The Key with Inside Higher Ed

Ep. 6: The Great Online Pivot and What Comes Next

Earlier this year, most of higher education moved its instruction online in a matter of days or weeks. After making this unprecedented shift, and amid great uncertainty, faculty members and college leaders are scrambling to prepare and improve online learning options for the fall.

To take stock of the great online pivot, where things stand now and what to expect for the fall, we spoke with Lindsay McKenzie, a reporter at Inside Higher Ed who covers technology. We also spoke with Myk Garn, assistant vice chancellor for new learning models at the University System of Georgia. Myk talked about the potential of hybrid learning, social engagement online and how microlearning might expand during these unusual times.

Ep. 5: Southern New Hampshire U's Big Play with Campus-Based Learning

Southern New Hampshire University recently turned heads with a broad reboot of its campus-based programs, including slashed tuition and allowing students to choose hybrid online and other modalities.

To better understand what this means for the private, nonprofit university, we spoke with Paul LeBlanc, SNHU's president and the chair of the American Council on Education's Board of Directors. The episode also features Carla Hickman, vice president of research for EAB, who put the SNHU news in context by discussing where it fits amid the big higher-ed market shifts that have been accelerated by the pandemic.

Ep. 4: How Community Colleges Are Planning for the Fall, and Beyond

The disruption and uncertainty caused by the pandemic pose challenges for all colleges and universities. But community colleges typically had tight budgets before the crisis, and serve the largest share of the nation's most vulnerable students.

For insight into the questions community college leaders are wrestling with, this episode features a discussion with Steven Johnson, president of Sinclair Community College. Johnson talks about budget planning and the enrollment picture for Sinclair, which is located in Dayton, Ohio. He also describes how the college has maintained its robust prison education programs amid the pandemic, and how Sinclair is planning for when it emerges on the other side of this crisis.

Ep. 3: Helping Students Avoid Problems with the 'Asterisk Semester'

Many colleges moved to pass/fail grading amid the pandemic. While that change was designed to help students, it can cause disruptions as community college students transfer to four-year institutions, or as students seek admission to graduate or medical school.

The episode features Lilah Burke, a reporter at Inside Higher Ed, who has written about this issue. And to describe how college leaders can help students avoid disruptions from the "Asterisk Semester," we spoke with Anne Kress, president of Northern Virginia Community College, and Marie Lynn Miranda, incoming provost of the University of Notre Dame.

Ep. 2: What Should a Federal Jobs Bill Do?

Roughly 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment since the crisis began, and the estimated unemployment rate stands at 12 to 15 percent, the highest level since the Great Depression.

As Washington begins negotiating a federal jobs bill, we hear from two experts about lessons learned from the last recession, and how such a bill can help displaced workers and college students without creating more hurdles for them.

The episode features Maria Flynn, president and CEO of Jobs For the Future, and Mary Alice McCarthy, director of the Center on Education and Skills with the education program at New America.

Ep. 1: Distributing $6.3 Billion in Emergency Aid for Students

Colleges and are scrambling to distribute roughly $6.3 billion from the federal government for emergency aid aimed at students whose lives and educations have been disrupted by the pandemic.

To better understand this fast-moving story, Paul Fain, the podcast's host, interviews David Baime, senior vice president for government relations and policy analysis for the American Association of Community Colleges, and Amelia Parnell, vice president for research and Policy at NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.