We are in the thick of the summer season. While the temperatures may be hot, we’re going to cool things down with the following feature of the ever-cool Marcus Webb.
We’ll start with easy questions: what is your role at The Parish Group?
I am the Director of Enrollment Analytics.
When did you start working for The Parish Group?
I joined the team in December of 2020.
What’s your favorite memory at The Parish Group?
My favorite would have to be the first TPG road trip to a partner campus that I was a part of. It was my initial opportunity to be in the same room with the (or majority of the) entire team and go through a combination of the creative, partner development, logistical, and strategic planning processes with a client.
After a decade plus on the institution side of the table, I thoroughly enjoyed merging my expertise and perspective with the rest of the team to generate some new directions for a long-time client.
And riding across the state in Bill’s Porsche certainly didn’t hurt the experience.
What has been your favorite project you’ve worked on at The Parish Group?
I’m going to cheat and offer two to date:
One would be helping a prestigious HBCU partner begin optimizing their CRM platform. Holding the keys to a powerful tool is one thing, while beginning to truly leverage what it can do for an institution is another.
So establishing a trusting partnership where TPG has introduced new approaches and strategies, while also being an email or phone call away for a quick fix or brainstorming session has been very rewarding.
The second that I would highlight is the development of a positioning statement for a private, liberal arts partner in the deep south.
On campus interviews with a broad spectrum of stakeholders, conversations with leaders, students, and faculty, and a whole lot of critical thinking and writing led to a statement that helped coalesce the identity of the institution into a distinct and marketable nugget.
Alright, it’s now time for the personal questions. What would we most likely find you doing outside of work?
While I would love to answer climbing ice or building furniture (as if it were still 2007), those are far less frequent occurrences than they used to be. The honest answer is trying to keep up with my kids.
Let’s end this on a large scale —what does higher education mean to you?
To answer this question succinctly is often difficult, but I’ll give it the ol’ college try (wink wink).
Higher education offers access to a transformational experience— one that can create and grow the connective tissues between knowledge and action.
Exposure to ideas and perspectives beyond one’s sphere and the development of skills for practical application of said knowledge are the two core elements I would hope come from any higher education experience.
