Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA)

Nancy Griesemer is an independent college consultant with a small practice located in northern Virginia. She also regularly publishes a column in the Examiner.com on colleges and admissions. Nancy is an associate member of IECA and has memberships other professional organizations including HECA, NACAC, PCACAC, and NCAG.

The Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA)—a professional association of educational consultants working in private practice—actively promotes communication and collaboration among members.

So it wasn’t too much of a stretch for Wendie Lubic, the College Lady, and Charlotte Klaar, of Klaar Consulting, to come up with the idea for a local “affinity” group of IECA member consultants serving families and students in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

“We all benefit from sharing information,” said Ms. Lubic, who mainly works with families and college-bound students in the District of Columbia. “It made sense for us to try to get together on a regular basis and learn from one another.”

And with the creation of an electronic mailing list and a program of potential meeting topics, MIX-IECA (Metropolitan Information EXchange) was born.

Since the first invitations were sent to IECA members in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, well over 40 educational consultants have joined MIX-IECA. They represent virtually every specialty area covered by IECA, including college advising, school advising (day and boarding), learning disability advising, and therapeutic advising.

“We try to meet at least once every other month,” explained Ms. Klaar, who specializes in colleges and has offices in Maryland and Virginia. “We’ve invited admissions representatives, toured some local colleges, and met with organizations like Applerouth Tutoring that provide services or products in areas related to our work.”

But the collaboration isn’t limited to periodic meetings. It’s not unusual for MIX-IECA members to communicate professional training opportunities, tours, or new information over the message board created for this purpose.

And when consultants could use a little professional advice, they turn to colleagues and receive the benefit of local expertise built on the collective wisdom of consultants with years of professional experience advising students and families.

“As a sub-group of IECA, MIX represents a particularly diverse and experienced knowledge base,” added Ms. Lubic. “Our strength is in the willingness of members to share this knowledge to the benefit of our individual clients as they make important decisions about colleges, day or boarding schools, programs, or placements.”

For more about the IECA and the kinds of services available through local educational consultants, visit the IECA website.