Changing Higher Ed® Podcast

 

Higher Education podcasts dedicated to helping college and university leaders improve their institutions. We offer the latest in higher ed news and insights from the top experts in our profession who share their experience and perspectives on how you can grow and strengthen your institution.

The Changing Higher Ed podcasts are hosted by Dr. Drumm McNaughton, CEO of The Change Leader, a higher education consulting firm.

The Changing Higher Ed Podcast

"Drumm – you are one heck of a good podcast host. I have done several podcasts. You are the best host I have ever worked with. You are incredibly well organized, and the ‘planning and discussion session’ you hosted two days ago helped us all to do a superb job today. Most of all Drumm, you made today’s actual podcast enterprise both substantive and also fun for your two guests. I enjoyed our three person smiles and laughter as we talked. Hope your podcast listeners enjoy hearing our remarks as much as we enjoyed presenting them. Thanks for everything."
Changing Higher Ed podcast 316 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Justin Beck - Administrative AI in Higher Ed- Finding the Friction Draining Enrollment, Retention, and Donor Revenue

Administrative AI in Higher Ed: Finding the Friction Draining Enrollment, Retention, and Donor Revenue:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 316 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Justin Beck

A 4% year-over-year retention gain sounds like a service-desk metric until the dollars get attached to it. At a 5,000-student institution charging $25,000 a year, with roughly 1,500 students per class, that lift compounds across the years a student stays enrolled into real money. Empire State University reported exactly that

Changing Higher Ed Podcast 315-Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Dr. Leslie Kennedy- Inside CSU’s ChatGPT Edu Rollout Across 22 Universities

What Higher Ed Leaders Can Learn from CSU’s ChatGPT Edu Rollout:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 315 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Leslie Kennedy

California State University expected about 50 faculty applications for its AI Educational Innovations Challenge last spring. It received 417. The system funded 63 projects with $3 million, and the projects will be showcased across disciplines this June. The ratio is what should matter most to other institutional leaders. Faculty appetite

Changing Higher Ed Podcast 314-Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Dr. Karen Panetta - AI Will Scale Your Institution's Existing Bias: A Procurement and Oversight Framework for Higher Ed

AI Will Scale Your Institution’s Existing Bias: A Procurement and Oversight Framework for Higher Ed:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 314 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Karen Panetta

Most higher ed AI procurement skip the four questions that determine whether the tool will scale institutional bias. A framework for presidents and boards on what to ask before signing. As a high schooler with straight A’s in math and science, Dr. Karen Panetta was told by her school’s career

Changing Higher Ed Podcast 313-Dr. Drumm McNaughton, David Marchick, and Angela Virtu-313: AI-First Business Education & 40% Enrollment Growth-How Kogod Transformed Culture, Curriculum, and Faculty Adoption

How Kogod’s AI-First Business School Model Drove 40% Enrollment Growth in Three Years:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 313 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton with guests David Marchick and Angela Virtu

Most business schools are still forming committees to study AI. Kogod School of Business at American University formed one too, gave it six weeks and a five-page limit, and has since integrated AI into every department, every major, and every minor. The impact: Undergraduate enrollment is up 40% over three

Changing Higher Ed Podcast 311-Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Dr. Stepen Spinelli-Scaling Higher Education: An Entrepreneurial Approach to a Consolidating Market

Scaling Higher Education: An Entrepreneurial Approach to a Consolidating Market:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 311 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Stephen Spinelli

Higher education’s anti-scale culture is a strategic problem the sector has not honestly confronted. Entrepreneurial leadership may help identify which institutions are most likely to survive consolidation. Dr. Stephen Spinelli, president of Babson College, joined Dr. Drumm McNaughton to discuss what scaling and an entrepreneurial mindset mean for higher education

Changing Higher Ed Podcast 310-Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Raj Vinnakota - Why Civic Preparedness in Higher Education Now Requires a Coalition of College Presidents

Why Civic Preparedness in Higher Education Now Requires a Coalition of College Presidents:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 310 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Rajiv Vinnakota

When civic preparedness no longer happens as a byproduct of a college education, institutions have to teach productive conversation, credible information, and collaborative problem-solving as core outcomes — and presidents who try to lead that work alone tend to get punished for it. Higher education has reached the point where

Changing Higher Ed Podcast 309-Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Dr. Shaun Carver- International Enrollment Strategy: Taking Higher Education to the World

Take the University to the World: A New International Enrollment Strategy for Regional and Private Colleges:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 309 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Shaun Carver

International student enrollment in the United States hit record numbers in 2024-2025, then dropped sharply heading into 2025-2026, with effects that will compound through 2026-2027. The headline number conceals what matters most for institutional strategy: the decline is bifurcated. UC Berkeley enrolled more international students this past fall than at

Changing Higher Ed Podcast 308-Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Mike Toguchi - Higher Ed Technology Change Management and Digital Transformation

Higher Education Change Management for Technology Projects and Digital Transformation:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 308 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Mike Toguchi

Higher education’s track record with technology change is uneven for a reason, and the reason is rarely the technology. It is the placement of change management in the project lifecycle. When change management is treated as a rollout activity, handled near the end after vendor selection, contract execution, and configuration,

Changing Higher Ed Podcast 304-Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Dr. Courtney Brown - Aligning Education & Work: The 2026 Lumina-Gallup Employer Report

Why 69% of Employers Say Grads Aren’t Ready: Inside the 2026 Lumina-Gallup Report:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 304 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Courtney Brown

A third of Americans currently have no confidence in higher education. Not low confidence. No confidence. A decade ago, more than 60 percent had a great deal of confidence. That collapse, documented through years of Gallup tracking data, is the backdrop for Lumina Foundation and Gallup’s new report, Aligning Education and

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Changing Higher Ed Podcast | Dr. Drumm McNaughton | Higher Ed Consultant