E1 - Recruitment Is Personal. Your Communications Should Be Too.
Session Description
Ferrum College and Spark451 have partnered over the past two years with great success in expanding and enhancing the College's recruitment marketing and communication strategy. Through the use of data augmentation, institutionally-branded creative, and dynamic content messaging, Ferrum has not only increased their application numbers, but reshaped the size and makeup of their incoming class. We'll discuss the best practices strategies that provide a scalable, hyper-personalized communication stream for recruiting today's Gen Z audience.
Target audience
Postsecondary
Submitter
James Pennix, Ferrum College
Presenters
Pete Colbert, Spark451
Brief biographical sketch, to include educational background
Pete joined the team at Spark451 in the summer of 2016. Since arriving at Spark, he has partnered with over a dozen colleges and universities from Maine to Montana assisting them in growing and strengthening their recruitment strategies, and fine tuning their prospective student communications.
As a seasoned veteran of higher education admissions and recruitment marketing, Pete has served in leadership roles at three small, private liberal arts colleges in Virginia and Louisiana. He is well versed in student search strategy, as well as marketing messaging and recruitment best practices. He has a track record of success in helping to enroll record incoming classes at multiple institutions throughout a career focused on providing unparalleled personal attention and heartfelt guidance to students and colleagues alike.
Pete earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from Roanoke College in 2001 prior to beginning his career in admissions at his alma mater in 2003. He and his family currently reside in Pete's hometown of Virginia Beach. His wife, Cherilyn is an adjunct professor of Graphic Design at ODU (where the Norfolk office of Spark451 is also located) and his children are in 10th and 5th grades in Virginia Beach Public Schools.
James Pennix, MSW, Ferrum College
Brief biographical sketch, to include educational background
James has served as the VPEM at Ferrum College since August 2017. He oversees the Office of Admission and the Financial Aid office. His primary responsibility is the development and implementation of the strategic enrollment plan at Ferrum. Prior to joining Ferrum College, James served as the Dean of Admissions and the AVP for Enrollment Management at Radford University for seven years. He began his admissions career at his alma mater, Roanoke College, in 2001 and served as the Director of Admissions for 3 years before departing to Radford University in 2010.
James considers himself a very unique enrollment professional because he loves his job and the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of young people. He has been a servant leader throughout his professional career and remains excited to serve students in the attainment of higher education. James has worked in higher education for 20 years. He worked as an assistant basketball coach at Roanoke College prior to joining the admissions department in 2001.
James received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Roanoke College and his Masters in Social Work from Radford University. He is currently working on a Doctorate (EDD) in Higher Education Leadership at Walden University. James has been married to Lisa Belcher Pennix for 18 years. They have three sons: Damian (28 years old), Jamie (17 years old), and Jordan (15 years old). Those who know James would agree with his favorite description of himself, “I am blessed to be a blessing to young people."