2012 NAICU Annual Meeting Schedule

January 29 - February 1, 2012

 

Sunday, January 29

• 1:00 - 2:00
  ♦ Reinventing College Communications for the Digital Age
  Kevin Manning, President, Stevenson University (Md.)
  
  Communications channels and organizations' interaction with their audiences have changed profoundly in recent years.  Too often, though, long-standing college public relations, marketing, and communications priorities and structure have just been tweaked, rather than rethought.  This session will look at a small university that is undertaking a full reinvention of how it relates to its constituencies, and of the structure and functions needed for today's and tomorrow's communications environment.
  
  
• 2:15 - 3:15
  ♦ Things to Watch - in Higher Education and Beyond - for 2012
  Jeff Selingo, Vice President and Editorial Director, The Chronicle of Higher Education   
  
  All new years are filled with uncertainty, but the coming one could be an award winner - with a presidential election, still more economic turmoil, and a dramatically shifting higher education terrain just for starters.  One of higher education's most astute and insightful observers will peer over the horizon to give you a sense of not just what's likely to happen, but what it all will mean for your institution.
  
  
• 3:30 - 4:30
  ♦ Anticipate and Prepare:  Why and How to Manage Crises Before they Happen
  John Seigenthaler, CEO, Seigenthaler Public Relations, New York City
  
  No two crises are the same; neither are the organizations that experience them. Those that take the time to prepare for crises are better positioned to handle them correctly - quickly and proactively. This session will cover the foundational principles of crisis management and will outline crisis communications plans that any college or small university can put into place immediately. Ideally, with preparation, organizations can address consequences internally so that negative events don't escalate publicly. Or, at a minimum, they can limit damage to public confidence and even transform situations from negative to positive by effectively navigating public and media interaction.

Monday, January 30

• Cutting Edge Advocacy:  What are the Newest and Best Practices when Making a Case in Washington?
  Jeff Mascott, Managing Partner, Adfero Group
  Moderator:  Tony Pals, Director of Communications, NAICU
  
  Jeff Mascott is an innovator in combining modern technology and communications tools with some old-fashioned approaches he learned when working on Capitol Hill, to help improve advocacy. Formerly an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies, Jeff now heads up a strategic communications firm in Washington, D.C. This one-hour introductory course into modern advocacy techniques is certain to give us all new ideas on how to make the case for our colleges and universities. 
  
  
• Case Studies from Campus:  A look Behind Three Colleges' Advocacy Efforts
  Jennifer Tani, Director, Community Engagement, Roosevelt University
  Phil Hale, Vice President of Government Relations, Loyola University Chicago
  Deb Bloom, Executive Director of Government Affairs, Davenport University
  
  Roosevelt University launched a Pell, YES! Campaign; Loyola Chicago gathered thousands of signatures for the Student Aid Alliance's Statement to the Super Committee campaign, and Davenport University made the Capitol Hill rounds through a special fly-in visit to Washington.  Three campus government relations pros will offer a behind-the-scenes look at how each institution organized its differing efforts. 
  
  
• NAICU Issue Quick Takes
  Maureen Budetti, Director of Student Aid Policy
  Stephanie Giesecke, Director of Budget and Student Aid Funding
  Susan Hattan, Senior Consultant
  Karin Johns, Director of Tax Policy
  
  In focused mini-sessions, NAICU Government Relations staff members will provide background and the current state of play on the federal budget, student aid, tax legislation, teacher education reform, and the growing regulatory burden on colleges and universities. 
  
  
• What Every College Needs to Know about Lobbying Compliance and 990s
  Luncheon Speaker:  C. Randall Nuckolls, Partner, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP 
  While most larger universities have become well versed in recent changes to lobbying requirements, many smaller colleges are still unaware of which lobbying rules pertain to them -- especially in relation to new questions on IRS Form 990.  While the topic may be confusing, no one is better at clarifying the impossible than our speaker. 
  Luncheon sponsored by:

Tuesday, January 31

• ♦ FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
  Concord Room - Ballroom level 
  
  George Dehne, President, GDA Integrated Services
  Christopher Small, Executive Vice President, GDA Integrated Services
  
  In which on-campus facilities should you invest? Where is online learning headed?  Which small colleges will flourish in the years ahead?  What do students expect in an excellent teacher?  How much tuition discount is too much?  Will the emphasis on merit scholarship continue?  How do prospective students evaluate "quality" when making a college choice?  What is this "value proposition" everyone is talking about?  How will the role of the college president change in the future?  We will address these and other questions as well as take questions from the audience.
  
  
• ♦ Why Colleges Can't Brand
  Bunker Hill - Ballroom level
  
  Elizabeth Scarborough, CEO, SimpsonScarborough
  
  Effective branding requires a simple, focused brand message and an integrated approach to marketing and communications - not to mention a great deal of institutional will to break through our natural silos.  For many institutions, organizational structure, budgeting strategy, lack of data, visual identity challenges, personality problems, and an inability to measure marketing ROI are standing in the way of great branding.  In this session, we'll frame these challenges and discuss how to overcome them to ultimately reveal that colleges can, should, and must brand in order to achieve our recruitment, development, and image-building goals.
  
