Changing Higher Ed

A recent Dear Colleague letter that addresses the Department of Education’s upcoming expansion of a third-party service regulation will likely impact nearly all higher ed institutions that contract with a vendor to use their services and programs. The original rule was designed to monitor contracted companies that provide colleges and universities with services to manage various aspects of Federal Student Aid. In his latest podcast episode,  Dr. Drumm McNaughton discusses the recent Dear Colleague letter and the upcoming regulation expansion with Michael Goldstein, Managing Director of Tyton Partners’ Center for Higher Education Transformation.  Mike talks about: Why the Department penned the letter and what it says. What the Department’s position is on the regulation it’s expanding. What colleges and universities will likely be impacted by the implementation of this expanded rule. How it will likely affect the working relationship between institutions and third-party servicers. How higher ed has been reacting to the letter. What will likely happen as a result.   Podcast Highlights The Dear Colleague says that the Department of Education will have the authority to look at the contracts and economic relationships between institutions and enterprises that provide them with services, including online program managers. This will require them to deliver detailed information about their finances to the Department. Based on laws and regulations, the Department will also be immune from any type of congressional review and from being challenged in the courts. The Department believes it’s responsible for ensuring that the Federal financial aid monies is being properly used, and thus are examining transactions between institutions and these enterprises. But it has grabbed hold of a third-party service or regulation, which was intended for entities that actually put their fingers on the federal money. The Department of Education was prompted to publish the Dear Colleague letter because the GAO, the Inspector General, and various congressional oversight committees have said the Department doesn’t fully understand this relationship between institutions and the enterprises that provide them with third-party services. The Department issued this Dear Colleague letter on February 28. It initially gave higher ed two weeks to comment on it, but the comment period was extended to March 30. The Department also moved back the implementation date from May 1 to September 1. The Department also published an announcement saying that it is going to initiate a Negotiated Rulemaking process that will include a comprehensive review of multiple regulations, including regulations that involve the oversight of entities that are providing services to institutions. The Department will initiate this over the next six to eight months, starting in late spring. These regulations will likely not go into effect until July 1, 2024, at the earliest. Negotiated Rulemaking enables the Department to implement regulations, whereas a Dear Colleague letter is an opinion that can be rescinded the day after it was issued and by the next administration. The Department is likely attempting a regulatory proceeding because, if there is a change, it will have effectively changed the rules. And by the time there is another administration, it will have triggered a process that cannot easily be reversed if the Department has promulgated a rule, even though it has not necessarily gone into effect. With a few minor exceptions, every higher ed organization, including those usually at odds with each other, like the American Council on Education and the US Chamber of Commerce, have united by saying that the Dear Colleague position is wrong. More than just institutions that use third-party or online services will be affected. Essentially everything short of janitorial services will or may fall under these rules, including LMS or any online program delivery software that is “rented” by an institution. This will also likely prevent institutions and those entities that work with institutions from actually being able to work together. The Department has likely self-sabotaged itself by essentially saying that companies that are normally subject to the foreign exclusion regulation no longer have to comply since the Department does not have that authority.   #DearColleague #HigherEducation #HigherEdPodcast About the Podcast Guest Mike Goldstein Mike Goldstein has a long history of close engagement with higher education.  He was the founding Director of New York City Urban Corps, the nation’s first large-scale student intern program designed to support access for less affluent students through the use of the Federal Work Study Program.  He went on to lead a Ford Foundation-supported effort to establish similar programs in cities across the U.S.  He returned to New York City government as Assistant City Administrator and Director of University Relations.  From there, Mike joined the then-new University of Illinois Chicago campus as Associate Vice Chancellor for Urban Affairs and Associate Professor of Urban Sciences.  In 1978 Mike joined the Washington, DC law firm of Dow Lohnes to establish a new legal practice focusing broadly on issues confronting higher education.   By 2014 when his firm merged with the global law firm Cooley LLP, the higher education practice he headed was the largest and one of the highest regarded in the country.  Mike has been a pioneer in the development of alternative mechanisms and institutional structures for the delivery of high-quality postsecondary education, including helping to accomplish substantial regulatory reforms that made telecommunicated and then online learning broadly available.  