THE CHANGE LEADER

Tag: Student Success Models

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

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Stephen Spinelli, President of Babson College, about what higher education can learn from entrepreneurial scaling, market consolidation, AI-enabled delivery models, and values-driven strategic execution. The discussion examines why higher education’s anti-scale culture has become a strategic liability, how institutions can respond to market pressure without abandoning their mission, and what presidents and boards should be doing now to prepare for a more networked, modular, and competitive future.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Higher Education Consolidation: Why the sector is showing classic signs of market consolidation and what that means for institutional survival.

✓ Anti-Scale Culture: How higher education’s resistance to scale limits adaptability, durability, and long-term competitiveness.

✓ Entrepreneurial Strategy: Why thoughtful strategy

May 12, 2026 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed Podcast 307-Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Chris Crittenden - Building Workforce Readiness Through Real Startup Experience

Building Workforce Readiness Through Real Startup Experience:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 307 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Chris Crittenden

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Chris Crittenden, founder of Sandbox, a for-credit startup incubator now operating at eight universities, about what it takes to make experiential learning actually work.

Most institutions claim to offer experiential learning. But when students move from class to class, splitting their time across multiple priorities, the result is often shallow exposure rather than real capability. Sandbox takes a different approach. Students spend an entire academic year earning 18 credits by building a real technology company on interdisciplinary teams, with the time, stakes, and accountability required to go deep.

Crittenden brings a unique perspective shaped by his experience at McKinsey, founding and selling an AI company to Walmart, and building entrepreneurial programs at BYU. In this conversation, he explains

April 14, 2026 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed Podcast 302-Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Jeff Dinski - Students Are Acting Like Consumers. Higher Ed Needs to Catch Up

Students Are Acting Like Consumers. Higher Ed Needs to Catch Up:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 302 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Jeff Dinski

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Jeff Dinski, Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer at Ellucian, examine what is actually driving the crisis of confidence in higher education, what Workforce Pell Grants will change about how institutions fund and deliver programs, and what institutional strategy has to look like for leaders who want to get ahead of the disruption rather than react to it. Dinski brings more than 20 years across sports media, entrepreneurship, and edtech, including time as a partner at Tyton Partners and as an operating executive at Parchment. McNaughton brings decades of experience consulting with presidents and boards on strategy, enrollment, and governance.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ The Confidence Crisis: Why both political parties have contributed to

March 11, 2026 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed Podcast 298 The Data Exists, You're Just Not Using It — Tracking Stop-Outs, Transfers, and ROI Across the Full Student Journey -Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Melba Amissi - National Student Clearinghouse

The Data Exists, You’re Just Not Using It — Tracking Stop-Outs, Transfers, and ROI Across the Full Student Journey:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 298 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Melba Amissi

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Melba Amissi, Chief Customer and Operations Officer at the National Student Clearinghouse, about why the data institutions need to prove their value, recapture stop-outs, and respond to mounting accountability pressure already exists — and why most leaders aren’t using it. Drawing on a career in financial services, fraud analytics, and operational transformation, Amissi brings an outsider’s perspective to higher ed’s most urgent challenges, including rising costs, non-linear student pathways, workforce alignment, and the growing demand for measurable ROI.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Data You Already Have: How the Clearinghouse’s cross-institutional data can drive benchmarking, pathway analysis, and strategic planning.

✓ The 42 Million Stop-Out Opportunity: Why the massive some-college-no-credential population demands flexible pathways,

February 10, 2026 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed podcast 296- Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Jeff Meade Using Entrepreneurship to Redesign the College Operating Model

How Paul Quinn College Uses Entrepreneurship to Reduce Costs, Improve Workforce Readiness, and Graduate Students with Little to No Debt:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 296 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Jeff Meade

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Jeff Meade, Founding Director of the Every Quinnite is an Entrepreneur program at Paul Quinn College, about how the institution uses entrepreneurship as an operating model that changes cost structure, student engagement, retention, and workforce readiness.

Rather than treating entrepreneurship as a business major or elective, Paul Quinn embeds it into campus work, corporate partnerships, freshman onboarding, and the curriculum itself—creating a model that addresses multiple institutional challenges at the same time.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Operating Model Insight: How entrepreneurship can function as an institutional design, not an academic program.

✓ Cost Structure Strategy: How campus work can reduce staffing pressure while improving student engagement.

✓ Workforce Pipeline: How corporate partners become

January 27, 2026 July 20, 2026
Changing Higher Ed Podcast 295 Reduce Student Debt Risk and Improve Employability with Distributed Practicum -Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Jarred McNeely.jpg

Reduce Student Debt Risk and Improve Employability with Distributed Practicum:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 295 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Jarred McNeely

Reducing student debt while improving employability is one of the most persistent challenges facing higher education today. Institutions are under pressure to deliver stronger outcomes without expanding costs, infrastructure, or student risk.

