We Admit!

Setting New School Year Resolutions with Debby Murphy

September 20, 2022 AISAP Season 3 Episode 1
We Admit!
Setting New School Year Resolutions with Debby Murphy
Show Notes Transcript

Season 3 of WeAdmit! kicks off with state-of-the-industry insights from AISAP's own Debby Murphy. As Director of Learning and Member Engagement, Debby utilizes over 25 years of admission and enrollment experience to develop programming geared toward your professional success. Tune in for her advice on the new school year and adjusting to the post-COVID independent school landscape.

00;00;00;10 - 00;00;34;12
Janice Crampton
This is WeAdmit! by AISAP, the podcast where we share true stories from admission and enrollment professionals. I'm your host, Janice Crampton, executive director and CEO. Well, hello, everyone, and welcome to this episode of WeAdmit! In some ways, this WeAdmit! podcast, this particular session is going to in many ways best be described as we admit there are so many questions, so little time.

00;00;35;04 - 00;01;00;17
Janice Crampton
And I'm joined today by my wonderful friend and colleague Debby Murphy, who so many of you know not only in her professional capacity, but you have met her at our annual institutes as the person who facilitates our certificate for admission and enrollment cohort group through our conversation with colleagues. My gosh, Debby, when are you not interfacing with an AISAP person, right?

00;01;00;17 - 00;01;15;10
Debby Murphy
As you know, Janice, and as everyone knows out there, I love the interactions and love the interface with AISAP members and with admissions professionals. So all good.

00;01;15;17 - 00;01;44;03
Janice Crampton
There you go. Debby and I can get. Yes, that's right. That's right. Well, and Debby, you and I have have oftentimes talked about, you know, you meet someone in the grocery store, right. And they're like, so what do you do? And the next thing you know, you're talking about mission and vision. And I think that for many of those professionals out there listening who do this admission and enrollment work, that is a that is a common theme or experience, someone will say, well, tell me about.

00;01;44;03 - 00;01;48;00
Janice Crampton
And the next thing you know, you're talking about your school in the frozen food section. So.

00;01;48;15 - 00;02;09;28
Debby Murphy
Yeah, I I think for those years when I worked in independent school admissions, the poor person who met me in the grocery store line because by about 30 seconds into it, I would always say, do you have children and what ages are they and do they where do they go to school? And God forbid I, you know, started down that path of like selling it, selling my school at that point so.

00;02;10;12 - 00;02;21;07
Janice Crampton
Or or for that matter, doing, doing some type of assessment. Right. Doing the little gazelle. Yeah. And the complete man please take...

00;02;21;07 - 00;02;23;02
Debby Murphy
What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? Yeah.

00;02;23;17 - 00;02;43;06
Janice Crampton
Oh, my gosh. Hey, you know, again, we shouldn't assume that everyone knows your background. And experience, so why don't you give us the Reader's Digest version? Because, again, it really does help to frame why I and why many of us here in this world know that you truly are an expert in this industry.

00;02;43;26 - 00;03;16;18
Debby Murphy
Well, the fun fact and the true beginning all the way back to, you know, my first year out of college was that I really wanted to be a broadcast journalist and do reporting. And very quickly got into that field and realized there wasn't a lot of mission and vision and values attached to that and stumbled upon really the admission world from being a head tour guide at Andover.

00;03;16;18 - 00;03;43;15
Debby Murphy
When I was a student here back in 1986 and came back, you know, in 1991 to do what I thought was going to be a teaching fellow a year at Andover, working in the admission office. And, you know, 24 years later I departed from Andover after 17 years in the admission office and seven years as the director of Alumni Engagement.

00;03;43;15 - 00;04;05;16
Debby Murphy
So wonderful, wonderful years. I then went on to the Nashoba Brooks School, which is a K through eighth grade school, and experienced admission and enrollment as the assistant head for advancement and enrollment and from a whole different perspective with the little ones and the challenges that go with with K through eight schools and admission enrollment in those areas.