He is the recipient of the WCET Richard Jonsen Award, CAEL’s Morris Keeton Ward, the President’s Medal from Excelsior College, and USDLA’s Distance Learning Hall of Fame Award, as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Fielding Graduate University for his contributions to the field of adult learning.  He is a graduate of Cornell University and New York University School of Law, and was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.  He and his spouse Jinny, an education and media consultant and former head of education for the Public Broadcasting Service, live in Washington, DC.   Read the podcast transcript →   About the Podcast Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton, host and consultant to higher ed institutions. To find out more about his services and read other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/.   The Change Leader’s Social Media Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com  

In stark contrast to prevailing trends in higher education, colleges and universities have or are boosting their enrollment, retention, and graduation rates by improving their students’ sense of belonging, student support services, student-faculty relationships, and career readiness programs. In this podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton explores how higher ed leaders can follow these actionable steps with CEO Elliot Felix of Brightspot Strategy, a consultancy focusing on attracting and retaining students. Elliot shares these impressive findings based on his experiences with the 110 schools he’s partnered with over the last 12 years. These experiences and national research studies revealed that students who feel like they belong on campus are about 40% more likely to continue after their freshmen year. Additionally, students who had an encouraging mentor or participated in an internship are twice as likely to find meaningful, engaging work after graduation. They believe that college is worth the cost. #HigherEdEnrollment #StudentSupport #HigherEdPodcast Podcast Highlights To understand the importance of a student’s sense of belonging, higher ed leaders are encouraged to read Dr. Terrell Strayhorn’s book College Students’ Sense of Belonging. This book posits that if students feel they matter, are cared for, and are a part of something, their experiences will reinforce their experiences positively. Higher ed can instill a sense of belonging in students through spaces. Take a multifaceted approach by creating identity and affinity centers for underserved communities such as LGBTQ+, first-gen, student veterans, and parents. Also important are common spaces like student unions, libraries, and their events and programs, like student support organizations, and peer-to-peer relationships and service delivery. Colleges and universities already offer student support, but students and parents either aren’t aware of them, aren’t comfortable using them, or these programs are offered at the wrong time. Higher ed institutions need to find ways to integrate this support and make it more visible, accessible, and normalized. Connect career readiness opportunities to coursework. Notable examples include Johns Hopkins’ Imagine Center, where career planning, life design, academic planning, and academic advising are all integrated into one place. At CUNY, Guttman Community College’s “Ethnographies of Work” class has students shadow employees. Tulane, Stanford, and ASU also have offerings in life design. Provide digital and in-person support in an integrated, coordinated way through one-stop shops, for example. Create spaces that connect separated programs and services.   Download the transcript PDF →   Our Podcast Guest: Elliot Felix Elliot Felix is an author, speaker, teacher, father, and consultant to more than a hundred colleges and universities. He uses his background in design to make college work for all students by improving the spaces they learn and live in, the support services they rely on, and the technology they use. Over the last 20 years, he has spoken at SxSW Edu, taught courses on innovation, and worked with top universities like Carnegie Mellon, MIT, NYU, NC State, and the University of Virginia. Brightspot Strategy, the education consulting company he founded in 2011, was acquired by Buro Happold in 2020 and has improved the experience of more than 1,000,000 students. You can find his work in Fast Company, Forbes, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. His book How to Get the Most Out of College was published in January 2022 by Alinea Learning. He lives in Minneapolis with his son Theo, daughter Nora, and wife Liz. Link to Transcript About the Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton, host and consultant to higher ed institutions. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/. The Change Leader’s Social Media Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com  

