Breaking Down Silos in Higher Ed Starts With Better Storytelling

Breaking down silos in higher education has become one of the most urgent challenges facing marketing and enrollment teams today. 

When marketing, enrollment, advancement, and alumni relations operate independently, the result is fragmented messaging and disconnected experiences for the very people we’re trying to serve. 

Higher education is full of people doing meaningful, life-changing work every single day. 

And yet, somehow, we often struggle to tell those stories clearly, consistently, and in a way that actually resonates with the people we’re trying to reach.

On the surface, the problem looks tactical. 

Marketing is over here. Enrollment is over there. Advancement and alumni relations are doing their own thing. 

Everyone is busy. Everyone has goals. Everyone is measured differently.

The path forward isn’t another reorg or a new tool—it’s higher ed storytelling that puts real people at the center of the narrative.

When our stories are fragmented, our teams fragment too. When our stories are human, shared, and aligned, silos start to crack, sometimes faster than we expect.

In this episode, Kristen Eaton, Interim Vice President of External Relations at the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA), joined Troy Singer and me to unpack why silos persist in higher education, what nonprofit organizations get right about storytelling, and how leaders can start aligning marketing, enrollment, advancement, and alumni relations around stories that actually matter.

Why Silos Are So Common in Higher Education

Silos don’t exist because people don’t care. They exist because higher education is complex.

Enrollment teams live in a world of inquiries, applications, and yield. Advancement teams focus on relationships, stewardship, and long-term giving. 

Alumni relations centers on engagement and pride. Marketing and communications are often measured by reach, engagement, and brand perception.

Each of these functions operates on different timelines, different metrics, and different definitions of success.

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As Kristen put it during our conversation, these teams are often “beating different drums,” even though they’re all ultimately serving the same people across different stages of life.

That disconnect creates risk.

From a prospective student’s perspective, the journey should feel seamless from first awareness, to enrollment, to graduation, to alumni engagement, and eventually, for some, to giving back. 

But when messaging, tone, and priorities change at every handoff, trust erodes.

Kristen summed it up clearly:

“Our goal would be to bring a prospective student from knowing nothing about the university to being interested, to inquiring, to enrolling, to graduating, to becoming an alum, to eventually becoming a donor. And shouldn’t that story arc and that relationship be seamless from start to finish?”

That question should stop all of us in our tracks.

What Nonprofits Understand That Higher Ed Often Misses

Kristen’s perspective is especially powerful because she came into higher ed after years in nonprofit fundraising and communications. And one of the most important parallels she identified is this:

Both nonprofit fundraising and higher ed enrollment are built on belief before action.

Donors don’t give the first time they see a message. Students don’t enroll the first time they receive an email. Trust, relevance, and emotional connection come first.

Kristen described it perfectly:

“Most donors are never going to give the first time they see a communication or a fundraising appeal… It’s very similar in higher ed. You have to build this process that allows people to see themselves in the work that you do and in your mission.”

That’s where storytelling comes in.

Nonprofits excel at showing impact through people.

Not credentials. Not rankings. Not abstract promises. Real humans. Real decisions. Real outcomes.

Higher ed often defaults to safe language and polished imagery instead.

And safe doesn’t move people.

The Power of Human, Imperfect Stories

One of the strongest moments in our conversation came when Kristen talked about authenticity and how uncomfortable higher ed can be with being real.

She challenged a common habit many of us recognize immediately:

“I want to see the real student in their real outfit, really walking to class, really sitting in a lecture… The snow might be dirty in the background or the student might have a t-shirt on that you might not love. But show me the real, authentic experience.”

That’s not just a creative preference. It’s a strategic one.

Stock photos and generic messaging make institutions blend together. 

Real stories differentiate you.

When students can see themselves in someone else’s journey—especially someone who looks like them, lives like them, or has faced similar barriers—the message lands differently.

And the beauty of great stories is that they travel.

The same student story can:

• Inspire a prospective student
• Reassure a parent
• Reignite alumni pride
• Demonstrate impact to a donor

That’s how storytelling breaks silos.

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Breaking Down Silos Starts With Listening

One of the most practical takeaways from this episode had nothing to do with campaigns, platforms, or tools.

It had everything to do with leadership posture.

