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Podcasts The Higher Ed Geek Episode 178
Dave Becker on Seeing Parents as Partners
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Full Transcript
[00:00:00] Dustin Ramsdell: For
[00:00:06] our conversation today, uh, we are covering yet another area which I always love, uh, you know, fleshing out and filling in the gaps that we've, uh, not covered on the podcast over the years. Uh, but this one talking about how to best work with parents and families, uh, of college students. So really looking at kind of a broader community that higher ed exists within, and kind of the different stakeholders that they.
[00:00:30] And how to leverage people as partners, you know, the parents of students and everything can really be an asset. So really excited for this conversation. We will start out, as we always do, having our guests introduce themselves and briefly go over their professional background and how they got to be where they are
[00:00:44] Dave Becker: today.
[00:00:45] My name is Dave Becker. I'm the c e o and co-founder of Campus e s p. And, uh, my background is, uh, mostly in education technology. Uh, before working on campus E S P for about seven years, I was with Ellucian SunGard, S e. Lots of [00:01:00] different names. They went by for about 14 years. Uh, when I left there, I was a senior vice president of product over, uh, a student information system called Banner.
[00:01:08] And, uh, like I said, excited to be with you today. So thanks for having me
[00:01:12] Dustin Ramsdell: on. You know, you, uh, leading the team there at campus E S P and helping to found it. Uh, I always do love an origin story, so if you wanna sprinkle that in of just sort of, you know, what led you to help, uh, you know, kinda start this venture and just what, uh, campus e s P does.
[00:01:26] We
[00:01:26] Dave Becker: like to churn parents into partners. That's one, that's our tagline. And, and what that means is that, Um, today's college parents are just very involved and very influential in their students' college journey. And, uh, we provide a way for colleges, universities to connect with those families so that they can, um, support those families, um, get 'em the information they need when they need it.
[00:01:48] And in doing so, uh, it helps influence enrollment outcomes, student retention, parent giving, lots of different outcomes that help a college or university. And as far as I know, we're, we're the only [00:02:00] company that really does. parent engagement as its sole focus, so we're pretty proud of that. My origin story is, uh, exciting.
[00:02:09] I started off thinking when I left Ellucian, I wanted to, uh, create a company. I wanted to build something. I come from a, a family of entrepreneurs and, and, uh, I was thinking about where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do, and, and I focused on student engagement. And there are lots of different vendors.
[00:02:26] Lots of different technologies around student engagement. And I was, uh, talking with some fa past colleagues and one of them was in Abilene, Texas. So I flew out from Philadelphia where I'm based out to Abilene, Texas. Um, had a sit down with a gentleman, uh, who worked at a school out there and, and he was like, you know what?
[00:02:43] He's like, everybody tries to influence the students. He's like, but the reality is is parents are logging in as their students and nobody's helping colleges engage with parents. I was blown away. I, I'm Gen X, so we didn't really talk to our parents when I was in school. And uh, I was just like, well, [00:03:00] that is a very interesting idea.
[00:03:02] I was like, Kevin, hold up your glass. We ride outdoor drinking beers, had a place called The Mill. Mm-hmm. . And I was like, I wanna take a picture of this in case this happens to be the idea that I end up working on. And I have that picture, I have the exact picture and location when the idea came up from campus, E S P R, pivot, if you will.
[00:03:19] And, uh, the rest has been a journey. I'll leave it at that.
[00:03:25] Dustin Ramsdell: Yeah. And I just love kind of. I guess kinda like the serendipity or something, you know, just kinda the chance encounter that you just happen to be talking, you know, talking about all
[00:03:33] Dave Becker: that luck of it, the,
[00:03:34] Dustin Ramsdell: like talking with this person at that time and that, that, you know, that kind of epiphany and, uh, everything because like, just generally, like I, I've talked about it a lot before the podcast of just sort of like, yeah, like those like really great outcomes that you can have when like two people put their heads together and just kind of having like a casual little jam session, you know?
[00:03:51] Totally. Um, and everything. So really great kind of origin story there for sure. I. .
[00:03:57] Dave Becker: Yeah. It's, uh, you know, it's, it's funny, it's, [00:04:00] it's like the world kind of gives you what you need. You just have to listen. And so much of, so many of us are just so used to just like talking and talking and talking and not listening and, and this.
