Leadership and Strategy

Leadership, organizational strategy, and AI integration for higher education

Solve Higher Ed Marketing helps colleges and universities strengthen leadership, align teams and build the structures needed to support effective marketing, communications and enrollment outcomes.

From organizational assessments to interim leadership to AI training, this work focuses on how decisions are made, how teams operate and how institutions move forward with clarity and confidence.


Where we focus

Organizational assessment

Effective strategy depends on structure.

Solve conducts organizational assessments to evaluate roles, workflows, governance, and alignment across marketing, communications, and enrollment. This work identifies gaps, clarifies responsibilities, and provides recommendations to create a more strategic, coordinated function.

Fractional and interim CMO services

Leadership transitions create both risk and opportunity.

Solve provides fractional and interim Chief Marketing Officer support for institutions navigating change, restructuring, or growth. This includes executive-level guidance, team leadership and strategic direction to maintain momentum and strengthen marketing at the cabinet level.

Project management system assessment and implementation

Tools should support strategy, not slow it down.

Solve evaluates existing project management systems, workflows, and processes to ensure they align with how teams actually work. This includes recommendations for system selection, implementation and training to improve efficiency, transparency, and accountability.

Strategic planning

Clarity drives better decisions.

Solve works with leadership teams to develop strategic plans that align marketing, communications, enrollment, and institutional priorities. These plans are practical, focused, and designed to guide action, not sit on a shelf.

Artificial intelligence implementation

Moving from experimentation to implementation is where most institutions struggle. Solve works with colleges and universities to integrate AI into marketing, communications, and enrollment workflows in a practical, responsible way. This includes identifying high-impact use cases, designing workflows, establishing governance, and supporting adoption across teams.

Artificial intelligence training

AI is changing how marketing and communications work.

Solve provides practical, higher education-focused AI training for marketing, communications, and enrollment teams. This includes identifying use cases, building workflows, and developing responsible approaches to integrating generative AI into daily work.

Mentoring

Strong leaders build strong teams.

Solve provides mentoring and coaching for marketing and communications leaders, helping them navigate complex environments, strengthen decision-making and grow into more strategic roles.


Common challenges we solve

  • Our structure isn’t set up to support strategy

  • Roles and responsibilities are unclear

  • We’re navigating leadership transition or change

  • Our systems and workflows are slowing us down

  • We need a clearer strategic direction

  • We want to integrate AI, but don’t know where to start

  • Our leaders need support in stepping into more strategic roles


What this work enables

  • Clearer roles, structure and decision-making

  • Stronger alignment across marketing, communications and enrollment

  • More effective leadership during transition or change

  • Improved workflows and operational efficiency

  • Practical, actionable strategic plans

  • Confident, responsible use of AI

  • Stronger leadership capacity across teams


Why Solve?

Solve Higher Ed Marketing specializes exclusively in higher education marketing and enrollment strategy.

Led by a former university Chief Marketing Officer, this work reflects a deep understanding of enrollment pressures, institutional structure, and the realities of working across marketing and admissions teams.

Engagements are senior-led, practical, and designed to create lasting alignment—not just short-term improvements.

Ready to get started?

If your institution is navigating complexity, change, or increased scrutiny, a stronger communications strategy can make the difference.