NACCAP Board Spotlight, Dr. James Steen, Houston Christian University

Heidi Sturm: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Higher Ed Higher Purpose Podcast, a podcast designed for NatCap members, prospective students and their families.

Phil Cook: 00:00:10

Hello again, everyone.

Phil Cook: 00:00:11

Welcome to another edition of the Higher Ed Higher Purpose Podcast.

Phil Cook: 00:00:16

My name is Phil Cook and I'm so pleased to serve as the president of NatCap.

Heidi Sturm: 00:00:20

And I'm Heidi Sturm, and I'm the director of marketing and communications here at NatCap.

Phil Cook: 00:00:25

We hope there's some of you been following along in these series of podcasts that we've been doing.

Phil Cook: 00:00:31

We are thrilled to talk with people that mean a lot to us at NatCap, and in particular the folks that have served on our board.

Phil Cook: 00:00:37

So we're thrilled today to have Dr.

Phil Cook: 00:00:40

James Steen with us.

Phil Cook: 00:00:41

James, welcome to our podcast.

Phil Cook: 00:00:42

We're glad you're here.

James Steen: 00:00:44

Thanks so much for having me.

James Steen: 00:00:45

It's an honor and a privilege.

Phil Cook: 00:00:47

Well, we were just talking beforehand about our holiday plans, what we've been doing, but before we jump into that, let me.

Phil Cook: 00:00:54

Let me do a formal introduction of Dr.

Phil Cook: 00:00:55

Steen.

Phil Cook: 00:00:56

James is vice President for enrollment management and Marketing at Houston Christian University, where he has led efforts to more than double the freshman enrollment and elevate the university's brand and reputation.

Phil Cook: 00:01:06

Dr.

Phil Cook: 00:01:06

Steen is also a senior associate consultant with Ruffalo Noel Leviticus, supporting other campuses to improve admissions, recruitment and retention.

Phil Cook: 00:01:13

Previously serving at Baylor University, he's held leadership roles with nabep, cccu, and natcap.

Phil Cook: 00:01:19

We might have to go through those acronyms and was recognized by the Chronicle of Higher Education as a leadership shaping the field.

Phil Cook: 00:01:25

I didn't know that, James.

Phil Cook: 00:01:26

Dr.

Phil Cook: 00:01:26

Steen holds a Ph.D.

Phil Cook: 00:01:27

from Azusa Pacific University and an M.B.A.

Phil Cook: 00:01:30

and M.A.

Phil Cook: 00:01:31

excuse me, B.A.

Phil Cook: 00:01:32

from Baylor University.

Phil Cook: 00:01:33

James, thanks again for being a part of this.

Phil Cook: 00:01:35

And thanks for all you do to support Christian Higher education and natcap.

James Steen: 00:01:40

Absolutely, absolutely.

Phil Cook: 00:01:41

Yeah.

James Steen: 00:01:42

And we.

James Steen: 00:01:42

And we appreciate what you guys are doing for all of us who are out here in the field.

Phil Cook: 00:01:48

Well, Heidi and I've talked about this before with other guests.

Phil Cook: 00:01:50

We were on the field.

Phil Cook: 00:01:51

We were in the trenches.

Phil Cook: 00:01:53

You know, I was talking to a former, a former VP for enrollment who stepped back into a faculty role, and his president asked him, he said, do you miss.

Phil Cook: 00:02:01

Do you miss the battle?

Phil Cook: 00:02:02

Did you miss enrollment?

Phil Cook: 00:02:04

Do you miss enrollment?

Phil Cook: 00:02:05

And he said, yeah, I missed the battle.

Phil Cook: 00:02:07

And so we hadn't been on the front line, but we do miss the battle and we miss the day to day what's going on.

Phil Cook: 00:02:13

But James, I just jump right in there.

Phil Cook: 00:02:14

The Chronicle of Higher Ed.

Phil Cook: 00:02:16

Come on, tell me about that, man.

Phil Cook: 00:02:17

We've talked a lot, but I don't know about that.

