The magic of when institutions get it right...

I visited my first Campus Management customer recently and it reminded me of how exhilarating it is to experience an institution that “get’s it right”.

What do I mean by “gets it right?”. Well, it’s not just one thing. I’ll suggest it’s a combination of the following:

• There’s a unifying institutional vision and culture that’s real. One you can sense. It's palpable...  It manifests itself in how the faculty, students, and staff interact with each other. There's a mutual respect that comes from the understanding that all are part of a greater purpose.
• There’s an undeniable focus on the student. Everything is built to foster their success. The right people, excellent academic programs, efficient processes, and supportive technology are all in place to help the student achieve their objective.
• Institutional leadership is naturally inspirational, but they understand that’s not enough. They realize their institution is a complex enterprise that needs to operate like a well oiled machine. Vision and strategy are not sufficient, execution is king. 
• There’s an understanding of the role data plays in reaching difficult, strategic, and sometimes unpopular decisions. They invest in the people and systems required, spend the time to understand the data, and are open minded to accept unanticipated alternatives supported by analysis.

Based on my experience, which is by no means a scientific analysis, most institutions have one of these characteristics, many have two, a relatively few have three, and it's rare for all four to be actively in place. Therefore, it’s a real treat to engage with one of these rare schools.

Enough of a preamble, which institution generated this reaction? It was Lancaster Bible College, practically in my back yard.

Lancaster Bible College was mentioned countless times in my first few days at Campus Management so it was a no-brainer to tag along when the opportunity presented itself to visit with our Regional Account Manager.

While many similar schools are struggling today, LBC is thriving. They’ve grown to approximately 2,000 students across five locations and it was easy to see why.  All four of the above characteristics were on full display during our informal visit.  This wasn’t a dog & pony show for visiting dignitaries, it was real. Three things made an impression on me. 

• The first was a conversation with their Sr VP for Student Services where he explained their ongoing drive to create “relationship heroes”.  Simply put, by simplifying & automating routine processes and putting the appropriate information in the hands of students & staff, it enables student encounters to be relationship building vs. transactional moments.
• The second was a quick demonstration of their Microsoft Power BI generated balanced scorecard used to govern the institution. Leadership has the data they need at their fingertips to accurately assess the academic and financial health of the institution. Most presidential cabinets I know would be ecstatic to have this type data available to them in such a user friendly and readily accessible format.
• The third was the business savvy of the LBC leadership team. They spoke of revenue growth, return on investment, customer satisfaction, process efficiency, program management, acquisition strategy, and continuous quality improvement. There was a time in Higher Education where these skills would not have necessarily been viewed as a must have asset. But, being able to manage both the academic and business side of an institution is crucial in today’s challenging times.

It was a delightful day, one I will remember for a long time.  I walked away energized to do my best to help other institutions reach this level.

I’m somewhat ashamed that I wasn’t aware of this gem on an institution situated less than an hour from my home, but I’m happy to have become acquainted and I look forward to contributing to our evolving partnership!