Meeting Highlights December 2011

Industry Advisory Council
Chicago
Dec. 11, 2011

Present Members: Fred Weiss (chair), Robert Burdenski, Moyra Doyle, Brenda Foster, Robert Gluck, William Weber, Cynthia Woolbright

Present CASE staff: John Lippincott, Ron Mattocks, Lori Woehrle

Highlights

I. Call to Order, Welcome and Introductions – Mr. Weiss called the meeting to order at 9 a.m. and welcomed members, who introduced themselves.

II. State of CASE – Mr. Lippincott talked about the “state of CASE” and noted that the organization is on very solid financial footing. Highlights:

• As of Nov. 1, 2011, CASE had 3,464 institutional members, 77 more than at the same time the previous year and the largest number in the history of CASE.
• North American conference registrations for the first half of FY12 were 2,305 against a budget of 2,311 (99.7 percent of budget).
• Revenue on Oct. 31, 2011 was $10.49 million versus a budget of $9.96 million, or up 5 percent over the same time last year, and revenue net of expenses was $4.74 million, against a budget of $4.77 million.

Mr. Lippincott outlined some recent CASE activity supporting the CASE strategic initiatives of growth in target markets, recruitment of staff, advocacy, internationalized services and leadership resources. He focused on two.

For growth in targeted markets, CASE is actively building out its Center for Community College Advancement that is creating specialized resources specifically for community colleges. The response has been positive, with the program reaching its year-one membership goal in three months.

Mr. Weiss asked about the Center’s relationship with the Council for Resource Development (CRD), a group affiliated with the American Association of Community Colleges that works with community colleges. Mr. Lippincott noted that historically the CRD has focused specifically on grant making, not advancement. He said CASE has approached the CRD leadership about collaboration, but to-date, no formal agreement between the two groups is in place.

On the advocacy front, CASE has ramped up activities on Capitol Hill related to protecting the tax deduction for charitable giving and is partnering with several organizations that represent nonprofits to do so.

Mr. Lippincott reported on several new ventures that were approved by the CASE board in July. One is CASE América Latina.  CASE is working on América Latina’s legal status, taking the necessary steps to incorporate.  CASE has established a volunteer Latina advisory group and there is the prospect for external funding to jumpstart activities there, Mr. Lippincott reported.

A second venture is Peer Advancement Review, in which CASE volunteers, at the request of an institution, would conduct a review of advancement activities as a one-time engagement.  The program would focus on peer assessment and would more resemble an accreditation visit than a consulting visit, Mr. Lippincott reported.

He said CASE has been conducting focus groups, assembling an ad hoc advisory committee, getting input from the  commissions and the board, with an eye toward launching the program early in 2012.

Ms. Woolbright asked about the marketing strategy and for whom the review would be conducted. Mr. Lippincott noted that the review would be for the institution and the outcome would be directional in nature. Mr. Mattocks stated that the Peer Review is ideal for institutions that want an evaluation of their advancement systems and may not yet know what questions to ask of a consultant; since CASE will not be getting into the consulting business, the Peer Review report sets the stage for follow up by consultants, thereby creating opportunities for Educational Partners.

In terms of other activities, CASE is receiving a $450,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation to support activities in Africa; is conducting a thorough review of its awards program – particularly in terms of how the program connects with the awards programs sponsored by the Districts; is reviewing an approach to member services in the form of account management; has received a clean financial audit for FY11; and recently hired a new vice president for international operations – Amir Pasic – who will work from the Washington, DC, office.

III. Program Updates – Ms. Woehrle updated the council on two programs: upcoming changes to the Educational Partner benefits; and finalization of protocols related to Educational Partner engagement in district conferences as exhibitors, sponsors, and speakers.

On changes to the Educational Partner program benefits, Ms. Woehrle outlined the new Platinum-level status that starting in January 2012 will be conferred on companies that spend $75,000 or more across CASE in a year. The first three firms earning Platinum status based on their FY11 spending are Harris Connect, RuffaloCODY, and Blackbaud.

