Episode 71: The Connected College Audiobook Preview

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Instead of silos and separations, we need colleges and universities where all students feel a sense of belonging, courses lead to rewarding careers, students have the support to succeed, and everyone works together to make this happen. To learn how, listen to the introduction to The Connected College in this free preview of the audiobook. It's an encouraging, evidenced-based playbook for busting silos so that students succeed.

Breaking the Silos: Leadership Strategies for the Connected College

The landscape of higher education is at a crossroads. For decades, universities have operated as a collection of independent islands—academic affairs, student services, facilities, and career development often functioning in total isolation. But as student needs shift and the "demographic cliff" approaches, these traditional separations are no longer sustainable. To ensure student success, we must move away from the siloed model and toward the "Connected College."

In my work with over 120 institutions, I have seen how redundant structures—like having both a writing lab and a writing center that don't speak to one another—confuse students and waste resources. The solution isn't just adding more technology or more services; it is about better integration and unconventional leadership.

The Core Principles of Connected Leadership

Building a connected college requires a fundamental shift in how we design the student experience. By applying design principles to higher education, leaders can create environments where students feel a genuine sense of belonging. This involves four key pillars:

1. Focusing on People: Truly understanding student needs by asking about their strengths, interests, and goals.

2. Making Connections: Thinking holistically about how a student’s course of study links to their future career.

3. Co-creating Solutions: Planning programs alongside students, faculty, and employers to ensure win-win outcomes.

4. Iterative Testing: Using prototypes and workshops to gather feedback before launching large-scale initiatives.

Bridging the Gap Between Courses and Careers

One of the most pressing challenges in higher education today is the disconnect between the classroom and the workforce. Currently, only 24% of students take a career development course, yet over half of recent graduates find themselves underemployed. A connected college integrates career readiness into the curriculum rather than treating it as an optional stop at the end of a senior year.

By fostering industry partnerships and experiential learning, we make the "stats class come alive." When students see a direct line between their assignments and real-world market needs, their engagement skyrockets. We must stop asking if college is about an education or a job. The answer must be a resounding "Yes" to both.

Navigating Macro Trends and Demographic Shifts

The urgency for this transformation is driven by six macro trends: shifting public perceptions, evolving demographics, changing workforce needs, new operating models, technological disruption (specifically AI), and the looming threat of college closures.

Today’s student body is more diverse than ever. Forty percent of students work full-time, and nearly half experience food or housing insecurity. We can no longer rely on a "be all things to all people" model. Instead, institutions must find their unique niche and scale their strengths.

Leading the Transformation

Becoming a connected college means moving from an "access mindset" to a "success mindset." It requires provosts, deans, and directors to have the courage to dismantle outdated policies and embrace agile planning. Whether it is the library evolving from a book repository to a wellness hub or the IT department focusing on data-driven student support, every functional area has a role to play in this ecosystem.

Success in modern higher education is determined by our ability to shift from silos to synergies. When we connect people, purposes, and places, we don't just help students graduate—we give them the toolbox they need to change the world.

Episode 71 Transcript

• How to Define and Measure Student Success

  Elliot Felix: Introduction. I was confused and I knew students were too. Years ago, as part of a consulting project for a top university, I gathered half a dozen different departments and centers around the table for a workshop about how to better support their students. One by one, each director introduced their function. The library, the tutoring center, information technology, the math lab, the writing lab, and the writing center each described what support services and programs they offered. Did you catch that they had a writing lab and a writing center? Wondering what the difference is? I was too. After asking this obvious question, I learned that the writing center was a place run by the English department for any student to get writing help from grad students. The writing lab was run by the academic support office and was also a place for students to seek assistance with their writing. It sprouted up because the writing center staffing model, location, and approach limited the number of students they could help. The university was offering identical services with similar names in two separate places with two different staffing models with two competing philosophies. One fixed by tradition, the other responding to student needs. Neither worked with the other because they reported to separate folks. Convention won out over cooperation. This added complexity, confused students, and wasted precious time and money. In my consulting work with more than 120 colleges and universities, I've found problems like this are all too common.

