The Higher Ed Geek Podcast

In this week’s episode, Dustin sits down with Brian Hartnack, Founder and CEO of Archer Education, for a rich conversation about the evolution of digital marketing and enrollment management in higher ed. Brian shares the origin story behind Archer, his thoughts on the shifting landscape of online education, and what institutions should really be doing right now to stay competitive in an AI-powered world. This isn’t just a history lesson—it’s a roadmap for modern marketing leaders in higher education.Guest Name: Brian Hartnack, Founder & CEO, Archer EducationGuest Social: LinkedInGuest Bio: Brian Hartnack is the CEO and co-founder of Archer Education, a leader in higher education marketing and enrollment growth. With more than 20 years of experience in online education, Brian has spent his career helping institutions navigate the evolving demands of online and adult education. He is passionate about developing practical, innovative solutions that expand access, improve enrollment outcomes, and support long-term institutional capacity. Brian believes that thoughtfully designed online learning plays a critical role in making higher education more accessible, affordable, and engaging for today’s learners. - - - -Connect With Our Host:Dustin Ramsdellhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinramsdell/About The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Geek is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most students aren’t dropping out because they’re disengaged—they’re falling behind because your tech isn’t meeting their needs. In this energizing episode, Dustin chats with Shana Holman, Head of Strategic Engagement and Alliances at Pathify, about the results of Pathify’s 2025 Student Digital Experience Survey. They unpack why digital friction is far more than an IT problem—it's a barrier to academic success, mental health, and student belonging.From the mounting demand for unified platforms to the hidden equity issues plaguing your tech stack, this episode makes a compelling case for why the student experience must be reimagined—and what institutions can do today to make real progress.Guest Name: Shana Holman, Head of Strategic Engagements & Alliances, PathifyGuest Social: LinkedInGuest Bio: As Pathify’s Head of Strategic Engagement and Alliances, Shana Holman partners with university leadership teams and Pathify’s customer advisory board to navigate the complex challenges facing higher education today.With extensive experience in both higher education and EdTech partnerships, she brings practical insights on how universities can leverage integrated technology solutions to create more connected campus experiences while maximizing their existing technology investments.Shana lives in Denver, Colorado and enjoys the Colorado mountains with her family and 2 yellow labradors. She is also a parent to two students navigating higher education. - - - -Connect With Our Host:Dustin Ramsdellhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinramsdell/About The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Geek is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What do Montenegro, Gen Z protests, and open educational resources have in common? According to Julia Sherwin, everything. In this episode, Dustin Ramsdell sits down with Julia—Executive Director of the Global Education Initiative at Global Post Media—to explore why global literacy isn’t just a “nice to have” anymore. They unpack how free access to high-quality international journalism can transform classrooms, inspire student activism, and better prepare learners for a truly interconnected world.This conversation is a must-listen for faculty who want to level up their teaching, institutions looking to champion open resources, and anyone passionate about empowering the next generation of globally competent citizens.Guest Name: Julia Sherwin, Executive Director of the Global Education Initiative, GlobalPost MediaGuest Social: LinkedInGuest Bio: Julia Sherwin is a communications professional and storyteller at heart, with experience across journalism, public relations and higher education. She is a former Philadelphia-area radio host, where she developed two highly engaging interview-style shows that each ran for five years. Julia was also an adjunct instructor in Temple University's Department of Journalism. Today, she is a PR consultant and the executive director of GlobalPost's Global Education Initiative. She loves connecting with like-minded professionals, students and educators, so please feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn. - - - -Connect With Our Host:Dustin Ramsdellhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinramsdell/About The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Geek is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this premiere episode of the 2026 season, Dustin welcomes back Taran Lent, now CTO of the soon to be rebranded Illumia (formerly Transact + CBORD), for a candid conversation about the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation in higher ed. They dig into the rationale behind the rebrand, the creation of the Higher Ed Innovation Index report, and how institutions can sustainably modernize their operations while staying student-centric.From embracing AI to fostering digital upskilling, Taran offers grounded advice from