[00:04:10] This was an idea I easily could have looked past. Um, but uh, it just felt like the right thing at the right time. And, uh, now we're at 300 colleges and universities, almost 300 colleges and universities across the United States. So, uh, and we work with 4 million parents. And, uh, it, like I said, it's been a journey.
[00:04:27] Lots of, lots of lessons along the way, but also lots of, uh, really crazy, uh, amazing.
[00:04:34] Dustin Ramsdell: Yeah. That's awesome. Um, so obviously like, you know, this idea, even though it's sort of like, you know, came at you as sort of this epiphany, but it obviously resonated and everything. So you know, at the core of it, cuz this is really like the big question, we'll kind of break this down throughout our conversation here.
[00:04:51] What makes parent and family engagement so important? Like, why is this something that is deserving of like, you know, your kind of full attention [00:05:00] and everything? Cause. It, you know, my, my point of view on it, but why I was excited to talk about it is I think a lot of people would sort of support this as like a value, be like, oh yeah, it is important, but like they may not give it it's due investment and attention and that sort of thing.
[00:05:16] So, um, well, at least just gonna kind of start at the top of like, what makes parent and family engagement
[00:05:21] Dave Becker: so important? Well, it's kind of interesting because I, I think most people, when we first started really thought of parents, thought of parents as a. So the, the idea of like, oh, parents should be involved in the students college journey is actually wildly unpopular.
[00:05:36] And I have some crazy stories that I can tell you around just, you know, how, how people, um, don't think parent engagement's important unless it's their child and then they feel like parent engagement, parent involvement's important. But I think the rise of parent involvement, at least before the pandemic hit, is really tied back to, uh, the cost of education.
[00:05:57] And if you look at stats, you can see that, um, [00:06:00] there's more and more debt that's put on students, but also parents. So this whole notion that, you know, you need to let students go and you need to let them fail, well that's a, a lot of families just can't do that. Like student success is family su success and parents want to, they want their students to become independent.
[00:06:20] They want them to have, be, have critical thinking skills, but they also want to be there as support if they. or if they struggle. So I think a lot of the parent involvement we're seeing, at least before Covid, um, was around just the cost of education and then, then covid hit, and then there's health. And so safety, mental wellness, there's a whole bunch of other reasons where if a student's struggling in college, uh, parents generally get pulled into that.
[00:06:45] So then you have to try to navigate a whole bunch of other things like FERPA and just a lot of, a lot of different perceptions on what parent involvement should or shouldn't be, but, Generally speaking, I think the cost of education and, uh, covid have [00:07:00] really, um, increased the level of parents involvement that we're seeing.
[00:07:04] Dustin Ramsdell: That is a good point. I mean, like I said, I think, you know, caught up like man on the street kind of thing, like a hired leader to be like, of course we respect and wanna involve our parents and all that. But it's like, yes, internally, parents in the way maybe that they're interfacing most often is in sort of like a negative context or helicopter parents or any of those sort of things.
[00:07:22] It's like that sort of like tug of war where it. We would love, probably like, you know, philosophically or in a perfect world to leverage them as an asset, but they might not know how, and the only way that they're engaging is in sort of the, you know, yeah. Like complicated, you know, privacy issues or you know, the, the parent arguing over a grade or something, you know, like Right.
[00:07:42] Things like that. So it's just such a mixed and complicated bag once they actually start to like crack it open, I guess, to keep that metaphor going. Um, mm-hmm. . So to dig in with that point, I guess a little bit deeper, like, you know, what are. Like what are the factors I guess, that play into like why this is something that college struggles with [00:08:00] and you know, what they can do to try to do better?
[00:08:04] Dave Becker: Well, a couple things. So first off, usually when I frame parent engagement or parent involvement, everybody goes to grades, right? You just think of, okay, well what do you get in your grade? What do you gonna what? What do you get in your test and your quiz? But that's not really what parent involvement is in college.
[00:08:17] I think the best example I always pull up is, uh, financial. . Mm-hmm. , there's like, I, I don't know what the percentage is. Probably 70 or 80% of students get some sort of financial aid. And, um, parents are generally involved with that. If you think about a student, how old a student is, a first year student coming into college, they're probably around 18 and they're being asked to sign a massive loan document that could impact the rest of their life.
[00:08:40] And, you know, it's, is it appropriate for schools to say parents shouldn't be involved in that? I think that's kind of crazy. So financial aid is, is always, The tie back to like, okay, does it make sense for parents and families to be involved? Yes or no? Um, so that, I think that's important perspective. Um, what's really [00:09:00] interesting is, you know, you go to a, a college or university and everybody's perspective on parent involvement is different.
