Instructors
Tony is associate vice president of marketing and communications at Ball State University, where he oversees the development and execution of integrated marketing and communications strategies that build the Ball State brand. He has been involved in higher education marketing and branding efforts for the past 15 years, having served in a leadership position at Indiana University, where he led the branding and marketing efforts for a seven-campus institution.
Stephen plays a key role in the authorship and enforcement of university communications policies, including a social media policy that has generated significant interest among higher education institutions and trade publications because it is one of first of its kind in the industry. He recently spoke on social media policy development at the Public Relations Summit of the Independent Colleges of Indiana.
Gail Werner is a media relations manager for Ball State University’s marketing and communications department. She oversees the university’s internal email messaging service, known as the Communications Center, and has played a lead role in the development and implementation of the university’s social media policy. Additionally, she manages Ball State’s official presence on Facebook and Twitter.
Kate currently supports schools in providing financial education to help students become financially responsible adults. Previously she was the associate director of The Ohio State University Student Wellness Center and a financial wellness specialist. She has a master’s degree in communications from Ohio State and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the Fisher College of Business. Her work focuses on educating students about building a strong financial foundation that will lead them to a solid financial future. Kate’s expert financial advice for college students was featured in the 9th edition of Gardner and Barefoot’s Your College Experience: Strategies for Success.
As Longwood University’s first director of first-year programs, Sarah developed and implemented a new peer mentor program that created a holistic and seamless transition for new and transfer students through optional and mandatory components. Sarah has extensive experience working with orientation and registration programs, welcome week events, common reading initiatives, learning communities, freshman seminars, family programs, student success and retention initiatives, and enrollment management. She developed an online-based summer correspondence and extended orientation program for peer mentors and new students. Additionally, Sarah instructed Longwood Seminar, served as an academic advisor, and was a member of the university crisis-response CARE Team. She has presented regionally and nationally on peer mentoring and first-year student experience programs, student success initiatives, and building cross-divisional relationships on campus. Currently, Sarah works with the Center for the Study of Higher Education and the Center for the Advanced Study of Teaching & Learning in Higher Education. Her research interests include access and enrollment management, new student transition, developing effective pedagogy based upon learning styles, learning communities and the role of women in the university.
Chris has over 20 years of experience in higher education administration in the corporate, foundation, and alumni engagement and fundraising areas.At FDU he currently manages the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, serves as a major gift officer and liaison to seven academic centers of excellence and two colleges, manages gift and engagement officers, and is part of the office’s leadership team.Chris is also the co-chair of the CFR Regional NJ, PA, and DE Roundtable. Chris previously was a Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Rutgers, The State University of NJ and has a background in public policy, public relations, and marketing. He is also a frequent regional and national speaker and a lecturer in communications and public relations.
Jenny is focused on enhancing procedures, accommodations, services, and the overall climate of Portland State University in efforts to create and maintain a more accessible and welcoming campus for all students. A great deal of her time is spent educating the campus community on ODS policies and procedures, compliance with disability-specific legislation, and matters of disability awareness. Jenny and her office work with all individuals with disabilities who are members of the university community, including those who take and teach courses online.
As president of Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC, Bob has worked with 72 colleges, universities, and professional associations since 2006 to develop strong online marketing communication programs. Specialties include Customer Carewords research to better engage website visitors, marketing communication reviews of college and university websites, and “Writing Right for the Web” workshops. He is a partner with Gerry McGovern at Customer Carewords, Ltd in Dublin, Ireland. Bob is the editor of the popular email newsletter Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter, sent monthly to 3,500 subscribers; the @highedmarketing Twitter site, with more than 6,500 followers; and “Bob Johnson’s Blog on Higher Education Marketing.” He is also the author of chapters in Advancement and the Web: Thriving in a New World and Transforming Your Web Site into a Collaboration Marketing Tool, and co-editor of Integrated Marketing Communication, A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Communication Strategies. Both are CASE publications.
With nearly 20 years of institutional advancement and higher education administrative leadership, Jason joined GGTS in 2008. He provides counsel in the areas of major gifts, campaigning, planned giving, annual fund, board development, strategic planning, and integrated marketing. Prior to joining the firm, Jason served as vice president for advancement and community relations at Maryville College, where he led a highly successful advancement program, directed the institution’s $83 million “Our Window of Opportunity” campaign, and implemented its first development officer evaluation solution. Before arriving at Maryville, Jason served as director for advancement at East Georgia College, a two-year University System of Georgia institution. Other AI contributions: Writing Meaningful Contact Reports: A Handbook for Fundraisers
