Our Distinctive Approach

Integration of Systems, Analytics, & Practice

A distinctive value HCRC brings to colleges and universities is the integration of systems, analytics, and practice. HCRC’s history as a research consultancy is well known, specializing in the analysis of data to support colleges and universities, especially in enrollment planning and management. Our commitment is never analysis for its own sake, but translating that into actionable insight for improved institutional practice, strategy and outcomes. Increasingly, the third critical ingredient in maximizing the value and impact is integrating analysis and practice with systems and technologies that bring practice to scale.

For HCRC, strategic value is rooted at the intersection of systems, analytics, and practice and how effectively each is integrated with the others in a cohesive and mutually reinforcing foundation for strategic institutional advancement.

The HCRC Difference

Analytic Rigor

The quality of our research and statistical methods with analytic approaches reflecting multiple disciplines
Our exceptional primary and secondary research skills
Our robust forward-facing and backward-facing statistical models
An approach to segmentation that distills meaning through empirical differentiation
Our commitment to reducing or mitigating risk through analytic modeling of clients’ policy options, strategic choices or alternative actions

Data Stewardship

The scope, depth and customization of our client data warehouses
High standards for data completeness and accuracy
Our passion for curating data from multiple sources for maximum integration, accessibility, and application

Responsiveness and Applicability

Our capacity and willingness to adapt and customize our approaches to meet the specific needs and exacting specifications of our clients
A commitment to the operationalization and application of analytic results and insights

Knowledge Transfer

Our open architecture, transparent analytics and commitment to advancing our clients' own in-house information management and analytic capabilities

Innovation and Perspective

Our insatiable intellectual curiosity and eagerness to experiment and innovate through every analysis
Our capacity to listen and learn, to contextualize the needs and objectives of our clients, and to frame issues through the lens of rigorous quantitative analysis and data visualization, bringing strategic perspective to every question and challenge

A Team Approach

For every client engagement, HCRC assigns a team to work collaboratively with our college or university partners. Teams are assigned based upon both the scope of the particular engagement and the distinct characteristics of the particular college client. Each team has a project leader, a senior analyst/consultant who will be the principal liaison with the client and will oversee the engagement. That project leader will have over ten years of experience in similar engagements and with similar institutions. The team will also include two or more analysts with expertise in data conditioning, data management, and the appropriate analytic methods and HCRC tools applicable for that engagement.

Since HCRC offers no boilerplate or one-size-fits-all solutions, in each engagement we deliberately and thoughtfully match the HCRC team to the client project to achieve an optimal fit. That team also has the collective talents and experiences of the entire HCRC family readily available to them throughout the engagement.

Joint Product and Partnership

We view our engagements as a commitment to joint product and shared learning. As evidenced in a remarkably high long-term client retention rate, the vast majority of HCRC’s clients embrace our work together as an ongoing, genuine collaboration with an appreciation for shared responsibilities.

We offer no boiler-plate solutions, superficial quick fixes or magic bullets. In fact, clients who work with HCRC often find that our collaborative approach and rigor requires greater effort on their part, particularly in the capture and organization of their own data.

Typically, our engagements stimulate partners’ intensive efforts to develop and assess new and innovative approaches to advancing their institution’s market position and institutional success, realizing their multi-faceted goals and missions, and nurturing a culture of evidence in the development and evaluation of their strategic plans.

Many of HCRC’s clients enjoy an “all-inclusive” annual or multi-year contract which allows them to engage us in a range of analyses most relevant to their particular enrollment challenges as those evolve over time. Many of our analyses are developed at the client’s request throughout the year and benefit from their direct relationship with their HCRC project leader.

Our Human Capital

True to our name, HCRC embraces this same ethos as an employer and sees the professional development of its staff as central to its mission. From our vantage point, professional advancement stems from an organizational culture that embraces team approaches, open architecture, and continuous improvement.