Over the next few months, NCMPR will periodically run acceptance speeches from the 2026 district Pacesetters of the Year. The award recognizes a college president or CEO who really gets marketing and communications, a leader who supports and champions the work of their marcom team.
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I am truly honored to receive the NCMPR District 5 Pacesetter award.
The truth is that this award reflects the work of many people. I’ve spent more than three decades in higher education, serving in roles that touched academics, enrollment, student services, workforce development, technology and finance. Throughout that journey, I’ve learned something that may sound a little unusual coming from a college president: Higher education is a mission, but it still has to run like a business.
Businesses often talk about the three Ps: product, price and promotion.
First, you need a great product. For colleges, that’s student success, quality programs, outstanding faculty and staff, and meaningful outcomes.
Second, you need the right price. Affordability matters. Students and families deserve value, and community and technical colleges deliver one of the best returns on investment in higher education.
But today, I want to spend a moment on the third P: promotion.
For a long time, many colleges believed that if we did great work, people would automatically notice. Sometimes they did. Today, they don’t.
We can have exceptional programs, life-changing opportunities, and remarkable student outcomes; but if our communities don’t understand them, they can’t benefit from them.
Promotion isn’t about spin. It’s about connection.
Promotion helps a prospective student see themselves on our campus.
Promotion helps a parent understand opportunity.
Promotion helps employers recognize a workforce partner.
Promotion helps legislators, donors and community members understand the value we create every day.
And effective promotion happens through the work of our marcom teams.
In my view, marketing and communications are not support functions. They’re strategic functions, right alongside enrollment, finance, academics, and advancement. Because awareness and reputation shape every outcome we care about.
That belief is one reason Alexandria College invested heavily in marketing and communications, made marcom part of strategic decision-making, and focused on telling our story more intentionally. As many of you know, effective promotion doesn’t create excellence, but it does ensure that excellence is recognized, understood and accessible to the people who need it most.
Among so many talented professionals, I am grateful for this recognition and proud to be an advocate for the work of marketing and communications.
To everyone in this room: Thank you for the work you do. You aren’t just producing campaigns, websites, videos or publications. You are helping people discover possibilities they may never have known existed.
Thank you.
Michael Seymore is the president of Alexandria Technical & Community College in Minnesota and the 2026 District 5 Pacesetter of the Year.
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