JAM 2026 Sessions Everyone Will Be Talking About

Prospective students don’t follow linear nurture paths. They research on their own terms. This session will explore how enrollment and admissions teams can use CRM-powered behavioral tracking to better understand prospect intent and deliver more timely, relevant communications.

Attendees will learn how behavioral tracking in higher-ed CRMs can:

• Capture and interpret website behavior across key enrollment pages
• Trigger personalized communications aligned with demonstrated interest
• Integrate with CRM workflows to support recruitment and inquiry generation
• Enable more responsive, student-centered outreach

This session, designed for enrollment, admissions, and marketing professionals, will include practical examples in Technolutions Slate and Element451, plus case studies showing the impact behavioral tracking and marketing can have across the enrollment funnel. You’ll leave with ideas for maximizing your CRM and strategies for engaging prospective students at the moments that matter most.

The most successful institutions don’t just hire vendors; they integrate partners as an extension of their internal team. This session explores how to bridge the gap between high-level marketing strategy and technical CRM execution. Whether you use Slate, Salesforce, or Element451, the “technical handshake” between your team and your partner is what determines your ROI.

We will dive into real-world case studies showcasing how Jenzabar’s SparkAssist service empowers internal teams by untangling student journey mapping and optimizing data architecture. Attendees will learn how collaborative marketing — sharing real-time data, brand assets, and audience insights — results in higher funnel conversion and gives staff the bandwidth to actually impact enrollment.

As AI and evolving student behaviors disrupt how prospective students search for and evaluate colleges, traditional enrollment marketing playbooks are quickly losing effectiveness. From zero-click search and AI-generated answers to discovery across platforms like Reddit, TikTok, and LinkedIn, institutions are facing a more fragmented and less predictable path to engagement.

This session connects the dots between these macro-level shifts and real-world strategy, showing how marketers can adapt their approach to remain visible and competitive. Through a two-year case study of NYU Tandon’s Urban Data Science program, we’ll explore how moving away from broad, traditional channels to more targeted, high-intent platforms led to stronger engagement and lead quality. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of today’s disrupted landscape and practical insight into how to evolve their own enrollment marketing playbook with confidence.

Navigating the yield process can be an overwhelming experience for both students and their families. For institutions, it’s vital to create a supportive, transparent, and engaging environment for parents during this critical decision-making period. As yield rates continue to be a critical measure of an institution’s success, engaging parents in the process is more important than ever. This session will explore effective strategies for engaging parents throughout the yield process and offer practical insights on how NJIT and Spark451 have partnered to create meaningful parent involvement.

The session will be interactive; presenters will share real-world examples and best practices, and also encourage discussion around the topic. By intentionally and thoughtfully engaging parents throughout the yield process, institutions can ensure that every member of the family feels confident and engaged throughout the decision-making journey.

As higher education institutions respond to shifting labor markets, evolving learner expectations, and increasing scrutiny around program relevance, the development of new academic programs requires a more intentional and evidence-informed approach. Traditional program development models are often misaligned with the complexity of contemporary adult and graduate education. Institutions can benefit from utilizing a design-based discovery and development framework which integrates insights from design-based research, human-centered design, and backward curriculum design.

In a market saturated with “selling points,” students are looking for something more: a commitment to their well-being. This session explores the power of support-centered marketing, using the partnership between Randolph College and Spark451 as a blueprint for success. The centerpiece of this strategy is Randolph’s TAKE2 curriculum, which splits semesters into two seven-week quarters and guarantees no classes on Wednesdays. While structurally innovative, the true success lies in how this model is marketed as a mental health intervention. By prioritizing time for internships, campus life, and vital recharging, Randolph positions student support as a core brand value rather than a perk. We will share how Spark451 developed a multichannel campaign — spanning print, communications, and digital media — to ensure students feel supported before they even arrive on campus.

As undergraduate enrollment becomes more competitive and student expectations shift toward career clarity and return on investment, institutions are being challenged to rethink how undergraduate and graduate enrollment strategies work together. What if your graduate programs weren’t just endpoints, but also powerful recruitment tools for undergraduates? This session explores how 4+1, accelerated master’s, and dual-enrollment pathways can be leveraged to attract, yield, and retain undergraduate students earlier in the recruitment funnel.

Rather than positioning graduate education as a distant aspiration, we’ll examine how institutions can present advanced degrees as a near-term value proposition that resonates with career-focused students and families. Participants will leave with a practical framework and actionable ideas to strengthen undergraduate recruitment while building long-term enrollment momentum.

When the “enrollment cliff” met the FAFSA crisis, Hartwick College and Spark451 didn’t just react — they redefined. This session explores a two-year transformation: starting with a total brand repositioning into “The Life Balance College” and a transparent tuition reset. We’ll revisit how qualitative focus groups and workshops unified the campus community to prioritize student well-being — financial, physical, emotional, and academic — as a competitive advantage, and served as a foundation for a new market position.

Building on that foundation, we reveal the “Year Two” engine: a sophisticated enrollment search strategy that turned this new identity into record-breaking growth. We’ll detail how we utilized multisource name purchases (College Board, Encoura) along with other lead vehicles to cultivate an enrollment funnel beginning at the sophomore year through application. Attendees will see how the message architecture was deployed across a multi-channeled marketing strategy, how communications increased clarity and reduced stress throughout the college search process, and how the partnership drove record-breaking application volume. Join us to learn how to be nimble, align stakeholders, and leverage a precision-targeted funnel to outpace industry trends.

In an era of “quick-fix” marketing, Molloy University and Spark451 took a different path: the long game. This session deconstructs a four-year partnership that moved away from transactional, single-cycle recruitment toward a sophisticated, multi-year cultivation engine. We will explore how Molloy moved beyond simple search to a diversified name acquisition strategy — integrating strategic name purchases (College Board, Encoura) along with high-intent sources like CommonApp prospects, Niche inquiries, and Direct Admissions.

True enrollment health isn’t built overnight; it’s the result of a deliberate, compounding marketing strategy that meets today’s students where they live. We’ll showcase how unique creative (print, e-comm, and SMS) bridges the gap between digital and physical touchpoints, and how we leverage influencer populations like parents and guidance counselors to solidify the decision-making process. We’ll close out with yield strategies that took the cohort over the enrollment goal finish line. Attendees will learn why true enrollment health isn’t built in a single cycle, but through the deliberate layering of sophomore, junior, and senior engagement.