System failures?

I tend to want to make order out of chaos, so it’s not uncommon that I read two articles and find correlation. This morning it was Friedman’s piece in the New York Times, “The New Untouchables” and a very small note from the Bozeman Chronicle in Bozeman Montana “Montana regents look to reinvent university system.”

What Friedman points out is that the current recession may have its roots at least partially in the failures of the education system. The Chronicle article is about yet another effort for someone who is at least somewhat outside the system to encourage reform around the idea of student outcomes and what is best for the state.

I think both Todd Buchanan, the Montana Regent in charge of the effort and Friedman find a point of agreement when they say education in America must be reformed. I want to be careful to say that the failures in education are not the failures of educators, but rather a failure of a system that doesn’t work.

Nobody likes to fix systems. It is messy work. It’s like comparing plumbing with cooking. Fixing systems is like plumbing. Nobody really wants to do it but it has to be done and the consequences of not doing it are terrible. It’s messy, grimy work and at the end of the day the person only knows that the water flows the same way it did before. They don’t realize the damage that was occurring behind the walls, the plumber just fixed things and made it work the way it was supposed to.

Compare that with cooking which many people enjoy. It is creative and while it is messy everyone can see the work that goes into it, and when it goes well you have created something that people eat and are satisfied with. Teaching or any front line profession is a little more like that. I’m not saying teachers are paid enough, or get enough recognition but I am saying that when your kids goes into the classroom and you see that individuals life broadened and you see their progress you know something is happening. At some level you can demonstrate it in the life of one child, and that is enough to rally people around.

The problem is that we don’t do enough plumbing, and the wonderful smells from the kitchen are covering up the rot underneath. It’s time to figure out a way to tackle systems without sacking the folks involved. This will require a level of maturity few of us have (myself included).
We desperately need those inside industries like insurance, education, and others that may be broken to stand up and say, yes we can do better. We need to be honest about challenges and then work on actually fixing them.

The great professors and teachers can make any system work and they do. But in a way, they to become victims of their good work because everyone looks and says, “See it works.” The problem is the system is failing too often.

I think this analogy applies a lot of places.

Picking up Harvards crumbs

The article in today’s New York Times “Leaner Times at Harvard: No Cookies” is like a dispatch from a foreign planet. I’m from the west, and I learned long ago that means my ideas about higher education are very different than those in the east. Additionally, I have spent most of my career nearer the other end of the education spectrum where first generation college students studied to find jobs to take families from poverty to prosperity, not from prosperity to prosperity.

I don’t begrudge Harvard students their hot breakfast. At a recent staff meeting on our campus the attendance was at all time high, and people were visibly excited (me included) because we had been promised breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day.

However, once again what happens at Harvard overshadows the entire higher education landscape. It seems like the Ivy’s always do, and media equate the Ivy’s with higher education in general. By sheer numbers of students this couldn’t be any further from the truth. Most of the teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, and entrepreneurs that will shape this century are toiling away at state schools, community colleges, and dare I say it – some are even in for profit online programs.

This focus on the Ivy’s is a pretty significant problem for those of us in marketing and public relations. The big stories are usually about these schools. We have to spend time talking to people who think our faculty are paid too much, our football teams get special treatment, and our students are pampered because news by its very nature is always reporting at the edges, nowhere near the reality of most campuses.

It seems to further my theory that the future for us may be in more and more direct efforts with our stakeholders. It also means that most of us should never, ever, use the “Harvard on the X” analogy when talking about who we want to be. They don’t even get cookies at faculty meetings.

P.S. Posted at 2 p.m.: Since I took the NY Times to task for their focus on Harvard I should also link this very interesting essay by Paul Krugman that in a way makes the point that we are somehow missing the forest through the trees when it comes to higher education in America.

Using Insights to shape Facebook page content

In an earlier post, I wrote about how Facebook usernames help grow brand fan pages. As a postscript, the growth of our university's fan base continued through the month of September. The page reached 2,000 fans on October 8. That's 500 new fans in three weeks, or an overall increase of 286% since the page's username was implemented in midsummer.



Given the size of our enrollment and alumni base, I expect the growth to plateau. But meanwhile, I have found the composition of our fan base fascinating. The group skews female (57%). The age demographics are even more interesting. According our Insights report:

18% are potential future college students, ages 13-17.
32% are currently of traditional college age, 18-24.
25% are probably recent alumni, ages 25-34
11% are ages 25-44
9% are ages 45-54
4% are ages 55+

These statistics have been remarkably stable since June. They did not change significantly even after we added Facebook buttons to our campus portal (for current students) or Admissions page (for prospective students).

The age demographics have made me reconsider how we shape our Facebook page content. We need to keep the material aimed at prospective students, but we need to add more material designed to serve current students and alumni.

About half of our fans live within a two-hour drive of the university. That's important to note when using Facebook to promote special events, such as concerts or athletic competitions. Facebook allows simple segmentation of updates sent to fans. We can shape our communication stream appropriately, routinely inviting those who live nearby but not sending spammy invitations to those far away. (Of course, Homecoming invitations will go worldwide!)

I would like your suggestions about Facebook content for the 25-44 population -- the largest segment of our fan base. If you fall into that category, what kind of resources would you like to see added to your alma mater's Facebook page? Wall posts about alumni, faculty, and student achievements are a natural. What else should be added to the standing content on the other sections -- for example, the Boxes tab or the Events tab?

Post a comment and share your thoughts.

Inside Higher Education ran a piece on Monday that proves that faculty gets a fair amount of their nutrition biting the hand that feeds them. Their review of “Wanna-Be U” is interesting, and highlights a problem that most university relations people have to face at some point.

While, I have no idea if the book has merits, there aren’t a lot of industries where you could write a thinly veiled criticism of your employer and expect that there wouldn’t be consequences. In this case, there will probably be accolades.

For me, it highlights the importance of internal communication and the reality that because of the unique nature of university governance and tenure 100% support is not a goal any of us are going to achieve.

I also find that this is good for me to reflect on, because I seem to find myself most disappointed by the criticism within rather than from without. I’m not too frustrated when those outside of the academy don’t understand and see it as a challenge to communicate. I tend to get frustrated by those inside the walls are unwilling or unable to support the institution.

Of course there is room for disagreement, but in presenting a face to stakeholders outside the university singing from the same sheet of music goes a long way.