Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Stephen Standifird, President at Bradley University, about how the university’s turnaround mentality is transforming its programs, financial reporting, governance, and leadership. Podcast Highlights By being customer-centric and asking prospective students what they want, higher education leaders can begin to redesign programs that attract enrollment. The university hired a CFO that doesn’t have any higher education experience. This has proven ...
Dec 10, 2021•40 min•Ep. 99
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Dan Greenstein, chancellor of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education, about the system’s change efforts to proactively deal with student enrollment declines and financial issues. Podcast Highlights Strategically integrating institutions can allow higher education systems to address declining enrollments and revenues through consolidating efforts. This approach also allows the institution to offer a wider set of programs, which otherwis...
Nov 16, 2021•38 min•Ep. 100
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Mark Lombardi, president at Maryville University, about the institution’s culture of innovation. Podcast Highlights Innovation in higher education involves starting with the end in mind, i.e., identifying the end point and ending date, and then allowing people to innovate with a focus on bringing the desired outcome into being. This approach requires changing the definition of failure so that it becomes a learning opportunity as opposed to a terrib...
Nov 12, 2021•41 min•Ep. 98
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, president at Amarillo College, about how to successfully transform a higher education institution to meet the needs of today’s students in a way that that results in improved persistence and graduation rates. Podcast Highlights To successfully navigate the current environmental chaos, higher education institutions need to get a real handle on the students, who are often very different from the traditional students that atte...
Nov 08, 2021•37 min•Ep. 97
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Tom Netting, CEO at TEN Government Strategies, about the current issues being discussed by federal policymakers in Washington. Podcast Highlights The U.S. Congress is considering several packages. However, the names and vehicle for passage continue to change to get buy-in politically. Two Neg Regs are on the horizon in relation to student loans and institutional accountability. Higher education leaders should keep these on their radar screen. Title...
Oct 10, 2021•41 min•Ep. 96
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Michael B. Poliakoff, president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), and Dr. Armand Alacbay, ACTA’s vice president of trustee and government affairs, about the organization’s new report, “The Cost of Excess,” which analyzes the reasons and impacts behind the continual rising cost of higher education. Podcast Highlights Higher education trustees need to ask probing questions and request meaningful data to help institutions make...
Oct 07, 2021•47 min•Ep. 95
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Roger Hughes, President at Doane University, about the knowledge, qualities and skills that higher education leaders need to have. Podcast Highlights Higher education leaders can come from a variety of backgrounds, including coaching. Leadership knowledge and skills can be transferred between different types of jobs. It’s important to grow leaders. This can happen through creating an environment where the leadership team learns principle-based ...
Sep 13, 2021•35 min•Ep. 93
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Melik Khoury, president of Unity College, about the institution’s out-of-the-box thinking that is creating a new business model for higher education. Podcast Highlights Higher education is built on a traditional system that was developed by elite institutions. However, the model isn’t sustainable for educating a broader group of students. Colleges and universities should look at their missions and their policies to see if these are still valid—...
Sep 04, 2021•36 min•Ep. 94
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Matt Scogin, president at Hope College, about the institution’s Hope Forward program. Podcast Highlights Higher education leaders can look at innovation through creating new financial models that are not based on tuition. The Hope Forward model is designed to increase access to higher education while also not saddling students with significant student debt after they graduate. This approach, which is based on student gratitude and generosity, will ...
Aug 31, 2021•34 min•Ep. 92
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Jaime Casap, a consultant and Google’s former education evangelist, about how higher education needs to create a new model that will help students embrace lifelong learning and succeed in the emerging economy. Podcast Highlights Students who come from low-socioeconomic circumstances, immigrant families or are the first in their family to attend college often don’t have a good understanding of the educational opportunities that are available to them...
Aug 25, 2021•41 min•Ep. 91
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Kim Hadley, CFO at John Brown University, about lessons from the pandemic that can help transform higher ed institutions. Podcast Highlights Developing collaborations with other higher education institutions can help a university develop new programs without assuming significant fixed costs. Innovative technology, such as owl cameras, can solve immediate issues caused by the pandemic but also can have long-term benefits. The pandemic underscore...
Aug 15, 2021•42 min
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Mark Roosevelt, president of St. John’s College, about the college’s decision to do a tuition reset. Podcast Highlights In general, the higher education industry wants to communicate that it has something valuable to offer. However, setting the price tag to be beyond the means of almost every family that wants to enroll a student sends the wrong message. Consider starting a philanthropic campaign with alumni support. This approach taps into alu...
Aug 01, 2021•35 min•Ep. 88
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, CEO of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, about accreditation’s role as higher education institutions continue to institute change in response to economic and societal turbulence. Podcast Highlights CHEA is a non-governmental organization that is focused on academic quality, quality assurance, transparency to the public, and ensuring that institutions and their programs are following their mission. Even wit...
Jul 31, 2021•37 min•Ep. 89
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Tony Huffman, President and Founder of Perdia Education, about how technology is evolving to help higher education identify, recruit, enroll and serve adult students. Podcast Highlights With the enrollment cliff rapidly approaching, adult students need to increasingly become the focal point of higher education recruitment efforts. These students need a different approach to education than traditional students. Technology is important in not only pr...
Jul 27, 2021•30 min•Ep. 87
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Danielle Wilken, the new president at the University of Bridgeport, about the changing plans that have allowed the university to survive through a partnership with Goodwin University. Podcast Highlights Change efforts are not set in stone, so expect things to evolve. This happened with University of Bridgeport, which was slated to be consumed by three area universities. However, when one university withdrew from the deal, the University of Brid...
