In order to advance and add value to the private school admission process, SSATB seeks to support a wide constituency – both inside and outside schools. As such, SSATB has a long history of support and partnership with educational consultants and talent development organizations, which represent about 20% of SSATB’s overall membership. Camille “Cammie” Bertram, President of Camille M. Bertram Educational Consultants, LLC, based in CT, joined the SSAT Board of Directors in 2007. Cammie, who grew up on The Hill School campus, where her father James V. Moffatt was Director of Admission and Associate Headmaster (and was also a founding member of SSATB), is no stranger to the world of private school admission. Memberanda recently sat down with Cammie for a frank discussion about educational consulting and the complex school/consultant relationship. As is her style, Cammie asked members of her consulting team for their opinions, hence the references to “Holly” (Holly Treat), “Audrey” (Audrey Ludemann), and “Bar” (James “Bar” Clarke, II).

What were your first memories of SSATB?

My memories of SSATB go back to 1963. Because my father was on the Board, acronyms like SSATB and ETS were household words. At that early stage in the organization’s history, much of his work revolved around test development. Other memories include traveling to Princeton with my mother to meet Dad at SSATB headquarters and visiting Hull Maynard’s lovely yellow cottage on the campus of Loomis Institute (now Loomis Chaffee School). For many years, I did not think much or hear much about SSATB. Then in 1997, early in my career as a consultant, I attended SSATB’s Annual Meeting in Phoenix. It was the organization’s 40th anniversary, and I remember how moved I was to see my father’s picture as part of the history of the organization. At that time, he had been dead at least a decade, and it hit me that I was doing my father’s work. I felt like I had his blessing.

What inspired you to become an educational consultant?

It’s more about who inspired me … like, for instance, the friend who phoned one day seeking advice for her daughter, who was applying to boarding school, claiming my knowledge of boarding schools and admission was invaluable to her. And the list continues. My husband Henry comes from a three-generation Taft family, and when we took our eldest daughter to interview with Ferdie Wandelt, the long-time Director of Admission at Taft, Ferdie very astutely said, “We would love to have your daughter here, but it won’t be the best fit. I think you need to go see my colleague and friend Howard Greene an educational consultant.” In our meeting, Howard made such an impact on me (and ultimately found such the perfect fit for my daughter) that within five minutes I found myself thinking, “I want to be on that side of the desk.”

What training did you receive?

I credit much of my training to colleagues. When John Greenwood and Don Dunbar invited me to join their practice, they proved to be incredible mentors. During these early consulting years, the Educational Policy Council (EPC) was also pivotal in my training; this was before IECA had developed its training institutes so the professional gatherings in Grafton, Vermont, organized by EPC were one-of-a-kind. My friend and mentor, the late Bill Risley, Phyllis Steinbrecher, Dodge Johnson, and Bill and Marilyn Peirce were all part of the EPC team.

It was Bill Risley, who insisted that I attend my first SSATB meeting in Naples, Florida in September 1995. Bill helped guide me at the meeting and introduced me to many of the people who remain important to me today – colleagues like Brian Proctor, Gregg Maloberti, Bob Bullard, Rob Moore, John Fixx, and Don Saluta. As an SSAT Board member, Don took particular pride in the organization and spent a tremendous amount of time educating me about SSATB.

When I first met Alan Haas of Educational Futures, he told me that anyone who was interested in helping kids was someone he wanted to personally welcome to the profession. To this day, he remains a mentor and professional affiliate. It was Alan who encouraged my membership in IECA and together we have been active in the IECA Foundation.

Your firm’s tag line is “The Student’s Advocate.” Why does a student need one?

I believe that it is my responsibility to teach students to become self-advocates. Each of the professionals in our firm believes in this statement, and each brings his/her perspective.

Holly: My motto is, “Call them before they even know that they need to call me.” I tell students, your parents are paying the bills, but I work for you.

Audrey: The parent is my customer; the student is my client. My job is to educate, listen, sift through the information, and find the right “fit.”

Bar: Student advocacy means that we are in this for the kid. We pride ourselves in putting the student first.

Describe a “typical” day in your office.

First, each of the seven members of the team works from home. There is a central office in Westport, CT, with an office and two conference rooms that are used primarily for client and staff meetings, but the majority of work is done in our home offices and on the road. Work hours vary, and we typically meet with clients after school, between 4 – 9 pm. We also like to make house calls, as these meetings provide a snapshot of the student’s family life and help us understand the family dynamic in way that could not be replicated in a professional setting.

Why do you think educational consultants are met with varying degrees of enthusiasm by admission officers?

