The Fragmented Foundation of the Alignment Gap

Marketing has become one of the most influential functions on campus, shaping enrollment, reputation, revenue, and institutional experience. Yet the structures designed to support that work have not evolved at the same pace. Budgets, staffing models, reporting lines, and decision authority have developed unevenly across institutions, creating a persistent gap between expectation and enablement.

While many CMOs now hold senior titles and sit at the leadership table, the systems around them remain fragmented. This chapter examines how misaligned investment, distributed teams, and disconnected funding models shape the reality of marketing work today, and why alignment at the structural level is now essential for marketing to operate as a true enterprise function. 

Chapter Insights

Higher ed marketers have the seat. What they need next is the system. CMOs have earned senior titles, cabinet presence, and direct access to presidents. What remains inconsistent is the structural support, authority, staffing depth, and budget visibility required to operate as true enterprise leaders.

Decentralization works when it is designed, not assumed. Nearly every institution operates with distributed marketers and distributed budgets. The difference between friction and momentum comes down to shared systems, governance, reporting clarity, and coordinated planning.

Marketing investment is larger than it appears, but rarely aligned. Central budgets only tell part of the story. Admissions and unit-level spending represent significant institutional investment, yet without shared visibility and unified strategy, those dollars compete rather than compound.

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