The ROI Institute, an organization dedicated to helping businesses measure the financial return on investment of their programs and initiatives, celebrated its 30th-anniversary workshop at Oglethorpe University earlier this month. The milestone workshop hosted professionals from around the country — including nine Oglethorpe staff — to impart methods for measuring and reporting the value of their work.

Over five days, participants explored the ROI Methodology, a globally recognized framework for evaluating impact and demonstrating tangible results. Through interactive sessions, case studies and hands-on exercises, attendees learned how to connect organizational initiatives to measurable outcomes, ensuring that investments in programs deliver clear value.

“I was surprised to discover how versatile the ROI Methodology can be as a project evaluation tool,” said Olivia Martin, manager of enrollment communications at Oglethorpe. “In the humanities especially, it’s easy to assume that the impact of our work cannot be measured, but this workshop taught me the importance of pushing past that assumption and creating scalable systems of measurement to track a project’s progress from start to finish.”

Founded by Oglethorpe alumnus Dr. Jack Phillips ’69 and wife Dr. Patti P. Phillips, the ROI Institute has provided training and consulting to nearly 70,000 professionals and 9,000 organizations in over 70 countries since it was founded in 1992.

Philips developed the ROI Methodology shortly after graduating from Oglethorpe while working at Lockheed Martin just north of Atlanta.

“Oglethorpe has always been very special to me because of its extraordinary focus on students,” Phillips recalls. “My major professor, Dr. Roy Goslin, took a genuine interest in my career, and I experienced that same dedication extended to other students as well.”

That connection has endured throughout his life, which has taken him around the globe to help implement his methodology.

“Although I have degrees from three other universities, Oglethorpe remains the most meaningful to me,” says Phillips. “Having this anniversary celebration here is incredibly special for both Patti and me.”

The workshop marked the beginning of a new partnership between Oglethorpe and the ROI Institute, opening doors for future collaboration and professional development opportunities.

“It was such a wonderful, full-circle moment to have the ROI Institute here on campus,” says Sarah Emerson, vice president of advancement at Oglethorpe, who also participated in the workshop. “For Jack to graduate from Oglethorpe, go into the world, develop this impactful methodology and then bring it back here to teach our staff — it really speaks to the breadth of our university’s professional network.”

As the ROI Institute celebrates three decades of impact, its return to Oglethorpe signals the start of new opportunities for collaboration, ensuring that the principles of measuring value continue to shape the future of higher education and beyond.