How do we define student success holistically across the full end-to-end experience? How can institutions use digital transformation to catalyze improvements rather than just overlaying new technologies? How do leaders effectively manage adoption, operations, and process redesign to continuously adapt? We talk through these with Chrysoula Malogianni the Chief Digital Experience Officer at Old Dominion University. Together, we explore actionable strategies for dismantling institutional silos and cultivating a highly connected campus ecosystem that drives long-term student retention and achievement.

Should we hack colleges so students link their courses, clubs, and careers on their own? Or should we connect colleges with strategy that breaks down silos so that students succeed? What role do culture, policies, and technology play in how easy or hard they are to navigate? When you want to make progress, where do you start – is it top-down or bottom up? In this special episode, Elliot discusses this with Scott Carlson and Ned Laff, authors of Hacking College.

How can you build the skills and habits around empathy and emotional intelligence to elevate students' EQ so that they can be effective, inspiring leaders and people who can just get stuff done and move things forward? What are the habits and norms from phones and social media that we all have to unlearn to do this? How does this help students show up differently in school, work, and life? We talk through these questions with Francesca Schuler, Executive Director of Dialogue Vanderbilt.

How wide is the gap between what the media says about the value of a degree and what students are actually experiencing? In this episode, Elliot talks through this with Courtney Brown, Vice President of Strategic Impact at the Lumina Foundation, to deconstruct their recent "Reality Check" research conducted with Gallup. By comparing hard data against public perception for three pillars of the student experience – belonging, career readiness, and affordability – we explore how institutions better communicate value and increase actual value through high-impact strategies like work-integrated learning.

How can you a variety of experiential learning opportunities accessible to all students? How might projects make an impact internally with the institution as client and externally for companies and community groups? What barriers might you (and students) encounter and how can you get over, around, or through them? We talk through these with Susan McCahan, Vice Provost for Innovations in Undergraduate Education at the University of Toronto.

What causes the tensions that lead to votes of No Confidence? What are the impacts of these disconnects on student success? What can institutions do to proactively avoid these through orientation, education, communication, org design, and more? We discuss these questions with Mike Nietzel and Chuck Ambrose, authors of No Confidence: When College Faculty Turn Against Their Presidents. Available on Amazon

How can you tackle student success challenges with a bias toward action and practical solutions? How can you do this collaboratively as a community of practice? Along the way, how do you build a continuous improvement culture and sustain your initiatives and innovations in the long term?We discuss these questions with two inspirational leaders from the University of Washington Tacoma: Bonnie Becker, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Success and Amanda Figueroa, Associate Vice Chancellor for Social Mobility.

How can you make AI a practice in your institution so that it's not just something you use but something you are? How can you embed it in your curriculum, culture, and operations? How does doing this enable responsiveness, personalization, standardization, scalability, and more. We discuss these questions and more with Sasha Thackaberry-Voinovich, Co-Founder and President of Newstate University.

How can you embed career discovery and development into your first year experience? How can you get advisors, faculty and employers engaged in experiential learning activities? How is AI changing the curriculum and career development and placement? We talk through these with Maggie Lewis, Vice Dean for Student Success at Temple University's Klein College of Media and Communication and Interim AVP for Enrollment Management for Temple University.

What does it look like for an institution to be truly connected? How can design thinking help us define problems and create solutions together during times of seismic change? How can leadership move from managing risk to green-lighting progress to create a transformative campus experience? We dive into these questions in a special bonus episode where Champlain College Provost Monique Taylor interviews Elliot Felix at their annual college retreat.

What are the best metrics to measure the student journey? How can you use these to structure mergers and acquisitions, consolidations, and partnerships among institutions? How can you manage the change process to create a positive impact on the student journey? We dive into these questions as Jeremy Anderson shares his personal experience with assessment, technology, and M&A and in higher ed.

How can you support and develop students who lead complicated lives because they are students AND parents, students AND employees, or students AND deployed? What changes do you need to make to your programs, processes, practices, and partnerships to make this happen? We talk through student success for ANDers with Mark Milliron (President) and Angela Baldasare (SVP Research, Strategy, and Planning) at National University.

How can you create a long-term plan for your academic programs as you would your campus? How can you differentiate your programs and better communicate their value? How can you prioritize among them as you gather feedback and adapt? We dive into these questions with Catherine Wehlberg, President of Athens State University and author of the book Academic Master Planning: Guiding Strategic Innovation for Academic Leadership.

How can colleges and universities work with corporate and community partners to provide the kind of wraparound support like transportation, childcare, and housing that enables student success? How can programs go beyond the credential to create real economic opportunity? We answer these and along the way, we dive into how to make the case and fundraise, communications, governing boards, and measuring success with Michael Baston, President of Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C).

How can you make experiential learning not just something your college does but part of who you are? As you move from doing it ad hoc to integrating at scale, how can you overcome resistance to change? What's the right mix of communications, incentives, and training? On a special 100th episode, we dive into these questions with Brian Rosenberg, author of "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It", Visiting Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and former President of Macalester College.

 What if building community is as important as the curriculum? What is the toolkit for getting beyond the "Ick" of networking to create real communities where students, faculty, and staff belong? We dive into this with Lisa Leander, founder of the WIBE Network (Where Imagination Builds Excellence). We talk through the ingredients in her secret sauce and what this means for folks that focused on community and belonging to enable student success.

 What if building community is as important as the curriculum? What is the toolkit for getting beyond the "Ick" of networking to create real communities where students, faculty, and staff belong? We dive into this with Lisa Leander, founder of the WIBE Network (Where Imagination Builds Excellence). We talk through the ingredients in her secret sauce and what this means for folks that focused on community and belonging to enable student success.

How can you continuously increase and communicate the value of higher education by integrating work experience within it? We dive into this question with Brandee Popaden-Smith, Senior Director at Arizona State University's University College. We talk through two answers: integrating experiential learning with corporate and community partners in the curriculum at scale and redesigning student employment to provide real structure, skills, and supervision.

 How can campus spaces advance institutional strategy? How can better data and better stakeholder engagement help you make better decisions about where, how, and when to invest in campus facilities and their operations? How can your campus create more meaningful, memorable experiences? We discuss these questions with Lora Strigens, Vice President for Planning and Strategy at Marquette University who brings a unique perspective leading both capital planning and strategic planning.

How can technology not only help students create, collaborate, and communicate but also provide valuable data about what they need? How can institutions curb the digital sprawl, redundant systems, and siloed data that stem from their decentralized structures? How can your strategy help you prioritize and combine communications, training, and support? We dive into this with Peggy McCready, an AVP for Information Technology at Colorado State University.