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Maybe you just need someone who speaks human.
Enrollment is ultimately a human business.
The students, families, and counselors on the other side of your campaigns are navigating one of the most significant decisions of their lives.
Square One Consulting helps enrollment and marketing leaders build the strategy, communication, and systems to reach them — not just send to them.
~20
YEARS IN HIGHER ED ENROLLMENT & MARKETING
~10
YEARS AS A SLATE CAPTAIN
10+
INSTITUTIONS SERVED & SUPPORTED
UG→Health
UNDERGRAD, GRAD, HEALTH PROFESSIONS & NONPROFIT
"If we stop and actually listen to the humans we're trying to reach, they will tell us exactly what they need and how they want it. The problem is that most institutions skip that step."
That belief, that enrollment marketing begins with listening, not sending, is what I call empathy-based marketing. It shapes every strategy, every campaign, and every client relationship at Square One Consulting.
It also extends to the people behind the scenes. The VP carrying an enrollment goal they didn't set. The counselor stretched across three roles. The marketing coordinator trying to do the work of five people. I've been in those rooms. I know what it costs. And I show up with empathy for your team, not just your strategy.
Laura Rudolph, M.S.
Founder & CEO
→ M.S., Integrated Marketing Communications — West Virginia University
→ 8-year Slate Captain — CRM strategy, implementation & deployment
→ Director-level experience at research universities & liberal arts colleges
→ Health professions enrollment leadership — Marshall University School of Pharmacy
Nearly two decades of enrollment experience. One organizing belief.
I didn't set out to become a consultant. I set out to tell stories.
It was higher education that turned that instinct into a career, and nearly two decades of leading enrollment marketing strategy, building CRM systems, directing teams, and sitting on senior leadership committees that turned it into a practice.
I founded Square One Consulting because enrollment marketing that is both genuinely strategic and deeply human is harder to find than it should be. Institutions deserve a partner who has been in their shoes, understands their pressures, and builds from a real understanding of the people they're trying to reach.
I don't bring cookie-cutter strategies. I don't duplicate what worked somewhere else. Because who you are — and the humans considering becoming part of your community — are unique to you.
The strategy has to be too.
WHO I WORK WITH
Sound familiar?
The work is real, the pressure is constant, and the resources never quite match the ask. I've spent nearly two decades inside higher education enrollment and marketing — which means I've probably seen exactly what you're dealing with right now.
01
You're new to your leadership role and discovering what you inherited.
You stepped into your VP of enrollment or marketing role ready to move. Then you started pulling back the curtain. There's no yield campaign. The student communication strategy is held together with duct tape. The templates are dated and there's no intentional recruitment marketing to speak of. You're not behind — you just inherited a starting point that was further back than anyone told you.
03
Your budget doesn't have room for a big agency, but you still need real support.
You've probably already done the math. An agency retainer isn't realistic. But that doesn't mean you don't need someone who can actually think through the strategy with you and then execute it — without layers of account managers, six-week onboarding timelines, or a scope of work built for an institution three times your size. You need a partner who shows up, does the work, and doesn't make you feel small for not having a bigger budget.
02
You know what needs to change. You just don't have the time, people or bandwidth to change it.
You're not in the dark. You can see the gaps clearly: the campaigns that need rebuilding, the communications that aren't landing, the strategy that exists only in someone's head. The problem isn't awareness. It's capacity. And the longer it sits on the list, the further behind you feel. That's where I come in — not to consult from a distance, but to do the work alongside you so it stops being the thing you never get to.
04
Recruitment landed on your plate and nobody handed you a playbook.
Maybe you lead an academic program, graduate program, or health professions department. Somewhere along the way, finding and enrolling students became your responsibility on top of everything else you do. You're not sure who your best-fit student is. You're not sure what you should be saying to them or where. And you're definitely not sure where to start.
If you read any of that and thought 'that's me' — let's talk.
HOW WE PARTNER
Here's where we start
Goals look different at every institution. Some need stronger awareness in a new market. Some need a Slate system that actually performs. Some need a team that can think more strategically on its own. Every engagement starts with understanding what success looks like for you.
01
Audience-specific communication campaigns built around what students and families actually need to hear — from early awareness through enrollment. Undergrad, graduate, health professions, and special populations
04
For deans, department chairs, and program directors who need enrollment expertise without adding headcount. Strategic assessment, messaging frameworks, funnel design, and realistic roadmaps built for your program's specific goals.
07
Senior-level enrollment marketing strategy and execution embedded in your team — without the cost or lag of a full-time hire. A fractional VP of Enrollment Marketing or right-hand to your CMO, on a flexible timeline.
02
Parents and guardians are driving the car, literally and figuratively. High school counselors are the guides students trust most. I build communication strategies that make these audiences feel genuinely seen and supported.