[00:09:08] Um, depending on the department that they're in, depending on whether they have a kid in college or not. One of my favorite questions to. Um, is whether or not, uh, you as a parent have your students IDs and passwords, um, and . The, the answer is when we did a survey at 8,000 college parents a couple years back, 61% have their students college IDs and passwords mm-hmm.
[00:09:37] because they're checking financial aid, all the different requirements that they need to be involved in. And this number might seem. Earth shattering to people who don't have a student in college. But when I go out to colleges and I go into a room and I say, okay, you know who here has a student in college?
[00:09:55] And they raise their hand and I say, now put your hand down. Um, if you don't have their [00:10:00] college IDs and passwords, very few put their hands down. Most people have their students college IDs and passwords because it's such a big.
[00:10:08] Dustin Ramsdell: part of it here too. That's, I think, important to recognize or kind of empathize with is like, going to college is a very emotional, you know, journey for the student.
[00:10:17] And you know, I guess there's like a lot of, uh, certainly like kind of investment sometimes, either literally and or figuratively that, uh, parents and families are making as well. So it's like, , you totally get it. Like they want to care for their child still. They may, you know, have some money on the line that they're trying to make sure is, you know, worthwhile investment and those sort of things.
[00:10:37] So, you know, I think that, yeah. Is a important thing to understand. And then even just like that reality is like, If you aren't thinking through maybe like smart strategies, it's like, okay, well in that vacuum, these parents are just using their children's login to basically like impersonate and like, you know, yeah.
[00:10:56] Almost gonna steal their identity to go into their account. So who knows what [00:11:00] they're doing or not doing or whatever. Like, you know, the students missing on notifications because they're not seeing them when their parent goes in. Totally. You know, it's just, uh, yeah. It can get to be a bit of a
[00:11:09] Dave Becker: mess. I'm sure you can, uh, you can talk to, uh, IT departments at.
[00:11:14] colleges, universities, and, and they will tell you they get a lot of password reset requests from parents, um, I guess impersonating their students. Um, so. . It's almost like if you don't create a way for parents to engage, they'll create their own path. And that's when you know, helicopter parents, no plow parents, whatever, you know, moniker you wanna use for them.
[00:11:35] They'll see them on Facebook, um, and, and they'll just create their own path. So I think a lot of it is bound expectation setting and mm-hmm. parents wanna help. You have to give them direction. You have to tell them the best way to support their student. And if you do, then there's a lot of really, really positive results for the college, because at the end of the day, those.
[00:11:55] Are very invested in student success and that's really what colleges and universities want. [00:12:00]
[00:12:00] Dustin Ramsdell: Yeah, absolutely. And so I guess in the sense of like what they can do better, like something I've starting to see a little bit more is that it kind of, you know, acknowledgement of the parents wanting to be involved and, and then being, you know, these great partners and everything, uh, having that potential, I guess almost just like a yes or no question, but we'll obviously like riff on it a little bit, but like, do you see there being a place for.
[00:12:24] like the parent having their own account, that they could maybe at least just be kind of in with the community more so than just like, obviously they could just, you know, maybe follow the institutional on social media just like anybody else or something. But like that kind of curation maybe of like sort of an exclusive area where maybe they have certain, you know, viewing rights and not others or something.
[00:12:44] Like do you see that as kind of a potential solution here?
[00:12:47] Dave Becker: Yeah, I mean, for the most part, parents already have an account. It's a billing account, right? , they're, they get sent the bills, so they're, they're used to that. Then the question is, is what else do they need to help their student and, [00:13:00] and. The answer's very personal.
[00:13:01] Some parents don't need any level of parent engagement. Um, and that's fine. I, I think that's great. I'm, I'm not, I'm not saying that they should be involved or shouldn't be involved, but then other types of families really want to be involved and feel like they can help their student. Maybe, might be the student has mental health issues, might, that might need more support from their families, um, because they're a first generation college student.
[00:13:27] At least what campus E S P does is we provide a way for parents to say, This is how much information I want to get. Do I wanna get regular newsletters emailed to me? Do I wanna personalize those newsletters so that I can get information from me as a first year parent versus information from me as a fourth year parent?