Phil Cook: 00:02:19

Tell us about that acknowledgement.

Phil Cook: 00:02:21

I don't know if it was yesterday or 15 years ago.

Phil Cook: 00:02:23

Who cared?

Phil Cook: 00:02:23

What was that about?

James Steen: 00:02:24

Yeah, so it was.

James Steen: 00:02:26

It was.

James Steen: 00:02:26

It was.

James Steen: 00:02:27

It was right during that transition from Baylor to Houston.

James Steen: 00:02:32

It was Houston Baptist at the time.

James Steen: 00:02:34

And I just transitioned, and I got to know one of the reporters there for a totally different article, and it was literally.

James Steen: 00:02:46

I mean, it just happened.

James Steen: 00:02:48

I guess they were running a section about 10 deans who are shaping the field of enrollment management or something.

James Steen: 00:02:56

And so it would have been in: 2006

James Steen: 00:03:03

And so I literally just got a phone call from someone down the hall at the time and said, hey, we just talked to the Chronicle, and they want to make you one of their, you know, one of their persons for this.

James Steen: 00:03:21

For this.

James Steen: 00:03:22

For this article.

James Steen: 00:03:23

And ironically, she thought it was the Houston Chronicle, not the Chronicle of Higher Education.

James Steen: 00:03:30

So the way it even got to me was this.

James Steen: 00:03:33

Was this.

James Steen: 00:03:34

You know, I was like, oh, okay, Houston Chronicle.

James Steen: 00:03:36

You know, I guess maybe we had just brought in our first class or something, and.

James Steen: 00:03:41

And, okay, I guess the Houston Chronicle is going to interview me or something.

James Steen: 00:03:45

So anyway, so then by the time I got on this interview and did this thing, it was like, oh, this is the Chronicle of Higher Education.

James Steen: 00:03:53

So it was kind of funny how that even came into about.

James Steen: 00:03:57

The interesting thing about that was, though, is that came out, I want to say it would have been probably spring of 07.

James Steen: 00:04:07

I just transitioned to HBU.

James Steen: 00:04:10

And then the NACAP conference was in Austin, Texas.

James Steen: 00:04:14

And so the Chronicle of Higher Education was there, and they had this article in a little, I don't know, handout kind of a thing.

James Steen: 00:04:23

And so what was funny was, like, going to Austin, Texas, and people being like, oh, my gosh, is that one of those.

James Steen: 00:04:29

It was just.

Heidi Sturm: 00:04:30

Really, you're pretty much famous.

James Steen: 00:04:32

Yeah, that's right.

James Steen: 00:04:33

It was.

James Steen: 00:04:33

It was.

James Steen: 00:04:33

It was.

James Steen: 00:04:34

It was my five seconds of fame, I guess.

Phil Cook: 00:04:36

Well, I was going to say I get nervous around famous people, James.

Phil Cook: 00:04:39

So it's making me nervous.

Phil Cook: 00:04:40

I will say I very vividly remember.

Phil Cook: 00:04:43

You know, I'm a certifiable older guy in this industry now, and I think I can put you in that category with me.

Phil Cook: 00:04:49

Heidi's not absolutely you, and I.

James Steen: 00:04:51

Absolutely.

Phil Cook: 00:04:51

I remember the first time I talked to you.

Phil Cook: 00:04:53

I knew of you and knew of your expertise, but we were at a conference, and we were kind of.

Phil Cook: 00:04:58

I was sharing and looking for someone to collaborate.

Phil Cook: 00:05:00

I'd be very candid here with a larger Christian University and the pressures that we face of meeting that big class.

Phil Cook: 00:05:07

Small universities have the same challenge, the same kind of pressure.

Phil Cook: 00:05:10

It was these huge numbers, and it was the first year we started to feel a little turbulence, and I thought, I'm going to ask James Steen to talk to this nobody.

Phil Cook: 00:05:18

And you gave me some advice that we'll talk about another time.

Phil Cook: 00:05:20

James, people don't start off to get into this industry.