The school-consultant relationship is crucial. When I was Chair of the IECA Schools Committee, I worked hard to create (in partnership with TABS) a complementary set of principles of good practice for boarding schools and consultants. I don’t wait for admission directors to contact me – I reach out to them. If I know that someone will be in town for an admission event, I ask if I can take them to lunch or dinner or at least meet with them in my office. The close relationship makes the stakes higher. I’m not going to send a trusted colleague the wrong student.

Holly: It is disappointing that some consultants aren’t as well informed about schools or the admission process as they should be. As a director of admission, I was occasionally on the receiving end of bad consultant behavior, and, in some cases, the few have ruined it for the many. The reality is that schools vary in their need to work with consultants to meet enrollment goals.

Does the high turnover in admission offices make your job more difficult?

It is so important to be informed about staff transitions, and it can be difficult to stay on top of them. I would love for SSATB to create a system that tracks this information.

Holly: Yes! It can be difficult to stay on top of the personnel changes.

Educational consultants spend a great deal of time visiting schools. What gets accomplished during these visits?

The only way to really know a school is to spend time on campus learning about the culture of the academic and residential community. When visiting schools, I take in everything from what is posted on bulletin boards to how visitors are welcomed on a campus. Do people smile as I walk by? Do students hold doors open for me? Is there a sense of energy? Is there rapport between students and faculty? For me, the ideal school visit is one where I get a tour of the campus, some face-time with the director, a meal in the dining hall with students, and an opportunity to meet the head. Five minutes is all you need to be able to share with parents the head’s message or vision. Every head should know how much this means to educational consultants! For families visiting, much depends on the tour guide. When I refer a family to schools, the tour guide invariably makes or breaks the application.

Holly: I like a tour of campus and some face time with the director and head of school. On group tours for educational consultants, I find student panels valuable.

What advice would you give admission officers seeking to build relationships with educational consultants?

When visiting an educational consultant, admission colleagues should customize their approach. Ask yourself, what is the purpose of my visit? Are you introducing your school for the very first time? If you are new to your school, the purpose of your visit might simply be to introduce yourself so that the consultant knows that there has been a personnel change. Finally, visits need not be lengthy – particularly during busy times of year.

Holly: If you are hoping to build relationships with consultants, go and visit them, invite them to visit your school, or sponsor a multi-school tour.

Bar: Time, time, time. Trust, mutual respect, and understanding only come with time spent one- on-one. You can’t refer a family to a school only because the admission director is your friend, but you can have a more productive and trusting working relationship because of that fact. That cup of coffee at Starbucks might end up being more meaningful than anything else.

How can educational consultants benefit from membership in SSATB?

In my case, being an SSATB member takes me directly to my target network of admission directors. The Flex Test is an integral part of services that we offer families, and I also value the industry information gleaned from publications like Memberanda. Many of the consultants, whom I consider leaders in this field, have long been associated with SSATB, and I find the affiliation extremely valuable.

Holly: As a former admission director, I have always felt that SSATB is primarily for admission people. However, the benefits of membership for a consultant certainly include being able to give the Flex Test, attending regional luncheons and training sessions, and receiving the occasional good inquiry via the SSAT website.

What are the challenges facing your profession?

It is no secret that demographic changes and economic downturns are providing significant challenges to private school admission and particularly boarding school admission, which is my focus. IECA, and particularly the Schools Committee, is actively promoting training for new consultants hoping to encourage even more growth in this important area. The prevalence of do-it-yourself search engines and information available on the Web require educational consultants to demonstrate why their services are necessary. For a parent, the decision to send a child to boarding school requires a significant financial and emotional investment and often the expertise of an experienced educator. No database can ever supplant the work that we as professionals do.

As a member of the SSAT Board of Directors, what do you hope to accomplish during your tenure? What do you hope the organization accomplishes?

Since I joined the Board in 2007, I have had many conversations with fellow consultants and admission officers, and it is clear that we have to educate people about the organization – SSATB is not just a test and an annual conference!! I envision more collaboration between SSATB and educational consultants, and, as an SSATB Director, I would like to bring to the group fresh ideas from leaders in the field of educational consulting. I am pleased to see us already reaching out to organizations such as IECA, NAIS, TABS, ISBC, SBSA, WBSA and many others in a more deliberate fashion. I am thrilled that Regan Kenyon will attend the upcoming IECA meeting in Baltimore.

In this era of globalization, I look forward to SSATB’s expansion of members and testing into new international markets. I believe that the timing for this is ideal and that IECA’s international ventures will complement what SSATB is doing across the globe. Regan and I share many of the same ideals. We set similarly high standards for our organizations – striving for excellence in everything we do.