Welcome New Board Members

Eight new members have joined the ranks of the Board of Directors at Lake County’s only four-year-degree institution, Lake Erie College. The new board members will serve on various leadership committees which include finance and investments, buildings and grounds, enrollment and academic affairs. These members bring experience in a variety of fields and have expertise in diverse areas, from attorneys to general managers.

Casey O’Brien is an attorney and partner with Ibold and O’Brien Inc. of Chardon, Ohio, and specializes in real estate, employment and corporate law.

Lisa Ward is the Vice President of Research and Development for Steris Corporation where she directs product strategy and new product development.

Mike Bryan joins the LEC Board of Directors from Trane, a global leader in heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems. Trane recently partnered with LEC on the new HVACR lab in the Garfield Center. Bryan is Title Area General Manager for the Cleveland area.

Carol Porter is a retired attorney whose philanthropic and volunteer work is dedicated to promoting the arts and music in the greater Cleveland area.

Kevin Malecek is the Director of Economic Development and International Trade for the city of Mentor. Before joining the city of Mentor, Malecek spent several years working in a variety of roles in government, business and nonprofit organizations throughout NE Ohio.

Don DeCarlo, M.D. is President of University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center and has many years of healthcare leadership throughout northeast Ohio. He is also the Medical Director for the Lake Erie College Physician Assistant Program.

Don Purtill is the former Dean of Garfield Senior College at Lake Erie College and joins the Board after serving as a member of the business faculty at Cleveland State University. He is a former executive with Eaton Corporation and currently manages an investment advisory business.

“We are delighted to have such a variety of expertise among our newest Board members,” says Dr. Brian Posler, President of Lake Erie College, “Each dedicated to helping to move LEC forward and enrich the academic experience of our students.”

Enhancing Strategies to Attract Students

The Office of Admission has been busy implementing a new plan to attract students to the College. Enlisting the services of Credo, a consulting firm specializing in working with independent colleges and universities, the Office of Admission is finalizing a comprehensive strategic plan addressing efforts to increase enrollment amidst growing competition from both public and private institutions. Part of this process is hosting video sessions with the campus community to get feedback for the strategic plan. Topics to be explored will be the LEC value proposition, ways to build bridges internally, experiences of faculty and staff who have children in college, and conducting a session on strengths, opportunities and trends.

“It’s effective when you have an outside voice that has some objectivity and expertise in the field. Will, our primary CREDO consultant, has dozens of years of experience as both a consultant and a higher education enrollment leader,” said Mike Brown, VP of Enrollment.

According to Brown, Credo performed an in-depth assessment and identified some immediate actions to recruit the class of 2020 and also gave the admission area about 70 short, medium and long-term suggestions for improvements on strategy, implementation, processes and collaboration. A significant part of the plan includes a new financial aid model, which entails applying scholarships more strategically to better attract more students.

Much of the plan addresses touch points for prospective students throughout the admission process. “We realize that there’s no quick fix or magic answer to increase enrollment. Instead, we aim to cultivate relationships with prospective students to increase their interest in attending Lake Erie College,” said Brown. In addition to what Credo has suggested, the admission staff has furthered training in specific areas to better attract prospective students. “Admission counselors are building relationships with students and their families. Our goal is to help the students make a decision to attend Lake Erie College because it is the best fit for them,” said Brown.

lec.edu gets a makeover!

As you may have noticed, lec.edu has had a makeover! We hope you are excited to see a cleaner design with a more user-friendly navigation structure. In conjunction with the new redesign, we’ve amped up our digital marketing efforts including implementing a search engine optimization strategy, maintaining the website as the hub of LEC’s digital presence and initiating a digital advertising strategy. Most importantly, our new approach to digital marketing fully embraces methods of continuous improvement — everything we are doing online today is measured, tested and will be improved upon. If you haven’t seen it in a while, please visit lec.edu. We think you’ll be pleased!