Make Slate work better.
Back in 2018 I wrote out some thoughts about why I was interested in Slate consulting. They’re still around, but several years later the stakes have changed considerably. Slate is bigger than ever. More organizations, more use cases, more technical possibility… it just seems like there’s more Slate than there ever has been.
And for most of us - captains, administrators, users, stakeholders - it feels like Slate’s getting harder. Slate can do more, so we feel pressure to do more. We have never-ending to-do lists, insurmountable projects, and aggressive deadlines. And oh yeah, we’re supposed to do it all with configurable joins. Simple, right?
We’re not here to tell you there’s an easy way out. Slate is hard. But we are going to tell you that it’s a good thing Slate’s hard.
Whatever you use Slate to do, you’re doing something important with it. You’re doing something that has real meaning in the world around you. The tools we use to do that kind of work should accelerate and support our efforts: the work is hard enough without technology getting in the way. If Slate were one-size-fits-all, paint-by-numbers, or off-the-shelf, it could never take us as far as it does. It might be easier to set up, but it would always be an ill-fit for the specific projects in front of us. Instead, we get to shape Slate to be the perfect resource for whatever we want to undertake. In return, Slate empowers us to have profound and transformative effects on the world around us. So Slate’s hard because, ultimately, we do hard work with it.
We want to help you make that hard work easier. We want to help you make the Slate work easier because Slate is going to make your important work easier. It takes effort, but we promise you can learn to wield Slate effectively. And through that effort, you’ll have developed a powerful tool that makes work and life simpler, better, and happier for the people around you. That's what Post-Captain is about.
- Jake Daly
President, Post-Captain Consulting
Meet Our Team
Jake Daly
Jake started work in college admissions in 2011, and soon after took over managing a diverse portfolio of technical systems that did not play nicely with each other. He led the CRM search and implementation that brought Technolutions Slate to Bowdoin College in 2015.
While at Bowdoin, Jake became known as an authority on Slate implementations and project management. In addition to regular presentations at Slate Summit, he was a frequent adviser for admissions offices nationally on Slate questions big and small. He counts among his proudest achievements lobbying successfully (if annoyingly) for Slate to add redaction to its Material editor.
Jake lives just outside Burlington, VT. Fittingly, he is fond of craft beer, jam bands, and fine cheeses.
Rachel Rieman
Rachel began her career in college admissions in 2010 at Agnes Scott College. She immediately gravitated toward leveraging technology to optimize processes. Most recently, Rachel served as Data Manager for the Office of Admission at Ohio Wesleyan University.
While at OWU, Rachel attended her first Slate Summit. When she returned, she could frequently be heard saying, “I’m sure we can find a way to do it in Slate.” This mantra led to a love of both Slate and the process of solving its various puzzles. While Deliver is her forte, Rachel is most proud of the work she did to implement a new student checklist portal and financial aid decision process for OWU.
Rachel lives north of Columbus in Delaware, Ohio. She enjoys going on walks with her family, watching movies, reading, and playing the harp.
Peter Emerick
In 2014, two weeks after starting his first enrollment operations position, Peter answered yes to a question that he didn't know would change his life: "Do you want to be in charge of this thing called Slate?"
Fast forward 8 years and Peter has implemented Slate at large public and small private institutions, captained undergraduate and graduate instances, and created CASE award-winning portals. He could commonly be heard at his previous institutions saying "We should find a way to do that in Slate."
Peter believes that Slate's true power lies within creating operational efficiencies and encouraging users to embrace a mindset of innovation. He has presented at both the Slate Summit and at state-wide slate user group meetings about advanced liquid markup in letters, automating predictive scoring in Slate and bringing the student search process in house.
Peter resides in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and when not working you can find him training in CrossFit, playing with his three boys or engaging in remodeling projects around his house.
Robin Rhodes Astor
Robin has a long history in college admissions and enrollment management at Saint Michael’s College where most recently she served as the Director of Enrollment Operations. As captain of the Slate team there, she thrived in discovering the power and possibilities that Slate provides and is thrilled to be in a role where she can teach and empower others to capitalize on their use of this software.