05
Slate Campaign Implementation
As an eight-year Slate Captain, I build and deploy inside your Slate instance — populations, rules, content blocks, translation codes, and portals — with the same strategic intelligence that shaped the communication plan.
08
I offer hands-on, practitioner-led workshops that help admissions and marketing teams think more strategically, write more humanly, and act more confidently — so they're less dependent on outside direction over time. From data to content writing, I can cover your needs.
03
Content Development & Communication Auditing
Find out what's landing and what isn't. I review existing communications for clarity, consistency, and human resonance — then write, rewrite, or build from scratch. Enrollment emails, SMS, portals, print, and more.
06
Your enrollment campaigns make a promise. Your campus visit is where that promise gets kept — or broken. I audit the full visit arc from the visitor's perspective: pre-visit communication, arrival and wayfinding, the information session, the tour, family experience, and more.
09
Audience Insight Surveys
Stop guessing. Start listening. I design and deploy surveys that surface what students and families actually need — then translate those insights directly into messaging, campaigns, and communication strategy that can make an impact.
What Enrollment and Marketing Leaders say
"Laura integrated herself into our team as we built our communication flows from the ground up, making the process seamless. Her ability to strategize from 60,000 feet and then immediately operationalize and implement the most granular details was exactly what we needed. We feel confident in our enrollment communication strategy because of the knowledge and support Laura has given us."
Kelsey Meyer
Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer
University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis
The student journey marketing implementation resulted in UHSP having the largest incoming undergraduate and pharmacy classes in the previous 10 years.
"Laura stepped in and immediately brought the strategic clarity, technical skill, and executional depth the role demanded. She owned the entire student journey, both high-level strategy and hands-on Slate execution. What made her indispensable was the rare combination she brought: deep enrollment expertise paired with real marketing knowledge. After she left, we split the role between multiple team members just to cover the same ground."
Julie Sams
Director of Admissions, Transylvania University
Fractional Leadership Partner
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions enrollment and marketing leaders often ask before starting a conversation.
What does Square One Consulting do?
Square One Consulting provides empathy-based enrollment marketing strategy, Slate Campaign implementation, student and family communication campaigns, fractional enrollment marketing leadership, academic program enrollment strategy, and team workshops for colleges, universities, and nonprofits across the United States.
Who is Laura Rudolph?
Laura Rudolph, M.S., is the founder and CEO of Square One Consulting. She has nearly 20 years of experience in higher education enrollment and marketing, eight years as a Slate Captain, and director-level roles at multiple institutions including Transylvania University and Marshall University's School of Pharmacy.
What is empathy-based enrollment marketing?
Empathy-based enrollment marketing is the practice of building communication strategy from the human receiving the message, not just the institution sending it. It begins with listening — through audience surveys, data analysis, and genuine curiosity about what students, families, and counselors actually need. The result is communication that connects rather than broadcasts.
Does Square One work with enrollment offices and marketing offices?
Yes. Depending on institutional size and structure, Square One is hired by enrollment and admissions offices, marketing and communications divisions, and sometimes even IT! Laura is fluent in both functions and experienced working within either reporting structure.
What is a Slate Captain and why does it matter?
A Slate Captain is a seasoned user in Technolutions Slate, the CRM platform used by thousands of colleges and universities. Laura Rudolph served as a Slate Captain for eight years, meaning strategy and CRM execution come from the same person — with no technical hand-off, no translation layer, and no gap between what was planned and what gets built.
Does Square One guarantee enrollment outcomes?
No, and that honesty is intentional. Enrollment outcomes are the product of many forces: admissions relationships, campus visits, financial aid decisions, institutional fit, and yes, communication strategy. Your people make a difference. Square One builds communication that is clear, purposeful, empathetic, and well-executed — giving everything else the strongest possible foundation. What the numbers do belongs to the whole institution.
What types of institutions does Square One serve?
Square One serves any institution that has a need! Most often it's small-but-mighty colleges or small regional publics, but we've also known to lend a hand to large research universities, liberal arts institutions, professional health programs, graduate schools, and nonprofits. Clients range from institutions seeking stronger brand awareness to programs needing a complete Slate rebuild to teams that want to think and operate more strategically.
How does Square One Consulting price its services?
It depends on the work. Some engagements are project-based — a defined scope with a defined deliverable and a flat project fee. Others, particularly fractional leadership and ongoing consulting work, are time-based. Every engagement is scoped individually, because the right structure depends on what you actually need, not a standard package applied regardless of fit. The first conversation is about understanding your situation — pricing follows from that.
How does an engagement with Square One begin?
Every engagement starts with a conversation, not a pitch. Laura wants to understand your institution, your team, your goals, and what success actually looks like before talking about what she can do. Next, we'll prepare a proposal for your team, and if approved, move into contracting! The process can be quick or slow depending on your institutions procurement and processing.