Phil Cook: 00:05:24

No one starts off and says, I want to be an admissions guy or an enrollment management person.

Phil Cook: 00:05:30

What you're getting into this industry story.

Phil Cook: 00:05:32

How did you get into this.

Phil Cook: 00:05:33

This industry, which.

Phil Cook: 00:05:35

Where you've had so much success?

James Steen: 00:05:36

Sure.

James Steen: 00:05:37

Yeah.

James Steen: 00:05:37

No, this was.

James Steen: 00:05:38

This was probably like, many of us, you know, kind of fell into this.

James Steen: 00:05:43

When I was at Baylor, I was a tour guide.

James Steen: 00:05:46

That was my work study job.

James Steen: 00:05:48

My sophomore, junior, and senior year, I was a student tour guide.

James Steen: 00:05:52

Worked at the visitor center and loved it.

James Steen: 00:05:57

Got a lot of fun, interesting stories, giving tours with families.

James Steen: 00:06:02

You just never know what's going to happen.

James Steen: 00:06:05

But my senior year, and I was, again, I didn't know what I was going to do when I graduated.

James Steen: 00:06:12

Just had a general business degree.

James Steen: 00:06:15

But I knew the admissions office was hiring because once we would be done with the tour, you know, we would either go meet families at the admissions office and take them on a tour, or we would end often at the admissions office.

James Steen: 00:06:27

So I knew kind of everybody up there.

James Steen: 00:06:29

Everybody knew me, and I knew they were trying to fill an admissions counselor position.

James Steen: 00:06:34

So, of course, I threw my name in the hat and interviewed and ended up being an admissions counselor.

James Steen: 00:06:39

And I thought, well, this is perfect.

James Steen: 00:06:41

I can do this for a few years, and then I'll go get a real job, right?

James Steen: 00:06:46

And then I.

James Steen: 00:06:47

And then a couple years later, they.

James Steen: 00:06:49

They made me an assistant director.

James Steen: 00:06:50

I'm like, okay, okay, okay.

James Steen: 00:06:51

I'll do this for a couple more years, and then I'll go get a real job.

James Steen: 00:06:56

And then.

James Steen: 00:06:57

Then I became an associate director.

James Steen: 00:06:58

And so now that I'm.

James Steen: 00:07:00

I was an associate director at Baylor, and I thought, well, you know, there's this tuition remission benefit thing.

James Steen: 00:07:05

Maybe I ought to, like, get a master's degree.

James Steen: 00:07:08

So then I got a master's degree.

James Steen: 00:07:09

Well, I finished my master's degree, and they made me a director of admission.

James Steen: 00:07:12

So it just.

James Steen: 00:07:13

It just kind of happened.

James Steen: 00:07:14

And, you know, I guess 32 years later, here I am.

James Steen: 00:07:19

I'm still a recovering admissions counselor at heart.

Phil Cook: 00:07:21

Well, you said.

Phil Cook: 00:07:22

And it's so funny how you framed that about a real job, but there aren't many people that have had the real kind of success that James Dean has, has in this industry.

Phil Cook: 00:07:32

And so I do think, kind of bringing the first two questions together, how does one leave his alma mater to go to a place again?

Phil Cook: 00:07:42

And back in my day when I was on the field, we changed a name and anytime we said the former name, we owed $10, we had to pay $10.

Phil Cook: 00:07:50

Kind of joking.

Phil Cook: 00:07:52

But at that point, leaving Baylor to go to Houston Baptist, now Houston Christian University, how do you make that decision?

Phil Cook: 00:07:57

What's your get to HCU story and talk about all the good things that are going on.

Phil Cook: 00:08:02

Making positive news on the Houston Chronicle, hosting NatCap's annual conference this coming May.

Phil Cook: 00:08:08

How do you leave your alma mater to hear answer the call to go to HBU and talk about the success you're having?

Phil Cook: 00:08:13

Because it's been remarkable.

James Steen: 00:08:15

Yeah, so that's a, that's a really interesting story and I promise I won't belabor it.

