Sarah Holtan, PhD sits down with Gary Daynes, PhD, the Founder and Principal, Back Porch Consulting and Interim President Salem Academy and College, for a blunt conversation about why most small schools are making strategic mistakes, and what they can do about it. This chat is a must for anyone working in higher ed who’s tired of wishful thinking and wants practical advice on how to future-proof their institution.

Gary explains why wearing too many hats isn’t just exhausting but often a symptom of bigger strategic problems. He calls out the damaging habits of building plans on imaginary growth, and shares the overlooked power of focus: it’s not just about efficiency but about creating a mission that actually matters to students, staff, and the broader community. If you’ve ever wondered whether your school’s “unique” value is just a buzzword, this is your episode.

Are colleges shooting themselves in the foot with unfocused missions and bloated org charts? Listen in to hear Gary’s straight talk on what truly moves the needle at small colleges.

Episode Highlights:

12:30 - In the growth period, many schools added professional master's degrees. And so their net tuition revenue was growing in part because they had an MBA that had 100 students, or they had added an MFA or something like that that had strong local attraction that generated a lot of revenue.

22:21 - Athletics is an area where schools who do athletics well are learning to support students in the ways that students most need to be supported.

24:07 - If you have a school with 1,000 students and you have 75 English majors, you better damn well figure out what's going on with your English program, because that is remarkable. And you need to preserve the strength of that program and duplicate the duplicatable things elsewhere in order to ensure that other programs are strong in that sort of way.

Sarah Holtan, PhD

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Gary Daynes, PhD

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