People

Hardwick-Day is a small firm that collaborates closely on client engagements. Each member of the firm brings a set of skills and successes that create a complementary, coherent whole: policy research and analysis, statistical virtuosity, marketing and communications perspectives from both academia and the business world, and every aspect of enrollment management operations

The collective experience of Hardwick-Day professionals totals nearly 350 years of hands-on work before joining the firm. Together, Hardwick-Day principals, associates, analysts, and statisticians have:

  • 202 years in college admissions and financial aid
  • 132 at the vice presidential or director level in admissions and financial aid
  • 78 years in research design, data analysis, academic records, and database development and application
  • 64 years in alumni relations, communications, website development, external/government relations, international education, and advancement

Hardwick Day Staff


  • James H. Day

         After earning a B.A. in English Literature and government from Beloit College and an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Iowa, Jim Day served as...

  • Nathan S. Mueller

         Since joining Hardwick-Day in 1996, Nathan Mueller has helped more than 70 clients attain enrollment and net revenue goals through financial aid optimization and...

  • Carol A. Stack

         Carol Stack develops and refines brand strategies through research and campus workshops. She also assesses admissions and recruitment operations, advises on staff...

  • Ruth A. Vedvik

         Ruth Vedvik uses expertise garnered from 26 years of first-hand experience at six institutions—public and private—to assist Hardwick-Day clients in elevating their...

  • Seth Harris

         Seth earned both a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and Bachelor of Music degree in percussion performance from Lawrence University. This, he was once told,...

  • Kimberly Johnson

         Kim Johnson uses 15 years of admission expertise from both public and private institutions to assist Hardwick-Day clients with undergraduate, graduate, and...

  • David Busse

         David Busse retired in 2001 after 18 years as financial aid director at Macalester College. Since then, he has served as interim director and in other capacities in...

  • Janice Jaeger

         Janice Jaeger works with institutions and consortia to coordinate and analyze research studies. She manages projects from survey design to the procurement and...

  • Herald Johnson

         Herald Johnson assists colleges in the areas of interim financial aid leadership, staff training and mentoring, and innovative programming. Herald is one of the...

  • Lee Johnson

         Lee Johnson has worked in-depth with more than a dozen colleges and college consortia. His work involves assessing admissions operations, mentoring new admissions...

  • Anne Maertz

         Anne Maertz is the chief administrative and communications officer for Hardwick-Day. This involves writing, editing, and design for print, web, and video; event...

  • Kevin Menk

         Kevin Menk is managing partner of Strategic Resource Partners, LLC. He has more than 25 years of marketing consulting and marketing...

  • Dakota Ryan

         Dakota joined the firm in 2009, after graduating from Macalester College with degrees in Economics and English Literature. With a background in graphic design and...

  • Jim Miller

         For Hardwick-Day, Jim Miller assists colleges in the areas of interim admissions leadership, staff training and mentoring, and innovative programming. Jim has 30...

  • Ben Stommes

         Ben Stommes joined Hardwick-Day as a data analyst in 2007.  He has enjoyed learning the process of constructing financial aid optimization analyses and live...

  • Kristina Nesse

         Kristina Nesse brings a passion for higher education policy and econometric analysis to Hardwick-Day and her clients. She works on...

  • Nicole Stanich

         Nicole Stanich, new to the Hardwick-Day team as of spring 2010, is proud to have graduated from Augsburg College in 2007. As a double major in Mathematics and...

  • Nicole Stoddard

         Nikki Stoddard has been a member of the Hardwick-Day team since 2007.  Nikki creates live simulation models of financial aid regimes.  She is on hand...

  • Anna Swanson

         Anna joined the team in early summer 2010 after completing her Master’s in Public Policy from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. She...

  • Teresa Klier

         Teresa Klier has 13 years of analytic consulting experience in a wide variety of industries, including higher education, consumer package goods, financial services...

  • Todd Melander

         Todd Melander’s first job was modeling customers’ propensity for purchasing the Reader’s Digest magazine. The lessons and modeling tools he learned there built a...

  • Stacie Toal

         Stacie Toal supports Hardwick-Day’s financial aid optimization engagements, marketing and institutional research, and consortium projects, including in-person and...

  • Jon McGee

         Jon McGee is vice president of planning and public affairs at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. His management area includes marketing and...