Rural-serving institutions (RSIs) face many more unique challenges than most urban schools and persist, comprising more than 25% of all U.S. colleges and universities. Although inherently different, every higher ed institution can learn from the innovative best practices RSIs have been forced to adopt to help positively impact their enrollment and more. To understand what RSIs can teach higher ed as a whole, Dr. Drumm McNaughton discusses the misconceptions and essential roles these institutions have in their communities with Executive Director Dr. Andrew Koricich of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges, a research collaborative and resource hub that has completed the insurmountable task of defining what rural-serving institutions are. Andrew explains how RSIs’ unique experiences can help: Identify the role higher ed should adopt instead of becoming a for-profit organization. The types of prospective students higher ed needs to target. How board members should be appointed. Why higher ed must avoid pursuing growth for the sake of growth. How to subset rising costs with remote learning and course selection. The type of mindset that boards should look for when appointing a president or chancellor. #HigherEducation #RuralServingInstitutions #HigherEdPodcast Podcast Highlights RSIs are their communities’ primary or only post-secondary education access point and are their most critical employer by launching businesses and consuming most of their goods and services. Therefore, RSIs are tied to their community’s focused industry and must remain targeted. Public RSIs are more dependent on state appropriations but receive fewer appropriations per student because state funding metrics focus on enrollment growth, which is more constrained. In addition, RSIs receive fewer donations and competitive federal grants because reviewers from federal agencies don't understand them. Systems or legislatures usually choose to close or merge RSIs because they carry less political weight and serve fewer students even though fewer people are in their community. These structural deficits realize that higher ed appoints board members incorrectly. Appointing too many alumni members complicates the board’s ability to view the institution objectively. Meanwhile, political appointees only view their schools as political tools. Boards must also have more financial oversight by alerting presidents or chancellors to financial problems before they reach the legislature. Higher ed needs to move away from the mentality of getting the maximum return possible since many RSIs usually can’t meet these conditions because they enroll fewer students. RSIs’ mission of providing more accessibility to underserved students proves that higher ed needs to rethink which students they should serve, like underrepresented minorities and adults who never started post-secondary education or who started but dropped out. Higher ed cannot adopt the mentality of bigger is better since RSIs are at the mercy of the rise and fall of their populations. Instead, higher ed needs to identify what’s sustainable for each institution rather than penalizing RSIs for something out of their control. To help reduce costs, a significant role of boards and administrators includes identifying what programs are no longer by realizing if they align with local industries, for example. But they must stay proactive and transparent. Also, don’t fully disregard liberal arts education since students still need a well-rounded education. Boards can’t be proactive if they appoint presidents who view their institution as a stepping stone. Instead, appoint presidents who value their mission, their students, and what they’re capable of. Visit our website to read the full transcript of this podcast About Our Podcast Guest Dr. Andrew Koricich Dr. Andrew Koricich is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC) and an Associate Professor of Higher Education at Appalachian State University. Influenced by his experiences growing up in a rural Pennsylvania town, Dr. Koricich’s research interests focus primarily on rural issues in postsecondary education, with a particular emphasis on rural-serving postsecondary institutions and the communities they serve. His work has been published in numerous journal articles, book chapters, and research reports and featured in a range of media outlets, including Politico, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and The Daily Yonder. Dr. Koricich and his team have received generous funding from The Joyce Foundation, Lumina Foundation, and Ascendium Education Group. He recently led a project to develop a data-driven metric for identifying rural-serving institutions (RSIs), and he has been invited to speak by a number of organizations, including the American Association of State Colleges & Universities, National Scholarship Providers Association, and the Oregon Community College Association. Dr. Koricich earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education and a B.S. in Information Sciences & Technology from Pennsylvania State University, and an M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University. Before joining the faculty at ASU, he was a faculty member at Texas Tech, and prior to working in academia, Dr. Koricich spent several years as a software development manager at a large insurance company prior to his career in academia. About Our Podcast Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton, host, and consultant to higher ed institutions. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/. The Change Leader’s Social Media Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com

