Brenda K. Harms, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President for Client Services

Dr. Brenda Harms is an experienced higher education administrator with a diverse marketing and admissions background. Her perspective on higher education marketing and recruitment is strengthened by her hands-on experience serving in both academic and administrative roles at a branch campus. During that time, she was also involved in the development and delivery of accelerated on-campus and online courses. Her book, Up to Speed: Marketing to Today's Adult Student, was published in March, 2010.

While Brenda’s primary interest is the recruitment and retention of adult students, her knowledge and experience has greatly benefited projects focused on traditional students and institutional marketing. She leads the firm’s adult student marketing initiative, which includes Stamats’ national adult student study.   She is also very active in the higher education community, serving as the secretary/treasurer of the National Association of Branch Campus Administrators executive committee and as the 2008 national conference program chair.  Brenda is an avid speaker, having presented at several national conferences, including the CIC and the CASE conference.

Brenda received a B.S. in allied health and an M.A. in educational psychology and counseling from the University of South Dakota. She received her Ph.D. in human services with her dissertation focused specifically on adult student retention.

Katie Miller-Smith 
Director, Stamats Catchfire   

Katie’s work at Stamats Catchfire focuses on consulting and developing strategic and compelling digital initiatives for institutions of all sizes. She also oversees these projects as they come to fruition through the talents of the Stamats Catchfire development and analyst teams.  

Katie brings over five years of experience in social media and marketing communications to the team. Her previous work experience includes marketing, e-commerce, and content management in both B2B and B2C environments.  Most recently, Katie worked at First National Investment Banking where she managed all marketing, communications and web-based initiatives for the firm.

Katie graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a B.A. in English.

About NERCOMP

NERCOMP, the North East Regional Computing Program, prides itself on being an organization that enables the informed use of information technology by providing affordable access to educational workshops and programs, software licensing discounts, professional networking, and collaborative opportunities to its Member network.  As one of the oldest regional associations of technology users in the United States, NERCOMP’s membership roster of more than 260 institutions in the Northeast and Canada is rich with the world’s most respected names in higher education.

About Stamats and Stamats Catchfire

Stamats, Inc. is a higher education marketing company helping colleges and universities with their goals for recruiting students and raising funds through research, planning and consulting, brand marketing, digital marketing, print media, and more.  Stamats has been a pioneer in higher education market research, strategy, brand development, and creative production incorporating a variety of print publications and online/digital media options for more than 50 years.  

Stamats Catchfire – Stamats’ digital marketing services division - creates, designs, and launches everything from institutional website, admissions website, to campaign-specific microsites, and mobile and tablet sites and applications.  Thier digital media experts are innovators at developing interactive solutions for colleges and universities that are informed not only by a long and substantial association with higher education but also by the depth and breadth of experience the team is able to harness from successful projects completed for commercial clients.