Platinum-level benefits include an invitation to one CASE board dinner annually (in conjunction with the March board meeting); the ability to name an unlimited number of Company Partner Representatives; the ability to choose an unlimited number of product/service categories; three links from the renamed Yellow Pages to company-produced content; and the opportunity to distribute company-produced podcasts through Advancement Talk, CASE’s monthly podcast.

She noted that CASE will be changing the name of the Yellow Pages to Buyer’s Guide in 2012, as well as taking steps to strengthen its usability. Further, CASE will eliminate three fees in 2012: fees for longer company description, additional links, and additional addresses.

On speaking protocols, Ms. Woehrle said the District Chairs Council adopted the draft protocols that were distributed to and discussed by the IAC in July.

By way of background, Mr. Weiss noted that the District Chairs/IAC Joint Task Force was created in July 2010 to review Educational Partner engagement in district conferences as exhibitors, sponsors, and speakers. The task force developed recommendations for common protocols to enhance the engagement experience for both the districts and the Educational Partners.

Among the protocols is a protocol to disconnect speaking opportunities from a requirement to sponsor a conference if the speaker works for a for-profit company.

Ms. Woolbright asked whether the work of the task force is complete, and Mr. Weiss answered affirmatively. She said there were more areas of concern that a joint task force could address, and Mr. Mattocks noted that the District Chairs Council seemed very receptive to continuing a dialog with the IAC.

Mr. Mattocks reported on another initiative that emanated from the IAC when former member Duane Jasper asked whether CASE could develop a mechanism for automatically providing conference registration lists to exhibitors and sponsors.

Mr. Mattocks reported that CASE is reviewing a draft online exhibitor registration system designed for standard conferences managed from the Washington, DC, office as well as District conferences. The registration system would allow exhibitors to download the attendee lists approximately two weeks prior to conferences so they would no longer need to wait for lists to be distributed.

IV. Role, Activities of IAC – Mr. Weiss noted the following concerning the makeup and role of the IAC:

• The IAC is made up of 15 members from Educational Partner companies
• Its role is in part is to identify industry trends that CASE needs to be aware of
• The IAC has a liaison to the CASE board of trustees who is a nonvoting member of the board and who is encouraged to participate in two committees: the member service committee and the committee on the profession
• While the liaison is a nonvoting member, he or she participates in all board discussions except for those held in executive session.
• The board liaison is a one-year term that Mr. Weiss holds currently, and the liaison is expected to update the IAC on board activities.

For his board update, Mr. Weiss said most of the November 2011 board activities were covered by Mr. Lippincott’s report, and he added two board actions:

• Approved CASE's 2012 U.S. legislative agenda, which includes efforts to preserve the value of the charitable tax deduction and extend the IRA charitable rollover
• Conditionally endorsed national guidelines for assuring the quality of student outcomes in higher education as developed by the New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability pending clarification regarding other endorsements

VII. Standards of Behavior – Mr. Weiss asked for discussion around the concept of the IAC creating or endorsing standards of behavior for Educational Partners. One topic might be creating guidelines for speaking at conferences.

Ms. Doyle noted that an equivalent body related to the CASE Europe operations had the same discussion and generated such guidelines.

Mr. Weber noted that he had an experience whereby he has served on a District conference committee for many years, and recently was uninvited from the committee. He wondered whether that was a new policy and why that was happening.

Ms. Woehrle will gather up draft protocols/guidelines from various sources (CASE International, CASE Europe, and some Districts) for the IAC to consider as models or starting places for developing speaking guidelines. Ms. Woolbright, Mr. Weber, and Ms. Foster offered to review the materials as a starting place for the IAC to develop a set of guidelines.

VIII. Horizon Issues – Mr. Weiss asked the group for horizon issues that they believe should be addressed. He asked about the implications of the growth of online learning globally, and what it means as online students without traditional on-campus and residential experiences grow in number?

He also asked whether the IAC should take on calculating the size and scope of the advancement industry. There was a significant amount of interest expressed on this topic, but time for further discussion was limited.

IX. Adjournment – Mr. Weiss adjourned the meeting at 11:30 am.