Changing Higher Ed

Dr. Drumm McNaughton
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Dec 4, 2018 • 22min

Marketing Essentials for Colleges and Universities with Deb Maue | Changing Higher Ed 010

Higher ed institutions are grappling with declining enrollment. The old ways of recruiting students that institutions used during the “go-go” years 15 years ago no longer work – there is far more competition for a shrinking pool of “traditional” students, student demographics have changed, and numerous other reasons. This has resulted in deep discounting of tuition, institutions investing in “climbing walls and lazy rivers” on campus, and other ways to attract prospective students. Yet, on average, only 11 percent of students accepted actually enroll at the college.  In essence, (prospective) students control the enrollment process in most situations. As the saying goes, “putting old wine in a new bottle doesn’t work,“ nor does enrolling students the “traditional” way of buying lists, etc. Higher ed must change their enrollment strategies – put new wine in new bottles – starting with understanding how to market in this new normal.  What’s Changed, and Why Marketing Is So Important Now Over the past 10-15 years, three major changes occurred that changed higher education, and specifically higher ed enrollment. The first of these was student demographics – there are fewer students graduating from high school than there were even 10 years ago. Add to this a  myriad of factors, including increasing income inequality, etc., and the result is fewer “traditional” students available as prospects. The “go-go” years of the 2000s when nearly every higher ed institution in the country was seeing increasing enrollment and was patting itself on the back for a great job it was doing at marketing and recruiting was a false flag – institutions were merely riding a demographic wave. Those days are over, and we are seeing declining numbers of students graduating from high school. The second major change was the Great Recession, which is still affecting enrollments. When the economy tanked in 2008, many parents saw their kid’s college savings disappear overnight for two reasons: their stock portfolio was wiped out and/or the home equity that they had planned to borrow against to pay for their children’s education was no longer there. This, coupled with the cuts at the state and federal levels for education, raised the cost to students of an education; we’re seeing this effects in the form of increased student loan debt. In some ways, this is a double whammy – fewer traditional-age students, and then there are fewer among them who can pay full price or even a significant percentage of the price. This has led to significant tuition discounting as a way to attract more students. This discounting is analogous to what happens in a product lifecycle when a product moves from market maturity to decline; what is used to get people to buy is reducing prices.    Lastly, there is increased dissatisfaction and distrust with higher ed institutions and/or higher ed as an industry. People, and especially parents and students, increasingly are questioning the value of a college degree, whereas, in the past, it was a given that a college degree was going to pay off. The Changing Marketing Game The higher ed “marketing game” has changed significantly in the past 15 years. Yes, there are definitely fewer high school students considered to be the traditional students (18-24) going to college, both from a numbers and a percentage of the total students, but what has increased are the numbers of what are called “post-traditional” students, those students who are 24-70 years old, who do not study full-time during the day and are not in residence. This number has increased significantly and is now 73-74 percent of all college students. There are multiple reasons for this, but they boil down to three basic reasons: They need a degree to be able to get a job; They want a degree to get up higher up the ladder where they are working, or They want more money in their current job. Which brings us to the current challenge that institutions are facing. There are significant marketing challenges that institutions must overcome given that the majority of today’s students are post-traditional. For example, when attracting traditional, 17-year-old students, you know how and where to reach them: they are in high school, they will be signing up for the PSAT and SAT, and you can buy their names and send them communication materials directly. However, with post-traditionals, students can be anywhere and it's a marketing challenge to figure out how to reach them. This has given rise to a new industry online for recruiting students, but most institutions are using these so they aren’t as effective as they used to be. Fortunately, the cost of advertising, specifically digital advertising, is decreasing, and it can be used to target much more narrowly. What Is Positioning and Branding, and Why Is It Critical for Higher Ed Positioning and branding are two of those things that if you ask 100 people for their definition, you get 100 different answers. We define positioning as the space that your institution or your brand takes up in the minds of the external audience. It is what you represent to people who are thinking about going to college, their parents, or any of the other audiences that you deal with. Positioning answers the question: what is the one thing that unique, different and better about us in the eyes of our customer vs. the competition in the higher ed marketplace that has them either hiring our graduates or wanting to attend our institution. Branding is the strategy behind trying to reinforce and/or change that positioning in people's minds. It is the act of creating an intentional strategy behind what we stand for, i.e., the words and phrases that we want people to use when they talk about us and think about us. What makes that statement critical is the emphasis on the “the one thing people remember.” Marketers would love to have people remember 10 or 15 things about a brand because we as marketers know all the great things about the brand. However, institutions are very lucky if you get people to remember one thing, and so you must be very deliberate and tough on yourself and the and the people who are working on the brand strategy to say, “folks, we’ve got one thing and we need to figure out what that one thing is.” Take for example Nike and their “Just Do It” campaigns. That is the one thing that you remember about Nike. Oklahoma and football. Texas A&M and the Corps of Cadets. What is the one thing that your “customers” remember about your institution? And how do you know what that is? All Established Universities Have A Brand One of the critical things that university presidents must remember is that they already have a brand because any institution that's been around for a while has a reputation in people’s minds. Your university stands for something already – you are not starting from scratch. Being already established is actually more difficult than starting from scratch because if you want to change the way that people perceive your brand, you have to first undo what they currently think and then create new positioning in their minds. That's one thing. Second, your brand is and must be foundational to the strategic planning process every institution should go through in every five, six, eight, 10 years, but far too many institutions view those things as completely separate, i.e., the planning process on one side of the house, and developing the marketing and branding strategies on the other. That is a mistake. Your brand is the promise that you're making to the world, and your strategic plan has to be focused on those things that we need to do to improve our institution. They are inextricably related and wholly dependent on one another. The way people view brand should be this: “What are we doing and what are we not doing to deliver on the brand promise that we are making to people.” I think if every institution going forward had an execution plan for their strategic plan with part of that being how are you going to market your institution, it would be part of part and parcel of your planning process. How to Change Your Brand Established institutions already have a brand, and that can be difficult to change. Your first step is to conduct market research external to your institution. Brand perception is not about what your faculty think, or what your university president thinks. Brand perception is what people external to the university think you stand for – your prospective students, their parents, people who hire your graduates and support your institution. Most people have the perception that market research can be very expensive and take a long time and it can, but it doesn’t have to. There are both complex and simple ways research can be done. For example, many institutions who already have a good understanding of their brand successfully do online focus groups with parents and students and guidance counselors and even their alumni which is cost effective and can gather good information.  