Higher Ed Pulse

Mallory Willsea
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Higher Ed Pulse is your weekly no-fluff guide to AI in higher ed. Higher ed leaders are expected to master AI overnight. But let’s be real — no one has time to sift through every headline, hot take, or research report. That’s why every Monday, we break down what actually matters — fast, clear, and to the point. Want to sound like the smartest person in the room? You’re in the right place. Higher Ed Pulse is hosted by Mallory Willsea and is a proud member of the Enrollify Podcast Network.

  1. 2d ago ·  Bonus

    Pulse Check: The Alignment Gap (Beyond the Org Chart) — Pt 3

    The Alignment Gap: Beyond The Org Chart — Pt 3: How Much Is Misalignment Costing Your Campus? What's the price of a recruitment promise your institution can't deliver? A program closure nobody told marketing about? A strategic plan that sends your brand campaign back to the drawing board? In this Part 3 of The Alignment Gap, Jenny Petty trades her podcast host hat for a game-show host hat and challenges three higher ed marketing leaders to play The Price Is Wrong. Leah Wong of Gustavus Adolphus College, Russell Yost of the University of San Diego, and Graham Garner of Valencia College compete to guess the cost of common campus missteps, from lost tuition revenue to reputational damage. Along the way, they explore the difference between making a difficult decision and avoiding one, share their own alignment confessions, and offer practical ways to bring campus leaders together before the next expensive mistake. Because when institutions aren't aligned, someone always pays the price. Get Your Own the Alignment Index™ How aligned is your institution, and where might disconnected decisions be costing you? Explore SimpsonScarborough's Alignment Index™, a framework for understanding and addressing the gaps between institutional priorities, teams, and execution. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too! Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  2. 5d ago

    The Invisible Applicant

    Today's episode revisits Mallory's recent keynote from the 2026 AI Engage Fall Summit, “The Invisible Applicant.” During the keynote, Mallory argues that students decide before schools can see them as AI shifts discovery into the search answer layer and shrinks response windows. Through stories of Jen, Mark, and Maya, plus research on declining clicks, rising AI search use, and stealth applicants, it outlines four moves: show up in AI answers, defend brand beyond attribution, maintain one complete source-of-truth program page, and use automation for speed while placing humans where decisions get hard. Watch the full session: https://youtu.be/ahJufRycvZY - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too! Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  3. Nov 5 ·  Bonus

    Pulse Check: The Alignment Gap (Beyond the Org Chart) — Pt 2

    Back on Episode 1, Dr. Marcus Collins talked about culture as the real operating system of an organization. On this Episode 2, we ask how you actually measure it. Jenny Petty moves to the guest seat, and Dayana Kibilds takes over the mic to ask about the Alignment Index, the tool Jenny built after years of hearing that “we’re overwhelmed” never changed anything on campus. So far, no institution has scored Aligned. Human Load, the cost of people absorbing work the system should carry, scores lowest everywhere, and half of institutions name it as their biggest gap. Jenny explains how the index fits inside a full org assessment, why the org chart comes last, and where a CMO can start: one small, messy intersection where decisions collide. Are you a CMO? Take the free Alignment Index and see how your team scores. Then join CoLab, SimpsonScarborough’s community for higher ed marketing leaders to watch the replay of our aggregate results.   - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too! Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  4. Nov 2

    Millennial Parents Expect More Than a Portal

    Mallory speaks with Amber Kennedy, Executive Director for Content & Strategy at William & Mary, about the gap in college communications with parents post-enrollment. While institutions heavily court parents during recruitment, communications often fragment once students enroll. The discussion covers how modern digital expectations, safety alerts, and commencement messaging highlight the need for cohesive parent communication strategies that balance student independence with family inclusion. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too! Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  5. Oct 29 ·  Bonus