the frontlines of transformation—advice shaped by both internal change and direct collaboration with campuses nationwide.Listen to Taran’s previous episode on the podcast here!Guest Name: Taran Lent - CTO at Transact + CBORDGuest Social: LinkedInGuest Bio: Taran Lent has been building and operating payment technology companies his entire professional career. He is an accomplished entrepreneurial leader with experience in start-up, growth and public organizations. His specialty is forming and motivating high-performance teams to focus and execute on major new product ideas. Taran currently serves as CTO at Transact + CBORD. - - - -Connect With Our Host:Dustin Ramsdellhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinramsdell/About The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Geek is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this final episode of the year, Dustin talked with Ruth Bauer, President at InsideTrack, who shared how the organization’s new Coaching Lab is expanding access to coaching far beyond traditional college students. Ruth reflects on 12+ years of building human-centered, tech-supported student success systems and explores how flexible, scalable coaching can support everyone from GED earners to returning adult learners.Guest Name: Ruth Bauer, President, InsideTrackGuest Social: LinkedInGuest Bio: Ruth Bauer is a purpose-driven leader, executive, and lifelong learner who is currently serving as the President of InsideTrack, a student success coaching nonprofit that has served over 3.6 million learners since 2001.Over the past two decades, she has devoted her career to education and personal development at every level -- from early childhood education to higher education and corporate learning and development. As a proud first-generation college student and public school mom, Ruth has seen the transformative potential of expanding educational opportunity in my own life, which sparked a lifelong passion for working at the intersection of education, social impact, and leadership. - - - -Connect With Our Host:Dustin Ramsdellhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinramsdell/About The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Geek is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if launching a business was a graduation requirement? At Paul Quinn College, that’s exactly what students are doing. In this episode, Dustin sat down with Jeff Meade from Paul Quinn College (PQC), who shares how this HBCU is integrating entrepreneurship into the student experience—not as an elective or a club, but as a campus-wide, curriculum-infused mission. You’ll hear how students from every discipline are learning to think like founders, pitch real ideas, and even secure funding.Guest Name: Jeff Meade - Assistant Professor & Founding Director of Entrepreneurship at Paul Quinn CollegeGuest Social: LinkedInGuest Bio: Jeff Meade is the Founding Director of Entrepreneurship at Paul Quinn College, where he is leading a bold initiative: Every Quinnite is an Entrepreneur. The program ensures every student launches a venture before graduation, making entrepreneurship a core life skill rather than an extracurricular option.With over 20 years of experience growing companies and advising businesses, Jeff has scaled agencies to multimillion-dollar revenues and built client-side marketing programs that gained national recognition. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Today, Jeff is pioneering venture-based learning, a model that equips students with an entrepreneurial mindset, creativity, and real-world experience to thrive as founders, innovators, and intrapreneurs in any field. - - - -Connect With Our Host:Dustin Ramsdellhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinramsdell/About The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Geek is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Dustin chats with Sabih Bin Wasi, Founder and CEO of Stellic, about rethinking course registration, degree planning, and the broader student experience. What started as a tool to help Sabih navigate his own college journey as a first-gen student has evolved into a platform used by over a million students worldwide. Together, they unpack why registration is more than a transactional task—it’s a pivotal point that shapes academic, personal, and professional futures.Whether you’re a registrar, advisor, or enrollment leader, this conversation will challenge you to question outdated systems and consider how better tech (and mindset shifts) can improve both the student and institutional experience.Guest Name: Sabih Bin Wasi - Founder and CEO at StellicGuest Social: LinkedInGuest Bio: Sabih Bin Wasi is the founder and CEO of Stellic, a student success platform transforming how universities help students plan and achieve their academic goals. As a student at Carnegie Mellon University, Sabih experienced firsthand how complex and confusing the higher education system can be for students trying to make the right choices about their paths. What started as a personal frustration with course planning evolved into a drive to reimagine how institutions support students through their most consequential years.Under Sabih’s leadership, Stellic has grown from a student-built prototype at CMU to a comprehensive enterprise platform used by over 80 universities to streamline degree