For those institutions who are less sure of their brand, we recommend more in-depth surveys and interviews / focus groups. Either approach can work – it depends on how much do you already understand about your institution brand right, how much are you are you trying to change it, and what you need to learn. Many institutions rely on what appears to be a simple way to do this market research, i.e., asking student applicants three basic questions: (1) how did you hear about us, (2) what did you hear about us, and (3) what attracted you to us. Unfortunately, this doesn’t necessarily work, because people have a hard time answering those questions. Most brands have been around for a long time, so when people are asked about how they first heard about the institution or what they heard about it, they don't give you an answer that you can take to the rely on. For example, if you were asked when did you first hear about Starbucks, you would give me an answer that may or may not be correct, but the problem is I don't have any statistical reliability when or how you actually heard about it. Marketing experts are students of people, i.e., their behavior and how they respond to particular questions. For example, with Americans, you can ask them a question and it is their nature that they want to be helpful so they give you an answer, but it is not necessarily a reliable answer. Hence, you must ask probing questions. Instead, we recommend having one-on-one conversations with people in which the researcher asks more probing questions that dive more deeply into their answers so as to get a solid understanding of what people believe and why they believe it. Red Flags that Suggest Your Branding is Tired It’s important that you that you understand what the people what people think about the brand and whether it needs to be sharpened, and one of the flags that higher ed marketing people can use is enrollment. For example, if enrollment is declining, that could be a sign that a brand could be tired or that your value proposition is off, i.e., people don’t understand why they should spend the money to attend your institution, they don't know what they're going to get from it in terms of the education they are receiving or the career outcomes they'll get. Besides declining enrollment, another flag is lack of alignment. Institutions must have their strategies, structures, and processes all working together, and branding is one of your strategies. As part of the structures, institutions must ensure they have the right kind of people in enrollment, that they are well trained, and can take care of the students. All of those things have to be in alignment. Branding is not the only thing that would cause enrollment decline, but it is certainly something to consider. President should ask themselves what are we doing around brand strategy? When is the last time we did market research? When was the last time we sharpened our brand’s language? What is our value proposition? Unfortunately, most academics don’t understand these basic questions, which is why many institutions are turning to the business community to find their leadership.  Ensuring consistent and well-targeted brand language is critical to driving enrollment, especially when we take into account the number of generations who are currently going back to school. With the predominance of the post-traditional student, language becomes more critical. Not only do you need to figure out how to market to them, you need to understand where to market to them and what attracts them to your institution. Thus, your marketing equation is much more complex than it is with traditional students (18-24 years old). For example, post-traditional students have busy lives. They have jobs and families; they are looking not only at what is the value of your education at your offering in terms of what's going do for them but also the convenience factor – where your institution is located and can they get there easily on evenings or do their degree via online education. There are three key things that presidents must be aware of when it comes to marketing and branding. Do market research on a regular basis. Institutions must understand what the external market thinks about them. This is probably the most critical. Integrate branding in the strategic planning process. Ensure that your marketing materials are consistent across the institution to ensure the institution speaks in one voice. Is the look and language consistent or inconsistent? Is the tone we are sending consistent? Starbucks is a great example of this, but there are great examples of excellent branding in higher ed that include Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and UC Berkeley. You cannot be all things to all people – you must know what your one thing is. You’re competing for mindshare, and there are so many different messages out there, what is the one thing you want to be known for. Branding doesn't have to be hard. It doesn't have to be laborious. It doesn't have to be difficult – it can be very simple and straightforward. There are a lot of really good models out there for how to do and how to do branding, just start and you'll be amazed at how much you learn if you start with good market research, you'll be amazed at how much you learn and where it can take you. Bullet Points: Higher ed institutions are grappling with declining enrollment. The old ways of recruiting students that institutions used the “go-go” years 15 years ago no longer work. Over the past 10-15 years, three major changes occurred that changed higher education, and specifically higher ed enrollment. Student demographics have changed. The Great Recession impacted college affordability in multiple ways. There is increased dissatisfaction in higher ed, analogous to people saying “where’s the beef.” Residential programs are not attracting the same number of students as before. Competition is growing, putting the “hammer” in the hands of the prospect. You have to market where the prospective students are. With 70+ percent of all students today post-traditional, new marketing strategies are critical for higher ed institutions. Positioning answers the question: what is the one thing that unique, different and better about us in the eyes of our customer vs. the competition in the higher ed marketplace that has them either hiring our graduates or wanting to attend our institution. Branding is the strategy behind trying to reinforce and/or change that positioning in people's minds. All established universities have a brand. Brand perception is external to the institution, not internal. Do market research on a regular basis. Institutions must understand what the external market thinks about them. This is probably the most critical thing institutions can do to ensure their brand is fresh. Brand research doesn’t have to be expensive. Integrate branding in the strategic planning process. Ensure that your marketing materials are consistent across the institution to ensure the institution speaks in one voice. Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview: https://thechangeleader.com Guests Social Media Links: Guest Twitter: @thechangeldr  Guest Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahmaue/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-change-leader/about/ Your Social Media Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr  Email: podcast@changinghighered.com
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Nov 27, 2018 • 28min