Kristen was refreshingly honest about what she did when she stepped into her role at UMA. She didn’t arrive with a sweeping mandate or a pre-built playbook.

She listened.

“I don’t know what I don’t know. And I think that I’m building a lot of trust by slowing down and saying, ‘What do you need?’”

That humility matters.

New leaders—especially those coming from outside higher ed—often feel pressure to prove themselves quickly. Kristen took the opposite approach, and it paid off.

By listening first, she earned trust. And trust is the currency required to bring siloed teams into the same room.

Getting People in the Room Changes Everything

Another surprisingly simple but powerful step Kristen took was this: she started putting people together who rarely talked to one another.

At UMA, the alumni office and marketing office were physically close—but operationally distant.

That’s not unusual in higher ed.

We often assume collaboration happens naturally because people sit near each other or report into the same division. It doesn’t.

Collaboration has to be designed.

Kristen described intentionally setting up systems and conversations that encouraged cross-functional thinking—without forcing immediate alignment or perfection.

That’s an important lesson.

Breaking down silos doesn’t require a full reorganization. It requires shared context and shared purpose.

Start Small: One Campaign, One Story

For leaders who feel overwhelmed by the scope of silo-busting work, Kristen offered practical advice: start small.

Find one initiative where collaboration makes sense.

At UMA, that initiative was the university’s 60th anniversary.

Rather than treating it as a single marketing moment, Kristen and her team reframed it as a multi-phase storytelling opportunity that could serve:

• Alumni engagement
• Donor cultivation
• Prospective student awareness
• Institutional pride

They started by inviting alumni to share their stories, building a story bank that could be used across audiences over time.

That shift changed everything.

Instead of each department asking, “How does this serve my goals?” the question became, “How does this story serve the institution?”

That’s the mindset shift higher ed needs more of.

Advocacy Is Part of the Job

Another theme that surfaced repeatedly in this conversation was advocacy.

Higher ed marketers often feel caught between what they know works and what internal stakeholders feel comfortable approving.

Kristen didn’t shy away from that tension.

She acknowledged the reality of competing opinions, risk aversion, and the pressure to appease too many stakeholders at once.

But she also made it clear: marketing leaders have a responsibility to advocate for clarity, authenticity, and effectiveness.

Sometimes that means pushing back on vague language.

“Transfer friendly” sounds nice—but it doesn’t mean anything.

What does transfer friendly look like in practice? One-on-one transcript reviews. Real advisors. Real support.

Tell that story.

As marketers, we aren’t just order takers. We’re translators, educators, and advocates for the audience.

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One First Step Any Leader Can Take

Toward the end of the episode, Troy asked Kristen for one concrete step leaders can take if they want to bring nonprofit-style storytelling into higher ed.

Her answer was deceptively simple.

She conducted an audit.

She met with leaders across campus and asked one question:

How are we showing up for you now, and how do you wish we were showing up instead?

What she learned wasn’t surprising, but it was revealing. People wanted faster responses. Better support. More visibility.

That wasn’t a messaging problem. It was a systems problem.

And once you understand the system, you can start fixing it, while building the relationships that make better storytelling possible.

Breaking Down Silos Is a Leadership Choice

Silos don’t disappear on their own. 

They are dismantled by leaders who value alignment, humility, and shared stories more than territorial wins.

If your institution is struggling with disconnected messaging, fragmented teams, or unclear narratives, the solution likely isn’t another campaign.

It’s better storytelling—and the leadership courage to center it.

For even more insights, listen to the full episode on The Higher Ed Marketer podcast.

Creative Services That Support Connected Storytelling

Breaking down silos in higher education requires creative assets that carry the same human story across enrollment, advancement, and alumni engagement. 

Caylor Solutions’ Creative Services help institutions turn strategy into authentic, audience-centered creative that works across the entire student lifecycle.

We develop enrollment and advancement marketing tools—such as viewbooks, travel pieces, Hispanic and parent-focused brochures, and targeted collateral—that resonate with real students and their influencers. 

Our work goes beyond design to include branding, messaging, copywriting, and layout, all grounded in clear, human storytelling.

When creative is aligned around shared stories instead of siloed requests, institutions show up with one clear voice—building trust, reducing friction between teams, and creating stronger connections at every touchpoint.

Talk to us today to see how we can help.

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