[00:13:44] Do I wanna see access to my student's academic and financial information? Yes or no? And then, of course, the student that can decide whether or not to grant it because they have control over those records. So, mm-hmm. , I'm not saying it's one size fits all, um, at all. I, I, I think it's, it's more. [00:14:00] Um, each family's different.
[00:14:01] Um, what is maybe most surprising for people who are listening to this call and probably shaking their heads, is that students want their families to be involved. And, uh, that is a giant shift that I think people don't always realize that, that, um, truly students are the ones that look at their parents as partners.
[00:14:22] And campus ESP is just filling a niche that, you know, helps, helps schools meet that need.
[00:14:28] Dustin Ramsdell: Mm. and I guess, yeah, I'm like on different fronts that like institutions maybe are on kind of like a, or like, you know, the particular like step members or decision makers or whatever are kinda on the spectrum of maybe being kinda aloof, you know, aloof to that fact or, uh, maybe sort of acknowledging it, but not really like giving a smart solution in that area or, you know, putting in kind of a strategy to really, uh, intentionally leverage, you know, parents and families as partners and everything.
[00:14:56] So, um, .
[00:14:58] Dave Becker: Yeah. I, I think your [00:15:00] word intentionality is really important, right? If you don't do anything, like I said, parents will create their own path and, um, I just, you know, the world has changed. Social media technology. Um, Even things like smaller family size, parent involvement. There, there's one stat that we have from a recent research, um, study that we did with our partners, uh, r no Levitz, that we, we, I think, I think something around the magnitude of like 25,000 parents that were surveyed.
[00:15:30] And we asked, how often do you wanna receive updates from your colleges, uh, from your students college or university? And 85% said, Yeah. Which is, I mean, which is crazy. I mean, cuz schools are not gonna be able to support that. And I'm not saying that's right, but a lot of colleges we talk to are like, well we, we don't wanna do too much.
[00:15:50] We don't wanna. , but we don't wanna send too much to the parents cuz it, they're just gonna opt out and, and that's never the problem. The problem is, is how do you, how do you scale up? How do you do all these [00:16:00] different things focused on student success and teaching and learning, but then also maybe give the parents the information they need to help their students if and when that that's a need.
[00:16:11] Dustin Ramsdell: It just keeps like, sort of circling the concept of. . Yeah, like the intentionality. Cuz I think at best what a lot of institutions do, obviously it's just like public facing, you know, Facebook pages and stuff like that and it's just like, hey, we're posting there. Like everybody can see it. But it's like, yeah you're doing it for just like such a general audience where it could be a student, it could be a parent, it could be, you know, just somebody who lives where that college is and they just wanna like know what's going on.
[00:16:35] Cause they might have events that are like open to all. So like an idea that you could really say, you know, like you sort of like frame. Okay. I want these type of updates or this frequency or whatever. Like you, you are speaking to a very clear and identified audience. I think like there's also the complexity, like something I wanna ask about with this is like, I think there's maybe [00:17:00] kind of a two-prong here is how you see this topic relating to the increasing number of like adult learners at institutions because, In my head, I'm like, well, your students could literally be parents.
[00:17:12] Like they could have their own children. That's a great point. Cause obviously their family is like, just an idea of like parent and family engage. Were like, okay, me as an adult learner with a child and a family and all that, like, you know, that's gonna be kind of a team effort in its own way. In addition to kind of the, you know, traditional notion of like, oh, I'm a 19 year old student and my parent is like kind of helping me work through everything.
[00:17:35] So like, do you, how do you see. adult learners kind of playing into like the work you do or how you sort of, uh, yeah. Like work with institutions and
[00:17:46] Dave Becker: everything. It, it's such a smart question. Um, and it's, um, . It's one we often think about because I feel like 15 years ago you would hear about lifelong learning a lot.
[00:17:56] Mm-hmm. like that was like a buzzy phrase and I don't hear about it as [00:18:00] much anymore. So it's really interesting how it's kind of gone away a little bit. But um, typically when we work with schools, especially two year institutions, community colleges, the parent engagement. Less of a parent engagement tool specifically for students than it does like a community engagement tool.
[00:18:17] So, you know, Dustin, for, to your point, like they might be helping their student, um, at a community college, but then these community colleges are also sending parents information about upcoming courses and ways to be involved, um, especially in rural areas, those community colleges. , like they really support the community.
