The Connected College Podcast with Elliot Felix

How can you make a variety of experiential learning opportunities accessible to all students? How might student projects make an impact internally with the institution as client and externally for companies and community groups? What barriers might you (and students) encounter and how can you get over, around, or through them? We talk through these with Susan McCahan, Vice Provost for Innovations in Undergraduate Education at the University of Toronto. Episode Highlights include: [03:54] Defining the Experiential Learning Menu – Susan McCahan defines experiential learning broadly at the University of Toronto, ranging from traditional co-ops and internships to undergraduate research and specialized work-study roles. [05:24] Data-Driven Student Success – The Vice Provost’s office utilizes work-study students to analyze institutional data, identifying key correlations between co-curricular involvement and higher student retention rates. [11:46] Navigating Intellectual Property – To reduce friction for partners and faculty, the university provides clear resources on IP ownership, distinguishing between corporate-owned placement work and student-owned course projects. [18:07] Building Professional Confidence – Engaging with community clients, such as designing solutions for a local women's shelter, shifts student focus from simple grade attainment to understanding the real-world impact of their professional identity. [25:35] Addressing Accessibility Barriers – The university is focused on creating a "smooth handoff" for students with disabilities and financial constraints to ensure experiential opportunities are inclusive and frictionless

What causes the tensions that lead to votes of No Confidence? What are the impacts of these disconnects on student success? What can institutions do to proactively avoid these through orientation, education, communication, org design, and more? We discuss these questions with Mike Nietzel and Chuck Ambrose, authors of No Confidence: When College Faculty Turn Against Their Presidents. Available here on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0iKrGHka

How can you tackle student success challenges with a bias toward action and practical solutions? How can you do this collaboratively as a community of practice? Along the way, how do you build a continuous improvement culture and sustain your initiatives and innovations in the long term?We discuss these questions with two inspirational leaders from the University of Washington Tacoma: Bonnie Becker, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Success and Amanda Figueroa, Associate Vice Chancellor for Social Mobility. References from this episode: UW Tacoma Student Success 2022-2025 Culminating Report You Are a Data Person by Amelia Parnell College Social–Emotional Crossroads Inventory (C-SECI) by Patton Garriott et al. A Critical Cultural Wealth Model of First-Generation and Economically Marginalized College Students’ Academic and Career Development by Patton Garriott et al.

How can you make AI a practice in your institution so that it's not just something you use but something you are? How can you embed it in your curriculum, culture, and operations? How does doing this enable responsiveness, personalization, standardization, scalability, and more. We discuss these questions and more with Sasha Thackaberry-Voinovich, Co-Founder and President of New State University.

How can you embed career discovery and development into your first year experience? How can you get advisors, faculty and employers engaged in experiential learning activities? How is AI changing the curriculum and career development and placement? We talk through these with Maggie Lewis, Vice Dean for Student Success at Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication and Interim AVP for Enrollment Management for Temple University.

What does it look like for an institution to be truly connected? How can design thinking help us define problems and create solutions together during times of seismic change? How can leadership move from managing risk to green-lighting progress to create a transformative campus experience? We dive into these questions in a special bonus episode where Champlain College Provost Monique Taylor interviews Elliot Felix at their annual college retreat.

What are the best metrics to measure the student journey? How can you use these to structure mergers and acquisitions, consolidations, and partnerships among institutions? How can you manage the change process to create a positive impact on the student journey? We dive into these questions as Jeremy Anderson shares his personal experience with assessment, technology, and M&A and in higher ed.