Aside from the obvious importance of wanting to improve diversity and inclusiveness in higher ed, the benefits that businesses experience after promoting or hiring more women into leadership positions and the data that proves the positive impact female faculty have on teaching and learning should be enough to convince college and university leaders on how women can transform their campuses for the better. Businesses note a boost in problem-solving, improved business decisions, and impressive risk aversion with more female representation and leadership. Meanwhile, studies show that women in the classroom positively impact young female students without negatively affecting their male counterparts. However, only about 33% of women are full-tenured professors in higher ed, a 2020 American Association of University Professors study found.  Meanwhile, the number of female faculty, senior faculty, and administrators constantly fails to reflect the steady rise of female students over the past 25 years. To understand these trends, Dr. Drumm McNaughton discusses the benefits of women and minority leadership in higher ed with CEO Elissa Sangster of the Forté Foundation, a nonprofit that helps women thrive as leaders and that has increased the percentage of women in MBA programs at universities from 25% to 42%. Elissa tackles the benefits of leadership and thought diversity, transforming boards to attract more diverse leadership and students, the steps to build a more supportive atmosphere for women and minorities in leadership positions, how to attain 50/50 representation in the classroom, and best practices higher ed can emulate to support women and minority leadership. Podcast Highlights Diversifying the board will attract more women and people of color and help address or even ask the right questions that need answers. To diversify, change recruiting locations if those places have only produced the same type of applicants. Ensure to include other sources for that talent. Look for professionals with different opinions and are comfortable pushing back. Recruit more than one member from each demographic, so they have power, feel they can push back, and that the institution wants genuine change. To reach 50/50 representation in faculty, ensure that the language in job descriptions reflects words and meanings that appeal to both men and women. Tamper down on traditionally interesting language to men versus women, especially aggressive or competitive speech. Many websites provide tips on how to make a gender-neutral job description, and various organizations provide advice or consulting. Look at preexisting candidate support systems. For women tenure-track faculty, use language like “We know this is when you have many things going on in your life. Therefore, we will give you access to additional teaching assistants or graduate assistants while you're writing your research.” Department chairs or leadership team members who sponsor faculty must physically go into the classroom and be that representative and voice for women and minority faculty. When they're not there to defend themselves, defend their research and the extra work they do as a faculty member. Create formal sponsor relationships for these candidates. Develop a promotion plan that includes professional development tailored for women and minorities. Research how previous faculty members have performed to identify if underrepresented faculty members are succeeding and achieving at the same rate as others. If not, identify their roadblocks and listen to these faculty members. Allow women and minorities to enroll in professional development and executive education courses taught across campus. Create gender equity groups where men and women talk about what implicit bias feels and looks like and how it plays out in their personal and professional lives. Study classrooms and ask how faculty are diversifying the conversation, representing speakers and their stories when they share their business experiences, thinking about whom they call on or if they call on those who look or think like them, considering different or contrary opinions, and asking for opinions from students who rarely participate. Our Podcast Guest Elissa Sangster serves as CEO of Forté and brings to the role extensive knowledge of issues affecting women's abilities to seek, prepare for and attain business leadership positions, drawn from her prior experience as Assistant Dean and Director of the MBA Program at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. There she oversaw all activities related to the full-time McCombs MBA program, including marketing, admissions, student services, and alumni relations. Before McCombs, Elissa was Assistant Director of the MBA Program at Texas A&M University’s Mays School of Business. Elissa currently serves as Treasurer and Board Member for the Thirty Percent Coalition. She is the past Chair of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) Annual Industry Conference and formerly served as Chair of MBA Student Services Professionals (MBA SSP). Elissa sits on the board of Forté as an ex-officio member. She enjoys reading, running, cooking, and Aggie football. She lives in San Antonio with her husband, Jeremy, and their daughter, Anna Leigh. Elissa received her MBA and her B.A. in English from Texas A&M University. Elissa Sangster on LinkedIn → Download the podcast transcript About the Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton, host, and consultant to higher ed institutions. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/. The Change Leader’s Social Media Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com Keywords: #DEIinHigherEd #WomeninHigherEd #HigherEducation

Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Michael Feldstein discuss the benefits of AI in Higher Ed, including tools to evaluate student paraphrasing, catch errors missed by faculty, and enhance course designs. They emphasize the importance of AI augmenting human workers, not replacing them, and highlight upcoming advancements in AI technology.