[00:18:37] So, you know, what does it mean to be a parent or family member of a student? It usually is somebody who is committed to lifelong learning. And of course that can tie back to obviously adult learning and, and just, and enrollment, um, filling enrollment goals that the, uh, community college has. Yeah. Well it's kind
[00:18:56] Dustin Ramsdell: of funny that you said that cuz like, I feel like I've been like breaking down some of the like, [00:19:00] I don't know, like obviously like with looking back at the year that was, and the year ahead and everything, like.
[00:19:05] I think like, like lifelong learning is one of those things where it's like, yeah, like people have been talking about it a lot and for a long time where like anymore it's just like white noise where it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, yeah. So it's like, oh, you probably hear it maybe just as much or like maybe just a little bit less nowadays, cuz it's kind of just like, yep, that is something everybody needs to think about.
[00:19:22] And we've talk about it for a while so like, yeah. You know what it is. But um, and yeah, that it is an interesting point where I think. obviously still a lot of work to be done for a lot of institutions around like the, uh, you know, parent engagement for their, you know, more traditional and on ground students, or I guess even like hybrid or online like, uh, traditional age students.
[00:19:44] But, um, yeah, that idea that you could be engaging and again, like with intentionality where it's just being like, okay, we're giving you what you're asking for as like, you know, the parent family member involved with this child's education. , you [00:20:00] also, uh, you know, are welcome Yeah. To engage in what we're we're offering here.
[00:20:03] And I think, yeah, just even that idea where I'm just like, yeah. I mean, if my wife was like in a program or something, I might be like, Hey, yeah, like, get me up to date with what's going on or something. You know, like we share all of our accounts already of just like, stuff with our house and with our kid.
[00:20:16] And like, you know, if one of us was really like going all in on like a, you know, master's degree or something that could just be like, Hey, like I'm here to help. You know, like if I, I, you know, can be of, of assistance and also, You know, knowing what's going on with the institution or whatever. So yeah, I, I think there's definitely.
[00:20:33] ways that it will sort of evolve and adapt with the times. I think, you know, the work that you're doing, and
[00:20:38] Dave Becker: it's a no-brainer, right? Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it's a no-brainer. I, I think, I mean, you've got an audience that is super motivated, that has shown a commitment to education. Why would you not reach out to them?
[00:20:50] I think people still have this notion, and maybe I'm aging myself with this of, uh, Rodney Dangerfield and, and back to school, you know, when he did, did the triple indie and he is like jumping into the [00:21:00] pool of like these, these parents as major disruptors. But really what they are is they're self-identifying as education advocates.
[00:21:07] Mm-hmm. . And if you can tap into them as adult learners, you know that's even better for the school.
[00:21:13] Dustin Ramsdell: Mm. Well, yeah, and I mean, I think it's just the broader point too, obviously like the core of like even starting on this venture was just sort of like, you know, engaging and supporting students just, you know, to uh, you know, have more positive experience and everything and like, and whatever you're doing.
[00:21:29] Cuz I even seen, I think certain institutions, especially ones who like really court, I think like legacy students and those sort of things. Mm-hmm. like, you know, if they really are. engaging parents in the right way. Cuz I think that's even like the powerful thing where like some of the parents, like I went to the University of Delaware, they have a very strong parent community.
[00:21:46] Mm-hmm in a very strong like legacy community. And I know some of the parents who are involved in their like, you know, advisory councils or this or that. The other thing like. , it's purely, it's just that their child is going to the institution. Like they never went there, but they [00:22:00] identify enough because their child goes there to wanna be like, Hey, let's like, you know, put on programs or start a scholarship fund, or, you know, like these sort of things that it's like if they weren't nurtured as that, Really positive partner that it's like, okay, then like there wouldn't be the scholarship fund, there wouldn't be, you know, these like programs and stuff that they do.
[00:22:22] Um, so I think that that just kind of dawned on me too, is just like there's so many really powerful and tangible. parts of this in addition to just sort of that like emotional, gooey core of like, you know, you want these students to feel like they're, you know, in a safe, comfortable, supportive environment so that they can, you know, focus on their studies and enjoy them, enjoy themselves, find their identity and like all these really impactful things that should be able to happen while they're in their program and not be overwhelmed with stress and not knowing, you know, where to go for things or, um, [00:23:00]
[00:23:00] Dave Becker: Well, it, it, the University of Delaware reference is funny because that was one of the first schools I worked with way back before we even built anything for campus CSPs.