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Jarred McNeely, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Sonoran Desert Institute, about how hands-on, applied education can be delivered beyond traditional campus labs while maintaining rigor, quality, and workforce relevance. The discussion explores a distributed practicum approach that allows students to demonstrate competence, progress through credentials, and stay economically mobile while learning.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Student Debt Risk: How shorter, applied learning pathways reduce financial exposure without lowering standards

✓ Employability Outcomes: Why demonstrated competence matters more than seat time

January 20, 2026 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed podcast 284 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest David Gooblar | The Real Cost of Overlooking Teaching Quality in Higher Education

The Real Cost of Overlooking Teaching Quality in Higher Education:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 284 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest David Gooblar

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with David Gooblar, Associate Professor at the University of Iowa and author of The Missing Course, about why teaching quality remains one of higher education’s most overlooked performance drivers—and what presidents and boards can do to regain that strategic advantage.

Presidents and boards have invested heavily in analytics, recruitment, and student support to improve outcomes, yet few apply the same strategic oversight to classroom instruction. That blind spot costs institutions measurable losses in retention, performance, and credibility.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Institutional ROI: How strategic management of teaching quality raises retention and reduces cost per graduate.

✓ Governance Oversight: Why the lack of teaching accountability represents a leadership blind spot.

✓ Faculty Incentives: How

November 4, 2025 June 27, 2026
Aligning Higher Education Strategy and Programs with Workforce Needs by Measuring Value Through Outcomes and Earnings | Changing Higher Ed podcast 282 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Harrison Keller

Aligning Higher Education Strategy and Programs with Workforce Needs by Measuring Value Through Outcomes and Earnings:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 282 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Harrison Keller

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Harrison Keller, president of the University of North Texas and former Texas commissioner of higher education.

Keller shares how universities can demonstrate measurable value by aligning strategy, programs, and workforce partnerships with real-world outcomes. His approach connects data, faculty collaboration, and employer input to strengthen workforce readiness and improve the economic return on a college degree.

What you’ll gain from listening:

✓ How Building a Talent Strong Texas ties credentials directly to outcomes and earnings data

✓ Ways to evaluate programs using “time-to-value” analysis to measure return on investment

✓ How employer partnerships and the Texas Talent Accelerator improve workforce readiness

✓ Strategies for integrating faculty externships and experiential learning into degree programs

✓ How data-driven planning

October 21, 2025 June 27, 2026
How CUNY’s Holistic Enrollment Strategy and Management Approach Is Filling the Enrollment Pipeline | Changing Higher Ed podcast 281 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Colleen Leigh

How CUNY’s Holistic Enrollment Strategy and Management Approach Is Filling the Enrollment Pipeline:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 281 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Colleen Leigh

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Colleen Leigh, Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Success at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, about how higher education can evolve to truly center student success—from enrollment to graduation and beyond.

The discussion reveals how CUNY Journalism’s holistic enrollment strategy and management model integrates admissions, student services, career development, and alumni engagement into one cohesive system that continually strengthens the enrollment pipeline.

What you’ll gain from listening:

✓ How a holistic enrollment strategy builds continuity between recruitment, retention, and alumni success.

✓ Why empathy and equity are essential leadership tools during institutional change.

✓ How data-informed, equity-driven decision-making shapes student outcomes.

✓ How shared accountability improves student belonging and retention.

✓ Lessons from CUNY’s

October 14, 2025 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed Podcast 270 Cover Image | First-Gen and Low SES Student Success Strategies That Work: A Scalable Regional Model with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Earl Martin Phalen

First-Gen and Low SES Student Success Strategies That Work: A Scalable Regional Model:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 270 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Earl Martin Phalen

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Earl Martin Phalen, President and CEO of Great Jobs KC, about a scalable approach to improving outcomes for first-generation and low SES students—from high school through college and into the workforce.

Phalen outlines how Great Jobs KC collaborates with 24 colleges, 150+ employers, and regional partners to provide $50,000 in funding per student along with wraparound support, career coaching, and job placement. Their model shows how long-term advising, scholar advocates, and employer-aligned programs can dramatically improve retention, graduation, and career outcomes.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

✓ Regional Model in Action: How Great Jobs KC coordinates with colleges, employers, and K–12 to serve thousands of students.

