Put into a few succinct descriptors, Karyn Adams is a mother, runner, writer, and connector-of-dots. She directs the creative and strategic efforts of H·A ThirtyOne, a woman-owned higher-ed focused marketing and communications firm. Together with the H·A ThirtyOne team, Karyn helps institutions solve problems, reach goals, and exceed their expectations through innovative approaches to communications, enrollment marketing, and institutional initiatives. Throughout nearly two decades of experience in higher education, Karyn has served inside the academy in numerous leadership roles and as a consultant and strategist for institutions across the United States. Her specialties include all aspects of communications and marketing: integrated marketing and institutional branding, enrollment initiatives, capital campaigns, website redesigns, public-private partnerships, and crisis communications. Karyn is a frequent speaker and presenter at national and regional conferences, including NACAC, SACAC, UCDA, and TCPRA, and guest lecturer at Elon University and Appalachian State University. She can also be heard co-hosting H·A ThirtyOne's monthly podcast 31Minutes, where she explores best ideas in higher ed leadership and marketing. Karyn lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with her husband and two sons.
Photo by Bruce Cole Photography
1. THE (IN)VISIBLE DESIGNER: HOW DESIGN IS CENTRAL TO TELLING YOUR INSTITUTION'S STORY
Of course. Design plays a pivotal role in communicating the character and nuance of your institution. But what about the role of the designer? Research, campus politics, history, departmental workloads, competing priorities, and personal tastes all contend for consideration at the designer’s desk. Karyn discusses the way that designers play the role of arbiter and—more than ever—provide the often “invisible” leadership for bringing an institution’s story to life.
5. CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN MARKETING AND ADMISSIONS
A well-known and longstanding friction exists on many campuses between marketing/communications and admissions. Why? And more importantly, how can things work better? Through from-the-field experiences with her firm, HA ThirtyOne, Karyn shares why so many institutions experience dysfunction at this particular junction and connects the dots for improving collaborations, and outcomes, between these two, forward-facing fields.