Growing Universities with Post-Traditional Students with Carol Aslanian | Changing Higher Ed 009

Carol Aslanian is a market researcher who helps colleges build strategies and new programming to increase enrollment by focusing on post-traditional students, those students who used to be called “adult students.” Carol began her career in higher education research in the 1980s at the College Board. Her first project in the post-traditional student world was called Youth and Direction for a Learning Society that got hard data to help colleges grow the population of older students coming back to school at two-year and four-year colleges by talking to employers about their needs. The Current Higher Ed Marketplace The demographics of the “typical” college student has changed in the last 30-40 years. According to the College Board, 70 percent of all undergraduate students are made up of what now is called post-traditional students – students who do not study full-time during the day and are not in-residence. The remaining 30 percent are traditional students, those who study full time and are in-residence. Of this 70 percent, 19-20 percent of students study full-time online, and the other 50 percent are individuals who do blended programs, i.e., some classes on campus. The reason we are seeing a surge in post-traditional students, besides the demographics of the high school population being stagnant or decreasing in many areas throughout the United States, is that we now have a large number of students who began their degree but didn't finish. These students had less than two years of credit and dropped out, disenchanted with the college experience and/or the direction that they were going, and went into the workforce. They are now coming back to college 5-10 years later, knowing the career that they want and are focusing on that. There are three primary reasons why post-traditionals come back to school. First, they need a job; second, they want more money; and third, they want a promotion; all of which need a college degree.  This is a marked change from 20 years ago, where the majority of students headed off to college and finished in four years. Now, those that go to college and finish in four-years make up less than 25% of the market. The Evolution of The Current College and Distance / Online Education In the 1980s and 1990s, many colleges and universities had special units called continuing ed, extension, adult and professional development, etc. These units specialized in educating working adults – the 25-year old population which worked full time during the week – by offering evening or weekend courses to enable them to start and/or complete their degrees. Although adult students were not the primary focus of universities, so long as these units brought in revenue, the institution was pleased as the revenue supported other areas. Online education got its major start in the 1980s driven in large part by the University of Phoenix in 1989 and the advent of Blackboard in the late 1990s. Fast forward to 2010, higher ed adopted the concept that age no longer predicted the way people learn, which began tearing down the segregation of adult / post-traditional students from the traditional student. Online education has grown astronomically over the past 20 years, to where 1 out of 5 undergraduates in this country study fully online. The most recent statistics from Eduventures say that in 2016, 16-17 percent of all undergraduate students are fully online, and that percentage increased to 19-20 percent in 2017. This is despite the for-profit sector losing market share over the past few years, primarily because: many institutions in the public and the private sectors are entering the online marketplace; post-traditional students prefer to learn with an institution located within 100 miles of where they live; and the reputation of for-profit education has tanked. One example of this is Central Michigan University. Central Michigan used to have “campuses” on the military bases as a convenience for their adult military students, but they now have a huge online presence which makes sense for the military adult student because of deployments. What Post-Traditional Students Want Post-traditional students’ thoughts around education differ from those of traditional 18-24-year-old students. They want programs that are Convenient for them and fit into their lifestyle and their work hours. Post-traditionals typically choose institutions within 100 miles of where they live, and the majority within 40 miles. They do not want to give away their weekends as previous adult students did. Time to completion is important. They want to finish their degree fast, three years or less, and are willing to forgo summers off or long breaks between terms. Structure and compressed courses work well. Terms of 6-8 weeks are preferred, as are online and blended programs / courses. According to the Babson Research Group, 54 percent of all students take blended programs. This makes perfect sense when viewed through the lens of research from Aslanian Market Research. These students typically say, “I'll get in there once a week, but please don't make me come in three times a week.”  Building Programs for the Post-Traditional Market Market research is critical for understanding the potential for going after post-traditional students, as well as why current programs are not attracting the numbers that universities want or need. Market research must answer five key questions: How big is the market / how many post-traditional students are there in the local geographic area? What do these students want in terms of programs? How do they want these programs, i.e., what format and schedule? What marketing channels must be used to attract them? Who is your competition and how do you differentiate yourself? Aslanian Market Research does its market analysis of the student population within a 100-150 mile radius of the institution, and talks with both prospective and current post-traditional students. They feel it is critical that you work on the basis of demand – those who have done it instead of those who want to do it. You must also study the competition, what previous research conducted by extension sites / divisions of continuing education says, and talk to the faculty and administration about their viewpoint. All these things are required to come up with a set of recommendations of how a college can attract the post-traditional population to the campus. The majority of institutions do not understand marketing sufficiently. Consequently, they don’t spend what it takes to enroll this population. For example, most institutions give the traditional student incredible discounts on tuition – in some cases up to 50 percent – but are not giving the post-traditional student the same levels of discounts. Additionally, they are not investing in marketing to this demographic. Why not divert some of the money to the population that makes up 70-75 percent of the pool of eligible students? Transitioning the Institution and Resistance to Change Transitioning an institution for recruiting and educating post-traditional students requires change management, and change is not easy for most universities. A recent example of this had a university president on board with the proposed changes, but the provost was concerned because s/he knew that s/he must deal with academics to get them to change – which isn’t the easiest thing in the world. The key to making this argument is having the data that supports the changes and answers the questions as to what the market is demanding, but equally important is having leadership that builds trust and a transparent process that includes collaboration. “People support what they help create." Change depends mostly on the trust that employees have in their leadership.  