Jul 20, 2021•33 min
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Philomena Mantella, President at Grand Valley University, about creating an REP4, an innovation effort using design thinking to improve education. Podcast Highlights REP4 is an alliance of six higher education institutions that are committed to innovation. This effort flips the innovation model through putting prospective and current students in the driver’s seat in identifying changes that are needed at the college or university. REP4 allows i...
Jul 10, 2021•36 min•Ep. 85
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Vickie Schray, EVP and chief external affairs officer at Zovio, about the role of innovation in helping higher education navigate the current turbulent environment. Podcast Highlights Innovation will be critical in helping colleges and universities survive. This innovation can be through creating partnerships that leverage and build capacity. Higher education’s work needs to focus on student needs and ensuring they are prepared for the workforce. I...
Jul 08, 2021•35 min•Ep. 84
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Mike Goldstein, managing director and co-creator of the Center for Higher Education Transformation at Tyton Partners, about how the pandemic has accelerated change in higher education and some of the trends that are emerging. Podcast Highlights Higher education is experienced a burst of rapid acceleration that is in line with the evolutionary theory describing punctuated equilibrium. These types of acceleration are caused by a cataclysmic event, wh...
Jun 30, 2021•40 min•Ep. 83
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Anthony Wutoh, provost at Howard University, about how partnerships with industry and academic institutions can encourage innovation that benefits students, faculty, and the higher education institution. Podcast Highlights Partnerships with industry can offer many benefits, including industry expertise to assist with course and curriculum review, access to state-of-the-art technology, industry speakers and mentors, internships and other opportu...
Jun 21, 2021•36 min•Ep. 82
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Tom Netting, CEO at TEN Government Strategies, about policy changes emerging from Washington, D.C. as the Biden Administration and Congress move forward to deal with the pandemic. Podcast Highlights Significant federal funding is expected to continue to come to higher education institutions and students. College and university presidents need to be very mindful about how they use this funding. It is important to use these funds to create a new inst...
Jun 01, 2021•38 min•Ep. 81
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Ken Knueven, senior program director at the Charles Koch Foundation, about the various disruptors facing higher education and and what grantmakers are looking for in higher education transformation initiatives. Podcast Highlights Higher education is facing financial issues caused by a variety of disruptors. The pandemic accelerated these issues, forcing higher education leaders and institutions to consider radical and transformational change. Many ...
May 20, 2021•34 min•Ep. 79
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Ashley Finley, vice president of research and senior advisor to the president for the AAC&U, about how the workforce is changing and how higher education can play a part in this transformation. Podcast Highlights Employers consistently are looking for employees who have the competencies and skills created through a liberal education. Employers consistently rate individual skills such as drive and work ethic, ability to work independently, self-...
May 20, 2021•38 min•Ep. 80
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Dave Haney, the interim president of Hiram College, about the ongoing transformation of the college to serve the needs of students and key stakeholders in its region. Podcast Highlights Targeted marketing allows institutions to share their story with prospective students who would be a good fit. This increasingly is important as students are focused on social media instead of network television or billboards. Focus on person-centered design and...
May 02, 2021•33 min•Ep. 78
Podcast Overview Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Brian Kelly, Director of the Cybersecurity Program at Educause, about cyber risk management, and the increasing importance of including cybersecurity and cyber-hygiene in higher education’s enterprise risk management program. Podcast Highlights Disruptions in cybersecurity are becoming more common as higher education institutions increasingly see their technology systems being hacked. Ransomware attacks against colleges and universities doubled ov...
Apr 21, 2021•33 min
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Billy Hawkins, president of Talladega College, about how the pandemic has changed higher ed institutions and HBCUs in particular. Podcast Highlights When a crisis hits, prioritize students. Make strategic decisions and adaptions to keep students safe. By focusing on serving students during these difficult times through improving services and enhancing safety, higher education institutions can increase enrollments. The pandemic has taught higher...
Apr 01, 2021•36 min•Ep. 76
Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Paul Friga, associate professor of strategy at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-founder of ABC Insights, about how higher education leaders can strategically move their institutions forward as the pandemic eases. Podcast Highlights Higher education leaders have an opportunity to use the American Rescue Plan funding to move their institution forward in creating a new model. The pandemic has ...
Mar 30, 2021•37 min•Ep. 75
Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Meredith Woo, president of Sweet Briar College, about the Sweet Briar Miracle, the college’s transformation using change management principles. Podcast Highlights Sweet Briar College faced a major uphill climb after alumnae successfully pushed back the board of trustees’ decision to close the institution. The college had to find ways to address and change perceived challenges, including declining interest in a liberal arts education, waning enrollment by women...
Mar 16, 2021•33 min•Ep. 74
Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Rob Hartman, CFO at Columbia International University, about how the pandemic has changed higher ed institutions and CIU, and in many ways, for the better. Podcast Highlights A crisis or change effort can have unexpected positive outcomes. In the case of CIU, these outcomes include increased enrollment, endowment, and employee productivity. During a change effort, create a committee with membership that spans the campus and can work through consensus. This effort ...
Mar 11, 2021•36 min•Ep. 73
Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, and former undersecretary of education for the Obama Administration, about what to expect from the Biden Administration and higher education policies. Sample Show Notes The Trump Administration and the Biden Administration both have tried to provide financial support to COVID relief to higher education. Funding is coming directly to higher education and is being allocated to states, who then provide...
Mar 01, 2021•35 min•Ep. 72
Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Frank Rojas, COO at Los Angeles Pacific University, about myLAPU, an initiative that put their curriculum on students' smartphones. Sample Show Notes Three-fourths of students in online programs want to use their mobile devices to engage in coursework. However, only 13% have done so, which indicates a significant demand. MyLAPU was launched as a human-centered design project to remove the need for students to be connected to the internet via desktop or laptop ...
Feb 23, 2021•29 min•Ep. 71