00;04;05;16 - 00;04;54;22
Debby Murphy
So all good. As I said to to you Janice, I think when I came back to AISAP after my years sort of in the development roles which were all really important roles and I learned so much, but my heart belongs to the admission world and my people are in the admission world. So it's a little bit like I'd come home when I came back to AISAP and there is a certain language and mindset and dare I say even personality that people have and I don't mean outgoing and chatty and all of that, but just a certain mindset that people who are in this space have.

00;04;54;22 - 00;04;59;16
Debby Murphy
And I feel a real connection with that. So it's been really fun. Yeah.

00;04;59;16 - 00;05;24;13
Janice Crampton
Well, we definitely feel a connection to you. And for those of you who are again listening and wondering, wait, hold it, is this WeAdmit! podcast session a love fest between the two of us? Yeah, it is. Because again, you truly are an anchor for this association and have served in so many ways of making a dent in the universe, as we say.

00;05;24;22 - 00;05;52;01
Janice Crampton
Let's get started by way of just things that you have seen and trends that you are highlighting and noting. And again, serve that context up as a way for us to maybe answer some of these questions that keep coming up in our community forum or in some of our sessions. You know, you mentioned personality and art and science.

00;05;53;00 - 00;06;17;09
Janice Crampton
You're so close to it because you do it every day. But the learning and development framework for AISAP highlights certain competencies and professional behaviors. Do you feel that there are certain aspects of this urban myth when I think about hiring that we really need to put front and center?

00;06;18;27 - 00;06;48;14
Debby Murphy
Yeah, I do. I mean, I think over the past ten years and obviously you insert COVID in there as this major disruptor that shifted a lot for the for the profession. And obviously for independent schools in general. But I think over the last ten years, admission professionals have really been forced to move from, the like,

00;06;48;28 - 00;07;37;11
Debby Murphy
"Here we go. Let's let the process unfold. And we're off and running," to being really intentional and strategic and planful and proactive and that, as we know from COVID, it doesn't always go without disruption in your plans. The best laid plans sometimes get disrupted. But inserting into the admission professionals toolbox this idea of strategic planning, obviously using data to help identify trends, but also predictions and really projections is now more important than ever.

00;07;38;05 - 00;08;18;28
Debby Murphy
And I think that's something that for those who are new to the profession, they're a little bit, they're almost a little bit surprised that there is such a science to the art. But it's something that certainly in my work with schools and in AISAP's programing, we're really trying to help folks be as strategic as they possibly can while understanding that there's still that wonderful art and personal touch to the process that sometimes can't be learned.

00;08;18;28 - 00;08;21;00
Debby Murphy
And that may be a little more instinctual.

00;08;21;12 - 00;08;52;29
Janice Crampton
So when we use the term thinking strategically and then acting operationally, can you give us an example of how you might take a very common duty and task and then elevate it to strategic. Perhaps better said or the reason and rationale why I'm asking this particular question in this particular way is we use words and phrases such as strategic visionary.

00;08;53;24 - 00;09;20;10
Janice Crampton
And yet I think there are many more moments where people don't really know what that means or what that really looks like. So when you're doing your 360s and again when you're supporting those people in the profession, can you give us an example of how you might take open houses? You know, I mean, again, you choose whatever it is, but can you give us an example of elevating that concept to strategic?

00;09;20;24 - 00;10;05;27
Debby Murphy
Yeah, I think what's hard for so many folks and so many offices is that we've gotten really fixated on the strategic enrollment management plan, which, yes, is really important, is fairly high level, should involve collection of data, should involve that. That's what analysis of your school and the internal and external threats and opportunities should involve some sort of market assessment in terms of where you sit and where are , where your school sits.