James Steen: 00:08:21

But, you know, I think one thing that happened along the way is we did a lot of work consulting with Noel Levitz during my Baylor days and knew a lot of those folks.

James Steen: 00:08:36

And towards the end of my tenure at Baylor, I became one of their associate consultants.

James Steen: 00:08:42

I just have one client at a time.

James Steen: 00:08:44

It's just a short, kind of a part time, little side gig.

James Steen: 00:08:49

But I'll do recruitment consulting or strategic enrollment planning consulting or marketing, some type of enrollment marketing consulting.

James Steen: 00:08:57

And so that had started somewhere towards the end of my Baylor tenure.

James Steen: 00:09:02

And what I realized is that, you know what, there's a formula to this and I can pretty much do this anywhere.

James Steen: 00:09:08

And I think that's when I realized, like visiting other campuses, being on other campuses, helping them with their enrollment.

James Steen: 00:09:17

It was like, wow, this is, there's a formula to this.

James Steen: 00:09:21

There's some methodology here and I could do this anywhere.

James Steen: 00:09:25

So I think that realization was part of the process of kind of like being open to the idea because I obviously had been my entire career at Baylor prior to that.

James Steen: 00:09:38

to: 2005

James Steen: 00:09:48

And he had, after 10 years, had stepped down and was chancellor and was kind of doing the chancellor thing.

James Steen: 00:09:56

Well.

James Steen: 00:09:57

The Houston Baptist University Trustee Committee was filling a presidential position and they were savvy enough to get Robert Sloan to kind of rope him back into being a part of their presidential search committee.

James Steen: 00:10:13

But their real, their real desire was to pull him out of retirement and get him to come to hbu.

James Steen: 00:10:20

Now Houston Christian University to be the president.

James Steen: 00:10:23

And so they were successful in doing that.

James Steen: 00:10:26

He started here September 1st of 06.

James Steen: 00:10:32

And before he even started here, it was August, I think the announcement was made probably end of July that he was.

James Steen: 00:10:40

Was going to be the only.

James Steen: 00:10:42

The third president of the institution.

James Steen: 00:10:46

And sometime in August, we started talking.

Phil Cook: 00:10:51

He.

James Steen: 00:10:51

He knew he was going to need an enrollment guy.

James Steen: 00:10:55

We'd worked together at Baylor, and so it was.

James Steen: 00:11:00

It was.

James Steen: 00:11:01

It was really a surreal thing in the sense that I never.

James Steen: 00:11:05

I never filled out an application.

Phil Cook: 00:11:07

Yeah.

James Steen: 00:11:08

I never submitted a resume.

James Steen: 00:11:10

I never did an interview, formal or informal.

James Steen: 00:11:16

My wife Heather and I.

James Steen: 00:11:17

Heather and I came down to Houston and we met with Robert and Sue Sloan.

James Steen: 00:11:25

They were.

James Steen: 00:11:26

This was so.

James Steen: 00:11:27

He had started September 1st.

James Steen: 00:11:28

This was really, really, really early September.

James Steen: 00:11:31

I think they'd only been here maybe a week or two at the most.

James Steen: 00:11:35

The funny thing was we met on campus.

James Steen: 00:11:39

We met at the president's home.

James Steen: 00:11:40

Well, the president's home was being renovated at the time, so we couldn't go in the president's home.

James Steen: 00:11:46

We got in their car.

James Steen: 00:11:47

He kind of drove around the perimeter of campus.

James Steen: 00:11:49

He didn't even have a key to any of the buildings yet.

James Steen: 00:11:52

And so we couldn't go in any of the buildings.

James Steen: 00:11:56

And we talked about it.

James Steen: 00:11:59

They were so new to Houston.

James Steen: 00:12:00

The funny thing was, she was like, we ought to just go.

James Steen: 00:12:03

Let's just go sit at Starbucks and we'll talk.

James Steen: 00:12:06

He didn't even know where a Starbucks was.

James Steen: 00:12:09

They hadn't been in Houston long enough.

James Steen: 00:12:11

So we ended up.