• The role that the topic or main idea of the interview play in helping students succeed

  Elliot Felix: Teaching and research, student affairs and academic affairs, courses and careers, academia and industry—the list goes on. They have competing centers, services, and programs that ought to collaborate, if not consolidate as one. Their traditions get in the way of better supporting students and meeting their changing needs. Smart, well-meaning, and hardworking people succeed at helping students in spite of these structures, not because of them. At connected colleges, academic programs are connected to career paths and employers. Students feel connected to a purpose. Colleges are connected to their surrounding communities and corporate partners. People are connected to each other as learners, teachers, mentors, coaches, advisers, caregivers, and citizens. The connected college is for leaders in higher education looking for unconventional wisdom and a practical playbook to enable student success. It's an encouraging evidence-based management and leadership book that will challenge you with breakthrough ideas, success stories, and practical tactics. This book is for people who know we cannot keep adding more technology and services to support students, but instead have to collaborate on delivery or even consolidate. It's for people who want to focus so they can do less with more instead of getting spread thin doing more with less.

• What trends are changing the topic or main idea of the interview

  Elliot Felix: As you lead better connected colleges and transform your student experience, you'll confront changes in the sector and society that are reshaping higher education. From my conversation with Mike Palmer, host of the Trending in Education podcast, I distilled these six macro trends: Changing public perceptions, evolving student demographics and needs, shifting workforce needs, new partnerships and operating models, grappling with technology change, and reckoning with college closures. Public perceptions of higher ed are shifting. Rising prices coupled with concerns about job prospects and research showing limited return on investment are all fueling skepticism. We face a coming demographic cliff with 15% fewer 18-year-olds and a 10% decline in the rate of high school grads going to college. Not only is the number of students changing, so is their identity. Today, 42% of students are students of color. 40% work full-time. 37% are 25 or older. Students' mental health is faltering with 34% experiencing anxiety and 39% feeling frequently overwhelmed. Workforce needs are changing, requiring institutions to keep up and to blend education and work. Only 24% of students take a career development course, and 52% of recent grads are underemployed.

• Lessons learned and advice on adapting to these changes

  Elliot Felix: Throughout the book, you'll hear about six connections we must forge: Feeling connection to an institution, belonging to a community, support to succeed, courses tied to careers, internal collaborations between functions, and external partnerships. In chapter 1 on administration, we meet Suzanne Rivera. We learned that a leader's job is not just to create stability, but to change and adapt. In chapter 2 on research and assessment, we learn that instead of looking back with judgment, it's really about thinking ahead and creating trust. In chapter 5 on academic support, we see how to coordinate, collocate, or consolidate how we support student success. Squant Jaj challenges us to move from an access mindset to a success mindset. In chapter 7 on career development, we learn the way to integrate career development into courses and conduct proactive outreach. We need to bridge divides between student affairs and academic affairs. Campus facilities must think about spaces, operations, and organizations together to use space to execute institutional strategy. Academic technology needs to be more about data than just technology. Boards should embrace shared governance and avoid micromanaging operations.

• Strategic Design and Functional Collaboration for Higher Ed Leaders

  Elliot Felix: Powerful ideas are impossible to unlearn. After seven years of design education and 23 years of practice, I can't help but see the world through the lens of design. There are four key design principles at play: Focusing on people, making connections, co-creating solutions, and trying things out to get feedback. These are the principles that make products and services great. You can't create a connection without two points to link. These chapters are those points, grounding you in what each function does and what each can do differently to work even better together. Each chapter starts with inspiring profiles of connected college leaders. There's even a chapter on breakthrough ideas that cut across functions, like experiential learning, industry partnerships, generative AI, and change management. Central to this is the program design canvas to help you assess current programs and create new ones. It helps you think through your purpose, programs, people, partnerships, policies, processes, platforms, places, and patronage. We have given students the toolbox they need to go out and then go change the world. These goals are within reach if you can shift from silos to synergies.