✓ Support That Sticks: The role of success coaches and scholar

July 29, 2025 June 27, 2026
Cover Image-Changing Higher Ed podcast 268 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Elliot Felix - Building a Connected College by Aligning Strategy and Services

How a Connected College Approach Helps Break Down Silos and Improve Student Success:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 268 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Elliot Felix

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Elliot Felix is the founder of brightspot Strategy (acquired by Buro Happold in 2020) and the author of The Connected College: Leadership Strategies for Student Success. about how institutions can improve student outcomes by aligning strategy, services, and systems. Felix shares insights from working with over 100 colleges and universities, including MIT, NYU, and the University of Virginia, on breaking down silos and creating seamless student experiences without adding institutional complexity or cost.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Systems Integration: How to connect disconnected institutional systems that currently confuse students and reduce engagement.

✓ Strategic Focus: The counterintuitive approach to doing “less with more,” and why it works better than trying to do everything

July 15, 2025 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed podcast 266 - How Utah State Is Using a Connected Campus to Boost Student Engagement and Persistence with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Rene Eborn

How Utah State Built a Connected Campus That Boosts Retention, Equity, and Student Support at Scale:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 266 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Rene Eborn

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Rene Eborn, Associate Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Deputy of Digital Transformation at Utah State University. The discussion focuses on how USU built a connected campus by integrating advising, communications, and academic systems into a single platform—improving access, coordination, and student support without overhauling core infrastructure.

Drawing from four years of development and implementation, Eborn outlines how USU’s strategy allows faculty, staff, and students to share real-time data and take timely action. The platform supports underserved student populations, provides early alerts, and offers a mobile-first experience to streamline every stage of the student journey—from course planning to financial aid to peer support.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Digital Infrastructure Strategy: How USU integrated

July 1, 2025 June 27, 2026
Adult Learner Enrollment to Completion via Partnerships Changing Higher Ed podcast episode 265 Strategies to Help Adult Learners Re-Enroll and Graduate - featuring Drumm McNaughton and Malik Brown

How Cross-Sector Partnerships Help Adult Learners Return, Persist, and Complete Their Degrees:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 265 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Malik Brown

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Malik Brown, President and CEO of Graduate Philadelphia, a nonprofit helping adult learners return to college and complete their degrees. The conversation focuses on practical strategies for improving re-enrollment and graduation rates among adult students who previously stopped out.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Enrollment Strategies: What actually works to bring adult learners back into degree programs.

✓ Policy Considerations: The systemic issues and funding barriers affecting adult learner re-engagement.

✓ Outreach That Connects: Why traditional marketing misses the mark—and what to do instead.

✓ Institutional Roles: How higher ed leaders can better support stopouts without overwhelming resources.

✓ Program Design: Rethinking degree pathways to align with adult students’ goals and constraints.

✓ Community

June 24, 2025 June 27, 2026
High Structure Course Design for Student Engagement, Retention, and Success | Changing Higher Ed podcast episode 264 featuring Drumm McNaughton and Justin Shaffer

High Structure Course Design for Student Engagement, Retention, and Success:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 264 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Justin Shaffer

  Many institutions lose students not because learners are incapable, but because the courses in which they’re placed weren’t designed to help them succeed. Gateway courses, especially in the first year, continue to be a bottleneck in higher education, resulting in high failure rates, lower retention rates, and widening equity gaps. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Our guest on the Changing Higher Ed® podcast is Dr. Justin Shaffer, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Teaching Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. He’s the author of the book High Structure Course Design, which gives faculty practical, evidence-based strategies for designing and delivering courses that increase student engagement, close performance gaps, and improve learning across disciplines. While the model was developed with large

June 17, 2025 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed podcast 262 with Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Dr. Scott Cowen - Adding Leadership Development to Academic Curriculum Design

Adding Leadership Development to Academic Curriculum Design in Higher Ed:

Changing Higher Ed® podcast 262 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Scott Cowen

How Institutions Can Systematize Leadership Development for Students and Early-Career Professionals: Leadership Development as an Institutional Imperative Institutions routinely cite leadership development as a goal, yet few treat it as a strategic priority embedded in academic curriculum design or operational frameworks. Leadership is often assumed to be an innate quality or left to emerge through informal mentoring and experience. As a result, graduates may leave college with technical competence but lack the ability to lead, collaborate, or adapt to real-world leadership challenges. Dr. Scott Cowen, President Emeritus of Tulane University, believes this is a missed opportunity—and a solvable problem. Drawing on his decades of leadership experience, including overseeing Tulane’s post-Hurricane Katrina recovery and teaching leadership at Tulane and Case Western, Cowen outlines how institutions can take responsibility for cultivating leadership

June 3, 2025 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed podcast episode 260 featuring Drumm McNaughton and Kathleen deLaski discussing how to align academic programs with workforce needs and serve nontraditional students

How to Align Academic Programs with Workforce Needs and Serve Nontraditional Students:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 260 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Kathleen deLaski

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Kathleen deLaski, founder of Education Design Lab and author of Who Needs College Anymore?, about how colleges and universities can align academic programs with workforce needs and better serve the growing population of nontraditional students. The conversation explores modular credentialing, skills-based learning, and what it takes to restructure academic offerings for long-term relevance and economic mobility.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Skills-Based Learning: How institutions can integrate job-relevant skills into curriculum design.

