Office Hours with John Gardner

Episode 44 - Nthabiseng Ogude Student Success in South Africa

Professor Nthabiseng Audrey Ogude is an Analytical Chemist, Science Educator and is currently Professor and Dean at the University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi Campus. She obtained a BSc degree Upper Class Honours majoring in Chemistry and Biological Sciences (Biochemistry, Parasitology and Entomology) at the National University of Lesotho, a MSc degree in Analytical Chemistry specialising in spectrophotometric methods of chemical analysis of Foods at the University of Nairobi and a PhD in Chemistry s...

Episode 43 - Rob Anderson Service-Minded Policymaking

Dr. Robert E. Anderson was appointed President of SHEEO on August 1, 2017. Anderson’s experience includes his most recent role as Interim Chief Academic Officer and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the University System of Georgia. As a senior leader at USG, he addressed academic program approval, college completion initiatives, distance education, new delivery models, K-12 policy, teacher education, and grants administration and evaluation. Dr. Anderson helped restructure the ...

Episode 42 - Merrick Furst Deliberative Innovation

Merrick L. Furst, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, runs commercialization and new venture creation and directs undergraduate programs and faculty development in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. He recently founded the anti-botnet startup, Damballa, Inc. Prior to GT he was a professor at UC Berkeley, president of the International Computer Science Institute at Berkeley and CEO of Essential Surfing Gear, Inc., which grew to 53 employees before being sold in 2000. He also helped establish a...

Episode 41 - Isis Artze-Vega Relationship-Rich Education

Isis Artze-Vega , Ed.D. serves as college provost and vice president for academic affairs at Valencia College in Central Florida, a Hispanic-Serving Institution that serves about 70,000 students annually and has long been regarded as one of the nation’s best community colleges. She provides strategic leadership for the areas of curriculum, assessment, faculty development, distance learning, career and workforce education, and partnerships for educational equity. Prior to joining Valencia, Isis s...

Episode 40 - Jamie Merisotis Democracy in Higher Education

Jamie Merisotis is a globally recognized leader in philanthropy, education, human work and talent development, and public policy. He has been Lumina’s president and CEO since 2008. He previously was co-founder and president of the nonpartisan, Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Higher Education Policy and also served as executive director of a bipartisan national commission on college affordability appointed by the U.S. president and congressional leaders. Merisotis is the author of the acclai...

Episode 39 - George Mehaffy Bold within Boundaries

George Mehaffy served for 20 years as the Vice President for Academic Leadership and Change at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). There he was responsible for developing and managing programs for almost 400 member institutions in areas such as leadership development, undergraduate education, technology, international education, teacher education and student success. He also worked closely with provosts at AASCU institutions, visiting more than 130 campuses. His ...

Episode 38 - Phil Gardner Student Employability

Philip D. Gardner is Director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University. Dr. Gardner has been with MSU for more than 30 years after receiving degrees from Whitman College (BA in Chemistry) and Michigan State University (Ph.D. in Resource & Development Economics/Public Policy). His major areas of research include the transition from college to work, early socialization and career progression in the workplace, workforce readiness, and other areas related to c...

Episode 37 - Vince Tinto Promoting Student Persistence

Vincent Tinto is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at Syracuse University and the former Chair of the Higher Education Program. He has carried out research and has written extensively on higher education, particularly on student success and the impact of learning communities on student growth and attainment. His book, Leaving College , published by the University of Chicago Press, lays out a theory and policy perspective on student success that is considered the benchmark by which wo...

Episode 36 - Barry O'Connor Global Perspectives of Student Success

Dr Barry O’Connor is President Emeritus of Cork Institute of Technology (now Munster Technological University), having previously served asRegistrar and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Institute prior to which he worked for25 years in University College Cork and significant sabbatical periods in ENSIA(France), Michigan State University (USA) ,ESB Porto (Portugal). He is a member of the French Commission des titres d’ingénieur panel of Experts. He holds engineering and law degrees from...

Episode 35 - Emily McIntosh The Third Space

Dr Emily McIntosh is Director of Learning, Teaching and Student Experience at Middlesex University, London, UK. Emily’s role at Middlesex involves cross institutional leadership for learning and teaching, including student transition, technology enhanced learning (TEL), academic practice, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), academic advising, and student engagement. Emily is a Principal Fellow of theHigher Education Academy (PFHEA) and a National Teaching Fellow (NTF). She was a founding Bo...

Episode 34 - Dan Greenstein A Path Forward

Dr. Daniel Greenstein became the fifth chancellor of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education on September 4, 2018. In that role, he serves as chief executive officer of the state's system of 14 public universities, serving more than 90,000 degree-seeking students and thousands more enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs. Chancellor Greenstein is leading a system-wide redesign effort focused on increasing opportunities for students—including those in underserved pop...

Episode 33- Becoming a Student- Ready College with Nicole McDonald

Episode 32 - Brandon Smith Imagining a Better Future

Brandon Smith serves as an Assistant Vice President with the Gardner Institute after over a decade of higher education experience. Smith started his career as a member of the faculty at Midwestern State University and continued on to Brevard College to lead their theatre program and later serve as an associate dean for student success. During his time working on student success initiatives at Brevard College, the number of students retained annually increased by nearly 30%. Smith is a recipient ...

Episode 31 - Henry Stoever Leading Governing Boards

Henry Stoever is the President and CEO of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). He brings to AGB a deep understanding of the importance of strategic governance and a wealth of experience building member-focused organizations. As AGB’s president & CEO, he oversees leadership and operations of the organization serving over 1,300 boards representing over 40,000 individual trustees across more than 2,000 member institutions around the world. Henry champions AGB’...