Institutional accreditation is in dire need of change, even though it provides institutions with more external recognition, improves the likelihood of gaining more resources, and boosts the respect of staff and faculty. And with an increasingly high number of professional accrediting bodies now touching and impacting many colleges and universities, now is the time for higher ed leaders to strive to support and understand how accreditation can improve overall to strengthen post-secondary education even more. In the second and final episode of this two-part series, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Ralph Wolff, the founder and former president of the Quality Assurance Commons for Higher and Postsecondary Education, and former president of WASC, the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, on several issues. These include ·       What conversations should accreditors have with institutions, ·       Should accreditors focus on licensure, ·       What the Department of Education needs to hold accreditors accountable for, and why, ·       What analyses should accreditors perform and make more transparent, ·       Why accreditation should look at how effectively higher ed prepares graduates for licensed professions, ·       Where public members of commissions can play a more critical role in accreditation processes, and ·       The polarization of higher ed and boards. Podcast Highlights ·       Accreditation should lead conversations on the quality of adaptability, teamwork, the ability to work with new technology, and traversing multiple careers in one's lifetime. In addition, accreditation should pay more attention to licensing certification issues, performance, and employer satisfaction, and ensure students are prepared for more than one job by receiving repeated mentoring, internships, and counseling. ·       Accreditation should evaluate how adjunct faculty are deployed and how they are supported and trained when assessing student learning employability skills. ·       A traditional faculty senate model that is separate from and often antagonistic to the administration can be a barrier to change. The Chamber of Commerce is working on creating an alternative model to get employers to sidestep higher education. ·       Accreditors are not held accountable for internal effectiveness because the Higher Education Act doesn’t fully allow the Department of Education to make any substantial judgments on the efficacy of accreditors. However, accreditors are membership organizations, and the membership elects their Commission. Thus, accreditors should be held accountable by their Commission and their members. ·       None of the former regional accreditors have been able to maintain relationships with those associated with K-12 schools following the Department’s governance changes. ·       There’s a lack of transparency. For example, no compilation or analysis of institutions on probation exists. Higher ed needs more capacity and analysis of accreditors’ work so accreditors can learn from one another. ·       Public members of the commissions can play a much more critical role in identifying if accreditation deals effectively enough with essential policy issues such as the $1.7 trillion in student debt, rising costs, the attrition rate, and the inadequate preparation of so-called inadequate preparation for jobs. In addition, public members on all accrediting boards should know what the public demands on accreditation. ·       There likely won’t be room for the seven former regional accreditors in 15 or 20 years. Mergers will likely occur as a result.         → View the podcast transcript        About Our Podcast Guest    Ralph A. Wolff is the founder and former president of The Quality Assurance Commons for Higher and Postsecondary Education, created in 2016 to ensure that graduates of academic and postsecondary programs have the requisite Essential Employability Qualities (EEQs) needed for the dynamically changing workforce. The QA Commons ran a national pilot and then worked with state higher education systems in Kentucky and Connecticut and individual institutions to improve employability outcomes. It also developed a successful faculty fellows program in Kentucky to build faculty advocates for connecting to workforce needs. Previously, Wolff served as president of the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) from 1996-2013. WASC served over 1 million students at over 175 institutions in California, Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, and numerous international locations. He was a leading voice for innovation in accreditation and focused on learning outcomes, equity, and transparency in creating a national leader in accreditation. He is a former member of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), which reviews accrediting agencies for federal recognition, and is a founding member of the University Quality Assurance Institutional Board (UQAIB) in Dubai. He also is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science and a trustee of the World University Consortium. He has served on multiple university boards and consults widely on innovation, quality assurance, accreditation reform, and how new technology platforms can transform student outcomes. Wolff holds a JD degree with honors from George Washington University and a BA degree from Tufts University. He has recently moved to Sedona, AZ.   About the Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton, host and consultant to higher ed institutions. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/. The Change Leader’s Social Media Links ●      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ ●      Twitter: @thechangeldr ●      Email: podcast@changinghighered.com Keywords: #InstitutionalAccreditation #HigherEdAccreditation #AccreditationConsultant    

