The Key with Inside Higher Ed

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.

Ep. 165: The Tricky Timeline of the Big Beautiful Bill, a Mark on UVA, Record FAFSA Figures

The second Trump administration will mark its six-month birthday on Sunday July 20, so in this episode of The Key, we’re checking in on the federal policy beat. IHE news editor Katherine Knott joins editor in chief Sara Custer to discuss the big changes in store for the sector now that congress has passed the Big Beautiful Bill and when the new policies will start to take effect–a potentially difficult task with the paltry staff left at the education department. They also check in on Trump’s dealings with Harvard, Penn and Columbia, run through the Department of Justice’s intervention at the University of Virginia, and look at what the next six months will hold. Teaser: it could be another reconciliation bill.

 

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Ep. 164: Voices of Student Success: Easing the Transition for Adult Learners

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.  

Research shows that adults often enter college with a goal in mind, such as a career pivot, further education in their current industry or completion of a degree they previously started,. But returning to the classroom can be challenging, particularly for first-generation students or those who haven’t been in school for a while. 

In 2024, Wichita State University launched a college bridge program, the Adult Learner Community and Connections Program, to ease the transition for adult and online learners. The program, part of the university’s “Shocker Pre-Season” series, offers them eight modules of self-paced, online content designed to assist them in their first term at the university.  

In the most recent episode of Voices of Student Success, Brett Bruner, assistant vice president for student success and persistence at Wichita State, discusses adult learner pedagogy and the lessons learned in the program’s first year.  

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

Read a transcript of the podcast here. 

Ep. 163: Campus Culture Eats Innovation Strategy for Breakfast

“Innovation” is one of those buzzwords that means everything and nothing. “Culture” is even harder to pin down. But in this episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, senior editor for special content Colleen Flaherty speaks with two people working hard to foster both on their campuses.

In a panel discussion at the recent Digital Universities US event in Salt Lake City, Colleen spoke with Maricel Lawrence the innovation catalyst at Purdue Global and Kevin Yee special assistant to the provost for AI and director of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Central Florida about how bottom up leadership, empowering people to try new things and universal design thinking are helping to create a culture where innovation thrives.

Ep. 162: Voices of Student Success: Recognizing and Encouraging Military-Affiliated Students

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.  

Over 820,000 undergraduates are connected to the U.S. military, including those who are actively serving or enlisted in the National Guard,  former service members and spouses or dependents of military servicemembers. 

The University of Texas at San Antonio, located in Military City USA, serves over 5,000 military-affiliated students, including veterans, service members and their families, in a region that has the largest concentration of military bases in the country. 

In this episode, Michael Logan, UTSA’s senior director for veteran and military affairs and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, discusses how his institution supports military-affiliated students through their transition into higher ed and the role of community in student veteran retention.  

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

Read a transcript of the podcast here.