There are four types of people you must deal with in change: early adapters who love change, the “wait-and-see” crowd, cynics who will never change (and will not give you a reason why), and skeptics. In the change process, skeptics are your best friend because they will tell you when something is not going to work and give you reasons why. There are many pros and cons for faculty when it comes to online teaching. One professor from Florida Atlantic University stated that he liked online because there was more of an opportunity to have one-on-one time with students vs. being in a huge lecture room, but that teaching online was more time-consuming – students will reach out at 11 PM with a question about an assignment. Competition for the Post-Traditional Student The competition also can play a role in driving distance education. For example, other than Penn, none of the Ivy League schools are implementing distance education, but when Harvard and others begin looking at what Penn is doing, they may move in this direction. One way in which they may do this is by implementing distance certificate programs. In some ways, their certificate programs already cater to an international audience, and this is one way that they could move toward implementing distance education.  New Trends in Higher Education One of the hot trends in the education marketplace is badges. Currently, the degree market makes up about 60 percent of students, the certificate market between 18-20 percent, and the remaining 20 percent take individual courses. Although there has been talk about badges and competency-based programs for a long time, according to current market research, there is not a lot of call for badges and competency-based programs yet. The hype around badges is similar to what we saw a few years back around MOOCs. Competency-based education may be different. For CBE to become more mainstream, it will require a change of perspective from the Department of Education. To wit, Western Governors is fighting massive fines from the Ed Dept because someone there said what they are doing was tantamount to a correspondence course vs. an actual academic institution. That has huge implications for CBE, and the jury is out on this one. What the future will hold is not clear, but for now, badges and CBE are farther and fewer between and do not surface to any degree noticeable in current research.  Three Keys for University Presidents Three key things university presidents must consider when establishing programs, growing, etc. over the next five years when it comes to the post-traditional population:  Pay more attention to and refocus your outreach and marketing (including marketing budget) toward the post-traditional student. Most institutions are placing their focus on and making their largest investment in the traditional enrollment of 18-year-olds coming directly from high school, whereas 70+ percent of the students are post-traditionals. Marketing dollars would be better spent on those post-traditional students who live within 100 miles of the institution. There are multiple advantages to this, including you can market more efficiently, and more quickly determine who is your competition.Additionally, post-traditionals generally are not asking for scholarships and grants. Consider adding blended and online programs instead of new traditional programs – this is where the market is heading and people want, especially if most of your students come from with 100 miles. For those students, the blended structure works very nicely. Courses should be 6 to 8 weeks in length and run continuously throughout the year so students can accelerate their learning and finish as quickly as possible. Post-traditional students are very cost conscious – tuition and fees are important to them. However, when those students who study at private institutions are asked the question “did you take the least expensive program,” 60% say no, which tells us that they also want convenience, acceleration, reputation, and content. Aslanian Market Research has three new research reports that can be downloaded from their website dealing with the post-traditional undergraduate, graduate, and online markets. Their website is www.educationdynamics.com.  The Crystal Ball Here’s what we expect over the next 5 to 10 years. The overseas market is beginning to grow. The international market has been slow to catch on in regards to online learning, but it is beginning show little glimpses of interest as institutions begin to cater to minority populations, first-generation students, etc. The online and the blended concept will begin to work more internationally than it has in the past.  The resurrection of colleges doing business with businesses will grow. With online and blended programs that colleges and universities can tailor to companies, they can regain the business partnership market whereby they provide education training needs for nearby businesses, something that waned in the last 15-20 years. Two good examples of this are Amazon and Starbucks. Mergers and acquisitions have started, e.g., National University, a nonprofit, acquiring Northcentral University, a for-profit institution; Purdue University and Kaplan; and Strayer acquiring Capella University. This is a normal market consolidation as online education grows, and we will see more of them.  Bullet Points   The demographics of the “typical” college student has changed in the last 30-40 years. According to the College Board, 70 percent of all undergraduate students are made up of what now is called post-traditional students – students who do not study full-time during the day and are not in-residence. The remaining 30 percent are traditional students, those who study full time and are in-residence. Post-traditional students’ thoughts around education are different than those of the traditional 18-24-year-old student. They want programs that are Convenient for them and fit into their lifestyle and their work hours. Within 100 miles of where they live, and the majority within 40 miles. They do not want to give away their weekends as previous adult students did. Time to completion is important. They want to finish their degree fast, three years or less, and are willing to forgo having summers off or long breaks between terms. Structure and compressed courses work well for this population. Terms of 6-8 weeks are preferred, as is online and blended programs / courses. Market research is critical for determining both the potential for going after post-traditional students, as well as understanding why current programs are not attracting the numbers that universities want or need.It must answer five questions: How big is the market / how many post-traditional students are there in the local geographic area? What do these students want in terms of programs? How do they want these programs, i.e., what format and schedule? What marketing channels must be used to attract them? Who is your competition and how do you differentiate yourself? The majority of institutions do not understand marketing sufficiently. Consequently, they don’t spend what it takes to enroll this population. Transitioning an institution to recruiting and educating post-traditional students requires change management, and change is not easy for most universities. The key to making this argument is having the data that supports the changes and answers the questions as to what the market is demanding, and faculty who trust leadership. People support what they help create. Three key things to consider wrt the post-traditional population: Pay more attention to and refocus your outreach and marketing (including marketing budget) toward the post-traditional student. Consider adding blended and online programs instead of new traditional programs. Post-traditional students are very cost conscious – tuition and fees are important to them, but they also want convenience, acceleration, reputation, and content. Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview: Case Studies: https://www.educationdynamics.com/case-studies Market Research: https://www.educationdynamics.com/e-books Guests Social Media Links: Education Dynamics website: https://www.educationdynamics.com/ Twitter:https://twitter.com/EdDynamics Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/educationdynamics/ Drumm's Social Media Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com
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Nov 13, 2018 • 29min

