data analysis, Higher Education, Podcast

142: Ken Hoyt—Harnessing The Extraordinary Power of Data

Posted on by Andrea Simon

Ken Hoyt explains how data can transform your organization!

A little over two years ago, in June 2017, Dr. Kenneth Hoyt did a podcast with us about his work with higher education institutions that needed, or wanted, to change. We had previously worked with Ken when he was president of Centenary University from 2002 to 2009 when he turned around the institution, dramatically increasing enrollment from 1,600 students to 3,300. How did he do this? By better understanding and improving retention rates and expanding into non-traditional, adult, online and graduate programs. It was Ken’s mastery of the power of data that enabled him to provide the insights needed to better recruit potential college students while adapting Centenary’s curricula to their needs. Are you in need of a turnaround? Listen and learn!

Ken HoytIt was this same understanding of the power of data that led Dr. Hoyt to found The Higher Education Practice. In our 2nd podcast, we asked him to talk about the work he has been doing with higher education institutions, especially regarding the three-year project  he recently completed with the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (AIKCU).

This podcast is important because Ken discusses how he engaged with these colleges and universities to get them to capture and analyze their data, and then own the results so they could transform their institutions and better serve their students. You can read the analysis of Ken’s work, “Optimizing Academic Balance (OAB): Mission, Quality, Market Potential, Cost, and Revenue,” here. 

Of particular interest to us at SAMC and the work we do in higher education:

  • Dr. Hoyt looks for the Key Performance Indicators on which a college should be focusing. All too often, institutions are not looking at the right data. They are focused on enrollment and retention but are unaware of how their own data can help them better attract, and retain, students.
  • He successfully got the independent colleges in Kentucky to see the benefit of cross-institutional analysis. As anthropologists, we also look across institutions, and even industries, to better understand which model works best in which setting.
  • He also helps organizations disrupt the myths which they have always held to be true, even when the facts are neither supportive of those myths nor trusted to change them. At one college he worked with, the administration was certain that minority students performed poorly when compared to (white) majority students. The facts said the opposite. The administration also thought that residential students did better than commuters. Wrong again. 

SAMC helps organizations “see, feel and think” differently

There is so much information, along with exceptional insights, awaiting college leadership that wants to see things with fresh eyes. It really is all around them, if only they could see it. At SAMC, that’s what we’re all about: helping clients see things through a new lens, with fresh eyes.

About Ken Hoyt

The founding principal of The Higher Education Practice, Dr. Kenneth L. Hoyt is in the midst of a distinguished 30-year higher education career. He has served as president of Centenary University in Hackettstown, New Jersey, president of The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges, Inc. (OFIC), vice president for The University of Akron, and in various campaign/fundraising leadership positions for Otterbein College and Baldwin-Wallace College.

Dr. Hoyt holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and Leadership from Ohio University, an M.A. in Journalism/PR from Ohio State University, and a B.A. in Business Administration/ Marketing from Baldwin-Wallace College. During his seven years at Centenary University, he transformed the institution, implementing a collaborative strategic planning model that led to unprecedented enrollment growth in the university’s traditional, non-traditional/adult, online and graduate programs. Recently, Centenary was recognized by Intel as one of the top 50 wireless universities in the U.S. for its wireless IBM laptop campus. 

To learn more about what’s ahead for higher ed, check out these blogs and podcasts 

Additional resources:

Download the 1-page synopsis of my book, “On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights” here