairs Officer at Riverside Community College District, to explore how implicit bias and microaggressions quietly influence higher ed marketing and what communications teams can do about it. Vargas shares candid insights on how seemingly small choices, like which photo you use, or how you describe a student, can send powerful messages about who belongs. She introduces a practical framewor...
What happens when your marketing office feels more like a sandwich shop, cranking out whatever people order, than a strategic partner on campus? That’s exactly the challenge Rachel McClelland faced when she stepped into her role as Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at Pellissippi State Community College. In this episode, McClelland joins GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom to discuss how she helped her team transition from being overwhelmed Subway “order takers” to becoming a strategic...
What does it take to pass a $600 million bond measure in a politically divided community? In this episode of Higher Ed Conversations, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom sits down with Alex Breitler, Director of Marketing and Communications at San Joaquin Delta College, to unpack the strategy, stress, and surprising joys of leading a successful bond campaign. Breitler shares how his background as a journalist helped him shape compelling, transparent messaging, why polling data became the campaign’s “No...
What happens when a university doesn’t just adopt AI, but bakes it into its DNA? In this episode of Higher Ed Conversations, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom sits down with two transformational leaders from American University's Kogod School of Business to explore how AI is reshaping everything from curriculum design to campus marketing and student support. Dean David Marchick and Professor & AI Instructional Faculty Fellow Angela Virtu pull back the curtain on AU’s groundbreaking AI integration...
What does a Fractional CMO actually do and why are ed-tech companies and colleges leaning into this flexible leadership model? In this episode, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom is joined by Gil Rogers, founder of GR7 Marketing, whose deep roots in ed-tech and higher education make him a go-to strategist for institutions looking to get smarter, faster. Rogers shares what it really means to step in as a fractional CMO, how he helps clients clarify their marketing roadmap, and why a part-time leader ca...
Did you know that nearly one-third of college students drop out after their first year? In this episode, Carey Dukes, assistant professor at North Greenville University and author of A Guide to Thrive!, joins GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom to explore why so many students struggle and what we can do about it. Dukes breaks down the six key variables he uses to measure college readiness, offering a framework that goes beyond academics to include a student’s environment, mindset, motivation, and belie...
GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom is joined by Marcela Andrés, CEO and president of designEDengagement, PBC, a consulting firm built around the idea that education can be transformed by enhancing the connection between students, families, educators, and communities. Andrés' book, Purposeful Educator Connections, discusses how educators can strengthen their relationships with students and highlights five principles that can enhance the culture of the classroom. Throughout the episode, Andrés emphasize...
There is a push and pull between an advertiser’s desire to attribute advertisement spending to lead generation and their responsibility to respect consumer privacy. In this episode, Raj Sudra, the Chief Technology Officer at USA Today Co. (historically known as Gannett) & LocaliQ, joins GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom to discuss his role and the intricacies of digital marketing attribution. He explains the technology and systems used, such as LocaliQ's proprietary Capture technology, pixel trac...
In this episode, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom is joined by Teege Mettille, Director of Enrollment Success at enroll ml, to talk about the crucial topic of college admissions. Mettille shares his personal journey from being a first-generation college student to a thought leader in admissions, emphasizing the transformative impact of higher education. The conversation explores his book, 'The Admissions Counselor Malaise,' which delves into the challenges facing admission staff morale, especially p...
Dr. Tina King, President of San Diego College of Continuing Education (SDCCE), joins GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom to talk about branding and how GradComm helped elevate the beauty already present in SDCCE to connect more with the community they served. In this episode, they discuss the unique aspects of SDCCE as one of the largest non-credit institutions in the nation, focusing on its mission to provide free, accessible, high-quality education to a diverse student body, including undocumented st...
What are the barriers that keep students from finishing an application or from completing their degree? Emily Coleman, CEO & Co-founder of HAI Analytics (now part of Encoura), joins GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom to discuss her company’s work in building predictive models for higher education institutions. These models help predict student behavior to optimize critical processes like the allocation of financial aid. In this episode, Coleman explains the importance of retaining data, over...
In this episode, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom speaks with Elaine Gosden, CEO of Blue Gnu Consulting, about what true leadership looks like—and how to build a culture where leaders thrive. With 89% of managers lacking formal leadership training, this conversation explores the critical need for intentional development across organizations. Gosden shares her company’s approach to building stronger teams through learning initiatives and tools like Insights Discovery and Motivational Maps. She also d...
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