In this episode, Jaime sits down with Rachel Reuben Senor, a 25-year veteran of higher education marketing now serving as the VP of Account Strategy for OHO Interactive. The conversation centers around a shared frustration: the challenges posed by silos in higher education – and offers insight into the ways marketing and communications offices can bust those silos.
Takeaways include:
- Insight into organizational models, such as centralized, center-led, and decentralized structures, dissecting why each model may or may not work in certain contexts.
- Practical advice on how to determine the best organizational model for a specific institution and strategies to break down silos beyond just structural changes.
- Ideas around how schools can effectively leverage storytelling to create impactful narratives.
- Insight into the key roles that higher ed CMOs should focus on developing over the next 2-5 years.
- Tips for fostering a culture of teamwork and collaboration.
Guest Name: Rachel Reuben Senor, Vice President of Account Strategy, OHO Interactive
Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelreuben/
Guest Bio: Rachel Reuben Senor is a seasoned veteran in marketing and communications in the higher education industry. She has worked on staff in leadership positions in both public and private institutions. She fuses her experience into a comprehensive, strategic approach to marketing that identifies challenges and develops creative solutions to improve marketing processes.
As VP of Account Strategy at OHO Interactive, Rachel brings new perspectives to clients on long-term strategy, organizational design, and enrollment marketing. She leads and hosts monthly OHO U webinars, the annual OHO U Online Conference and Senior Marketing Leadership Summit, and monthly Brain Trusts with current clients.
Prior to joining OHO, Rachel ran her own senior marketing leadership consultancy for higher education for nearly five years. Before consulting she was the vice president of communication at Colgate University, associate vice president for marketing communications at Ithaca College, and the director of web communication and strategic projects at the State University of New York at New Paltz. During her consultancy, she served as interim vice president for marketing and communications at California College of the Arts, as well as interim executive director of marketing for the San Francisco Art Institute.
Rachel has been a speaker at a variety of higher education events over the past couple of decades, among them the American Marketing Association’s Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), eduWeb, HighEdWeb, the University and College Designers Association (UCDA), the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), and the State University of New York Council for University Advancement (SUNY CUAD).
Rachel’s insights have been featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, University Business, CASE Currents, Campus Technology, and on many blogs. She was an early adopter of social media, and pioneered its use in marketing higher education.
- - - -
Connect With Our Host:
Jaime Hunt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimehunt/
https://twitter.com/JaimeHuntIMC
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.
Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.
Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register
Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO — with Jaime Hunt