[00:23:10] We surveyed parents at University of Delaware. Um, not only surveyed them, but interviewed them into your point. Dustin, I have one of the parents I interviewed, he is a, uh, partner at a big four accounting firm, so he's done very well for, for himself and his daughter. Was graduating from University of Delaware and this parent, he graduated from Syracuse and I don't know, I don't wanna, you know, make it about Syracuse versus, versus University of Delaware.
[00:23:35] But Syracuse has a pretty good brand, right? Yeah, yeah. And uh, he was telling me his, his biggest concern is that once his, stu, once his daughter graduates, he was worried about losing touch at University of Delaware. And I was like, Why, I mean, you're connected to Syracuse. He's like, he's like, Syracuse is done.
[00:23:52] He's like, I graduated there many, many years ago. He's like, now I'm a, a fighting blue head. He's like, I'm all about University of Delaware. He's like, if I can support [00:24:00] University of Delaware, I can, I can help my daughter because she puts it on her resume. If I can, if I can build up University of Delaware.
[00:24:07] He's like, I can, I can help my daughter. And, and he's like, there's very specific ways I can do that. He's like, I have access to internship. He's like, but the people at University of Delaware, they wanna go through the career, you know, manager at, at his accounting firm, rather than go to me. But he's like, I can pull the strings.
[00:24:25] And so he was ver, I remember this because it was, it was a transformational moment for me where I was like, okay. Parents as problems to parents as partners, he wanted to help Delaware because by helping Delaware, he's helping his. and I was just blown away by it. And, and, and I, and now Dell University of Delaware is a customer of campus.
[00:24:46] S p and Syracuse is, uh, is now a customer. So we know we have both of them. So we'll have to, uh, hopefully then , neither of them are listening right now. I don't know. Who knows? Yeah. Well,
[00:24:56] Dustin Ramsdell: as an alum of that, uh, institution of a University [00:25:00] of Delaware, it warms my heart to know that that like is uh, kind of baked into, uh, your origin story and everything, but Yes.
[00:25:06] Yeah. I mean, I think. it. And again, it's like, it even stuck with me just sort of like observing it, you know? Like it was just sort of in the air where it's just like, oh, this is like, you know, a program put on by like, yeah. You know, the parents' fund or whate, you know, like yeah. Uh, those sort of things. So, um, and that, that it's always like very prominently featured during like, giving days and all those sort of things.
[00:25:29] So like they, you know, to an extent it is just an idea where it's like, . Even just giving them space, you know, that idea where like, okay, if you've got real estate on your like website for giving day or whatever, like we've gotta kind of pick and choose on that. Like what are you featuring? But if it's just like, this is a really big affinity community that we wanna make sure is like on the front page or like, you know, whatever else.
[00:25:50] And even just that clearly, like certain stakeholders within that group could just have a really powerful impact in really trying to, you know, identify those people and, uh, [00:26:00] nurture them as much as just like making sure that. Everybody feels just some baseline, uh, you know, connection and sort of, you know, they're getting served up.
[00:26:10] Uh, you know, the information that they want and everything. So
[00:26:13] Dave Becker: I, I feel like this is about University of Delaware, but I, I will say they are experts over there. Their parent engagement team is amazing. And I have one other stat to share, which kind of will put things in perspective, but, um, they do outreach for parent giving campaigns before their students are even on campus before they enroll.
[00:26:30] And this year they have this amazing stat where 10. Of the incoming families gave even before their student showed up, uh, for moving there. Dang. And it just goes to show you how much parents want to be involved and, you know, really University of Delaware does a great job involving all parents. Not from a fundraising perspective, but just from a, Hey, here's how to best support their student.
[00:26:51] But, but parents wanna be part of the community and, um, You know, whether it's internships or jobs [00:27:00] or donations or supporting their students when times are tough or, or acting as references for other incoming students and other incoming families. It's just, it's an amazing resource for schools that many schools in the past have just pushed away.
[00:27:14] But there are leaders like University of Delaware that have really embraced it and, and done some great. .
[00:27:19] Dustin Ramsdell: Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome to hear. Um, so, you know, with all of this, and I, I appreciate you, uh, just kind of dropping some stats and everything too, which is like helpful context, but, um, curious if there's any additional, like, resources on this topic to share, um, that we conclude in the show notes.
[00:27:36] Certainly anything, you know, from, from your team that you're producing or just other stuff that's. Grabbing your attention.