  
• ♦ On Being Presidential
  Bryce Room - Second floor Conference level; access via Lobby level
  
  Susan Resneck Pierce, President, SRP Consulting, LLP
  
  Based on her seven years of consulting for colleges and universities, her decades as a college administrator including eleven years as a college president and her research for her new book, On Being Presidential: A Guide for College and University Leaders published by Jossey-Bass and sponsored by Inside Higher Ed, Susan Resneck Pierce will describe ways that presidents can most effectively work with their boards and their senior administrative teams.  This session will include ample time for questions and discussion.
  
  
• Presidential Compensation in 2012: Improving Your Contract
  Regency D Ballroom - Ballroom level
  
  Raymond D. Cotton, Vice President for Strategic Higher Education, ML Strategies, LLC
  
  Discuss the 2012 status of presidential contracts and compensation with the foremost legal expert in the field, who has negotiated more presidential contracts than any other attorney in the U.S.  This session will focus on setting the president's salary, performance bonuses, deferred compensation, spousal compensation, and post-presidential employment. Please bring your questions!
  
  
• ♦ Improving Your Market Position in These Turbulent Times
  Lexington Room - Ballroom level
  
  Robert A. Sevier, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Stamats
  Eric Sickler, Associate Vice President for Client Services at Stamats
  Larry D. Large, President, Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges and Universities
  
  Over the past several months, a number of reporting agencies including Moody's and Standard and Poors have issued status reports about the declining market position of America's colleges and universities. More than just finance, these reports articulate concerns about mission, management and governance, cost, curriculum, and other issues.  In response, we developed a session with two overarching goals:  to outline the relatively small number of variables that significantly affect market position, and then to discuss a specific set of recommendations that can help improve your school's market position.
  
  
• ♦ Building and Scaling - Best Practices for Online Program Development and Implementation 
  Regency B Ballroom - Ballroom level
  
  David L. Clinefelter, Chief Academic Officer, The Learning House, Inc.
  
  The processes around creating new online programs, as well as scaling and growing existing ones can be challenging no matter what your experience. This session will walk through the steps and processes necessary to create and scale high quality online programs. Topics will include the latest thinking in curriculum development, marketing and enrollment management best practices, the need for professional development and instructor training, as well as needs in technology and faculty and student support. The Learning House has been working with accredited colleges and universities for over eleven years helping support the growth of their online programs.
  
  
• ♦ Now That You Are a Fiduciary Over Your Retirement Plan, Are You Doing Everything You Need?
  Regency C Ballroom - Ballroom level
  
  Daniel Carr, Managing Director & National Practice Leader for Higher Education, Diversified Investment Advisors
  
  Retirement plan management can entail overseeing multiple vendors, understanding intricate compliance and testing requirements, selecting investment options for plan participants, and juggling fiduciary responsibilities - all while helping your faculty and staff maximize their retirement savings. Now that plan sponsors for private colleges and universities are considered a fiduciary over their retirement plan, we will review information that you need to be aware of, as well as the trends and best practices in private higher ed retirement plans. This discussion will help you think about changes you may want to make or priorities you want to set within your own retirement plan.

• The 19th Annual NAICU Award for Advocacy of Independent Higher Education
  Recipient: The United Technologies Corporation
  Awarded for the extraordinary commitment the corporation as a whole has demonstrated, through its Employee Scholar Program, to the transformative power of higher education. This year, the 16th anniversary of the program, UTC's Employee Scholar Program will exceed a landmark investment of $1 billion in employer-provided educational assistance since its inception.
  
  
• The 26th Annual Henry Paley Memorial Award
  Recipient: Patricia A. McGuire, President, Trinity Washington University
  Awarded for President McGuire's accomplishments in making Trinity Washington University a model of private, nonprofit higher education serving a public purpose, and for her service as a tireless and effective voice of American colleges and universities in the federal public policy arena. 

• ♦ FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
  Concord Room - Ballroom level
  
  George Dehne, President, GDA Integrated Services
  Christopher Small, Executive Vice President, GDA Integrated Services 
   
  
• ♦ Why Colleges Can't Brand
  Bunker Hill - Ballroom level
  
  Elizabeth Scarborough, CEO, SimpsonScarborough
  
  
• ♦ On Being Presidential
  Olympic Room - Second floor Conference level; access via Lobby level
  
  Susan Resneck Pierce, President, SRP Consulting, LLP 
   
  
• Presidential Compensation in 2012: Improving Your Contract
  Columbia Foyer - Ballroom level
  
  Raymond D. Cotton, Vice President for Strategic Higher Education, ML Strategies, LLC 
   
  
• ♦ Improving Your Market Position in These Turbulent Times
  Lexington Room - Ballroom level
  
  Robert A. Sevier, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Stamats
  Eric Sickler, Associate Vice President for Client Services at Stamats
  Larry D. Large, President, Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges and Universities
  
  
• ♦ Building and Scaling - Best Practices for Online Program Development and Implementation 
  Congressional C/D - Lobby level
  
  David L. Clinefelter, Chief Academic Officer, The Learning House, Inc.

Wednesday, February 1