How to Get an A in Higher Education

Chapter 14 in Katie Paine’s book “Measure what Matters” talks about doing research and measuring in higher education. One of the points she makes in this chapter is that when dealing with higher education institutions there are lists of audiences that you have to address.

With most companies or businesses you have two or three target audiences, but with a college or university there are three or four target audiences on campus alone. Then there are many more who are outside the campus.

This point brings up the importance of knowing ALL of your audiences and how it’s vital to prioritize them properly. But when it comes to prioritizing there is no one size fits all. Every scenario or situation will require some of the audiences to move up and down the ladder. A campaign for trying to bring in donations will have the alumnae at the top of the ladder, while a campaign to increase participation in a certain on campus organization’s activities will have the students at the top of the ladder.

I feel this is a powerful lesson to realize if you are going to be working in an institution of higher education or working with one. Knowing who all of your target audiences are and how they’re prioritized is crucial to the success of anything you do.

That’s how you get an A in higher education,

Jake