[00:27:42] Dave Becker: Yeah, it's surprising there aren't that many resources for this topic. I'll say that you talk about, um, parent involvement in, uh, K-12. There are a ton of resources and then soon as you get the post-secondary education, they just drop off.
[00:27:56] It is completely self-serving, but I mean, you could go to [00:28:00] the campus esp.com. , uh, where there's a blogs and resources page, which has a lot of case studies and research and, uh, we're pretty active on there. Uh, there's another organization that's called Ahab. A H E P P P, which is really a community of parent program, profess professionals.
[00:28:20] That's a lot of p there, . Um, and, uh, I think it's aep.org I want to say. And, uh, they've really been leaders in this space and, um, really advocates, advocates for, for parent involvement in education. Um, very early on, before we built anything at campus, csp, I would go to their annual conference. Um, lots of great leaders there and, and I.
[00:28:42] Learn from them. And then we ended up build, building a technology, an engagement system that basically met a lot of their needs. But I would say, I would say AAP is , frankly, probably one of the only organizations I know that kind of engages in the space. And then, um, there were some other ones, but they're, [00:29:00] they're more fringe.
[00:29:01] Um, so
[00:29:02] Dustin Ramsdell: I'd probably say yeah, yeah, yeah. It's great to know that there's something out there and just, yeah, the idea that if institutions are looking to. You know, or just build their knowledge base on this area that there is like a place for them to do that. Cuz the only other thing that I can think of is, um, and it's, I think yeah, like is it kind of fringe or not?
[00:29:20] Like their, uh, main focus is, I think nota as like orientation in higher education. Um, that like, oftentimes maybe that is like a place where you choose to sort of invite families and things to campus. But, um, . Yeah. So I think that that could be the only other thing that I think of that has any sort of even tangential kind of connection to this topic within, like the higher ed space, NoDa,
[00:29:44] Dave Becker: naca, naspa, um, even acro acro, if people go there, they all have, they all kind of touch on it.
[00:29:50] And if you're on the, uh, giving side, um, case always talks about parent giving as well. Mm-hmm. , um, but. , it's very [00:30:00] niche focused. Um, in fact, we have, you know, because we have up close to 300 customers at this point, and we go to a lot of these conferences. Our, our new strategy in 2023 is to, um, have kind of like a pre-con at the front end of NASPA and Naac, or we can just do, um, a couple sessions on parent engagement, you know?
[00:30:19] Mm-hmm. , nothing doesn't have to be super detailed, but just to give people a way to understand all the, uh, opportunities they have. Doesn't necessarily have to be buying campus e s P. I mean, you can, you can do a lot of what campus E s P does just by using MailChimp and being thoughtful and being intentional like you mentioned.
[00:30:37] But, uh, but it's, to me, it's such a no-brainer to engage with parents and families. I am always shocked when, um, you go to a school's website and there's just no place for parents to go. And this is, I'm saying this is apparent of twin 11th graders and. it is just create that, you know, the parents are influential, you know, they [00:31:00] are.
[00:31:00] So, um, when schools don't do anything, that's always the big shocker
[00:31:04] Dustin Ramsdell: for me. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I mean, I think just, uh, a lot of great options for folks to, to check out, to start, you know, planning, uh, you know, their strategy here. Um, and we will wrap up though. I think you've shared so many great, uh, calls to action and final thoughts, but we always like to kind of give our guests the floor at the end of each episode.
[00:31:25] Uh, wrap things up. So what is a final thought or call to action that you have to, uh, conclude our conversation
[00:31:32] Dave Becker: today? Um, I am gonna tell a quick story if I can. Please. Please. Um, I, and it's all about putting your, uh, your, your perceptions of parent involvement. And this is again, in the early days, uh, when I was researching the idea of parent involvement, what it should and what it shouldn't be.
[00:31:54] And I was talking with, um, a friend who connected me with somebody who was in charge of advising at a [00:32:00] school in, uh, downtown Philadelphia, which is world based. And, uh, she's in advising and I was talking to her about the role of parents and how they can help with advising. And she. Hated every single thing that I was talking about,
[00:32:13] And, um, it was just an awkward conversation. She thought that parent involvement could impact critical thinking and, and independence and actually derail student success. And so I was just trying to end the call, the call on a high note, and I, I forget what her name was and I was just like, Hey, um, Trying to end the call on a high night.
