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Conshohocken, PA July 24, 2012
Two colleges that have relied on exceptional teamwork to overcome enormous challenges are the 2012 recipients of TargetX's prestigious X Award, given annually to institutions or individuals that have done the most to "overthrow dead culture" in college admissions.
Kettering University in Michigan and Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama were honored at the recent Xpert Summit hosted by TargetX, one of the top student-recruiting companies serving higher education.
Birmingham-Southern is a top-tier liberal arts college that found itself in financial crisis in 2010. Much of the responsibility for turning around the situation fell to the admissions staff.
"They rolled up their sleeves and worked together as never before," said TargetX VP Jeff Kallay, who made the presentation at the Xpert Summit users conference in Las Vegas. "They kept their faith in BSC and in each other. They chose to dig in, knowing the greatness of BSC would triumph. And they did it all in true Southern style."
Kallay, who has worked with the Birmingham-Southern staff for many years, suggested the inscription on the school's award: "For Keeping the Faith."
The wording on Kettering's award is similarly appropriate, said TargetX CEO Brian Wm. Niles while making the presentation to members of the admissions staff. "For Firing on All Cylinders," he said about the nationally-respected cooperative education school whose history is deeply tied to the development of the American automobile industry.
Kettering University is considered one of the country?s premier engineering, science and business schools dedicated to cooperative education and experiential learning, and has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top co-op schools in the nation. But it is also located in the Michigan city of Flint, which government officials concede is in the middle of a financial emergency. This presents an enormous challenge to a recruiting staff that is trying to attract students from around the country and the world.
"Only by working together as a team could Kettering meet its aggressive recruiting goals," said Niles. "They implemented new technology and embraced change during a very successful year."
The X Award was created by TargetX in 2007 as a way to recognize revolutionary marketing efforts by the nation's admissions offices. The first winner was Hendrix College, followed by Albright College in 2008, California Lutheran University in 2009, Spelman College in 2010 and Saint Leo University last year.
In 2009, the company decided to also recognize an admissions officer for individual achievement and presented the award to Stonehill College's Christopher Lydon, followed in 2010 by Bryan Lester of the Sage Colleges, and last year by Furman University's Brad Pochard.
For 2012, the intent was to recognize the critical importance of teamwork in a challenging environment for higher education, and to present two institutional awards. "While individual leadership is still important, it takes teams working together to be successful today," said Niles. "The two winners this year are perfect examples of teams dealing with challenges, embracing change and heading in the right direction."
TargetX has the credentials to present an award for revolutionary marketing. The company spearheaded the student recruiting revolution in 1998 when it was founded to help higher education take advantage of the power of email to communicate with prospective students. Since then, it has continually developed new and more effective technology tools for admissions offices -- culminating in a cloud-based CRM system that helps colleges manage, integrate and automate student recruitment from the first point of contact through enrollment.
More recently, TargetX decided to build on its success with recruitment CRM and announced that it is expanding into the advancement and student-retention areas with two new cloud-based CRM tools.
"TargetX has been at the forefront of recognizing and responding to the needs of colleges as they struggle with marketing challenges," said Niles, "which is why we feel empowered to recognize their successes and reward them for a job well done."
About TargetX
TargetX is a unique higher education company that offers both technology tools and consulting services to help colleges build relationships with their most important constituencies, including prospective students, current students, alumni and potential donors. Founded in 1998 on the belief that colleges need to change the way they communicate with prospects and their families, TargetX has been a leader in managing change in higher education and embracing the concept of the experience in higher-ed marketing.
To learn more, visit http://www.targetx.com
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