James Steen: 00:12:12

We ended up sitting in their car in a stall at Sonic, you know, sipping Cokes and just talking about it.

Phil Cook: 00:12:20

Happy hour.

Phil Cook: 00:12:20

New bar at Sonic's Clutch.

James Steen: 00:12:21

Yeah, a little happy hour.

James Steen: 00:12:24

And really from that point, the rest was history.

James Steen: 00:12:28

And so I came as the vice president for enrollment management.

James Steen: 00:12:31

And it's hard to believe, but I guess I'm in my 19th year now, as of November 1st.

James Steen: 00:12:41

And so it's been an amazing.

James Steen: 00:12:43

An amazing experience and have loved every bit of it.

James Steen: 00:12:48

And I think, to your point, there are so few of us left, Phil, like, who have been doing this as long as you and I have.

James Steen: 00:12:57

It's true, and it is.

James Steen: 00:13:01

It is truly a calling, and I see it that way.

James Steen: 00:13:05

And Christian higher education has been something that I have absolutely loved and cherished and have been so honored to be a part of.

Heidi Sturm: 00:13:14

You're listening to the Higher Ed Higher Purpose podcast.

Phil Cook: 00:13:20

Well, those of you that are just joining us, we're talking with Dr.

Phil Cook: 00:13:23

James Steen, Vice president for enrollment Management and marketing at Houston Christian University.

Phil Cook: 00:13:28

And the success has been remarkable.

Phil Cook: 00:13:30

Having been on the campus recently multiple times, the campus expansion, the enrollment growth, the energy, there's an inertia there that's palpable on campus.

Phil Cook: 00:13:39

And we're so pleased that you're a part of what we do.

Phil Cook: 00:13:41

One more question before Heidi jumps in.

Phil Cook: 00:13:43

We talk about success and professional success.

Phil Cook: 00:13:47

That's important to us.

Phil Cook: 00:13:48

It's important to people who've been in the industry long term, but not at the expense of our families.

Phil Cook: 00:13:52

I mean, you mentioned Heather before we were on, we were talking about your family and how, how do you balance, how does someone balance being a Senior Leader for 19 years at a place like Houston Christian with the same time of being a husband, a father, someone who's committed to church ministry?

Phil Cook: 00:14:09

I know you do ministry.

Phil Cook: 00:14:11

How do you balance all that?

Phil Cook: 00:14:12

How do you prioritize your life to make sure that, that you're doing the things the right way?

James Steen: 00:14:16

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, I think work life balance is something that we probably all struggle with in some form or fashion.

James Steen: 00:14:23

And it's cyclical.

James Steen: 00:14:24

You know, there are busier seasons than others.

James Steen: 00:14:27

I would say I realized pretty early on that.

James Steen: 00:14:31

And living in a major city, I think that was the hardest transition.

James Steen: 00:14:34

Moving from Waco, Texas, that was a city of 100,000 people, to Houston, Texas, you know, that's a city of really like 7 million people.

James Steen: 00:14:43

It's massive.

James Steen: 00:14:45

And you know, the commute in every morning, you know, rush hour is a real thing here.

James Steen: 00:14:50

And so what I realized pretty early on is it doesn't matter how early I get up in the morning, if I'm not there in the morning, I'm not going to be missed.

James Steen: 00:14:58

But if I'm not, if I'm not home by dinner time, that's going to be a problem.

James Steen: 00:15:03

And so I'm a morning guy.

James Steen: 00:15:05

I get up super early in the morning.

James Steen: 00:15:07

I'm usually at my desk by 6:30am but then because of that, I don't feel bad about knocking off at 4:00 or usually 4:30 at the latest and getting that commute, that drive home started so that I can be home and engaged there to support my wife, help with dinner, make dinner, be there for the kiddos, do the homework routine and the bedtime routines and all of that.

James Steen: 00:15:38

And since we've been here, Phil, which is hard to believe, you know, we moved here with a four year old and a two year old and my wife was pregnant at the time.

