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 Changing Higher Ed podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Jarred McNeely, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Sonoran Desert Institute, 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 competence, and investing heavily in faculty training and support. The conversation explores what these approaches mean not just for trade and technical programs, but for institutions across higher education facing increasing pressure around cost, completion, and workforce alignment.

This episode is especially relevant for presidents, provosts, and academic leaders evaluating how applied learning, credential flexibility, and faculty systems can evolve to meet today's student realities.

• Why hands-on learning does not require centralized labs
• How lab kits, video-based assessment, and staged progression support skill development
• What it takes to train and support faculty in distributed, applied programs
• How simulation and practicum models expand access without lowering standards
• Why stackable credentials better align with real career movement
• The role of critical thinking and problem identification in applied education

1. Learning should be assessed by demonstrated competence, not physical presence
   
   
2. Faculty training and support systems are the primary drivers of instructional quality
   
   
3. Flexible, stackable credentials reduce student risk while supporting long-term engagement

Read the transcript or extended show summary:
https://changinghighered.com/reduce-student-debt-risk-improve-employability/

#HigherEducation #WorkforceDevelopment #AppliedLearning #HigherEdLeadership #ChangingHigherEd

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 Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Laura Parson, Associate Professor at North Dakota State University and founder of The Empathy Classroom, 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 addresses "empathy light," when leaders perform empathy for external outcomes instead of practicing it authentically, and why that approach erodes trust.

This conversation is especially relevant for institutional leaders who want stronger communication, better decision follow-through, and a healthier leadership culture in environments where people are stretched thin and reactions run hot.

• What empathy is as a competency and how it differs from sympathy
• Why empathy does not require agreement or abandoning standards
• How to reduce defensiveness through better questions and language choices
• Self-other distinction and why absorbing others' emotions accelerates burnout
• Mindfulness and emotional literacy as leadership tools
• "Empathy lite" and how performative empathy undermines trust
• How leaders can develop empathy through practice, role play, and scenario rehearsal

• Reframing accusatory "why" questions into curiosity-based questions that invite explanation
• The "waves" metaphor for managing constant emotions as a senior leader without burning out
• An executive's post-meeting reset ritual to physically "shake off" emotional residue
• Using breath work or box breathing after emotionally charged interactions

1. Model empathy visibly so others understand what it looks like in your environment.
2. Listen, demonstrate that you heard what was said, and reinforce it through action.
3. Treat perspective-taking as a discipline by learning to see issues through multiple stakeholder lenses.

Read the extended show summary or transcript: https://changinghighered.com/empathy-in-higher-education-leadership/

#HigherEducation #HigherEducationLeadership #EmpathyInEducation

In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Dan Predoehl, 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 role is increasingly necessary to align enrollment strategy with institutional mission, student success, and long-term viability.

Drawing on experience across community colleges and four-year institutions, the discussion examines how enrollment, retention, completion, workforce alignment, and equity outcomes are shaped by leadership structure—not just tactics.

Topics Covered:

• Why enrollment is a system, not a department

• How diffused responsibility undermines retention and completion

• The limits of presidential oversight without executive enrollment ownership

• How workforce alignment strengthens enrollment strategy

• Why open access increases the need for strategic focus

• The role faculty partnership plays in sustainable enrollment management

Three Key Takeaways for Higher Education Leaders:

• Enrollment outcomes reflect system design, not individual office performance

• Retention, completion, and workforce alignment are core enrollment responsibilities

• Institutions risk long-term instability when enrollment lacks clear executive ownership

This episode is especially relevant for presidents, provosts, enrollment leaders, and senior administrators looking beyond short-term fixes toward structural solutions to enrollment pressure.

Read the transcript and extended show summary:
https://changinghighered.com/chief-enrollment-management-officer-in-higher-education/

#HigherEducation #EnrollmentManagement #HigherEducationPodcast