Growing Enrollment with Dr. Dewey Clark | Changing Higher Ed 008

Dr. Dewey Clark is a very special university president.  Unlike most of his contemporaries, his undergraduate degree is from the school he is now leading, and following graduation, was invited to work on staff in admissions which he did for nine years before going off for a 24-year career in business. This experience has conditioned his thinking about higher ed. He understands that a university or college must be run like a business, and he brings that mentality and work ethic to his job. He also understands that college should be both an education and an experience and that the culture of any institution starts with the top. He takes this very seriously – interviewing EVERY person who is hired at North Carolina Wesleyan. Thus, he ensures all new people see and buy into his vision, one that a college is an amazing place where young people can go and develop in the way that he did. Dr. Clark has been in the president role for 4 ½ years now and has put his imprimatur on the college. When he took over, enrollment was at 575, and it is more than doubled to over 1100. He did this by applying business principles to the college. They first examined their market and positioning. Their previous approach was scattergun, attempting to recruit up and down the East Coast, but after doing market research, they found the majority of their alumni and current students were from Eastern North Carolina and Southeast Virginia – 75 percent – and the remaining 25 percent from 40 different foreign countries.  They contracted their market area to Eastern North Carolina and Southeast Virginia, and it started paying immediate dividends.  Second, they examined their messaging and found their approach wasn’t effective, especially from a marketing dollars perspective.  They swapped their marketing foci to doing radio and billboards in their target areas, which also paid dividends.  They also examined their enrollment processes to ensure that each potential student received the personal touch.  This includes including Skype and telephone calls and emails, etc., and for the campus visit, they roll out the red carpet – everything is choreographed down to the littlest detail such as who they eat lunch with.  They knew that recruiting has changed in the past 35 years, from handwriting letters to prospective students with a lot of phone calls, to the 21st-century social media of Facebook and Instagram, but the personal touch is still important.  Today’s students are technology driven, so you have to meet them where they are. Email is almost a thing of the past, except that you have to be aware that you are also recruiting the parents – the decision to attend is going to be made on the way home from the campus visit, and they need to feel good about the place their daughters and sons might be going.  In some ways, there are two or three different messages that need to go out – one to the students, one to the parents, and one to the business community. For example, students generally are not concerned about things like security, but their parents certainly are. Your business community, those who will be hiring your graduates, want to know that your curriculum is up to date and it is meeting their needs.  One of the areas of foci for the college is enhancing its career services area.  NC Wesleyan starts helping students think about their career from the day they step foot on campus, e.g., what does your resume look like, are you prepared to do an interview, do you understand what a cover letter is or etiquette dinners, job fairs, etc.  It has made a big difference as companies who are hiring their graduates are starting to take notice. One of the things that make NC Wesleyan special is their freshman orientation, which they call Rock the Mount. They include three things that are not typical to a traditional orientation. First, they bring in outside speakers to motivate the new students, including a graduate from 30 years ago who talks about the college from their perspective and how it prepared them for the world.  Second, the new freshmen line up and go through a tunnel where Dr. Clark shakes their hand with current students cheering them on. This makes it a very exciting time for them. Lastly, they invite current students and vendors from the town to get students connected to their fellow students and community – this year they had well over 100 organizations there, including student organizations who participated. For many, this is their first time away from home, and NC Wesleyan helps them find their “new family” to help them through the process.  One of Dr. Clark’s biggest challenges was getting the town to embrace the college, and how he is done it through programs such as Rock the Mount has been ingenious. Through things like that, he has added over $110 million to the economy of the local town.  Dr. Clark leveraged his deep business background to change NC Wesleyan’s culture. Prior to coming back to Wesleyan, he worked at MBM, a food distribution company that grew from $100 million in annual revenues when he first started to a $7 billion company that was bought by Warren Buffett in 2012.  His role was to put together the organization’s strategic plans and budgets, and he leveraged these skills to be successful in the presidency.     Dr. Clark is very numbers driven, very analytical, and his leadership style reflects this. This is not exclusive of people – Wesleyan is a high touch place – but he wants his key managers to be focused on numbers and try to improve them. For example, he will send out a picture of something that shows an improvement with a message “good quality” to celebrate the good things that they have done.  Conversely, if there’s something that needs to be improved, he will write “bad quality” with the picture.  He wants everyone to think that when they leave campus on a daily basis, they think “it is better than when we came here this morning.”  He believes strongly that if everybody has that mindset, they will become a very special place. And it is.  In the most recent US News and World Report that had regional rankings, North Carolina Wesleyan was ranked 37 in the Southeast.  Three years ago they were 63.  There are three secrets to making this work.  First, the role of planning and the budgeting; Second, creating a culture of continuous improvement Lastly, Ensuring your hiring practices are in line with your culture. You have to have a group of “game changers,” people who will go that extra mile to make sure that the college and everything it is working right.  Creating a sustainable institution is a challenge.  You can’t cut your way to sustainability – you have to make money, because at the end of the day if you don’t make money you’re out of business. You must quantify all the big decisions that you make, whether it is a new major or program or sport, and then you have to hold yourself accountable to make sure that you're hitting those targets. There frequently is a “growth curve” in introducing new programs, and there must be a path for them to get to a point where they are profitable.  However, there are some things that will never be profitable, so you must look at the whole basket of what you're doing and determine if there is a value added to keep them. This concept of sustainability is critical. For example, NC Wesleyan’s target from day one has been 100 new students a year and he’s averaged about 95 over the last three years.  He understands that growth costs money, but it is easier to grow to become sustainable than to stay flat or decline. You try to qualify as many things as can, but it's hard to quantify everything.  For example, you can attempt to quantify culture through retention which isn’t the best metric (there may not be one), but you know it’s the right thing to do and so you do it.  Another example is career services – providing these services to students is the right thing to do, but it is difficult to quantify.  The first hundred days of the president's tenure is critical – in some ways, new presidents feel like they are drinking water out of a fire hose and are torn in multiple directions.  Some of the key things that new presidents must do include: Carve out time for yourself and your family and who you are, simple things like reading a book or taking time for vacations or getting a good night sleep. You cannot do this job with the sprinter’s mentality – you must look at this as a marathon.  Celebrate successes. NC Wesleyan had lots of successes early on and sometimes they stopped celebrate and sometimes he pushed everybody to the next level when they should have stopped and celebrated.  Celebrate every new milestone.  Have a list of what you want to improve and make it time bound.  Every year at graduation, he tells his team to come up with a list of 100 things that they want to improve before the students come back in the fall, and they publish it and get it down.  Keep your list at 100 things, and include in that list what you doing for yourself personally, what you doing for yourself professionally, what you doing for the college.  Management by walking about still works, but know there is a fine line between micromanaging and not showing interest at all.  People need to feel that you care about them.  Bullet Points: Drill down on key points of the interview: College should be both an education and an experience The culture of any institution starts with the top. If you want to grow, you should start by examining your positioning and branding.  Where are your markets? Where do your students come from? Who hires them? Market research is the key. Market messaging must be current and go to where your prospective students are. Students STILL want the personal touch in recruiting. Higher ed has more than one customer. You must market to parents and businesses also. Quantify as much as you can to get continuous improvement.  There are some things that are difficult to quantify but do your best.  You get what you measure. Planning and budgeting are critical. A plan without a budget is a pipe dream. Ensure your student orientation is special.  This is the first time many of your students have been away from home, and finding their “new family” is critical for them. Have game changers in every department – people who go the extra mile to make the college special. You cannot cut your way to sustainability – you have to grow. As a new president, ensure you carve time out for yourself and your family.  It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview: Dr. Dewey Clark North Carolina Wesleyan College Rock the Mount The Change Leader Guests Social Media Links: North Carolina Wesleyan Twitter: https://twitter.com/ncwesleyan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorthCarolinaWesleyanCollege YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/NCWesleyanCollege Your Social Media Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com
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Nov 6, 2018 • 30min