James Steen: 00:15:47

And so literally I started November first, my daughter, our third, was born December 17th, and so she's about to turn 18.

Phil Cook: 00:15:57

Wow.

James Steen: 00:15:57

And then we've added one more along the way as well.

James Steen: 00:16:01

So we've raised our family here.

James Steen: 00:16:04

Our oldest, who's now 22, he kind of remembers living in Waco, but this is home for them.

James Steen: 00:16:11

Right.

James Steen: 00:16:11

And so over that process, I mean, I've really had to prioritize family events.

James Steen: 00:16:18

I don't miss games or performances or whatever.

James Steen: 00:16:25

I make that a priority and schedule around those things.

James Steen: 00:16:30

And I think that's what we have to do.

James Steen: 00:16:31

Right.

James Steen: 00:16:31

I mean, family first.

James Steen: 00:16:33

And I tell my folks that.

James Steen: 00:16:34

Family first.

James Steen: 00:16:35

And that's.

James Steen: 00:16:36

That's really, in my opinion, the recipe for success professionally and personally.

Phil Cook: 00:16:41

Excellent.

Phil Cook: 00:16:41

Thank you.

Heidi Sturm: 00:16:42

That's great.

Heidi Sturm: 00:16:43

Yeah.

Heidi Sturm: 00:16:44

James.

Heidi Sturm: 00:16:44

I feel like the starting of our careers are very similar in that, you know, I'm graduating, I don't know what I'm going to do with my life.

Heidi Sturm: 00:16:54

And the admissions office, that always looks like a fun place to be.

Heidi Sturm: 00:16:57

So that's how I got my start.

Heidi Sturm: 00:16:59

And it's just funny how life just takes you, or not life, but how God directs your path to get you to where he wants you to be.

Heidi Sturm: 00:17:08

So I've worked with you in a few different capacities.

Heidi Sturm: 00:17:11

The college fair.

Heidi Sturm: 00:17:13

You have hosted the Christian College Fair in the Houston area for us in the past, and now we're gearing up for our annual conference.

Heidi Sturm: 00:17:23

In thinking through your time at Houston Christian, what was your first interaction with NatCap?

Heidi Sturm: 00:17:31

What would that have been looking like?

James Steen: 00:17:33

Yeah, so that really dates all the way back to Baylor days when we would have loved to have gone to some of those Christian college fairs, but we couldn't.

James Steen: 00:17:45

So Baylor has a Jewish State Studies program center, and so there are two or three Jewish faculty members.

James Steen: 00:17:54

So because of that, we couldn't be members of nacap.

James Steen: 00:17:57

And so I want to say there was an opportunity maybe somewhere way back there when I either went to some NatCap, I don't know, something, and I just fell in love with it.

James Steen: 00:18:11

So when I came here, I was thrilled that we were not only a part of NatCap, but we were able to come to the conference and attend the college fairs.

James Steen: 00:18:25

So going really, from my first days here at the institution, Houston Christian University, I've been so thrilled to be a part of the conferences.

James Steen: 00:18:40

We haven't made it every year.

James Steen: 00:18:42

The conference is always a little tricky for us because we actually own orientation, and that's an intentional thing, but we own.

James Steen: 00:18:50

So the conference falls really about the time that we're usually hosting and getting ready for orientation, but we were making it work.

James Steen: 00:18:59

And we're actually hosting the conference this summer.

James Steen: 00:19:02

I hope everybody will come because I think it's going to be a great conference.

James Steen: 00:19:07

But I think from that perspective, it has been such a blessing to be around other colleagues.

James Steen: 00:19:15

The conference has been.

James Steen: 00:19:19

It's just a great conference with the ability to come together with like minded individuals.

James Steen: 00:19:27

We have worship together, we have great, challenging, professional conversations.

James Steen: 00:19:34

We learn from one another.

James Steen: 00:19:37

And again, I just think it's the best of what Christian higher ed has to offer.

James Steen: 00:19:44

And NatCap has been a huge part of that.

James Steen: 00:19:45

And I should mention too, thanks to Chant, I was able to get one of the grants to do the research for my PhD.