With an undergraduate degree in Spanish from Middlebury College, she has discovered that learning languages and learning computer systems are not dissimilar. Slate appeals to her as a tool for communicating between systems, audiences, and people. She loves problem-solving, collaborating with others, and finding ways to improve processes and customer service.
Robin recently moved from Vermont to Chapel Hill, NC and enjoys walking, reading, live music, hiking, and spending time with family and friends. She can also be found visiting her children quite often in Charleston, SC.
Emily Myers
Emily’s career began in the advancement office at Mount St. Mary’s University. After graduating in 2013 and earning her MBA in 2015, she became the Director of Alumni Engagement at “the Mount.” Realizing that the office was working for its technology instead of the technology working for the office, Emily began to turn things around by leading the Slate implementation for the advancement office in 2019.
With a focus on building foundational, evergreen queries in configurable joins, solidifying advancement services processing, and developing robust events and deliver communications, Emily replaced 7 different advancement systems with one Slate instance, offering a streamlined alumni and donor experience and improved administrative processes. As a member of the Post-Captain team, she’s excited to help lay the foundation for schools who want to make their advancement technology work for them.
Her passion for higher education spills over into her spare time, she is an adjunct professor in first-year symposium and western imagination courses. She resides with her husband in Hagerstown, MD where she enjoys outdoor walks with her dog, trying new recipes, and home improvement projects.
Cara Valentine
Cara has over 10 years of experience in the field of Higher Education. During that time she has held various roles in Student Affairs and Advancement. Most recently, Cara served as the Director of Advancement Operations and Data Analytics at Clarkson University managing gift processing, prospect research, high level reporting initiatives, and (her favorite) Slate custom configurations.
Evaluating and improving business processes in order to maximize the return on investment drives her passion for Slate. In addition to focus on system administration, relationship management, and operational leadership, she loves a good Voyager map!
Cara lives in Northern New York on the northern outskirts of the Adirondack Park. She enjoys fishing, boating, and crocheting.
Georgia Kennedy
Georgia has spent over 16 years working in higher education to support students, faculty, and staff with everything from course registration to undergraduate recruitment. Out of all the systems she’s worked with, she prefers and loves Slate for its flexibility, user community, and commitment to accessibility.
Most recently, Georgia worked as the CRM Administrator for The University of Vermont where she oversaw three instances of Slate. Her favorite projects included the development of a family communications subscription portal, an interactive enrolled student checklist, and any opportunity to leverage Slate forms to automate processes like change of student status requests and personalized Covid-19 travel guidelines.
Georgia lives in downtown Burlington with her partner and two lovable hooligans; Ruby (age 4) and Jude (age 5). She loves to read, attempt to bake pies, and spend time on Lake Champlain.
Chris Volpe
Chris Volpe is a higher education professional and Slate expert with 10 years of experience at Technolutions. During that time he worked as a Program Manager and a Senior Client Support Engineer supporting schools on every type of project from implementations to integrations. He will be familiar to many Captains as a Launchpad trainer and as a frequent Summit presenter.
Most recently, Chris served as a Senior Client Relations Manager developing best practice guides. He joins Post-Captain as the Director of Special Projects to help expand the scope of our engagement with the Slate community.
What is a Slate Preferred Partner?
Post-Captain Consulting is a proud member of the Slate Preferred Partner Program, a network of organizations that share a commitment to support transformational effects on the world of higher education.
The Slate Preferred Partner Program recognizes organizations that integrate with Slate and offer implementation support, while providing meaningful contributions to the higher education community. Slate Preferred Partners have a deeper understanding of the Slate product functionality and processes and have gained access to a variety of resources and insights into best practices.
Slate Preferred Partners have an expressed commitment to providing Slate users with options for only the most exceptional service. Each vendor or organization has meet key requirements and adds unique value to the Slate user community.
Slate Preferred Partners are listed in a directory available within all Slate databases. Institutions looking for supplemental Slate support and integration services can use the directory as a resource and have confidence in knowing each participant has been vetted by Technolutions and approved for participation.