00;10;06;23 - 00;11;06;27
Debby Murphy
But sometimes people get stuck there and then they say, what do I do now with the plan? And as important, if not more important, is your annual action plan. And the action plan allows you to connect to that higher level strategic plan. And the higher level schools really strategic priorities. But it is truly your action plan if we need 30 ninth grade boys, if we need to enroll 30 9th grade boys, we need to admit 60 9th grade boys and in order to admit 60 we probably need to attract and this could all be obviously backwards designed from your

00;11;06;27 - 00;11;31;28
Debby Murphy
funnel data but 200, 300, 400 inquiries. And how are we going to go about doing that? And here are the steps we're going to take so rather than people just simply having their numbers laid out every year and they sort of say to themselves, oh yeah, we set goals every year. We need to enroll 100 new students every year.

00;11;33;05 - 00;11;56;13
Debby Murphy
Well, what are the action steps below that and how are you going to use your marketing team? How are you going to reach out to new markets? What's your outreach plan going to be? All of those pieces are the pieces that, you know, teams and offices often have in their heads or maybe the leader has in their heads.

00;11;56;24 - 00;12;34;26
Debby Murphy
But until you put that down on paper and you can be sure there's a shared vision and understanding of the action plan, you're not going to be as successful. I mean, it's almost like writing out your New Year's resolution and actually making sure that you're measuring your progress with that along the way. And there's all sorts of data and statistics that you have, I don't know, like 60 or 70% chance of being more successful if you write out your goals and what action steps under each goal so lean into that.

00;12;34;26 - 00;13;06;04
Debby Murphy
Let's lean into that and actually invest on the early end in terms of putting in the work to lay some of this out and then hopefully getting some results and understanding that nothing is set in stone. Do not write it in pen. It is in pencil. Yes. When all of a sudden November, December comes along and you look and say, huh, we're not where we should be, that's okay.

00;13;06;27 - 00;13;16;22
Debby Murphy
But you had a plan in the first place to iterate and adapt rather than feeling like you were rudderless and then kind of coming up with the next great idea.

00;13;17;08 - 00;14;04;00
Janice Crampton
And what's so great about what you just said? And again, just to in many ways, just distill it to heaven forbid I make it a tag line, but here goes. Don't overthink it. I think that people get caught up in the and I'd like your opinion on this, but I think that people get caught up in the word and the phrase and almost fearful of what they think this all means when in actuality, what I hear you saying and what I also believe does in fact happen is that the thought around the creation and the development and then the implementation around an enrollment management plan - and you hear the orchestral music behind it -

00;14;04;00 - 00;14;38;17
Janice Crampton
is almost so fearful to people that they don't do it when in actuality, what I hear you saying and I couldn't agree more, start somewhere. Right? And maybe starting somewhere is September 2023. Where do you need to be? And then to your point, start somewhere backwards design and you may very well find that that then provides the fodder for the more elevated discussion that you might have with your board and directors, correct?

00;14;39;04 - 00;14;47;11
Debby Murphy
Absolutely. Keep it simple. Start somewhere. Don't let it collapse under itself. All of that.

00;14;47;27 - 00;15;17;06
Janice Crampton
You also mentioned something that spurred on another question that relates to this time of year, you mentioned resolutions. As we talk on a regular basis, we've shared that this time of year feels far more like the new year than January 1st. Here you are again from the seat that you sit in. What's the thing that you feel people or believe people need to do today?

00;15;17;06 - 00;15;31;04
Janice Crampton
What is the resolution that they should just stop putting down? And what's the resolution or the goal that you think that they really need to put down? Speak on behalf of the entire profession worldwide.

00;15;31;10 - 00;16;05;14
Debby Murphy
Yeah, well, a couple of things. And this may not may not land too well, but I think people realized and discovered during COVID how hard this work is. I think people are tired. I think they are trying to kind of reinvest and reinvigorate themselves their teams as we as we move into this new time.

00;16;05;22 - 00;16;35;02
Debby Murphy
So I know there's that sort of joy I hope for folks as schools are reopening and we're seeing kids again without masks on for the first time after two plus years. And, of course, as educators, we all need to allow ourselves to feel that joy and lean into that and capture that energy from the kids, because that typically is why we do what we do in schools.

