The Key with Inside Higher Ed

Ep. 175: Leadership in Turbulent Times

Beverly Daniel Tatum—two-time college president, New York Times bestselling author, and one of the country’s most influential voices on race and education – joins Inside Higher Ed’s editor in chief Sara Custer to discuss her latest book, College Leadership in Turbulent Times: Peril and Promise.

Tatum shares lessons from her own leadership journey serving as president at Spelman College and serving as interim president at Mount Holyoke and dives into some of the biggest issues facing colleges today, from diversity equity and inclusion to politics and finances.

 

Thanks to the Gates Foundation for sponsoring this episode. 

Ep: 174: Voices of Student Success: AI Chatbot Provides Resources, Early Alerts

This series of Voices of Student Success focuses on uses of generative artificial intelligence in higher education and how technology can support student success goals.  

As generative AI tools become more common, a growing number of young people turn first to chatbots when they have questions. A survey by the Associated Press found that among AI users, 70 percent of young Americans use the tools to search for information.  

For colleges and universities, this presents a new opportunity to reach students with curated, institution-specific resources via chatbots.  

In the most recent episode of Voices of Student Success, Jeanette Powers, executive director of the student hub at Western New England University, discusses the university’s chatbot, Spirit, powered by EdSights, and how the technology helps staff intervene when students are in distress.  

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Student Success reporter Ashley Mowreader, this episode is sponsored by Strada Education Foundation.  

Read a transcript of the podcast here. 

Ep. 173: Can StoryCorps Heal the Divide on Campus?

For more than 20 years, StoryCorps has been documenting conversations between Americans and broadcasting them on public radio. In 2017, StoryCorps launched One Small Step, a new project that pairs strangers on opposing sides of the political divide for one-on-one conversations. The organization is now bringing its initiative to college campuses.

Dave Isay, the founder of StoryCorps, speaks with Sara Custer, Inside Higher Ed’s editor in chief, about the power of conversation and how seeing the common humanity in everyone can help foster understanding and belonging among students.

 

Thanks to our partners The Gates Foundation for sponsoring this episode. 

Ep. 172: Voices of Student Success: Expanding CPL for Military Experience

This series of Voices of Student Success focuses on adult learners in higher education, the various challenges they face as well as the successful support mechanisms employed to aid their retention and completion.  

Approximately 65 percent of the 1.2 million active duty service members of the U.S. Armed Forces have less than an associate degree-level of education, according to 2023 data; many of them hold some college credits but no degree. Federal aid programs make it accessible for military-affiliated students to enroll in college and earn a degree, but not every student is aware of academic interventions that can help them complete a credential sooner, including credit for prior learning.  

In the most recent episode of Voices of Student Success, three experts from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education—senior fellows Matt Bergman and Dallas Kratzer, and Tracy Teater, associate director of adult learner attainment—discuss the state’s adult education attainment goals, challenges in CPL rollout and other models of success across the country.  

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Student Success Reporter Ashley Mowreader, this episode is sponsored by Strada Education Foundation.  

Read a transcript of the podcast here. 

Ep. 171: When Students' Use of AI Goes from Hush-Hush to All In

In this episode of The Key, Jenny Billings, the program chair of Associate in Arts and division chair of English and study skills at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in North Carolina tells IHE editor in chief Sara Custer about going through the stages of AI grief –from freaking out, to begrudging acceptance, to working with colleagues to figure out how to respond to eventually creating an institution-wide framework that teaches students how to use AI to enhance their learning.

She’s seen improvements in retention and confidence among students in the developmental English program at Rowan-Cabarrus after they started using AI and the new model of telling all students how they can use approved AI tools has helped them have more open conversations with their professors.

 

One of those AI tools is Grammarly and also joining us today is Jenny Maxwell, the head of higher education at Grammarly. She tells us how they’re developing tools that flip AI detection products on their heads and encourage students to engage more with their writing before they turn it in.

Ep. 170: Voices of Student Success: Support for Adults of All Life Stages

This series of Voices of Student Success focuses on adult learners in higher education, the various challenges they face as well as the successful support mechanisms employed to aid their retention and completion.  

