What Does It Mean To Be a Chief Experience Officer in Higher Education?

When I heard Bill Campbell had “Chief Experience Officer” in his title, I just knew I had to talk to him about my favorite topic - student experience. 

On this episode, Bill dives into his role as Chief Experience Officer at Chatham University where he is examining and shaping student experiences from the perspective of current students, retention, technology and all the things in between.

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Key Takeaways

• Retention is the New Recruitment: As demographic shifts reduce the pool of prospective students, institutions must prioritize retention through better internal processes, communication, and technology.
• Treat Students Like Customers: Apply marketing best practices—like CRM tools, audience segmentation, and user-centered communication—to enhance the student experience from enrollment to graduation.
• The Employee Experience Matters Too: Engaged employees are key to delivering a great student experience. Institutions need to invest in technology, processes, and flexible policies that make employees’ jobs easier and more rewarding.
• Research and Listening Are Foundational: Borrowing from brand strategy, Chatham is implementing a research-based approach to gather insights from students and employees about their experiences, creating a roadmap for improvement.
• Focus on Communication Overhaul: Simplifying, organizing, and streamlining internal communications—like switching to an opt-in model and assigning clear ownership of email outreach—can have a massive impact on engagement and satisfaction.

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What Does a Chief Experience Officer Do?

Bill Campbell’s role as Chief Experience Officer (CXO) emerged as Chatham University grappled with unprecedented growth. Following its transition to coeducation at the undergraduate level, the university saw rapid increases in enrollment, which exposed gaps in infrastructure, communication, and processes. Recognizing the need for a more holistic approach to retention and internal experience, Chatham created the CXO role to focus on integrating communications, technology, and processes to improve the experience for students and employees alike.

Bill likens this work to brand strategy in marketing: “We’re treating our internal processes like the voice of the customer,” he explains. This involves listening to students and employees, gathering data, and using those insights to create actionable improvements.

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The Retention Challenge: Turning Growth Into Sustainability

Chatham’s shift to coeducation brought explosive growth, with incoming undergraduate classes increasing from around 100 students to over 400 annually. While exciting, this growth put strain on systems, resources, and staff. To address this, Bill and his team started focusing on:

• Technology Gaps: For example, Wi-Fi access became an immediate issue as students brought more devices and higher usage demands to campus.
• Student Life Programming: With a larger and more diverse student body, Chatham had to scale student engagement efforts, creating new ways to promote events and connect students with opportunities.
• Post-COVID Adjustments: The pandemic highlighted inefficiencies in systems like registration and advising, spurring investment in digital tools like learning management systems and retention alerts.

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A Four-Quadrant Approach to Experience

To tackle these challenges, Bill has developed a framework that focuses on four key areas:

1. Research and Listening: Chatham is launching advisory groups with students and employees to conduct surveys, focus groups, and user testing. These insights will inform decisions across all quadrants.
2. Communication: Simplifying internal communications is a major priority. The team recently launched an opt-in email model, integrated digital signage, and introduced a centralized content planning system.
3. Technology: Auditing existing systems, identifying gaps, and improving integration are critical to streamlining the student and employee experience.
4. Processes: Once data is gathered, Chatham will begin mapping processes to eliminate redundancies and improve efficiency.

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The Employee Experience Connection

Bill emphasizes the connection between employee experience and student success. Growth at Chatham has created strain on staff, so improving processes and tools for employees is just as important as focusing on students. Flexibility, progressive benefits, and streamlined systems can make employees’ jobs easier and help them deliver better service to students.

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Why Focus on Experience Now?

Experience is becoming a hot topic in higher ed for several reasons:

1. Demographic Shifts: As student populations shrink, retaining enrolled students is critical.
2. Changing Expectations: Today’s students expect the same seamless, tech-enabled experiences they get from brands like Amazon or Netflix. Institutions must rise to meet those expectations.
3. Word of Mouth Matters: Current students are often the top source of referrals for prospective students. A great experience drives positive word of mouth, which is critical for recruitment and reputation.

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Why This Tactic Works

Bill Campbell’s approach is effective because it borrows proven strategies from marketing—like audience research, CRM integration, and user-centered design—and applies them to the entire student lifecycle. By treating internal processes and communications as extensions of the brand, Chatham is building a stronger foundation for retention, satisfaction, and long-term success.

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Lessons Learned

1. Listen First, Act Second

Start with research and listening. Whether it’s focus groups, surveys, or advisory boards, gather insights directly from students and employees before jumping to solutions.

2. Tackle Communications First

Improving internal communications can have an immediate impact. Streamlining email workflows, adopting opt-in models, and creating centralized planning processes can help cut through the noise and reach your audience more effectively.

3. Use Marketing Tools for Retention

The same tools used to recruit students—like CRMs, digital content strategies, and audience segmentation—can be adapted to improve the current student experience.

4. Connect Student and Employee Success

Investing in the employee experience is just as important as improving processes for students. Happy, supported employees are better equipped to deliver excellent service.

5. Think Like a Consumer Brand

Today’s students are accustomed to seamless, tech-driven experiences in their daily lives. Higher ed must adopt this mindset to stay competitive.

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Ready to Get Started?

If you’re a higher ed marketer or CMO considering a shift toward experience, here’s how to start:

1. Audit Internal Communications: Look at how you communicate with current students and employees. Are there too many emails? Are your messages coming from the right senders?
2. Establish Listening Channels: Create focus groups or advisory boards to gather feedback from students and staff.
3. Simplify Processes: Identify areas where technology and workflows can be streamlined for better efficiency.
4. Learn from Other Industries: Look to healthcare and consumer brands for inspiration on creating seamless, user-friendly experiences.
5. Collaborate Across Campus: Partner with IT, student affairs, and other departments to align efforts and priorities.

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The Application is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!  

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