AI Can Fill The Vessel. Can Colleges Still Light The Fire?
Changing Higher Ed
AI in higher education is no longer just a technology issue. The larger question is whether colleges and universities will redesign learning so students develop judgment, critical thinking, and decision-making skills in a world where AI can already generate summaries, essays, and plausible answers on demand. In this episode of the , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with about how higher education leaders can think more clearly and more strategically about AI. Hoang explains why AI should be used to augment human capability rather than replace it, and why educators matter even more in a world where...
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Students Are Acting Like Consumers. Higher Ed Needs to Catch Up
Changing Higher Ed
Jeff Dinski helped start Cold Pizza at ESPN, the morning show that eventually became First Take. On a daily show, ratings are everything. You either produce something people want to watch, or you do not last. He carried that discipline into edtech, and it is the lens through which he looks at higher education: are you really giving students what they need, or are you producing what is convenient for you? In this episode of the podcast, and Jeff Dinski, Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer at , the largest edtech company in the world serving roughly half of all U.S....
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SACSCOC Updates: Substantive Change, Standards, and Outcomes Transparency
Changing Higher Ed
is often treated as a compliance cycle, but SACSCOC is signaling a faster-moving, more transparent operating posture that will affect how institutions plan change, document quality, and explain outcomes to the public. In this episode of the , speaks with , President of the , about substantive change reforms, standards revision planning, outcomes transparency, and what institutional leaders should be watching right now. Topics Covered Substantive change reforms approved in December, including eliminating more than half of existing categories, shifting others to presidential review, and...
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How University Presidents Lead with Moral Courage Under Political Pressure
Changing Higher Ed
Higher education’s public trust problem is not something presidents can fix with better messaging. In this conversation, President describes a structural squeeze on institutional independence that shows up as academic freedom fights, curriculum mandates, and growing skepticism about higher education’s value. In episode 300 of the , speaks with Dr. Pasquerella about why liberal education is often misunderstood, why academic freedom is inseparable from institutional autonomy, and why presidents and boards need to treat this moment as a governance and mission issue, not a temporary...
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FIRE on Campus Leadership and the Defense of Open Inquiry
Changing Higher Ed
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
Changing Higher Ed
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
Changing Higher Ed
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
Changing Higher Ed
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
Changing Higher Ed
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
Changing Higher Ed
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...
info_outlineCaltech’s board once had nearly 80 members; too many for focused discussion or quick decisions.
In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton talks with Cathy Light, Caltech’s Secretary of the Board, about how the institution streamlined governance, strengthened committees, and made trustee reorientation mandatory.
Light, who has held senior roles at Carnegie Mellon University and the Semester at Sea program, outlines how Caltech conducts trustee assessments, structures its executive committee, and uses an ongoing governance review to keep the board working at its best.
Topics Covered:
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Governance changes prompted by the pandemic
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Defining trustee responsibilities in 2025
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Using the executive committee for responsive decision-making
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The role of the governance and nominating committee
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Trustee assessments and renewal decisions
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Making orientation and reorientation standard practice
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Maintaining strategic oversight without micromanaging
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Involving alumni and students without adding voting seats
Real-World Examples:
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Reducing the board from 80 members to a manageable size
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Giving young alumni trustees full voting rights
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Using retreats and campus visits to connect trustees with faculty research
Three Takeaways for Leadership:
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Keep governance review continuous and adaptive.
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Use orientation and reorientation to maintain alignment.
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Structure boards for informed, timely decisions without overstepping into operations.
For presidents, trustees, board chairs, board secretaries, and governance committees aiming to improve board effectiveness.
Read the transcript: https://changinghighered.com/caltech-private-higher-education-board-governance-model/
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