Continuing education programs are one way for colleges and universities to provide targeted offerings and credentialing opportunities for alumni, adults in the region lacking postsecondary education and the local workforce. They also provide flexible support offerings, recognizing the competing identities and responsibilities adult learners hold.  

The School of Continuing and Professional Studies (CAPS) at Washington University in St. Louis houses certificate programs, undergraduate and graduate degrees, prison education initiatives and lifelong learning courses for adults in retirement. 

In the most recent episode of Voices of Student Success, Sean Armstrong, dean of the school of continuing and professional education, talks about the program’s goals and ways the school uplifts adult learners of all types.

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Student Success Reporter Ashley Mowreader, this episode is sponsored by Grammarly. 

Read a transcript of the podcast here.

Ep. 169: College Financial Planners Embrace Flexibility

The ongoing uncertainty in the economy, the government demanding enormous sums from Ivy League institutions, research funding freezes and changes to the endowment tax mean that everyone has their mind on higher ed’s money and higher ed’s money on their mind.

Kara Freeman, president and CEO of the National Association of College and University Business Officers joins Inside Higher Ed's editor in chief Sara Custer to share how NACUBO members are adapting their budgeting practices to respond to heightened unpredictability. Kara also explains how some colleges are diversifying revenue streams to meet the moment and discusses what she’s most concerned about when she looks at the federal policy landscape.

Later in the episode, Dee Goines, the higher education lead at KI, joins Sara to discuss a new study that surveys the strategic and master plans of institutions in Texas, Arizona, New York and Florida. 

Thanks to KI for sponsoring this episode. 

Ep. 168: Voices of Student Success: Encouraging Innovation in Credit for Prior Learning

This series of Voices of Student Success focuses on adult learners in higher education, the various challenges they face and successful support mechanisms to aid their retention and completion.  

Credit for prior learning (CPL) is one strategy colleges and states can employ to expedite adult learners’ progress toward degree and promote student success. Past research also shows that students’ who take advantage of f CPL opportunities have higher employment rates and increased earnings after graduation. 

But administering CPL can be a challenge in part because of different departmental and academic disciplines’ understandings of and evaluation of prior experience.  

In the most recent episode of Voices of Student Success, Colleen Sorensen, Utah Valley University’s director of CPL and student assessment services, discusses how her university is encouraging faculty and department heads to offer and promote CPL pathways.  

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Student Success Reporter Ashley Mowreader, this episode is sponsored by KI.  

Read a transcript of the podcast here. 

Ep. 167: Reimagining Online Learning

In this episode, we’re bringing you a conversation between Inside Higher Ed’s senior editor for special content Colleen Flaherty and Stephanie Moore, an associate professor in organization, information and learning sciences, at the University of New Mexico, from the Digital Universities event in Salt Lake City earlier this year. A leading researcher in online learning, Moore addresses what she sees is a false binary between in-person learning and online learning, arguing that more modalities meets more diverse student needs and keeps colleges nimble.

She also talks about where belonging fits into to online learning and what strategies educators can use to promote it.

And drawing on Seneca and Quintilian she tells Flaherty why she thinks AI will be no more disruptive than any other communication technology that’s come before it.

Ep. 166: Voices of Student Success: How Eviction Threats Harm Student Outcomes

This series of Voices of Student Success focuses on adult learners in higher education, the various challenges they face and successful support mechanisms to aid their retention and completion.

An estimated one in five college students has dependents, and research shows that parenting students are more likely to experience basic needs insecurity in their pursuit of a degree. A 2024 survey by Trellis Strategies found that 6 percent of student parents self-identified as unhoused and 17 percent indicated some level of housing insecurity since they started college, or during the 12 months leading up to the survey.

A recent brief from New America and Princeton Eviction Lab  tied the threat of eviction to negative student outcomes; student parents who face eviction are 23 percent less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree compared to their housing secure peers, and more likely to have lower quality of life, including higher mortality rates and lower earnings years later.

In the most recent episode of Voices of Student Success, Edward Conroy, senior policy manager at New America, and Nick Graetz, assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, discuss their research and how universities can better support parenting students experiencing housing insecurity.

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Student Success Reporter Ashley Mowreader, this episode is sponsored by KI.

Read a transcript of the podcast here.