Mallory is joined by Rob Zinkan, founder of Navigate Gray, to discuss the career trajectories of higher education chief marketing officers. While corporate CMOs often advance to executive roles like COO or CEO, higher ed CMOs frequently face limited upward pathways, often moving laterally to other campuses or exiting the sector entirely. Rob shares insights from analyzing nearly 100 organizational charts, highlighting the need for institutions to intentionally integrate marketing leaders into core strategic planning and build leadership capacity to develop true enterprise leaders.

In the debut episode of this new Pulse Check Series hosted by Michele Ehrhart, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for the University of Memphis, we are joined by Dave Martel from the University of Virginia to discuss the true impact of college. Both first-generation graduates reflect on higher education as a fundamental pathway to a better life beyond simple financial ROI. Together, they explore how higher education fosters essential success skills, navigates the integration of AI tools, and addresses growing national affordability challenges. Tune in to discover why educating citizen leaders and protecting the transformative personal journey of college remains essential today.

Mallory interviews Kim Infanti, Executive Director of Alumni and Constituent Engagement at Syracuse University. Kim discusses launching Ask Orange Alumni, an AI-powered platform that connects students with alumni mentors while keeping human relationships central, and they explore how AI tools frequently pull alumni network information from public sites like Reddit instead of institutional websites.

Mallory welcomes Phil DiMartino and Marisa Uluski from 5 Tool Productions to explore how higher education institutions can transform video from a simple production line item into an effective marketing strategy.

Mallory is joined by Amy Still from ZeeMee and Paul Garner from Western Carolina University to dissect new data regarding student perceptions of AI in the admissions process. With insights drawn from over 12,000 students, the discussion highlights a critical boundary: while students embrace AI for personal research and low-stakes reminders, they remain deeply skeptical of its role in high-stakes interactions. As students move deeper into the enrollment funnel, the demand for human connection increases significantly, with four out of five students preferring human guidance when making their final college choice.

In Part 3 of this Pulse Check series, host Faton Sopa sits down with Stephanie Geyer, associate vice president for marketing and brand strategy at the University of Montana, to explore the evolving student journey. The conversation challenges the common practice of organizing university websites around institutional bureaucracy rather than student decision-making, emphasizing that digital strategies must prioritize the user's perspective.

Lindsay Nyquist, Chief of Staff at Occidental College, and Dr. Miriam Merrill, Chief of Staff at Hamilton College, join Mallory to discuss the inaugural Chief of Staff Summit, where 50 higher-ed chiefs of staff met at Colorado College in Colorado Springs for closed-door, case-based peer problem solving. They explain the chief of staff role varies widely by president and institution, often centering on supporting decision-making, execution, and human impacts. Summit topics included cabinet politics, crisis leadership, managing up without formal authority, board relations, burnout, career trajectories, strategic planning, and AI.

In Part 2 of this Pulse Check, Understanding the Modern Student Journey, host Faton Sopa is joined by guest Robert Kadar to dismantle the outdated reliance on traditional marketing funnels in higher education and highlight a critical industry misalignment.

Mallory hosts Higher Ed Pulse with guest Jenn Hayes, Associate Dean for Marketing & Communications at Cardozo School of Law in New York, to discuss higher ed’s recurring “hero” cycle: hiring passionate leaders to rebuild broken systems, celebrating visible wins, and then losing them to burnout.

In the debut episode of this new Pulse Check Series, Understanding the Modern Student Journey, host Faton Sopa sits down with higher education marketing strategist Kristin Nichols to unpack the rapidly evolving landscape of college discovery. The conversation highlights a major shift in how prospective students form their initial impressions of institutions. While schools once relied heavily on their websites to control the narrative, students are now discovering colleges through AI tools like ChatGPT, Reddit, and various online communities long before they ever visit an official institutional site.