In order to bolster revenue and attract a wider array of students, the University must position itself using its Jewish values rather than its Jewish roots, consultant Mark Neustadt asserted in a presentation on Thursday. Neustadt gave an identical presentation on Wednesday.

To gain insight into how Brandeis is perceived on campus and in the outside world, Neustadt, the principal of Neustadt Creative Marketing, has been interviewing the University’s constituencies since last spring, according to an April 15 email to the community from Provost Lisa Lynch. Neustadt also conducted two surveys of alumni and prospective students, according to a Wednesday email from University President Ronald Liebowitz.

“The goal of his project is to provide for us a snapshot of how Brandeis is perceived both here on campus and in the wider world, and how we might better communicate the university’s strengths, exceptional characteristics, history, and, down the road, our institution’s aspirations,” Liebowitz wrote in the email.

In his presentation, Neustadt stressed that his goal was not to make recommendations on the University’s values but to instead conduct marketing research and provide recommendations on marketing strategies. He added that the recommendations are geared toward generating revenue for the University so that it can be successful in accomplishing its initiatives and goals. “Institutions are businesses, so they need to be mindful of these things,” he said.

Neustadt split his research into quantitative and qualitative subgroupings, collecting data from alumni and prospective students. His survey of alumni received 2,409 responses, while the prospective undergraduate survey garnered 1,244 responses. In his qualitative research, Neustadt heard from ten focus groups of current and prospective students segmented by region, program and admission status. He also spoke with nine focus groups of alumni — segmented by year, school and degree — as well as seven faculty focus groups and various administrators and trustees.

Of the alumni surveyed, Neustadt noted, 52 percent identified as Jewish, 12 percent identified as atheist, eight percent as Catholic, seven percent as agnostic and six percent as Protestant. Of that Jewish population, 58 percent identified as either Reform or Conservative. He added that the population of self-identifying Jewish alumni has decreased from 68 percent in the 1970s or earlier to 40 percent in the 2000s.

Moreover, only 36 percent of alumni surveyed are likely to promote the University, with 30 percent likely to dissuade people from attending and the remainder passive.

From these figures, Neustadt calculated a net promoter score of 6 percent, which he described as “woeful.” The average net promoter score for schools in the Neustadt Creative Marketing database — excluding Brandeis — is 54 percent, he added.

There is also a concern among prospective students that the University is “too Jewish,” with no opportunity to get out of the “Jewish comfort zone.” Neustadt noted that Brandeis seems to be uncomfortable describing its Jewish identity. Brandeis “can no longer behave like it’s a startup institution,” Neustadt asserted, urging the University to clarify its position.

In order to do so, the University must position itself not based on its Jewish heritage but based on its Jewish values, including its reverence for scholarship, cultivation of critical thinking and emphasis on social justice.

“The minute you do mention religion, it suppresses interest,” Neustadt said. “We’re trying to come up with an elevator speech that responds to audiences' priorities. … A place saying they have values is a plus to both non-Jewish and Jewish students.”

“The awkwardness and the discomfort that this institution has had in talking about its Jewish dimension has been this huge impediment,” Neustadt continued. “This is the question on everyone’s minds, and the discomfort or inability of the institution to answer it in a straightforward way leads to all kinds of misassumptions that it’s only for Jewish students.”

The University also struggles with its social scene; when graded socially by class year, only 41 percent of alumni from the 1980s gave the University an A- to A+ grade. “Brandeis is not alone in being a place that ... is kind of lame,” Neustadt said, adding that Brandeis is a good fit for students “who do not want bro-y environments.”

“Try to recruit students who look like they will make a social contribution to the institution,” he advised, asserting that the University should “simply not concede that its social life is lame.”

Neustadt also emphasized that the University should clearly define itself as either a research university or a liberal arts college.

“Brandeis should stop talking about how it’s the best combination of a liberal arts college and a research university, because it’s really nothing like a New England liberal arts college — and in fact, there’s really little demand for New England liberal arts colleges,” Neustadt said, arguing that the University would be better off describing itself as a medium-sized research university in the Boston area.

In a question-and-answer session that followed, audience members had a chance to ask questions of Neustadt, Liebowitz and Lynch. Tzlil Levy ’17 told the panel that she struggles to find a reason to give back to the school as she nears graduation, having dealt with overloaded faculty and inadequate buildings for the tuition she pays annually, she said.

Liebowitz replied that the administration is trying to address these problems, while Lynch encouraged Levy to reach out to her for help finding a faculty member with enough time to work with her on an independent study.

Another audience member asserted that the University has a community that extends beyond alumni to include Jews from around the world. “It’s kind of like if you grow up in Boston, the Red Sox is your team — if you grow up Jewish, Brandeis is your school,” he said.

—Editor’s note: Tzlil Levy ’17 is a staff writer for the Justice. Carmi Rothberg contributed reporting.