Now more than ever, accreditation is essential in higher education. An increasingly high number of professional accrediting bodies touch and impact colleges and universities to the point where accreditors have the potential to lead or even stifle change in higher ed. This is especially true given that accreditation is the gatekeeper for over $150 billion in federal financial aid. In the first of this two-part series, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Ralph Wolff, the founder and former president of the Quality Assurance Commons for Higher and Postsecondary Education, and former president of WASC, the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, about how and why accreditors should help higher ed identify what is good enough for them and to improve their transparency of throughput, academic quality, and academic rigor. They also discuss accreditors’ stances on DEI, the politicization of critical race theory, and the professionalization of college sports. Podcast Highlights DEI is multi-dimensional, and the political elements of critical race theory are important to discuss, not just to legislate. Accreditors are addressing these issues, but they could be doing even more. Up until recently, the federal rule required that institutions publish an aggregate rate of outcomes after four and six years. Now they are producing programmatic data and grouping disciplines together. Accreditors are beginning to look more at outcomes. Still, they need to push higher ed to be more transparent with specific outcomes, such as the percentage of students who have graduated with particular majors and their salaries one, three, and five years later. The University of Texas System’s UT SEEK, Georgia State, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, and Third Way are pioneers in publishing the outcomes that students care about. Accreditation needs to get higher ed to take more responsibility for defining what is good enough for them, e.g., grade-point averages, competency-based learning, and retention and completion. During accreditation, outcomes between majors and two- and four-year programs, for example, should be separated. Higher ed needs to address its integrity issue with the special treatment that student-athletes generally receive. It also needs to clearly define what student-athlete learning outcomes should be and the effectiveness of the general education curriculum for student-athletes.   → Read the Podcast Transcript   Our Podcast Guest - Ralph A. Wolff   Ralph A. Wolff is the founder and former president of The Quality Assurance Commons for Higher and Postsecondary Education, created in 2016 to ensure that graduates of academic and postsecondary programs have the requisite Essential Employability Qualities (EEQs) needed for the dynamically changing workforce. The QA Commons ran a national pilot and then worked with state higher education systems in Kentucky and Connecticut and individual institutions to improve employability outcomes. It also developed a successful faculty fellows program in Kentucky to build faculty advocates for connecting to workforce needs. Previously, Wolff served as president of the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) from 1996-2013. WASC served over 1 million students at more than 175 institutions in California, Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, and numerous international locations. He was a leading voice for innovation in accreditation and focused on learning outcomes, equity, and transparency in creating a national leader in accreditation. He is a former member of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), which reviews accrediting agencies for federal recognition, and is a founding member of the University Quality Assurance Institutional Board (UQAIB) in Dubai. He also is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science and a trustee of the World University Consortium. He has served on multiple university boards and consults widely on innovation, quality assurance, accreditation reform, and how new technology platforms can transform student outcomes. Wolff holds a JD degree with honors from George Washington University and a BA from Tufts University. He has recently moved to Sedona, AZ.   About the Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton, host, and consultant to higher ed institutions. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/. The Change Leader’s Social Media Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com Keywords: #HigherEducation  #HigherEdAccreditation #TheChangeLeader  

In today's multi-generational and borderless world, study abroad programs are critical for introducing students to the world outside their university and even their country. They make up an integral part of the curriculum and the student undergraduate experience, and generally, students look back with very fond memories of their time abroad on their colleagues with whom they experienced these trips. Unfortunately, despite all the “glamour shots” and publicity surrounding these trips, there is a dark side. You typically don’t hear about the deaths that occur because universities have not properly vetted the vendors for these programs. Or the risks that students can be exposed to because a low-cost vendor or the tour guide takes students on a dangerous mountain road because their previously scheduled train didn’t run on time. But these happen, and when they do, they expose both the students and the University to unnecessary risk. To learn more about study abroad programs, Dr. Drumm McNaughton spoke with Robyn Symon, producer of Emmy Award-winning documentaries and biopics on such notable celebrities as Robin Williams and Michael Jackon, Robyn has spent over 20 years documenting events in the lives of people, and her latest project, Trip of a Lifetime, focuses on the study abroad industry and how we can keep our students safe during these important programs. Podcast Highlights Inquire as to how your programs have been vetted for safety. Risk management is important, even with the study abroad programs. Do not assume that other countries have the same safety regulations that we do in the US. Don’t shortchange culture because there will always be resistance that could jeopardize it. Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. These programs are very important for students’ education, growth, and maturity, but they need to be vetted properly from A-Z to ensure the safety of all participants and the liability to the University. Guest Bio   Robyn Symon is a two-time Emmy award-winning Writer/Producer/Director/Editor. Robyn joined PBS in 1991 after four years as a TV News Reporter in Texas. At PBS, Robyn produced documentaries, public affairs programs, and TV series, including “Florida!” which also ran for six seasons on The Travel Channel, the PBS Pledge Special, “Boleros: Unforgettable Love Song” featuring top Latin musical stars and the series “Voices of Vision,” hosted by NPR’s Scott Simon focusing on the work of non-profit organizations throughout the world. She has produced national TV specials on Robin Williams and Michael Jackson and an investigative program on the opioid epidemic. Robyn debuted in the indie film arena in 2007, producing, directing, and editing the feature documentary “Transformation: The Life & Legacy of Werner Erhard,” about the controversial pioneer of the self-help industry streaming on Netflix. Since then, Robyn has written, produced, and directed documentaries, including “Hedy & Yumi: Crossing the Bridge,” about a holocaust couple turned relationship experts, “Behind the Blue Veil,” a documentary film about the nomadic Tuaregs caught in the middle the War on Terror and “Do No Harm” about the silent epidemic of suicide and burnout among medical students and physicians. In addition to two Emmys, Robyn has been honored with numerous national awards for writing and producing, including 3 Telly awards, 2 NABJ awards, and honors by both the Associated Press and United Press International. Link to Transcript About the Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton is the host of Changing Higher Ed and a consultant to higher ed institutions. To find out more about his services and read other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/. The Change Leader’s Social Media Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com Keywords: #RobynSymon #HigherEducation #StudyAbroadPrograms #ChangingHigherEd  

In this podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Steve Katsouros of Come to Believe Foundation and Network, which works with colleges and universities to replicate a successful DEI, enrollment, and graduation model. Dr. Katsouros was the founder of Arrupe College, a two-year institution that is part of Loyola University Chicago. Arrupe has an amazing track record for completion and having students graduate with little or no debt. Fifty percent (50%) of students complete their degree in two years/ nearly 70% in three years, and 90% of graduates incur no debt. More promising, more than 70% of students complete their Bachelor's degrees in five years or less. Compare this to the national average, where 13% of students in two-year colleges complete their Associate's degree in two years, and 13% of students who start at two-year colleges complete their Bachelor's degrees in six years. Steve discusses Arrupe's credit-bearing remedial classes, the rigorous application process, the Fellows Program that connects freshmen with sophomores in and outside of class, the roles of its graduate support coordinator, financial aid officer, and employer relations officer that help students succeed, and more. Arrupe's model can be applied to any 2- or 4-year institution. Podcast Highlights 50% of students at Arrupe College complete their degree in two years, 90% incur no debt and more than 70% complete their Bachelor's degrees in five years or less. Arrupe's model attracts first-generation, Pell-eligible, and undocumented students and helps them flourish in a post-secondary ed environment and beyond. Upon launching the model at Arrupe, over 50% of its donors had never given to its larger university, Loyola University Chicago, before. Most of these donors consisted of the many relationships that Arrupe made with local businesses through its model. One donor gave $100 million to Loyola University Chicago for all Pell and first-generation students from low-wealth backgrounds. For higher ed institutions that want to adopt Arrupe's model, Come to Believe helps university leaders perform a feasibility study to make sure they have bandwidth and consensus for the program and helps them prepare for presenting their proposals to their boards. The application season for the next cohort is open until the end of March. → View the podcast transcript More About Our Podcast Guest A member of the United States East Province of the Society of Jesus, Steve Katsouros, S.J., is the president and CEO of the Come to Believe Foundation and Network in New York City. Before Come to Believe, Fr. Katsouros served as the founding dean and executive director of Arrupe College at Loyola University Chicago. Arrupe is a two-year college that continues the Jesuit tradition of offering a rigorous liberal arts education to a diverse population, many of whom are the first in their family to pursue higher education. Fr. Katsouros served as Arrupe's academic and administrative leader from 2014 until 2020. In Paul Tough's study of higher education, The Most Important Years: How College Can Make or Break You (2019), the author observed Arrupe College "may be doing a more impressive job of keeping its students enrolled and on track for success than any other institution I visited." Prior to his assignment at Arrupe, Fr. Katsouros served as the director