James Steen: 00:19:58

And Phil Cook, you know this too.

James Steen: 00:19:59

I mean, by the time you get to that dissertation phase and you're just sucking wind and you're dying, you know, those checks, you feel like, you know, just yourself active and you're writing and it doesn't feel like it's ever going to end.

James Steen: 00:20:20

That was the injection.

James Steen: 00:20:22

The motivation that I needed was getting that grant to not only allow it to help fund my research, but to kind of like push through one more year to get it done.

James Steen: 00:20:35

And anyway, so even in that sense, personally, NatCap has been a huge blessing to me.

Heidi Sturm: 00:20:41

That's fantastic.

Heidi Sturm: 00:20:41

And I kind of remember when you were awarded that grant, what year would that have been?

Heidi Sturm: 00:20:46

Because I think it was around.

James Steen: 00:20:48

I guess it would have been in: 2019

James Steen: 00:21:05

So that's the main thing.

Heidi Sturm: 00:21:06

That's great thinking of all of the different hats that you have worn, you just went through a huge rebrand as well.

Heidi Sturm: 00:21:14

What was that like?

Phil Cook: 00:21:16

Yeah, good question.

James Steen: 00:21:17

That was, that was.

James Steen: 00:21:18

And the interesting thing is I only picked up marketing during the name change process.

James Steen: 00:21:25

So, you know, it is not for the faint of heart.

James Steen: 00:21:30

I don't recommend a name change because you literally have to touch and it's just so all encompassing.

James Steen: 00:21:39

But it's been really good for us.

James Steen: 00:21:41

You know, Houston Baptist University, we're still a Baptist university.

James Steen: 00:21:44

We're still proud of our Baptist heritage.

James Steen: 00:21:47

But that was kind of a shrinking pond, if you will.

James Steen: 00:21:50

Right.

James Steen: 00:21:50

And it really didn't reflect who we were.

James Steen: 00:21:52

We're only about 20% Baptist these days.

James Steen: 00:21:54

And so Houston Christian University not only cast a much wider net, but it's more reflective of who we are as an institution and the students that we serve.

James Steen: 00:22:07

But Making that transition.

James Steen: 00:22:10

It has been a lot.

James Steen: 00:22:13

We talked about it for a year before we ever even broached the subject or the topic publicly.

James Steen: 00:22:20

Once we did, the board was on our side and supportive.

James Steen: 00:22:25

We made the announcement.

James Steen: 00:22:27

It has been about a two year process.

James Steen: 00:22:29

We made that announcement in the fall of 22, and I would say really by fall 20, this fall 24, we're finally to the point where it feels like we're not done.

James Steen: 00:22:42

I still walk across campus and find bees every now and then, but most of the bees are now Cs and we've made that transition successfully and we're better for it.

Phil Cook: 00:22:55

James Steen, the beekeeper man, get the.

James Steen: 00:22:57

Bees, let him take care of it.

Phil Cook: 00:22:59

I love it.

Phil Cook: 00:23:00

I just love that.

Phil Cook: 00:23:01

That's a neat, that's a neat parallel as well.

Phil Cook: 00:23:03

James, we are grateful for your service to higher education, Christian higher education, and to NatCap, to be a part of our board of directors as well.

Phil Cook: 00:23:13

And you mentioned the research grant that now we call it the Tim Fuller research grant to honor a patriarch, a one of the, one of the Mount Rushmore guys.

Phil Cook: 00:23:23

And also you don't get that PhD maybe finished off that infusion of money.

Phil Cook: 00:23:27

And I don't get that PhD without James Steen.

Phil Cook: 00:23:31

There's just no doubt of the way to say it.

Phil Cook: 00:23:32

James, for me, hard to believe three years ago now.

Phil Cook: 00:23:35

James, when I was finishing.

Phil Cook: 00:23:36

James, last week Inside Higher Ed came out with an article talking about how schools that are fully embracing their Christ centered mission, the missionally aligned, are growing.

