Conference Photos page 4 Assessing LD Campus Supports page 7 Concurrent Enrollment page 19 INSIGHTS THE NEWSLETTER OF THE INDEPENDENT EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANTS ASSOCIATION June/July 2019 Calendar June 10–11 IECA Philadelphia College When Scandal Hits Page One, Symposium June 11 Webinar: Advising Gifted yet IECA’s High Standards and Struggling Students (and Parents!): What Is Twice- Exceptionality and How Does It Impact Educational Consulting? Ethics Shine Brightest By Mark Sklarow, IECA CEO July 9–11 IECA at International ACAC In March, Conference, London, Ontario, Canada the college admission July 9–13 scandal led STI West, Claremont McKenna, TV news CA broadcasts July 12 and Webinar: Hate Speech in the headlines Milieu: Defending Safe Space screamed from the front pages July 30–August 3 of newspapers from New York STI East, Swarthmore, PA City to Missoula, Montana. In the past, other scandals August 13 dominated: whether it was Webinar: Finding Work/Life Balance: Fact or Fiction? improper teacher behaviors at independent schools, test September 8–13 cheating rings in Asia, or IECA WOW College Tour (WA abusive staff in therapeutic and OR) programs, all aspects of the field of independent educational consulting have been scrutinized over the years. Inside Insights But whether a story involved is how quickly the office mobilized, developed colleges, secondary schools, or therapeutic its messaging, created an alternative story line President’s Letter 2 Campus Visits 27 environments, the press has largely turned to IECA (why and how to find a great IEC), and responded Authors’ Corner 28 when such stories have broken—both the national to interview requests. But there was more: our Regional Groups 29 office and IECA members were the experts that the members’ reputation for knowledge, experience, In the News 30 press sought out. Most recently with the college and ethical work and the Association’s commitment Foundation 32 scandal, media stories that cited IECA outpaced to ensuring those standards are entrenched—we are Introductions 33 other sources by a factor of 10. Certainly, one reason a reliable and respected resource. On the Road 38 continued on page 6 Advertiser Index 39 President’s Letter Moving Our Association Forward—Strategic Goals Barbara Pasalis and Initiatives Last fall, the IECA Board of Directors tremendous growth over the last few years, • Reorganize the management team to held a retreat in conjunction with the and this necessitates change. Goals in this improve efficiency and free the CEO for LA conference. A facilitator helped area include: strategy the board clarify its role as a board • Lead a strategic planning process to • Increase the number of qualified members, of governance as compared to the position IECA as a thought leader domestic and international, across all operational roles of the staff. In addition, • Be recognized as the gold standard in the specialties we identified three main strategic areas field of independent educational consulting • Build strategic partnerships that align with to move the Association forward, and we • Implement a decision-making process that our mission. incorporated the goals resulting from the promotes timeliness and transparency Bernuth & Williamson Survey. • Institute systems that will increase The second key strategic area is Influence, efficiency and decrease the time increasing our reputation and brand The first area is Growth & Development. commitment of volunteers awareness. This is even more crucial in light Our Association has experienced • Manage fiduciary risks of the Varsity Blues scandal. Goals include: continued on page 6 Insights In Focus Published by: Recovery Programs on Campus Independent Educational Consultants Association A survey by Transforming Youth with 127 colleges and universities responding found the following about campus recovery programs: 3251 Old Lee Highway, Suite 510 Fairfax, Virginia 22030 Type of Program Phone: 703-591-4850 60 Fax: 703-591-4860 www.IECAonline.com 50 email: [email protected] 40 Collegiate President: Barbara Pasalis Recovery Collegiate Recovery Chief Executive Officer: 30 Program Collegiate Residency Mark H. Sklarow 60% Recovery Recovery Program Deputy Executive Director: 20 Community Support 11% Sue S. DePra 37% 10 Referral Transitional Manager of Communications: 28% Living >1% Sarah S. Brachman 0 Editor: Jan Umphrey Area of Focus Design and Layout: Sarah S. Cox Peer support 87% Connect with us on Facebook, Counseling or clinical support 35% IECA’s blog, LinkedIn, and Twitter Social activities and sober fun 74% (@IECA). Other as an area of focus 22% Source: Transforming Youth Recovery (http://www.transformingyouthrecovery.org). 