How can you support and develop students who lead complicated lives because they are students AND parents, students AND employees, or students AND deployed? What changes do you need to make to your programs, processes, practices, and partnerships to make this happen? We talk through student success for ANDers with Mark Milliron (President) and Angela Baldasare (SVP Research, Strategy, and Planning) at National University

How can you create a long-term plan for your academic programs as you would your campus? How can you differentiate your programs and better communicate their value? How can you prioritize among them as you gather feedback and adapt? We dive into these questions with Catherine Wehlberg, President of Athens State University and author of the book Academic Master Planning: Guiding Strategic Innovation for Academic Leadership

How can colleges and universities work with corporate and community partners to provide the kind of wraparound support like transportation, childcare, and housing that enables student success? How can programs go beyond the credential to create real economic opportunity? We answer these and along the way, we dive into how to make the case and fundraise, communications, governing boards, and measuring success with Michael Baston, President of Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C).

How can you make experiential learning not just something your college does but part of who you are? As you move from doing it ad hoc to integrating at scale, how can you overcome resistance to change? What's the right mix of communications, incentives, and training? On a special 100th episode, we dive into these questions with Brian Rosenberg, author of "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It", Visiting Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and former President of Macalester College.

What if instead of hearing "mental health crisis" and defaulting to "more counseling" we also thought about sleep, nutrition, music, exercise, time outdoors, and time with friends? What if every student learned time management to make this possible? What can we do to make these opportunities and support services more accessible? We dive into this with Dr. Christopher Holstege, Senior Associate Vice President of Student Health & Wellness at the University of Virginia.

What if building community is as important as the curriculum? What is the toolkit for getting beyond the "Ick" of networking to create real communities where students, faculty, and staff belong? We dive into this with Lisa Leander, founder of the WIBE Network (Where Imagination Builds Excellence). We talk through the ingredients in her secret sauce and what this means for folks that focused on community and belonging to enable student success.

How can you continuously increase and communicate the value of higher education by integrating work experience within it? We dive into this question with Brandee Popaden-Smith, Senior Director at Arizona State University's University College. We talk through their two answers: integrating experiential learning with corporate and community partners in the curriculum at scale and redesigning student employment to provide real structure, skills, and supervision.

How can campus spaces advance institutional strategy? How can better data and better stakeholder engagement help you make better decisions about where, how, and when to invest in campus facilities and their operations? How can your campus create more meaningful, memorable experiences? We discuss these questions with Lora Strigens, Vice President for Planning and Strategy at Marquette University who brings a unique perspective leading both capital planning and strategic planning.

How can technology not only help students create, collaborate, and communicate but also provide valuable data about what they need? How can institutions curb the digital sprawl, redundant systems, and siloed data that stem from their decentralized structures? How can your strategy help you prioritize and combine communications, training, and support.? We dive into this with Peggy McCready, an AVP for Information Technology at Colorado State University.

How can broad education + targeted skills + social capital lead to success in college and beyond? How can students combine getting an education and getting a job, especially in the age of AI? How can students play the short game (i.e., targeted skills) and the long game (i.e., broad education) as they think about the careers they want to have and the lives they want to lead? We discuss these questions and more with Ben Wildavsky, Author of The Career Arts.

How can you solve the "need a job to get experience but need experience to get a job" conundrum? How can you help students find their purpose so they are more motivated, engaged, and resilient learners? Can you do this all in a way that levels the playing field for students and employers alike? We dive into these questions with Dana Stephenson, Co-founder and CEO of Riipen, an experiential learning marketplace that connects colleges and universities to companies through projects that build students' skills and relationships and help companies find talent, get ideas, and make progress.

How can the right combination of curiosity, collaboration, community, and classes equip students to be changemakers? How can you expand the definition of and participation in entrepreneurship and what are the outcomes? How is AI changing education and work to prepare students for change? We dive into these questions with Cornell Suhartono, current Berkeley student, Samiha Singh former student and now a McKinsey consultant, and Laura Paxton Hassner Executive Director of the Berkeley Changemaker® program.

How can colleges and universities improve the employee experience and in turn increase student success? What do institutions need to do differently in terms of strategic planning, professional growth, and leadership development? How can institutions take on the tough decisions and conversations that come with cuts and consolidations? We dive into these questions with Kevin McClure, author of The Caring University as well as a faculty member and department head at UNC Wilmington.