1. Tell me a little bit about how you started working at DTCC.
I was kind of forced into the position, actually. I was functioning at the Clinical Coordinator at the time that a state audit was conducted of EMS course files. It was determined that the then Program Director was reporting fraudulent course records to the state Office of EMS and the North Carolina Community College System. Upon his termination, I was interiorly promoted.
2. Could you give me some examples to illustrate the challenges you faced when starting your new position?
It was extremely challenging for me since I really had just a few years of teaching experience under my belt and little administrative training. Additionally, there are a multitude of community college-specific rules that I had to learn and follow while being the administrative point of contact for anything related to the EMS program. I was lucky to have a close friend who had taken a position as a community college EMS Program Director the year prior who was willing to sit down with me and teach me all of the paperwork auditing procedures. Because she and I have very different managerial styles, I had to figure out how to be my own leader. As a result, things like marketing and program promotion were concepts that I learned through self-study and active participation.
3. When problems arise, how do you resolve them?
For me, objectivity is paramount. When a problem arises, I like to take the time to examine all facets of this issue so that I can make an informed and fair decision. In my particular program, the “problems” that you speak of generally come in the form of student complaints or requests for accommodation from North Carolina Office of EMS general statutes regarding education. It is important for me to understand the rules and guidelines of the state community college system, the local community college system, the state office of EMS, and the EMS program, in addition to student and/or instructor concerns or evidence. Reviewing, consulting, or simply knowing theses resources allows me to make a balanced decision that is not based on emotion.
4. How have the experiences that you have had during your entire career influenced the way you now run your program?
Absolutely. I think that the best example that I can give you that is also an ongoing process is the current EMS Student Handbook. I developed my own handbook off of a copyrighted version of an EMS Student Handbook received from the aforementioned friend/Program Director. Invariably with EMS students, a situation will arise that we could never have anticipated, and thus, have no policy to fall back on. Navigating these situations by contacting other administrative authorities for guidance (OEMS, or the community college system) allow us to come to a resolution that is legal and fair. Then, we change the student handbook to reflect that situation for the next batch of students.
5. How did you first begin to market your program?
After the state audit, our EMS program had a pretty awful reputation. The best way for me to market the program after such a disaster was to let people know that there was a “new sheriff in town” and that I would be playing by the book. Also, I got some free marketing out of the audit since the fraudulent records created the need for me to contact and retest some 500 students within my first year of employment or they would risk losing the certifications they thought they had received legitimately. The diligence that myself and my new staff put forward to find, talk to, and retest those students showed the EMS community that the program was there to help them, and genuinely cared about their profession.
6. What mediums do you use to market your program?
Once we made it through the audit, we employed the use of several low-budget marketing tools. Probably one of the biggest is Durham Tech’s own website. We have multiple interactive tools for prospective students to evaluate the program, see class schedules, and answer the majority of their questions. We also employ social media and more of a grassroots campaign of marketing-by-mouth. A lot of our students are employed by our area EMS agencies and they go back and talk to their peers. Additionally, many of our instructors also work for area EMS agencies and they also talk to their peers about how they are treated and paid. We utilize on-campus organizations like Duke EMS, which is a student-managed EMS squad, to draft support for EMS programs that we host on Duke’s campus. We do the same thing with a student-run organization on UNC’s campus, known as ACERIP. We also used to have a state EMS training calendar which we would post our programs to as needed, but it was canceled as a result of state budget cuts.
7. How do you determine what to market?
We heavily market new EMS programs or classes that the community may know little about. We also market smaller two-day specialty courses that Paramedics use for renewal of state or national certifications. And recently, we have also been heavily marketing our online continuing education to credentialed EMTs and Paramedics so that they can complete their requirements for certification from home as they are able.
8. Do you use Social Media to market, and if so how effective do you think it is?
We have a Facebook page for the program that we use to disseminate program updates and upcoming courses and I find it to be a pretty effective way to just get courses out there. If I need to poll students or providers about what they want to see, I can use Facebook to do that. Also, students can get quick clarifications to simple questions on Facebook that other students (that may have the same question) can see. I do know that the more interactive you make you social media, the more interaction you will see in return from the community.
9. Knowing what you know now about marketing, is there anything you would have done differently when you started working at DTCC?
Well, a large part of marketing is word of mouth; people sharing their experiences about how they were treated or what they were expected to do. All of the best ad campaigns and marketing in the world can only help you bring them in once, creating a repeat customer is on you. There have been times when the organization of the program has been in question which created some frustration with the students, who, I’m sure invariably went out and spoke about their experiences in the community. I wish that in the beginning, I was prepared for that and I wished that I would’ve known that was going to happen so that I could have better prepared a more seamless and positive educational experience for the students.
10. How much time in a given week to you dedicate to marketing your program?
I’m not sure that I can put a true number on it. I have one full-time employee serving as the Clinical Coordinator who is out in the community quite frequently promoting the program when he meets with clinical sites and monitors students. I would say that roughly 1-2 hours per week are spent on Facebook. Sometimes marketing comes in large spurts depending on an new, upcoming program or modifications that need to be made to the college website regarding the EMS program. I would say that I spend an average of 40 hours per semester on marketing.
11. How are things going in your program in general, right now?
We are currently continuing to work on our reputation. We have the student enrollment, but recent budget cuts have made reliable staffing difficult and have additionally limited our number of class offerings. The community sees that as the program putting the almighty dollar over their training and as a result of inconsistent staffing, the program is seen as disorganized. We are working as hard as we can to remedy that perception, but there is little we can do with 10-15% budget reversions from the state.
12. How do you keep up with best practices in your industry for marketing?
It’s difficult. There has not been a “best practice” defined approach and since our program is local for Durham and Orange counties, we focus more on local marketing than anything on a national scale. Since Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill are in my college’s service area, I ensure that we market to the student population through on-campus groups and I maintain and foster collaborative partnerships with area fire and EMS agencies to ensure that we can meet each other’s needs (they send me students and I train them).
13. What advice would you give to someone who was considering a career in small business ownership and management in terms of marketing their business?
Formal training in the business process is paramount. As someone with zero business background that was thrown into an EMS program, I still sometimes struggle with a true business acumen and I can take things too personally or I can get too close. This EMS program is very much a small business within an educational institution. I have to know my product and its delivery availability. I have to know my target demographic and how to capture them. I have to be able to balance a several hundred thousand dollar budget between payroll, benefits, travel, and equipment for programs. I have to contract and pay my employees at a fair rate and supervise their work. I have to work collaboratively with local and state community leaders to maintain the program’s solid reputation and I have to maintain records compliance for any state agency that may want to audit them in the future. I may have well been more prepared to complete all of these tasks with solid foundation in business processes, managerial finance, and formal leadership or management courses.
14. What kind of formal education and additional specialized training would you recommend a person should acquire to market their business?
I would love to have some formal training in effective marketing. Granted, we market pretty well to a very niche’ demographic, but formal techniques and training could only improve our efforts, and our reach as a program.
About Sara Houston
Sara is the EMS Program Director at Durham Technical Community College and a Paramedic with Durham County EMS. She has served in EMS for over 12 years and has earned an Associate of Science in Paramedic Studies from Santa Rosa Junior College and Bachelor of Science in Biology – Pre Med from California State University-Hayward. Sara is currently completing her Master of Health Science degree at Western Carolina University. Sara’s passion is clinical outcomes research and inspiring the new generations of EMS to participate in the research process.