Episode 30- Hope Williams Transforming Private Colleges

A. Hope Williams is in her 30th year as president of North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU), the statewide office of the 36 private, nonprofit colleges and universities in North Carolina. She works closely with the State of North Carolina and the federal government, and with the North Carolina public K-12 and higher education sectors to address education and related public policy and funding issues. In addition, she oversees fundraising for student scholarships and grants, ...

Episode 29 - William Moses Challenging U.S. Higher Education

William (Bill) F. L. Moses serves as managing director for The Kresge Foundation’s Education Program, which supports postsecondary access and success for low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students. The key architect of Kresge’s education programming, Bill leads the team’s continuum of domestic and international grant activities from developing program strategy, reviewing preliminary ideas, and helping grantees develop proposals or initiatives, to awarding funding and monitoring e...

Episode 28 - Arthur Levine Critical Challenges in Postsecondary Education

President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Dr. Arthur Levine served as President of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Under his leadership, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation transformed into a national leader in educator preparation and school improvement. Staying true to the Foundation’s mission of identifying and developing leaders and institutions to meet the nation’s critical challenges, Levine created a portfolio of new and innovative programs designed ...

Episode 27 - David Brightman Innovation into Action

David Brightman has been involved in professional book publishing for higher education for two decades. A senior editor at Stylus since 2015, prior to that he served as the lead editor for higher education books at Jossey-Bass from2001-2014. David earned his BA degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of California,Berkeley with highest honors, and later completed the Professional Certificate in Publishing from the UC Berkeley Extension.A native of Washington, DC, and 30-year reside...

Episode 26 - Lou Albert Pioneering Innovation

Lou Albert is a Professor of Practice in the Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Prior to his appointment at ASU, Lou served as President of the West Campus of Pima County Community College in Tucson, Arizona from 2003 until his retirement in 2015. He is a former academic Vice Chancellor of the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District (1998-2003); and former Vice President of the American Association for Higher Ed...

Episode 25 - Janet Marling The Transfer Bias

Janet L. Marling, Ph.D. has been affiliated with NISTS since its establishment in 2002 and was named executive director in 2011. In this role and through her extensive speaking, training, and consulting activities, Dr. Marling works with individuals, higher education institutions and associations, state agencies, foundations, and legislative bodies to improve transfer policy, practice, and research. She edited the New Directions for Higher Education volume titled, Collegiate Transfer: Navigating...

Episode 24 - Tina GridIron The Asset Mindset

Episode 23 - John Whiteley Influential Guides

John M. Whiteley has been an administrator and professor at the University of California, Irvine since 1972. His research has included the clash between citizen expression of concern which conflicts sharply with the national security imperatives of the U.S. government, moral development from late adolescence to early adult development, social ecology of peace, character and community in the college years, history of the profession of counseling psychology, quest for peace and security in the 21s...

Episode 22 - Laura Latta Higher Education Collaborations: Innovation in Opportunity

Dr. Laura Latta is a dedicated educator with experience in Pre K through postsecondary instructional leadership, cross-sector community development, and education research design and analytics. Laura, a lifelong Tulsan, has committed her entire career to education and has held leadership roles as an award-winning teacher, professor, school administrator, community coordinator, researcher, and nonprofit director. Throughout her career, Laura has used her experience to bring together leaders in ed...

Episode 21 - Peter Nwosu Power of Faculty Mentorship

Episode 20 - Laura Rendón Wholeness, Authenticity, and Spirituality in Higher Education

Laura I. Rendón is Professor Emerita and Co-Director of the Center for Research and Policy in Education at University of Texas-San Antonio. A native of Laredo, Texas, Rendón’s scholarly endeavors have focused on college access and success especially for low-income, first-generation students. Rendón is credited with developing the theory of validation that academic and student affairs practitioners have employed as a student success framework. Her current research on student success is focused on...

Episode 19 - Frank J. Dooley Becoming an Innovator

Purdue University Global Chancellor Dr. Frank J. Dooley boasts an international reputation as an innovative educator and creative researcher. Prior to his appointment in May 2020, Dooley was senior vice provost for Purdue University. Dooley has received numerous awards for teaching, research, and service, including the Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2009 and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher in 2011. He was inducte...

Episode 18 - Susan Whealler Johnston Arguing for Innovation

Dr. Susan Whealler Johnston is president and CEO of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), a position she has held since August 1, 2018. Prior to joining NACUBO, she was at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), and for 12 years she served as its executive vice president and chief operating officer, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization as well as strategic planning. While at AGB, she led national pr...

Episode 17 - Casey Green Importance of Institutional Data

Kenneth C. Green, Ph.D., is the founding director of The Campus Computing Project, the largest continuing study of the role of computing, eLearning, and information technology in American higher education. Launched in 1990, Campus Computing is widely cited by both campus officials and corporate executives as a definitive source for data, information, and insight about eLearning and information technology planning and policy issues affecting U.S. colleges and universities. Green also recently ser...

Episode 16 - Andrew Koch Socially Just Design

Dr. Koch is a child of immigrants who came to the United States in pursuit of a better life for their family. His first language was not English, and postsecondary education was valued by his family as a means for realizing the American Dream. He is a staunch advocate and leader of efforts that increase student access to and, ultimately, completion of postsecondary education. He has worked in and with higher education institutions for nearly 30 years. He has done so since 2010 at the Gardner Ins...

Episode 15 - Leo Lambert Creating a Sense of Belonging

Leo M. Lambert is President Emeritus and Professor at Elon University. Lambert served as president from 1999-2018, leading Elon’s rise to national prominence by promoting a student-centered culture that values strong relationships between students and their faculty and staff mentors. Focused on developing students as global citizens, ethical leaders and creative problem-solvers, Lambert led two strategic plans, creating a model for the modern liberal arts university. Led by President Lambert, El...