✓ Step-Ladder Credentials: Why modular, stackable credentials help students gain momentum and return later to complete degrees.

✓ Workforce Alignment: How academic outcomes can be translated into competencies that employers recognize and value.

✓ Structural Shifts: Why redesigning programs alone won’t work

May 20, 2025 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed podcast 244 New College Programs that Build Enrollment with guest Dr. Teri Reed

Keys to Launching New College Programs that Build Enrollment:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 244 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guest Dr. Teri Reed

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Drumm speaks with Dr. Teri Reed, inaugural director of the University of Oklahoma Polytechnic Institute (UOPI) at OU Tulsa. The discussion explores how UOPI successfully launched new academic programs by flipping traditional mindsets – designing programs to be “student ready” rather than expecting students to be “college ready.” This innovative approach, combined with strategic industry partnerships including Google, has created a new model for building enrollment in high-demand fields like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Program Innovation: Learn how to design “student ready” programs that attract enrollment while maintaining academic rigor.

✓ Industry Integration: Understand strategies for embedding industry certifications and real-world expertise into curriculum design.

✓ Faculty Excellence: Master innovative recruitment approaches that ensure

January 28, 2025 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Ed podcast 243 with Drumm McNaughton and Scott Marshall | How Semester at Sea Improves Student Outcomes and Boosts Institutional Success

How Semester at Sea Improves Student Outcomes and Boosts Institutional Success:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 243 with host Dr.s Drumm McNaughton and guest Scott Marshall

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Drumm speaks with Scott Marshall, President and CEO of the Institute for Shipboard Education, about how Semester at Sea transforms students’ lives and enhances institutional outcomes through innovative study abroad programming.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Study Abroad Impact: Discover how study abroad programs increase graduation rates and improve student GPAs.

✓ Global Learning Model: Learn about Semester at Sea’s unique approach to visiting 10 countries while earning 12-15 credits.

✓ Institutional Benefits: Understand how study abroad programs enhance retention rates and long-term university outcomes.

✓ Revenue Enhancement: Learn why study abroad offices should be viewed as revenue supporters rather than cost centers.

✓ Innovation Insights: Explore upcoming initiatives like AI floating labs and partnerships with industry leaders.

✓

January 21, 2025 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Podcast 229 -innovative accreditation-accelerated degrees-competency-based education with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Guests Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy and Dr. Selena Grace

Innovative Accreditation: Accelerated Degrees and Competency-Based Education:

Changing Higher Ed podcast 229 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Guests Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy and Dr. Selena M. Grace

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Drumm continues the conversation with Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy and Dr. Selena M. Grace, leaders at the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), discussing important innovations in higher education accreditation.

What you’ll gain from listening to this podcast:

✓ Accreditation Innovation: Learn about NWCCU’s pilot program for a three-year bachelor’s degree, helping your institution understand and prepare for potential shifts in degree structures and accreditation standards.

✓ Competency-Based Education (CBE): Gain insights into how accreditation bodies are evaluating and supporting CBE programs, providing you with strategies to implement or improve such programs at your institution.

✓ Fostering Institutional Creativity: Discover NWCCU’s approach to supporting innovation among member institutions, which could inspire new programs or policies to enhance both academic quality and student outcomes

October 15, 2024 June 27, 2026
Changing Higher Podcast 227- Strategies to Improve Student Retention Rates and Lower Acquisition Costs- with guest Carey Dukes

Strategies to Improve Student Retention Rates and Lower Acquisition Costs:

Changing Higher Education podcast 227 with host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and guests Carey Dukes

In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Drumm welcomes Carey Dukes, Assistant Professor of Management at North Greenville University, to discuss innovative strategies for improving student retention and college readiness.

Podcast Overview:

✓ Insights into the current state of student retention in higher education and the concept of “Academic Armageddon” for first-year students.

✓ Strategies for implementing a pre-college readiness course to better prepare students for academic success.

✓ Practical advice on addressing the six key variables of student readiness and implementing proactive preparation programs.

✓ Vision for long-term benefits of improved student preparation beyond the first year.

✓ Guidance for university leaders on analyzing retention rates, assessing financial impacts, and evaluating existing programs.

This episode provides valuable ideas for presidents, board members, and administrators committed to improving student retention,

October 1, 2024 June 27, 2026

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