Washington Update with Jeri Prochaska and Tom Netting | Changing Higher Ed 007

Jeri Prochaska and Tom Netting of CSPEN, the Central States Private Education Network, represent higher ed institutions nationwide to public policymakers in Washington and throughout the nation. CSPEN is focused on making sure that the education industry has all the information that’s coming out of Washington.  They believe communication is the key, thus allowing the industry to advocate for itself.     Here’s their latest from what is going on in Washington. Legislative Gridlock Over the HEA Results in Regulatory Guidance. In the absence of action from both houses of Congress, we are seeing the Trump administration pushing through political agendas through as regulation in lieu of statutory guidance, and they have been massive. This is no more evident than in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.  Under the law in 1955 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act is supposed to be reauthorized process to bring it up to current day every 5-6 years, but this latest renewal did not get as far as it should have.  The House completed mark up but did not bring a bill to the floor, and the Senate didn’t get that far despite having multiple hearings.  Given the legislative stalemate and partisanship in Congress, the HEA is not expected to come to a vote until 2019 or 2020. Negotiated Rulemaking. Negotiated rulemaking is the process by which the Department has individuals from higher education and interested communities come together to discuss proposed changes to regulations. The negotiated rulemaking process for the borrower defense to repayment regulations, gainful employment regulations, and others areas have been going on, but the proposed rules have not yet come out.  The next round of negotiated rulemaking will take place in January – March 2019, focusing on “accreditation and innovation,” with subgroups focusing on online education, definition of credit hour, direct assessment, competency-based learning, and how all of those are delivered and how federal financial aid might be utilized in the delivery of all those different modalities. That process will conclude with the development of regulations that are proposed, probably mid-summer 2019 and published in final form by November 2019 with them going into effect July 1, 2020.  To find out more, go to the Department of Education website.  The deadline for application to participate is Nov 15. Borrower Defense to Repaying (BDR). Many of the regulations including the borrower defense to repaying regulations and gainful employment, that were put in place by the Obama administration are being contemplated for revision or repeal by the Trump administration. In instituting the borrower defense to repaying, the Obama administration took the fundamental premise that if a student was defrauded because of a school employing illegal or deceptive practices that encouraged them to take out student loans to attend that school, their student loan should be forgiven.  The Trump administration challenged this, but the courts have ordered the administration to continue with this process until new regulations are put in place.  Because of the timeframe, this will not happen until mid-2020. Of the 32,601 applications received by the end of June, only 96 borrowers have actually had their debt canceled. Ninety-nine percent of the applications that have been processed were denied. Two decisions were recently handed down by the courts along these lines. The first stated that student who didn't file an application is not eligible for relief, that only those who followed through on the opportunities afforded them by the Department can seek relief.  Over 100,000 have done so.  The second decision stated that regulatory stays and a repeal of the delay in the implementation of those regulations the Trump administration has put into place are no longer valid – it was deemed to be arbitrary and capricious – the result is that those regulations that were scheduled to take effect in 2016 actually went into effect on October 12. What we’re seeing is that the needed guidance in this transitional period is lacking, and the new administration needs to tell everyone how the regulations should be implemented while developing the new regulations that set asunder the interim guidance. Gainful Employment.  Similar to the borrower defense to repayment and final rules that we had hoped would be published in final form by November 1, the BDR court cases indicated that the Department would not meet their November 1 deadline for either borrower defense or gainful employment.  That means that regulations that have been in effect and gone through two iterations of review under the Obama administration (2009 and 2012/14), are in place and will remain so while new regulatory proposals that would eliminate the loss of eligibility under certain criteria will be potentially repealed.  Those regulations will not go into effect until July 2020.  There is some belief that under statutory authority and regulatory capability that the Secretary of Education might provide an opportunity for early implementation of some of the changes under the gainful employment rule, but we must wait and see what the Department publishes in their final regs which are likely to come out before the end of the year.  Additionally, it is unknown whether schools will have the opportunity for early implementation and what that timeline might be as opposed to the normal implementation of July 2020. Credit Hour.  The higher education community has been waiting for their turn in line with the Department to focus on issues related to changes made by the Obama administration on how to calculate the number of hours of outside preparatory time and other facets of what goes in the determination of a credit hour. This has a significant impact on federal financial aid and online education.  This will be taken up in the next round of negotiated rulemaking.     Bullet Points: Drill down on key points of the interview: Expect the Higher Education Act to be renewed in 2019 or 2020 The courts are stepping in on the Borrower Defense To Repayment in multiple ways, blocking changes until 2020. Negotiated rulemaking is proceeding slowly in the cases of BDR and Gainful Employment.  Expect guidance to come out by the end of Nov 2018. A new round of negotiated rulemaking will begin in Jan 2019, focusing on accreditation and innovation, with subcommittees on online education, a definition of credit hour, direct assessment, competency-based learning, and how all of those are delivered and how federal financial aid might be utilized in the delivery of all those different modalities. Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview: CSPEN Hill Day Change Management Negotiated Rulemaking Guests Social Media Links: Jeri Prochaska LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeri-prochaska-537a9512/ Tom Netting LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-netting-9214755/ CSPEN LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/6954716/ Jeri Prochaska Twitter - @jeriprochaska Tom Netting Twitter - @t_netting Your Social Media Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com
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Oct 30, 2018 • 31min

Transformation through Crisis: Tulane post-Katrina with Dr. Scott Cowen | Changing Higher Ed 006

