The Rant

In this episode I talk with Paul Fain, higher education journalist and writer for The Job. We talk about the rapid rise in conversations in workforce training & higher education circles about the move toward a skills first framework. Paul discusses what he is seeing as skills and technology take hold in the policy and practice space. He also discusses what he thinks about the impact of AI on the post-secondary education marketplace.

In this episode, I present an interview I did as part of a video series for College Futures Foundation, my employer. I interviewed Ben Chida, Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary & Senior Advisor for Cradle to Career in governor Gavin Newsom's administration. Ben and I talk about Governor Newsom's executive order calling for a new California Masterplan for Career Education. Ben describes this effort and why this is a priority for the governor. For more information about the Newsom Administration's effort on career education you can visit careereducation. gov. ca. gov.

In this episode, I talk with Scott Pulsipher, president of Western Governors University (WGU). We talk about the history of WGU, the growth of enrollments and the evolution of the teaching and learning model. I discuss with Scott how the WGU team thinks about serving working learners and the importance of their Competency-Based Education model. Scott also describes recent efforts in Congress to codify CBE and the impact of AI on its model.

In this episode, I talk with Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO at Coursera. Coursera is one of the pioneers of the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) movement and is now a publicly traded company valued at more than $2 billion. I talk with Jeff about the history of the company, who it is serving and how he and his team are incorporating GAI into their course offerings. Coursera is reaching working learners all over the world and is a key education provider that employers turn to for their workforce needs.

In this episode, I talk with Maria Flynn, President & CEO at Jobs For the Future (JFF). Maria and I discuss JFF's focus on good jobs, innovation and a skills-based hiring framework. We discuss the rapidly changing workforce and the importance of centering equity in the innovations that are impacting workers.

In this episode, I give my take on the recent White House & US Department of Education convening to highlight their recent report, "Strategies for Increasing Diversity & Opportunity in Higher Education." This convening came on the heels of the SCOTUS ruling on race-conscious admissions. I give my Rant on two key points brought up by Gene Black, Chancellor of UCLA, and Anne Kress, President of Northern Virginia Community College. Chancellor Block highlighted the importance of dropping the SAT & ACT as a strategy for improving diversity and both Block and President Kress reinforced the importance of community college transfer students for colleges and university looking to improve diversity and find talent for their campuses.

In this episode, I sit down with the U.S.Department of Education Under Secretary of Education, James Kvaal. We discuss a number of wide raging topics including the recent Supreme Court rulings on race-conscious admission and student loan debt forgiveness. Under Secretary Kvaal discusses his goals for the latest rounds of rule making, how his team balances innovation and regulation and his thoughts on whether Congress will ever pass a Higher Education Reauthorization Act.

In this episode, I welcome our listeners to Season 2 of The Rant. I describe the successes of Season 1, and preview what is in store for Season 2. In the second part of this episode I offer my first Rant of the Season 2. I get into the recent FIRE lawsuit filed against the California Community College's Chancellor's Office over the recently adopted Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility regulations.

In this episode I close out Season 1 of The Rant. I end Season 1 with a conversation from one of the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai. I recently visited with Margaret Sanchez, Interim Chancellor of Kauai Community College. From time to time I visit with community college leaders from throughout the country. We talk about the amazing work they do in communities as they serve the top 100% of learners. Given the recent disastrous news coming out of the Island of Maui, I thought that this episode would be a good reminder of the culture and identity that makes the Hawaiian Island the amazing place that they are.

In this episode I talk with Mike Pierce, Executive Director of the Student Borrower Protection Center. We discuss the recent SCOTUS ruling on the Biden Administrations Student Loan Forgiveness plan. We breakdown the politics of the ruling as well as the Biden Administrations latest plan for student loan relief. Mike gives listeners great background on the student loan crisis as well as resources that borrowers can turn to in order to better understand how to get their loans canceled. https://www.cancelmystudentdebt.org/ https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/debt-relief-info

In this episode, I talk with Teresa Watanabe, Staff Writer for the Los Angeles Times who covers the University of California Board of Regents, and Jess Bravin, Supreme Court Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and a former student regent on the University of California Board of Regents. We discuss the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious admissions. We will break down the politics of the decision and the impact on learners and institutions.

In this episode, I give my take on the recent ASU+Summit in San Diego. I talk about who was at the Summit, but more importantly, Rant about who was not at the Summit.

In this episode I give my initial impressions on the recent SCOTUS decisions regarding race conscious admissions and student loan debt forgiveness. I set my sights on the responsibility of college and university leaders and what they can do to truly support low-income learners and learners of color. My Rant digs in to some of the hypocrisy that followed the SCOTUS decisions and some thoughts on how to move forward.

This is the fourth in a series of episodes where I interview interesting innovators that I ran into at the recent ASU + GSV Summit. In this episode I talk with Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner at GSV Ventures and Co-founder of the ASU+GSV Summit. Deborah shares her experiences in ed tech, how her team partnered with ASU, her personal journey and she highlights the work happening with the ASU+GSV Summit in 2024 and beyond.

This is the third in a series of episodes where I interview interesting innovators that I ran into at the recent ASU + GSV Summit. In this episode I talk with Manny Smith, Founder and CEO of Edvisorly. Manny shares his experiences in higher education, his personal journey and he highlights the work happening at EdVisorly, and online platform for helping students transfer and succeed.

This is the second in a series of episodes where I interview interesting innovators that I ran into at the recent ASU + GSV Summit. In this episode I talk with Pierre Dubuc, Co-Founder and CEO of OpenClassrooms. Pierre shares his experiences in higher education, his personal journey from France to the US and he highlights the work happening at OpenClassrooms, and online post-secondary education and apprenticeship platform.

This is the first in a series of episodes where I interview interesting innovators that I ran into at the recent ASU + GSV Summit. In this episode I talk with Christine Cruzvergara, Chief Education strategy Officer at Handshake. Christine shares her experiences in higher education and highlights the work happening at Handshake to connect more students and recent grads to their next employment opportunity.

This episode wraps up the series of episodes regarding the April 2023 Department of Education proposed changes to the definition of a Third-Party Servicer and changes to the Dear Colleague Letter addressing bundled services and revenue share agreements. This is also My RANT on the OPM industry

This podcast is an interview with Michael Horn, author, consultant and former co-director of the Clayton Christensen Institute. We discuss the recent Department of Education proposed changes to the definition of a Third-Party Servicer and new restrictions on revenue share agreements. Michael highlights the challenges to innovation that the Department's language might create and he gives his insights on how regulators could better balance innovation with consumer protections when drafting regulation.

In this episode I interview Clare McCann, Higher Education Policy Fellow at Arnold Ventures. Clare and I discuss the challenges in crafting Federal higher education policy and the need to create clearer guardrails to rein in the kinds predatory practices that concern policy makers about the OPM industry.