Mission & Leadership

Mission & Leadership

Why Organizational Alignment in Higher Education Matters

In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, higher education institutions face numerous challenges—from advancing academic excellence and enhancing student outcomes to navigating budget constraints and embracing technological advancements. Amid these complexities, achieving organizational alignment is no longer just an option; it’s a necessity.

Organizational alignment ensures that every part of your institution—from departments and faculty to administrative processes and strategic initiatives—works in harmony towards common goals. Without it, institutions can experience fragmented efforts, inconsistent messaging, and inefficiencies that hinder progress and growth. Misalignment can lead to silos, wasted resources, low morale, and ultimately, a diminished ability to meet the needs of students and stakeholders.

Our Strategy & Approach

At Viv Higher Education, we understand the unique pressures higher education leaders face. Our new Organizational Alignment service is designed to help your institution integrate its vision, mission, strategies, and operations. By aligning your organization, we ensure that your institution operates more efficiently, communicates more effectively,  encourages diverse views, and supports institutional flourishing in pursuit of shared goals.

Imagine a campus where every department is synchronized, faculty and staff are engaged and motivated, and every initiative aligns with your strategic objectives. With our comprehensive approach, we help you break down silos, streamline processes, and create a unified direction that drives success. Whether you’re looking to enhance student satisfaction, improve operational efficiency, or strengthen your institution’s reputation, our Organizational Alignment service provides the roadmap to achieve your goals.

Organizational Alignment Services

Strategy

Strategic Planning & Vision Alignment
Vision and Mission Workshops
Strategic Goal Setting

Alignment

Coaching
Conflict Management

Governance

Leadership Coaching
Governance Structure Review

Operations and Process

Process Mapping and Optimization
Collaboration Tools and Practices
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Kate Jackson-Meyer, Ph.D. | Senior Consultant

Kate Jackson-Meyer is an experienced educator and researcher focusing on how to implement dialogue, resolution, and just practices in order to encourage flourishing in individuals and communities facing conflict and dilemmas. She has taught courses on ethics, philosophy, and theology at Boston College and Catholic Theological Union, was a consultant with the MIT Volunteer Consulting Group, and was trained as a mediator. Kate will be supporting projects at Viv while also advancing her research portfolio as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard. She is excited to bring her research insights, humanities expertise, and conflict resolution skills to bear on Viv’s work supporting university organizational alignment and mission-driven marketing in the service of strengthening institutions.

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Suzan Brinker, Ph.D. | Co-founder & CEO

Suzan Brinker, PhD is a higher education strategist, marketer, author, and podcast host. She is the co-founder and CEO of Viv Higher Education, a Boston-based, woman-owned full-service marketing agency for colleges and universities. Suzan is the author of Pass / Fail: The Urgent Need for Strategic Leadership in Higher Education, which will be published in 2024. She also hosts the Higher Ed Leaders Podcast.

Suzan and her collaborative team specialize in helping colleges and universities differentiate themselves through market-aligned brands and programs rooted in market research, strategic planning, and a content-first approach to authentic marketing that builds trust and engages prospects at every stage of the funnel.

In addition to leading her agency team’s work across projects with institutions of all types and sizes for the past five years, Suzan brings in-house experience from her roles as

  • Director of Marketing at Penn State World Campus
  • Director of Marketing at Northeastern University
  • Fractional CMO at Assumption University

Suzan grew up in Germany with a Turkish father and a German mother. She fell in love with American higher education when she came to the U.S. to study English as an undergraduate exchange student at St. Norbert College. From there, she earned her M.A. in communication from Marquette and her PhD in Higher Education from Penn State.

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Audra DeLaney-Hall | Vice President of People Operations

Audra DeLaney-Hall is working to transform higher education workplace culture through purpose and process. She is the Vice President of People Operations for Viv Higher Education, a Boston-based, woman-owned full-service marketing agency for colleges and universities. She also co-hosts the Higher Ed Leaders podcast with Suzan Brinker, Ph.D.

The heart of the Viv team is the power of stories. Stories of university impact, faculty support, and student success. The Viv team helps colleges and universities set themselves apart by rooting their marketing efforts in only the stories they can tell. This creates immediate differentiation in the marketplace, resulting in higher enrollments, and reminds us all of the profound ways education impacts our human experience.

Audra’s previous experiences at Bowling Green State University and Williams College taught her the importance of cross-functional strategic collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches to enrollment marketing strategies, organizational alignment, and leadership.

Audra holds an undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University and is actively pursuing a master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Harvard Extension School. Audra believes that higher education institutions will see their most innovative ideas take hold when they embrace people-first management styles and organizational practices rooted in strategy and sustained by mission.

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