00;16;36;06 - 00;17;04;01
Debby Murphy
On the other hand I know and I've heard a lot of people say, we've now accepted the fact that given the landscape, we need to work harder not just smarter, but we need to work harder. And with the economy being what it is with families, definitely you know, some of them are really going back to public schools now that the public schools are open.

00;17;05;03 - 00;17;43;05
Debby Murphy
Independent schools feel really pressed to define their value. And, you know, when you're talking about 30 and 40 and obviously upward for boarding schools, thousand-dollar tuitions, it's no wonder, I mean, for those of us that are parents it's no wonder these parents are demanding as much as they are demanding of us in terms of what is the education providing and what are the outcomes and will my child be successful in life,

00;17;43;06 - 00;18;26;02
Debby Murphy
after your school, because of your school so I know all of that is really hard to hear and is sort of depressing. But I do think it it reminds us that first of all, that it's hard work and it's super important work. But it's hard work. And I know admission officers as well are coming out of COVID feeling like in some ways they become much more flexible and much more willing to change on a dime and much more excited about innovating their processes and their practices

00;18;26;02 - 00;18;50;19
Debby Murphy
because because COVID was such a disruptor, because it was so necessary that they do that. So again, I encourage people to keep on that innovation hat and keep asking themselves, why are we doing this and what is the purpose? And is this serving our students and our families, which is most likely your mission?

00;18;50;29 - 00;19;24;23
Debby Murphy
Push yourselves to not just go back to normal or go back to 2019, but how can you take what you learned and incorporate it? You know, obviously there's this huge kind of struggle with like, are we going to do everything virtual on top of everything in person? And the answer should be no, but where do those tools, the in-person tool or the virtual tool accomplish your goal for that particular event?

00;19;25;23 - 00;19;53;13
Debby Murphy
What's your objective and what tool will you use to achieve that objective? So I think people are doing a good job with this. And I think in some ways it's infused some new energy and creativity into the admission and enrollment world. But I know for some their heads are spinning and they're still coming off of these crazy years.

00;19;53;13 - 00;19;59;03
Debby Murphy
And they're just saying, "Oh, I just need just need things to settle down a little bit."

00;19;59;12 - 00;20;36;13
Janice Crampton
I had a moment several years ago, completely unrelated to work, but it relates here and what we're talking about where believe it or not, it was a physician of mine with regard to a wide variety of different things that a woman of my age and stage is sometimes struggling with and where I'm going with this is this physician said to me, "Janice, you need to grab a pad of paper and a pencil and go sit under a tree and think about who you are.

00;20;36;14 - 00;20;56;20
Janice Crampton
What do you want, what are your goals, what makes you happy and what you're going to change?" And it's a little bit of that that I think we're also saying I certainly think about our annual institute this past year in Chicago. And so much of it was focused on, you know, reunited. Right. We were finally back together.

00;20;57;03 - 00;21;24;14
Janice Crampton
But as we talked about the profession and as we talked about why or what is your why, that's also what you're saying. This job is different. Stop asking if this job is different. It is. It's different than last year. It's different than five years ago. It's different than ten years ago. And isn't that great? Because I think that, again, armed with the tools and the resources and the support that certainly we know at AISAP we offer.

00;21;24;14 - 00;21;47;26
Janice Crampton
But there are a lot of different opportunities for us to ponder this. It's this idea-notion around, "Yes, you as a resolution, dare I say, need to grab that pencil and that pad of paper and sit there and say, yes, this job is different." Maybe this is completely different than the job you were hired to do. Are you up for it?

00;21;48;08 - 00;22;06;27
Janice Crampton
And if you're up for it, you have to make sure you're ready for it. And if you're not up for it, then you owe it to yourself and your colleagues to perhaps think about how you might dare I say, or use that word pivot. Because it's not going to change. It's not going to change.

