About the Episode
Ashley’s first full-time role in higher ed was as an admissions counselor back in 2007. During the 2008 recession, her campus saw a drop in visits, yet knowing how important visits are for recruitment, she was determined to find a solution. With social media just starting to become important, she devised a way to translate the visit “secret sauce” into a digital experience — and managed to help sustain enrollment at her university throughout the recession. Digital innovation has been Ashley’s modus operandi ever since, and it started with one simple tactic 15 years ago.
Key Takeaways
- Virtual Campus Engagement: In response to limited campus visits during the 2008 recession, Ashley developed a pioneering digital engagement strategy to replicate the campus tour experience online.
- Innovative Thinking in Crisis: The tactic involved using student bloggers, videos, and virtual campus tours, allowing prospective students to experience campus life remotely—an approach that laid the foundation for current virtual engagement.
- Applying Tactical Thinking Across Roles: Ashley’s approach shows how innovative, experience-first thinking can be applied to both student recruitment and alumni fundraising.
- Scaling Personal Engagement: Lessons learned from one-on-one interactions, such as asking for advice to build relationships, can translate effectively into digital strategies for higher education marketing.
- AI’s Future in Higher Ed: Ashley shares insights into how conversational AI can reshape engagement with prospective students and alumni, emphasizing the need to adapt to new expectations in digital interactions.
Episode Summary
How Did Ashley Budd Start Her Journey in Higher Education?
Ashley Budd’s career began at RIT, where she worked as an admissions counselor after a stint as a student tour guide. In this role, she managed recruitment for New York City and Long Island, honing her skills in student engagement at the dawn of social media. Witnessing the rise of platforms like Facebook and Twitter, Ashley was able to pioneer RIT's social media presence—an experience that would shape her approach to digital engagement in higher ed.
What Challenge Sparked Ashley’s Career-Defining Tactic?
Ashley’s big break came during the 2008 recession, when economic hardships limited prospective students' ability to visit campus. Recognizing that campus tours were crucial in helping students make enrollment decisions, Ashley faced the challenge of creating a compelling alternative. Her goal was to provide an engaging, accessible virtual experience that could replicate the "secret sauce" of in-person tours, which RIT saw as essential to their recruitment success.
How Did Ashley’s Digital Strategy Solve the Campus Visit Challenge?
Ashley led an innovative digital initiative to simulate the campus tour experience online. Collaborating with her tech-savvy admissions team, she introduced virtual tours, student blogs, and video content that allowed prospective students to get a taste of RIT’s campus life remotely. RIT even became one of the first universities to adopt Google’s trike, mapping campus pathways to create an immersive virtual tour. Through a mix of blog posts, videos, and real-time chats with student ambassadors, Ashley’s tactic allowed RIT to maintain strong enrollment numbers despite the travel limitations of the recession.
How Did This Success Impact Ashley’s Career?
The success of this tactic didn’t go unnoticed. Ashley’s efforts not only helped RIT sustain enrollment but also opened doors for her in the higher ed community. She began sharing her strategies at conferences, gaining a reputation as an innovator in digital recruitment. Her success with digital engagement propelled her into her current role at Cornell University, where she applies similar thinking in alumni advancement, focusing on building meaningful digital relationships with donors.
What Advice Does Ashley Have for Higher Ed Professionals Today?
Ashley advocates for proactive networking and knowledge-sharing, encouraging early-career professionals to seek out informational interviews to expand their skills. Additionally, she highlights the potential of AI to revolutionize digital engagement in higher education. Instead of fearing AI, she suggests using it to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up time for more strategic and creative work. Her forward-looking advice is to focus on creating conversational, personalized digital experiences, as prospective students and alumni will increasingly expect more intuitive, engaging online interactions.
What Lessons Can Higher Ed Take from This Episode?
Ashley’s experience underscores the importance of adapting in-person engagement techniques to digital formats. In both recruitment and advancement, there’s immense value in making students and alumni feel connected to the institution, even from afar. Ashley’s mantra—if you ask for advice, you get support—is a lesson that resonates across all levels of higher education marketing. Her story highlights the power of innovation and adaptability, reminding us that challenging times often bring about groundbreaking solutions.
About the Enrollify Podcast Network:
Talking Tactics is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Our podcast network is growing by the month and we’ve got a plethora of marketing, admissions, and higher ed technology shows that are jam-packed with stories, ideas, and frameworks all designed to empower you to be a better higher ed professional. Our shows feature a selection of the industry’s best as your hosts. Learn from Jeremy Tiers, Zach Busekrus, Jaime Hunt, Allison Turcio, Jamie Gleason, and many more.
Learn more about The Enrollify Podcast Network at podcasts.enrollify.org. Our shows help higher ed marketers and admissions professionals find their next big idea — come and find yours!
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