of the Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership (ICEL) and associate dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. From 2002-2011, Fr. Katsouros was president of Loyola, a coed Jesuit high school on Manhattan's Upper East Side; during his years at Loyola, the endowment and annual giving tripled, capital gifts were raised to refurbish the physical plant, and faculty and staff salaries increased to market competitiveness. The success of Arrupe College and its students inspired Fr. Katsouros to lead Come to Believe, a network, and foundation created to replicate and scale the Arrupe model nationally. Based in Manhattan, with teams working in Chicago and New York, Come to Believe provides advisory services to universities with the capacity to launch and sustain successful two-year colleges for high-potential students from low-wealth backgrounds. Come to Believe guides university leaders through the process of implementation and launch of new colleges and provides research-based best practices and problem-solving techniques. Fr. Katsouros earned his doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College in organizational leadership; his research interests are leadership, governance, and institutional performance. He was ordained in 1998. Guest Links Come to Believe Network Steve Katsouros Bio Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago About Our Podcast Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton is the host of Changing Higher Ed Podcast and a consultant to higher ed institutions. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm's website, https://changinghighered.com/. The Change Leader's Social Media Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com Keywords: #HigherEdEnrollment #CometoBelieve #HighEredPodcast

Higher education is currently forcing many adult learners to jump through hoops to complete their degrees. Although many of these nontraditional students can be successful, colleges and universities should still meet adult learners where they are, as higher ed faces dwindling enrollment and a workforce that is relying less on employees with four-year degrees.  Higher ed institutions can start the process of change themselves, but much of the work still requires support from Congress. To help understand how the gap between both entities can be bridged, Dr. Drumm McNaughton spoke with Julie Peller, who uses her past experience at the House of Representatives and Department of Education to serve as executive director of Higher Learning Advocates (HLA), which supports and advances policy changes to increase postsecondary access and success.  "As we go into the new Congress, in the new year, we are really focusing on this Widen the Path campaign. How can we bring partners together? How can we lift up voices of both learners, institutions, and community members who are doing this and bring that story to Washington so that we can make change?" - Julie Peller Podcast Highlights Identify who’s still on and off campus and why. Those who are no longer on campus most likely left for financial reasons, for example. Think about creating programs like the ones that President Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart of Amarillo College did to support students in the classroom and those who have dropped out. Many of these programs are only possible through policy changes, but in the meantime, higher ed can still create a more welcoming environment and ensure certain services are available. Forge connections and partnerships with preexisting community services. This involves sharing the data of low-income and eligible students to connect them with the right supportive services. Think about employees from employer partners as potential students. Institutions are encouraged to adopt credentials or certificates that facilitate lifelong learning for students who take breaks in their education. Not everyone wants an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate degree. → Podcast Transcript PDF of "Widen the Path: Policy Changes to Increase Access to Higher Ed" About the Guest Julie Peller - Executive Director at Higher Learning Advocates  Julie Peller is Executive Director of Higher Learning Advocates (HLA), a bipartisan nonprofit organization whose mission is to shift federal policy to accelerate responsiveness to support the success of today’s postsecondary students. She brings a deep background in federal postsecondary education policy, federal budgeting, and professional management. Prior to joining HLA, Julie was Lumina Foundation’s first director of federal policy where she led the development and advancement of the foundation’s federal policy agenda and established the foundation’s Washington, DC office. Julie also brings significant federal legislative policy experience to HLA. She served as a senior policy advisor and the deputy staff director for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and Labor. On Capitol Hill, she was intimately involved with significant changes to the Higher Education Act, federal student aid programs, and other major higher education issues such as college cost reduction. Before working in Congress, Julie was a Presidential Management Fellow, where she served at the Department of Education as a budget analyst for a variety of K-12 programs. Julie received her master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and public policy from The George Washington University. She currently lives in Maryland with her husband and two young sons. About the Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton, host and consultant to higher ed institutions. To find out more about his services and read other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/. The Change Leader’s Social Media Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com Keywords: #ChangingHigherEd #HigherEducation #WidenthePath