planning, advising, and academic operations. Sabih is energized by Stellic’s mission to enable 10 million student success stories, and as a lifelong learner at heart, he continues to approach every challenge with curiosity, creativity, and a deep belief in the power of higher education to transform lives. - - - -Connect With Our Host:Dustin Ramsdellhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinramsdell/About The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Geek is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if your student success team had AI-powered tools that could prep meeting notes, flag at-risk students in real time, and prove the ROI of your campus programs—all without needing “perfect” data? In this episode, Civitas Learning CEO Will Ballard breaks down how their platform makes this possible.From demystifying data integration to showcasing real-world use cases of predictive and generative AI, Will shares a refreshingly honest and technical take on what higher ed institutions can (and should) be doing right now to increase student retention and graduation outcomes.Guest Name: Will Ballard - CEO at Civitas LearningGuest Social: LinkedInGuest Bio: An accomplished technology company executive and engineering leader who first joined Civitas Learning as chief technology officer in 2020, Will Ballard has more than twenty years of experience managing large technical and engineering teams as well as supporting customer success for enterprise technology customers. - - - -Connect With Our Host:Dustin Ramsdellhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinramsdell/About The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Geek is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shai Reshef, founder of University of the People, joins Dustin to share how his radically accessible, tuition-free, accredited online university is scaling globally and rewriting the rules of what college can be. From refugee learners in conflict zones to first-generation students from all over the world, University of the People is serving 170,000+ students with a bold vision: higher ed should be affordable, flexible, and job-relevant. This episode is a masterclass in educational innovation, AI integration, and mission-driven leadership.Guest Name: Shai Reshef - Founder & President of University of the PeopleGuest Social: LinkedInGuest Bio: Shai Reshef is the President of University of the People (UoPeople). Reshef has over 25 years of experience in the international education market. Reshef has been widely recognized for his work with UoPeople, including being awarded the 2023 Yidan Prize for Educational Development, referred to as the Nobel Prize for Education; an honorary doctorate from the Open University, named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business; awarded an Ashoka fellowship; joined UN-GAID as a High-level Adviser; granted an RSA Fellowship; selected by The Huffington Post as the Ultimate Game Changer in Education; nominated as one of Wired Magazine’s 50 People Changing the World; and selected as a Top Global Thinker by Foreign Policy Magazine.An expert on the intersection of education and technology, Reshef has spoken internationally at conferences, including DLD, TED, World Economic Forum, EG5 Conference, Google’s Higher Education Summit, ASU+GSV, SXSW, The Economist’s Annual Human Potential Summit, Financial Times’ Innovation Conference, and the Schools for Tomorrow Event for the New York Times. He has also lectured at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford, among others. Reshef’s TED Talk and Nas Daily video about the University have over 30M views combined. Reshef holds an M.A. in Chinese Politics from the University of Michigan. - - - -Connect With Our Host:Dustin Ramsdellhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinramsdell/About The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Geek is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this bonus episode, Dustin caught up with Annie Chechitelli, Chief Product Officer at Turnitin. After recording earlier this year at SXSW EDU, they reconnected to unpack the biggest myths and realities around AI in higher ed. Building upon her recent blog post as well as the prior conversation Dustin had with Annie’s colleague, Eric Wang, this conversation dives into the evolving role of AI tools—like generative writing assistants and detection software—and how institutions and instructors can embrace transparency, not panic. Annie shares sharp insights on what AI literacy really means, why “zero AI” policies may backfire, and how faculty can empower students without sacrificing trust or learning outcomes.Guest Name: Annie Chechitelli, Chief Product Officer at TurnitinGuest Social: LinkedInGuest Bio: Annie Chechitelli has spent the past two decades innovating with educators to expand access to education, meet the quickly changing needs of learners, and empower students to do their best, original work. As the Chief Product Officer at Turnitin, Annie oversees the Turnitin suite of applications which includes academic integrity, grading and feedback, and assessment capabilities. - - - -Connect With Our Host:Dustin Ramsdellhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinramsdell/About The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Geek is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.