Dr. Scott Cowen is the personification of a proven crisis leader.  When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, Scott was just six years into his tenure of 16 years at Tulane. Katrina’s devastation was massive – over $650 million in damages to the University alone. There was no playbook for what needed to happen – up to this point, no university had encountered such devastation – and the decisions that need to be made were made at the moment as all critical crisis management is done. Scott made the decision to stay on campus and ride out the storm. In the aftermath, there were no telecommunications, no phones, no TVs – all you knew was what you could see in the local area. And it was bad. He was eventually evacuated via helicopter from on the Mississippi River, six days following the storm.  He didn’t realize the breadth of the destruction until he arrived in Houston.  That evening, after seeing the destruction on television, his reaction was, “I don’t know what I can do.  There is no one that I can call to give me guidance, there is no book I can take out of the library, there is no consultant that I can hire. I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”  The University was shuttered for the entire fall term and didn’t reopen until spring.  But it came back stronger than it ever was. Scott’s first actions were making a list of everything that needed to be done to rebuild the institution, minute by minute, day by day. Once they got the leadership team located in Houston, they operated the university out of a hotel suite. The leadership that he learned while in the Army as an infantry officer was critical. It was not shared governance, it was command-and-control.  That didn’t mean that he didn’t consult others – he had a team of people around him who he consulted and worked with, including faculty, but there wasn’t the time to do the usual broad consultation of stakeholder groups required under normal situations – things had to be done immediately and quickly move to the next thing. Having the right people on the team was critical – people who could move quickly and make choices and decisions in the heat of the moment.  There was (and always will always be) second-guessing, especially in the press, but decisions regardless of the challenges must be made based on the best information at the time and executed upon.  Scott stated that in a crisis, you’re doing two things simultaneously.  First, you’re trying to survive, and second, recovering which requires transformation.  Somewhere in there, you have to do put together a transformation plan to take you to that next level, and that takes a team. Scott had a group of five former presidents that advised him on the transformation plan and its implementation. In a transformation, start with defining the objectives and what success looks like.  For Tulane, it was three things: being financially viable; doing the things to maintain the quality, stature, and reputation of the institution; and discontinuing those things that don’t contribute to being an outstanding institution.  Scott stated that it wasn’t his doctoral degree or academic education that prepared Scott to be a leader, but the experiences in the military and that of an athlete that gave him the drive and skill set to be successful. The lessons he gained in the military, stayed with him his entire life. There are three key things to leading in a crisis.  The first of these is leadership, and especially the ability to make a decision without having all the facts (which is impossible) but relying on experience.  The second is having an advisory team who can help you talk through the decisions that need to be made.  The last of these is having a plan to execute on.  It is critical for a leader to understand what the situation, the reality of what is going on in a crisis. Having good information is critical, because, without good information, all the decisions that you make will be wrong. In a crisis, hope is never a good strategy. Transformation is all about rebuilding and making something better, and that is what Scott and his team set out to do. Transformation should always have as a component reimaging, creating something that is better, a reinvention.  At a time of crisis, you have the opportunity to rethink the future.  This can be done with the right leadership. Your best leaders (1) understand reality; (2) are resilient / have high emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills that allow them to make principled decisions based on the facts at hand; and (3) are adaptable and can react to various conditions.  One of the key things that universities fail to do is develop good leaders.  It’s not in the majority of curricula, nor is leadership development required throughout an institution.  The reasons given for this are that “leaders are born,” or that leadership is “too squishy” to be in curricula.  We know good leadership when we see it, and we know bad leadership even more quickly, and the consequences are severe. Scott stated that the inclusion of a public service requirement into all undergraduate curricula was the most transformative action that he took coming out of Katrina, and it connected them more closely with community, but more importantly, it changed the student demographics of those came here – many students stated they wanted to go to Tulane because they wanted to be part of the greatest recovery that ever happened in the history of the United States. This had a very positive effect on the type of student that they got at Tulane, and improved recruitment, retention, and graduation rates.  (Outside of the military academies, Tulane is the only research university in the United States that integrates a public service requirement into its core curricula.) The lessons of service that he gained in the military, stayed with him his entire life. Three takeaways from his book Winnebagos on Wednesdays.  First, there is a lot of innovation going on in higher Ed right now.  It’s not really known because it’s going on at smaller colleges that are not “name brands,” but it’s happening, and it’s beginning to spread. Second, despite all the criticism of higher ed right now, the return on investment is as high today as it was years ago. Lastly, we need to rethink how we can increase social mobility in higher ed.  Key takeaways from the interview: There is an opportunity to make things better coming out the other side of a crisis. Three keys to leading in a crisis: (1) the ability to make a decision; (2) having a team who can talk through the decisions that need to be made; and (3) a plan to execute on.  Start with defining the objectives and what success looks like.  Ensure planning is meticulous and comprehensive. There are so many things that have to be done, and without planning, you miss critical things Make lists of the various tasks you need to accomplish and update them as frequently as needed. This is your “project plan,” your guide to what has to be done. Understand the reality of the situation. Having good information is critical, because, without good information, all the decisions that you make will be wrong. Hope should never be a change strategy. Crisis leadership is command-and-control, not shared governance. There isn’t the time to debate the course of action. You never have all the information and you can’t wait for it. Make your decision as best you can and move on to the next one. There will always be critics, but you have to do what you think is the right thing. The inclusion of a service component in curricula can change student demographics for the better and can have a positive effect on recruitment, retention, and graduation rates. Shared governance does not mean shared decision-making. Shared governance is advisory, but the buck stops with the president and the board of an institution. There is a lot of innovation going on in higher ed right now – it’s not really known because it’s going on at smaller colleges that are not “name brands.” Despite all the criticism of higher ed right now, the return on investment is as high today as it was years ago. We need to rethink how we can increase social mobility in higher ed. Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview: Scott Cowen led Tulane through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Now he has ideas on how to fix higher education. Winnebagos on Wednesdays: How Visionary Vision Can Transform Higher Education Shared Governance Does Not Mean Shared Decision Making Good to Great Scott Cowen: http://www.scottcowen.com/ Guests Social Media Links: https://twitter.com/TulaneScott Your Social Media Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com
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Oct 23, 2018 • 31min

