The Key with Inside Higher Ed

Colleges and universities are undergoing intense pressure from a lot of angles – and their provosts are arguably at the epicenter of most of them. A new episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, explores our 2024 Survey of College and University Chief Academic Officers and topics such as the future of tenure, cost-cutting around academic programs, and the potential impact of generative artificial intelligence. Joining the discussion are Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed's special content editor, and Ryan Quinn, Inside Higher Ed's faculty issues reporter, who together have reported on the faculty and academic issues for a dozen years. The Key is hosted by Inside Higher Ed Co-founder and Editor Doug Lederman. This episode is sponsored by Interfolio from Elsevier.

The last year has been a hellish one for many college financial aid directors – and, not surprisingly, for the head of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, who’s leaving his role after 14 years. This episode of The Key features a conversation with Justin Draeger, who recently announced that he would soon wrap up his work as president and CEO of NASFAA for a new role leading Strada Education’s efforts to make higher education more affordable. In the conversation, he discusses the impact of the FAFSA mess, possible approaches to make college more affordable, and the state of the financial aid workforce, among other topics. The Key is hosted by Inside Higher Ed Co-founder and Editor Doug Lederman. This episode is sponsored by Mongoose.

Experts discuss the impact of generative AI in teaching beyond cheating, focusing on faculty training, access gaps, and overcoming bias in technology. The conversation highlights the need for responsible AI use, bridging gaps between students and faculty, and challenges in integrating AI models into teaching.

This podcast explores how Arizona State University is partnering with Open AI to shape generative AI, focusing on enhancing online education and student success. It delves into the use of chat GPT for equity in learning outcomes, innovative platform technology development, and the importance of strategic decision-making for universities in navigating the AI landscape in higher education.

Zakiya Ellis, a longtime policy expert, on whether we’re asking the right questions and have the right data. This weeks’s episode of The Key podcast explores a vexing question: how might policy makers and college leaders go about showing that getting a postsecondary education pays off for later in life? The episode features a conversation with Zakiya Smith Ellis, a principal at the education policy consulting firm Education Counsel and former senior Obama education aide and secretary of education in New Jersey. Ellis shares her thoughts on how we’ve gotten to the point where we are assessing college value primarily by looking at individuals’ financial outcomes, whether we’re asking the right questions about the benefits of college-going, and what institutional leaders should be doing to make sure their academic programs are serving students well. The Key is hosted by Inside Higher Ed Co-founder and Editor Doug Lederman. This episode is sponsored by the Strada Education Foundation.

This week’s episode of The Key explores whether the emergence of shorter-term and alternative credentials pose a threat -- or offer salvation – to traditional colleges and universities. The episode draws from a panel discussion at last week’s annual ASU+GSV Summit involving a number of thoughtful higher ed leaders. It featured Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, President Marlene Tromp of Boise State University in Idaho, Ann Kirschner, interim president of Hunter College of the City University of New York, and Maria Anguiano, executive vice president for learning enterprise at Arizona State University. The conversation explored whether or not colleges and universities will adapt their curriculums and their delivery models to supplement degrees with certificates and credentials, sustaining their historical advantage as the primary path for learners seeking career advancement and better futures. The group was overall pretty bullish about higher education’s ability to adapt to the changing expectations of learners, but also clear-eyed about the fate of colleges that don’t: declining relevancy and, in some cases, extinction. The Key is hosted by Inside Higher Ed Co-founder and Editor Doug Lederman. This episode is sponsored by the Strada Education Foundation.

Half of all graduates don’t work in jobs that require a bachelor’s degree. What can institutions do to best prepare their students for work? More than half of bachelor’s degree holders are underemployed a year after graduation, and roughly four in 10 are still underemployed a full decade later. How worried should we be about those rates, and what can colleges and universities do to decrease them? That question was at the heart of “Talent Disrupted,” a recent report from Strada Education Foundation and the Burning Glass Institute, which adds important nuance to the larger discussion about post-college outcomes for graduates. In this episode, we dig into the report with two experts. Carlo Salerno is a managing director at the Burning Glass Institute and an author of the aforementioned report. Gary Daynes is founder and principal of Back Porch Consulting and a former professor and senior administrator at several private nonprofit colleges. They discuss what underemployment means and how serious a problem it is, the conditions that contribute to it, and what colleges and universities can do to shield their graduates from it. The Key is hosted by Inside Higher Ed Co-founder and Editor Doug Lederman. This episode is sponsored by the Strada Education Foundation.

Many students on college campuses struggle with substance use and abuse, but fewer have a supportive community they can turn to. In this episode, Angela Lauer Chong, associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Florida State University speaks about supporting students’ physical and emotional health through LIFT, a collegiate recovery program. Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Student Success Reporter Ashley Mowreader. This episode is sponsored by InsideTrack. Read a transcript of the podcast here.

Davis Jenkins, a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Community College Research Center, and Hana Lahr, a senior research associate and director of applied learning, delve into the 'guided pathways' model for community colleges. They discuss how this innovative approach not only enhances student experiences but also addresses challenges like equity and enrollment. The conversation emphasizes the need for structured academic planning that balances guidance with exploration. Collaboration across departments is highlighted as key for successful implementation and long-term transformation.

Exploring obstacles rural students face in higher education, the Opportunity Realize program at Miles Community College focuses on essential soft skills and aligning student skills with business requirements. State support and private grants enabled a free college course, and integrating college courses into high school curriculum led to enrollment growth. Initiatives promoting equitable access to education at community colleges have had positive outcomes.