2 IECA INSIGHTS June/July 2019 IECA’s 2019 Steven R. Antonoff Award Marilyn Emerson (NY) received ethics course. As a member of the Mentoring Sub-Committee, she the Steven R. Antonoff award helped write the original Mentoring Handbook and she continues to at the IECA Spring Conference serve as a mentor. She holds a BA from Queens College as well as in Chicago. Although she was an MSW in family counseling from Fordham University School of not able to receive her award in Social Work. person, she was there in spirit as participants recognized her With a strong belief in giving back to one’s community, she is IECA’s professionalism, generosity, project director for the Possibility Project, a nonprofit in New York and dedication to the City that brings teenagers together through the performing arts to profession. Over her 23 years engage in social/emotional learning (SEL) with a focus on social as an IEC specializing in college, justice. Emerson has coordinated pro bono college planning and graduate, and international coordinated college visits and encouraged other IECs to participate. consulting, she has become a In her spare time, Marilyn enjoys traveling, reading mystery novels, recognized expert in the field playing Scrabble, and playing with her granddaughters. Marilyn plans of educational consulting, to accept her award at the 2020 spring conference in Connecticut. presenting workshops on the college application process all over the world, teaching university classes about college and Save the Date! IECA College WOW Tour graduate school consulting, and sharing her expertise in the media, including the New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, and Fox News. September 8–13, 2019 A past president of IECA, she has been on the board for eight The IECA College Committee is organizing a tour of years and was chair of the Graduate School committee. In addition, Washington and Oregon colleges. The itinerary will be she chaired the Outreach Committee and was vice president for announced in June, with registration opening in July. Education & Training, where she helped develop webinars and the 2019 NACAC National Conference Sept. 26 – 28 | Louisville, Kentucky isv Register today at nacacnet.org. Attend the preeminent annual gathering of over 6,000 counseling and admission professionals. Network, learn the latest admission trends in cutting-edge education sessions, and hear from inspiring speakers, including Keynote #nacac19 Speaker Lisa Ling. June/July 2019 IECA INSIGHTS 3 IECA Chicago Conference in Photos More photos can be found on our Facebook page ACE Talks are now a conference staple. Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke to participants. Fun times at the Member Dinner Tuesday night. 4 IECA INSIGHTS June/July 2019 (See Chicago-area Campus Tour photos on page 39.) The conference allowed for some impromptu networking. Above: There are always big smiles at the networking reception. Past and present board members celebrate CEO Mark Sklarow’s 25 years with IECA. Making new friends at IECA! Members delve into current topics at roundtable discussions. June/July 2019 IECA INSIGHTS 5 Scandal, from page 1 Advertisement In those early hectic weeks after the Varsity Blues scandal hit, I spoke to dozens of reporters, authors, and journalists. Everyone asked out our ethics guidelines. Many had read our Principles BREAK FROM of Good Practice. They asked if we ever refused membership to THE STANDARD applicants because of their practices or website messages (YES!) or whether we had removed from membership those who have EDUCATIONAL violated our standards (YES, again!). They expressed a bit of satisfaction that a membership group would put ethical conduct TRACK front and center. The media also expressed near universal surprise about our requirements for membership. After I recited the campus visits, education, experience, reference checks, and more that IECA demanded of applicants, they began to understand. And they shared that essential difference with their readers. As U.S. News and World Report informed its readers, “In the absence of state Age doesn’t define intellect. licensure for independent educational consultants, IECA has adopted that role of arbiter, setting standards and practices.” At Bard Academy and Bard College at Simon’s Rock, young scholars take on meaningful, serious academic challenges. With world-expanding opportunities both on and off-campus, students engage in critical reading, When things are quiet and stories about schools, programs, writing, and discussion-based classes. Laboratory and studio experiences and colleges are buried well off the front page, it is easy to lose provide hands-on opportunities to apply new knowledge and skills. The Princeton Review rates our academics higher than Harvard and Princeton, sight of what makes IECA membership unique in the world of and 78% of our students go on to graduate study. professional societies. But when scandal breaks, we are reminded Learn more at simons-rock.edu that our reputation—and our members’ reputations—are not made in the moment, they are made over years and years in each and every IEC office. The rewards of that commitment are what counts in those unique, scary, and highly hyped moments. President’s Letter, from page 2 The board has developed action items and will be working to • Ensure that IECA plays a central role in any discussion of achieve the stated goals over the next year so that we continue to governmental licensing or credentialing move our Association forward and serve our members.