Financial Strategies for Higher Ed Institutions With Rob Hartman | Changing Higher Ed 005

The CFO of a higher ed institution is a strategic leadership position that requires a mixture of talents. Not only must they have a strong financial background, but they must also be able to look across the spectrum of the operations at an institution, and sometimes that includes security and financial aid. The role requires looking at an institution from a 30,000 foot perspective vs. a day-to-day task position which is how a controller should be looking at an organization, e.g., accounts balanced, etc. One of the reasons that it is critical to have a CFO who can look at long-term impacts of finances, is that of deferred maintenance which currently has a $2 trillion price tag in higher ed. One of the great things that Columbia is doing under Hartman is upgrading plant equipment. This is where a good understanding of numbers and projecting in the future is critical – Columbia has come up with a creative way to trim down its $10 million deferred maintenance bill by swapping out all its plant equipment. Through the savings in utility costs plus the rebates which they have gotten, they have been able to replace their old equipment and the savings have paid for the new physical plant. Also, they have a written guarantee from their contractor that the savings realized from replacing their old equipment would pay for the new equipment. Many institutions nowadays are including maintenance in the fundraising/development monies raised. Columbia is in the middle of a fundraising drive for $10 million for a new building, and in a major gift from one of their board members, they have included 15 years of maintenance costs for the building. Over 70% of higher ed CFOs are reporting they have less faith in the sustainability of institutions, and institutions need to rethink how they’re doing things. An example of this is that academics are not changing, because they are not preparing their graduates to step into the job market. One area of concern for faith-based institutions is the ability for their students to get federal financial aid. Given the current political challenges coming out of Washington, there is no telling what the new Higher Education Act will look like, which puts into question the ability of students to obtain federal financial aid to attend college at faith-based institutions. Some institutions are moving forward on their own with innovative solutions, e.g., Grove City College and Hillsdale College, but others need to follow suit. Higher ed shared governance has morphed into something different than it was intended to be, i.e., many faculties believe that they should have a say in how a college is run. The intent of shared governance was that faculty were the experts in curriculum and research. However, the courses that they are developing do not meet the needs of the businesses who are hiring graduates, and so they should take input from other resources to ensure that graduates have the skills that are needed in today’s workplace.  Key Points: Understand the difference between a CFO and a controller. Your CFO should have a strategic 30,000-foot level perspective and a strong operations background on top of financial acumen. Look at creative ways to upgrade your plant equipment. There are companies out there who will give you a guarantee that the cost savings realized through replacing your equipment will pay for upgrading the equipment. Include deferred maintenance costs in the gifts that donors give to your institution. Faith-based (and all) institutions should aggressively pursue new avenues for assisting students to finance their education. There are a couple of institutions out there who are doing a great job of this, e.g., Grove City College and Hillsdale College. Shared governance has gone too far in that faculty believe they should have a say in everything. When it comes to curriculum, they are the experts, but as far as how to run an institution, no. Institutions must rethink how they are delivering education and creating an environment for learning. Graduates are coming out of University unprepared for their first jobs, and faculty should be consulting with businesses to ensure that the curricula they design meet future employers’ needs. Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview: http://www.ciu.edu http://www.gcc.edu/ https://www.hillsdale.edu/ Guests Social Media Links: Rob Hartman’s blog: http://rdhartman.blogspot.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-hartman-11682313/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertdhartman Your Social Media Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com  
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Oct 9, 2018 • 31min

Tax Strategies and Revenue Enhancement for Higher Ed

Everyone wants more revenues for their institutions, but no one wants to pay any more than their "fair share" in taxes. That’s where Dave Moja comes in. Dave is a partner and Professional Practice Leader for Tax at the accounting firm Capin Crouse. His areas of expertise are tax and accounting; financial and UBIT consulting; and higher education metrics, reporting, and development of alternative revenue sources. In this podcast, Dave talks with us about the latest coming out of DC wrt higher ed taxes and UBIT, as well as how to explore and go after what they call "revenue enhancement opportunities" - those alternative sources of revenues that institutions should pursue. It is through these new revenue sources that many institutions are using to make up the difference between tuition and the necessary operating expenses and build sustainability in higher ed institutions. He also touches on how to build stakeholder attunement to reduce and even eliminate resistance to change.
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Oct 2, 2018 • 27min

UC Berkeley and the Alt-Right Protests: How To Keep Your University Off the 5 O'clock News With Nick Dirks | Changing Higher Ed 003

Dr. Nick Dirks has the pedigree of one of the top educators in the world, and the "battle scars" of someone who's been in the hot seat in higher ed and survived it.  As the 10th chancellor of UC Berkeley, Dr. Dirks saw many victories and faced many challenges during his tenure, all the while ensuring that the students of Berkeley received the top public university education in the US (and arguably the world). UC Berkeley has been the poster child for the best public higher ed has to offer: diverse curricula, 22 Nobel laureates, and a stellar international reputation.  It also has the legacy of student protests over the Vietnam war, anti-apartheid, and most recently the alt-right and ensuing violence.  Hear Dr. Birks' perspectives on how government regulations, rightly or wrongly, have led to higher ed bureaucracy; how universities are being asked to do more with less, especially in the era of less funding for higher ed; and how he dealt with (and how you can to prepare for) “unplanned for events” that could occur on your campus.
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Sep 24, 2018 • 36min

The Lost Art of Fundraising and Development with Martin Leifeld | Changing Higher Ed 002

Fundraising is an art form, and Martin Leifeld has become a master artist.  Not only has he perfected the art form, he has raised it to new levels through old-school methods that include building relationships, understanding the donors' priorities, and mastering the ask.  Martin has raised over $500 million for education institutions and nonprofits, and in this podcast, he give us a tutorial on the lost art of development.  Some of the key areas covered include the psychology of development and how to build lasting relationships, how the best university presidents work with their development officers, and how the world of fundraising has changed and what it will look like going forward.
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Aug 31, 2018 • 31min

Communicating Change. Stories from a Pilot

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