Phil Cook: 00:23:47

The industry gives a lot of message out there.

Phil Cook: 00:23:49

So as we wrap up, what do you see on the horizon?

Phil Cook: 00:23:52

What do you see in your work there for Houston Christian, but also for the larger.

Phil Cook: 00:23:56

You do consulting for rnl, the landscape of Christian higher Ed.

Phil Cook: 00:24:00

There are schools that are closing.

Phil Cook: 00:24:01

There's a lot of negative stories out there.

Phil Cook: 00:24:03

But is there a silver lining?

Phil Cook: 00:24:05

Is there a remnant?

Phil Cook: 00:24:06

Is there good news out there that you could share with our listeners as we wrap up our time together?

James Steen: 00:24:11

Yeah, I mean, I think there are definitely there's some headwinds, right.

James Steen: 00:24:18

That we're facing not only in higher education, but specifically Christian higher education.

James Steen: 00:24:22

Education.

James Steen: 00:24:24

I think that's what's so important about an organization like nacap, where we can come together and we can talk about the challenges.

James Steen: 00:24:36

We can work through some of those issues together.

James Steen: 00:24:41

We're not competing against one another.

James Steen: 00:24:44

We're not competitors.

James Steen: 00:24:46

Our competition, institutions that cost way less than we do.

James Steen: 00:24:52

Our competition are institutions sometimes in our backyard that are primarily publics who have something totally different to offer.

James Steen: 00:25:02

There's still a market for Christian higher education.

James Steen: 00:25:06

There is still students, there are still families that are prioritizing Christian higher education.

James Steen: 00:25:16

And I think we have to work together to really tap into not only the reasons why we do what we do, but also selling the benefits of what we do.

James Steen: 00:25:30

And again, this whole brand rebrand and name change thing has just reinforced how important it is.

James Steen: 00:25:36

We have to know who we are and we have to know who the students are that we're serving.

James Steen: 00:25:41

If we're not clear about that, we're just going to be anything and everything to everybody.

James Steen: 00:25:47

And I think we've got to be really, really intentional about communicating who we are and why and what and how so that hopefully this up and coming generation will be able to have the same experience we did in Christian higher ed.

James Steen: 00:26:06

Right.

James Steen: 00:26:06

And have the same opportunities we did, and hopefully go not only to an institution where they're going to get a phenomenal degree and have a great experience socially, but where they're also going to grow spiritually.

James Steen: 00:26:19

Right?

James Steen: 00:26:20

And I think that's why we do what we do, because we do have.

James Steen: 00:26:25

Our tagline has been a higher education.

James Steen: 00:26:28

Right.

James Steen: 00:26:29

We have a higher calling than just to provide an education.

James Steen: 00:26:34

And I think those of us who have been doing this a long time, we've seen a lot of.

James Steen: 00:26:38

A lot of different things come down the pike.

James Steen: 00:26:40

I mean, who would have ever thought we would have had a pandemic do some of the things that, I mean, we're doing things differently, we're learning from one another, we're being creative.

James Steen: 00:26:50

And I think that's what's so valuable about an organization like NatCap is that we can come together, we can learn from one another, and then ultimately come out the other side of some of these challenges, obstacles, as better institutions, as better enrollment managers, and hopefully better serve this current generation that we're called to serve.

Phil Cook: 00:27:15

Dr.

Phil Cook: 00:27:16

James Steen, Vice president for enrollment management and marketing at Houston Christian University, NATCAP board member, and in my estimation, one of the top voices in Christian higher education enrollment.

Phil Cook: 00:27:26

James, we're glad you're on our team.

Phil Cook: 00:27:27

We're glad you're advancing Christian education with us.

Phil Cook: 00:27:30

Thanks again for being on our podcast and have a wonderful holiday and Merry Christmas.

James Steen: 00:27:34

Absolutely.

James Steen: 00:27:34

Thank you, guys.

Heidi Sturm: 00:27:35

Thanks, James.

Heidi Sturm: 00:27:38

Be sure to join us next time for the Higher Ed Higher Purpose podcast.