00;22;08;04 - 00;23;01;28
Debby Murphy
A lot of directors of admission have mentioned hiring. You know, that they spent a lot of their time this summer or last spring hiring new people for their office. They had turnover, transitions. And as challenging as the hiring process is and time consuming as it is for the directors, I also think it's this really exciting opportunity to bring in people who perhaps don't have a lengthy admission and enrollment background and who have the the mindset skill set in some ways, youthfulness and talent really in those areas to really make a difference.

00;23;01;29 - 00;23;35;10
Debby Murphy
So I encourage people as they're looking to fill spaces in their office to not always grab for that resume that's had a year or two or five years of experience. But to mold and shape the next generation of leaders and change makers because that that can be as exciting. And I think we have a lot to learn from this generation that's just coming out of school.

00;23;35;10 - 00;23;52;19
Debby Murphy
And as I've worked with our new to admission group who have come to us through our online workshops and I don't mean to imply that all of them are young. It's just that they're new.

00;23;52;19 - 00;23;58;12
Janice Crampton
Young is a state of mind, you're not talking chronologically necessarily right now.

00;23;58;18 - 00;24;51;15
Debby Murphy
It's just new to the profession. I get really excited about those who are coming in with fresh perspective, fresh skills, a willingness to turn the piece of paper and look at it from the x axis rather than the y axis and offer new perspective. So I encourage us all to to keep striving for diverse teams, diversity of mindsets, diversity of backgrounds, opinions as we're hiring, lean into that and get excited about that because it can be such a gain and an upside in the end as you're putting teams and processes together.

00;24;51;16 - 00;25;15;00
In the spirit of solution orientation, I once again want to thank you, Debby, for your opportunity and your willingness to join me on this session of WeAdmit!, but that opportunity for us to think about starting off the year with a solution orientation mindset. There are a lot of things that we know for sure and there are a lot of things that we don't necessarily understand or know.

 00;25;15;01 - 00;35;41;06
Janice Crampton
There are a lot of things that we can predict and there are a lot of things that we can't predict. But what I want to say to you all as we again draw this opportunity to a close is don't go it alone. There is so much out there in the way of educational support systems, ideas, notions. So if you need a coach, if you need a mentor, give us a call.

00;35;41;07 - 00;26;05;00
Janice Crampton
If you want a conversation session where you need some directionality, is that even a word? Give us a call. If you in fact want to bounce an idea or notion off of us or for that matter, start something, give us a call. Because again, at AISAP, we admit we are all about one thing and that is you, the admission and enrollment professional.

00;26;05;01 - 00;26;31;27
Janice Crampton
So thank you again, Debby. And as you are entering or have entered into that new chapter of all of your children are now in college or out of college, I wish you well. And I know that there are a lot of people in this world that we live in who can offer advice about what you need to do now that you have that, dare I call it, a quiet dinner table.

00;26;31;28 - 00;26;33;12
Debby Murphy
Bring it on.

00;26;33;13 - 00;26;34;12
Janice Crampton
Bring it on!

00;26;34;12 - 00;27;00;18
Debby Murphy
I announced to my husband this weekend that ,and you're going to die when you hear this one, but I'm learning all about Facebook marketplace because all I want to do is take my very crowded, cluttered basement and sell the whole thing on Facebook marketplace. And he doesn't think I'm serious, but I said, give me a dollar amount and I can do it.

00;27;00;19 - 00;27;18;27
Debby Murphy
So if anybody wants to know how my weekend will be spent or wants to come over and help me Facebook Marketplace, I'm doing all my research and kind of loving it. So we'll see. I'll report back on that one and let people know if I hit my target goal. So.

00;27;18;28 - 00;27;45;10
Janice Crampton
Oh, that's so funny. Oh, that's a riot. Well, if, in fact, it goes well, let us know. And if, in fact, you have some words of advice and counsel, let us know as well. So thank you again, Debby. Thank you again, everyone. And once again, this is WeAdmit! by AISAP. We hope you enjoyed this episode of WeAdmit! to learn more about the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals and how you can take advantage of membership benefits.

00;27;45;11- 00;27;51;09
Janice Crampton
Visit aisap.org that's AISAP.org