Helping First-Gen and Low SES Students Succeed: A Regional Model That Works
Release Date: 07/29/2025
FIRE on Campus Leadership and the Defense of Open Inquiry
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Free speech on campus is not an abstract constitutional issue—it’s a governance challenge for presidents and boards. In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton is joined by Dr. Sean Stevens, Chief Research Advisor at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), to examine the current state of campus free speech and what institutional leaders must do to protect open inquiry under increasing political and social pressure. Drawing on FIRE’s national research and campus speech databases, Stevens outlines the sharp rise in government-involved...
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Stop-Outs, Transfers, and ROI: The Data Already Exists and You're Not Using It
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Higher education is under mounting pressure to prove its value. But the data institutions need to respond already exists — most are just not using it strategically. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how the Clearinghouse's cross-institutional data can help college presidents and boards navigate the accountability, affordability, and workforce alignment challenges reshaping higher education. Drawing on a career in financial services, fraud analytics, cybersecurity, and operational transformation, Amissi brings an outsider's perspective to higher ed — one grounded in...
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Agile Change Management for Today's Higher Education Leaders
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Agile change management in higher education is no longer optional. Institutions are navigating continuous disruption from AI, shifting student expectations, workforce pressures, and internal cultural resistance. The challenge leaders face is not how to implement change once, but how to build the institutional ability to adapt continuously. In this episode of the , speaks with , an immersive learning company focused on adult learning, about why higher education must move from traditional change models to an agile, iterative approach to leadership, teaching, and institutional strategy....
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Using Entrepreneurship to Redesign the College Operating Model
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In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, 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 has embedded entrepreneurship into the operating model of the college itself. Rather than treating entrepreneurship as an elective or a business school track, Paul Quinn uses it as a structural solution to some of higher education’s biggest challenges: workforce readiness, student engagement, institutional costs, and student debt. As one of only eight federally recognized work...
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Reduce Student Debt Risk and Improve Employability with Distributed Practicum
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Workforce readiness, hands-on learning, and flexible credentialing are no longer peripheral conversations in higher education. They are central to how institutions are being judged on value, relevance, and outcomes. In this episode of , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with , Provost and Chief Academic Officer at , about how applied, skills-based education can be delivered beyond traditional campuses without sacrificing rigor or quality. McNeely shares how SDI redesigned hands-on instruction for distributed learners by moving labs into students’ homes, rethinking assessment around demonstrated...
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Empathy in Higher Education Leadership Without Losing Your Edge
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Empathy is easy to talk about and harder to practice when the pressure is high. In higher education, leaders are often navigating conflict, fatigue, and urgency, which is exactly when empathy gets misread as weakness instead of treated as a leadership competency. In this episode of the , speaks with and founder of , about building empathy as a practical skill leaders can use without surrendering standards or authority. Parson breaks empathy down into usable behaviors, including perspective-taking, emotional self-management, and question framing that reduces defensiveness. The discussion also...
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The Case for a Chief Enrollment Management Officer in Higher Education
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In this episode of the , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with , assistant dean of Extended Learning and director of the Emeritus Institute at Saddleback College, one of the nation’s highest-performing community colleges. The conversation focuses on why enrollment challenges persist even at strong institutions and how treating enrollment as a shared responsibility—rather than a system with clear executive ownership—creates fragmentation across admissions, student services, academics, and outcomes. Dr. Predoehl explains the Chief Enrollment Management Officer concept and why a cabinet-level...
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How Stevens Tech Became One of the Strongest Transformation Stories in Higher Education
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Institutional transformation in higher education is often described in broad terms. At Stevens Institute of Technology, describes transformation in operational terms: disciplined strategic planning, academic realignment, and year-after-year execution systems that produced what Dr. Drumm McNaughton calls the Stevens Miracle. In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Nariman Farvardin, President of Stevens Institute of Technology, about how Stevens achieved sustained success since he became president in 2011. Under Dr. Farvardin’s leadership,...
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Higher Education 2026 Planning and Lessons Learned from 2025 Predictions
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Higher education enters 2026 under conditions that are no longer hypothetical. In this 8th annual end-of-year episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton is joined by Tom Netting of TEN Government Strategies to review how the predictions made at the end of 2024 played out during the 2025 operating year and what those outcomes mean for institutional planning in 2026. Rather than offering speculative forecasts, this episode uses 2025 as a calibration year. When predictions materialize, they remove ambiguity. They clarify which pressures are structural, which risks persist,...
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Strategic Insights from the 2025 AAC&U Employer Survey: What Employers Want From Higher Education
Changing Higher Ed
In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Ashley Finley, Vice President of Research and Senior Advisor to the President at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), about the findings of the and what they reveal about employer expectations for higher education. Based on nearly 20 years of longitudinal research, the 2025 survey challenges many of the dominant public narratives about the value of college. Employers continue to express strong confidence in higher education, place equal importance on workforce preparation...
info_outlineWith first-generation and low SES students facing steep barriers to completion and career entry, Great Jobs KC has built a replicable model that starts in high school, continues through college, and delivers real workforce outcomes. In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Great Jobs KC CEO Earl Martin Phalen about how regional collaboration, wraparound services, and employer partnerships are helping underserved students succeed beyond graduation.
Phalen outlines how Great Jobs KC collaborates with 24 higher education institutions, over 150 employer partners, and K–12 feeder systems to support students from high school through college graduation and into strong first jobs. Through initiatives like KC Scholars and the Great Jobs KC scholarship, the organization provides $50,000 per student for tuition, transportation, and wraparound support—including case managers, success coaches, and career placement services.
This episode offers practical, data-backed insights for institutional leaders working to improve retention, increase degree completion, and strengthen job placement results for underserved students through strategic regional partnerships.
Topics Covered:
- The unique needs of first-generation and low SES students
- Designing holistic support systems that extend beyond financial aid
- How to build college-employer partnerships that deliver job outcomes
- Regional collaboration between 24 colleges and over 150 employers
- The role of scholar advocates and success coaches in student persistence
- How investing $50,000 per student can produce high ROI
- Measuring impact: retention, completion, and employment rates
Real-World Examples Discussed:
- Great Jobs KC’s partnership with regional colleges, including UMKC, Avila, William Jewell, and Donnelly College
- How the KC Scholars program helps high school students complete FAFSA, ACT prep, and college planning
- Employer partnership models, including apprenticeships, internships, and work-based learning
- The importance of wraparound services like transportation and mental health support in student success
- Scholar experiences navigating college with the help of long-term coaching
Three Key Takeaways for Higher Ed Leadership:
- Institutions that want to serve first-gen and low-income students need more than scholarships—they need scalable systems of support.
- Long-term coaching and employer-aligned programs can dramatically improve retention, completion, and career outcomes.
- Regional collaboration between colleges, K–12 schools, and employers isn’t just ideal—it’s necessary to build equitable education-to-career pipelines.
Recommended For:
Presidents, provosts, trustees, enrollment and student success leaders, and system executives seeking replicable strategies to improve access, retention, completion, and career outcomes for first-generation and low SES students.
Read the transcript on our website:
https://changinghighered.com/first-gen-and-low-ses-student-success-strategies/
#HigherEdLeadership #StudentSuccess #FirstGenStudents #LowSESStudentSuccess #RegionalCollaboration #HigherEducationPodcast