[00:32:30] You always ask somebody about their kids like, Hey, do you have kids? And she's like, yeah. And, and they're in college. I'm like, oh my God, they're, that's amazing. Or how are they doing? And she's like, they're doing so well, but only because I checked their grades every single week. And I was kind of like, all right, thanks.
[00:32:47] Talk to you later. Um, but that's what happens, which is people wanna tell other people how parents should behave. That when it comes to their own. They're going to be involved. And, um, for the people who are just shaking their [00:33:00] head at this podcast, , uh, I would say just look into parent en engagement and parent involvement.
[00:33:07] It is, it is a real thing that can probably help your institution and, um, it's early days in this area so you can really define yourself and become a leader. Um, and those are my final. So, uh, and other than that, um, Dustin, thank you for having me. And, and by the way, I didn't, I didn't say this upfront, but congratulations on your five year anniversary.
[00:33:27] That's an amazing, amazing
[00:33:28] Dustin Ramsdell: accomplishment. That's a funny thing though, is I feel like there's still, you know, uncharted territory in this, uh, kind of, uh, wide galaxy and universe of, uh, higher education and everything that. Um, so yeah, I'm, I'm appreciative of, you know, folks like you doing this kind of work and being willing to be able to jump on the show to, to talk about it, to continue to give us new and interesting things to talk about.
[00:33:50] But, you know, I know, and I love that anecdote because I think, again, it gets to kind of the emotional core of this type of work and just certainly, uh, yeah, I mean, a strong advocate for anything that we can [00:34:00] do to make sure that we're, you know, uh, supporting student success every day. So, Yeah. Again, I appreciate you, uh, doing this work and talking about it on here.
[00:34:08] We'll have ways to, uh, connect with you and campus, s p uh, and everything else that you mentioned in the show. That's as usual. But yeah, just thanks again so much.
[00:34:17] Dave Becker: Appreciate it.
[00:34:25] Zach Busekrus: Hey y’all. Zach here from Enrollify. If you like this podcast, chances are. Other enrollify shows too. Our podcast network is growing by the month, and we've got a plethora of marketing admissions and higher ed technology shows that are jam-packed with stories, ideas, and frameworks that are all designed to empower you to become a better higher ed professional.
[00:34:44] Our shows feature a selection of the industry's best as your hosts learn from Mickey Danes, Jeremy Tiers, Jaime Hunt, Dustin Ramsdell, Jamie Gleason, and many, many more. You can learn more about the Enrollify podcast network at podcasts.enrollify.org Our shows help higher ed [00:35:00] marketers and admissions professionals find their next big idea.
[00:35:03] Find yours at podcasts.enrollify.org.About the Episode
The what's what...
Our guest for this episode is Dave Becker, CEO and Founder of CampusESP. Dave shares his passion for the work of intentionally leveraging the potential of the parents of college students to support their success. He also explores the implications of this work in a world of increasing adult learners.
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The Application is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Our podcast network is growing by the month and we’ve got a plethora of marketing, admissions, and higher ed technology shows that are jam packed with stories, ideas, and frameworks all designed to empower you to be a better higher ed professional. Our shows feature a selection of the industry’s best as your hosts. Learn from Jeremy Tiers, Zach Busekrus, Jaime Hunt, Allison Turcio, Jamie Gleason and many more.
Learn more about The Enrollify Podcast Network at podcasts.enrollify.org. Our shows help higher ed marketers and admissions professionals find their next big idea — come and find yours!
About the Podcast
Dustin Ramsdell is a Higher EdTech content creator and influencer who aims to drive meaningful conversations with top leaders in the field. His show, The Higher Ed Geek Podcast, explores all the nuances of higher education, with a focus on innovative technology and practices from his fellow professionals. Dustin also currently works as the Community Engagement Lead at Pathify. He loves craft beer, good pizza, and sustainability. Dustin lives happily in Delaware with his wife, Jenn, their daughter, Ellie.
Dave is the CEO and Co-founder of CampusESP, which helps over 260 colleges support student success and student enrollment through parent engagement. Dave was formerly the SVP of Product Management at Ellucian (SunGard Higher Education), and was responsible for dozens of Higher Education solutions supporting 1,200 global customers. In his 24 years of experience in education technology, he's had the opportunity to visit and present at over 300 different colleges, campuses and conferences around the world. He also has twins in 11th grade who have not been expelled (yet). Find him on LinkedIn.
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