    Pulse Check: The Alignment Gap (Beyond the Org Chart) — Pt 1

    Welcome to the debut episode of this new Pulse Check series, The Alignment Gap: Beyond The Org Chart.  This is Part 1: Why Culture, Not Structure, Is The Real Operating System. Host Jenny Petty is joined by Dr. Marcus Collins, Michigan Ross professor and author of For the Culture and the upcoming Good Soil.  We open the series with a history lesson that reframes everything: the org chart wasn't born in a boardroom. It was invented after a 1940s train collision in Massachusetts, drawn to fix a communication breakdown between crews sharing the same track — and it looked nothing like the pyramid we use today. It was a tree, built bottom-up from the people doing the work. Somewhere along the way we inverted it, and now we default to structure first, hoping strategy falls out of it — backwards from what the research actually tells us: structure should follow strategy, not stand in for it. From there, Dr. Collins takes the conversation somewhere more interesting than reporting lines. Using the language of theater — "front stage" and "backstage" — he makes the case that culture is the real operating system underneath any org chart, and that misalignment happens the moment what an institution says (front stage) outpaces what it actually practices (backstage). We talk about what it looks like when that gap closes almost entirely, what belief has to do with segmentation and brand strength, and why a CMO with no authority over HR, budget, or academic affairs isn't powerless — because leadership, done right, is influence without authority. It's a conversation that starts with a train wreck and ends with a working definition of what alignment actually requires: shared belief, demonstrated consistently, from the top down. What we cover: The real origin of the org chart — and how a communication fix became a symbol of control"Structure follows strategy": why most institutions do it in reverseFront stage vs. backstage: how culture becomes the tell when belief and behavior don't matchBelief as the actual unit of alignment — and why segmentation, brand strength, and trust all trace back to itLeading without authority: why a CMO's job is influence and inspiration, not controlPurchase Dr. Marcus Collins’ new book, Good Soil here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/marcus-collins/good-soil/9781668662199/ - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too! Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  6. Oct 26

    Is Your Social Data Driving Decisions?

    Mallory is joined by Perry Rockwood, Social Media Manager at BYU-Idaho, to explore how his team uses weekly engagement data like saves and shares to shape content strategy. Perry shares insights on shifting away from shallow metrics, making tough decisions to cut low-performing faculty series, and leveraging student-generated TikTok content to build trust and authenticity.  - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too! Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  7. Oct 22 ·  Bonus

    Pulse Check: What Do We Really Need? — Pt 5

    Pulse Check: What Do We Really Need? — Pt 5: We Need to Be Bolder “We need to be bolder” can mean something different to everyone reviewing a higher education marketing campaign. Before a team can act on that feedback, it needs to understand what the institution wants to change and what it is prepared to stand behind.In the final episode of What Do We Really Need?, Ologie Marketing Director Erin Fields talks with Doug Edwards, Ologie’s Chief Strategy Officer, about turning that request into useful direction. Doug explains how the conversation changes depending on whether an institution is tired of its current messaging, has outgrown its brand, or needs to respond to a changing market. Erin and Doug explore why a familiar story may still be taking root with audiences even as the marketing team grows bored with it. They also discuss the tension between competing institutional priorities and how finding their overlap can lead to stronger creative work. Through Ologie’s work with the University of Maryland’s Forward fundraising campaign, they consider how an institution can build on existing pride while giving donors a clear reason to invest in what comes next.The conversation closes with specificity and accountability. A concrete promise gives people something they can understand, experience, and evaluate. Doug offers a useful starting point for bolder work: make the institution’s ambitions clear, show the evidence behind them, and connect their impact to everyday life. Guest Name: Doug Edwards, Chief Strategy Officer at Ologie Guest Social: Doug’s LinkedIn Guest Bio: Doug Edwards is Chief Strategy Officer at Ologie, where he helps colleges and universities clarify what they want to be known for and bring that direction into their marketing. With a background in visual communication design, he approaches strategy through curiosity, research, and creative problem-solving. His work connects institutional ambitions with the stories and experiences that make them meaningful to audiences, including Ologie’s work on the University of Maryland’s Forward fundraising campaign. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too! Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  8. Oct 19

    The Alumni Program That Measured Joy

    Mallory speaks with Anna Mottice, Director for Advancement Operations and Strategic Engagement at Antioch University, to explore the key insights Anna learned from overhauling alumni engagement at OHSU Foundation, including applying hospitality principles and experience design inspired by theater and consumer brands. She discusses navigating resistance from legacy donors, phasing major programmatic changes over three years, and redefining success around metrics like pride and joy. Tune in to discover how starting small with intentional touchpoints creates momentum for lasting institutional change. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too! Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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About

Higher Ed Pulse is your weekly no-fluff guide to AI in higher ed. Higher ed leaders are expected to master AI overnight. But let’s be real — no one has time to sift through every headline, hot take, or research report. That’s why every Monday, we break down what actually matters — fast, clear, and to the point. Want to sound like the smartest person in the room? You’re in the right place. Higher Ed Pulse is hosted by Mallory Willsea and is a proud member of the Enrollify Podcast Network.

Information

  • Creator
    Mallory Willsea
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    600
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Enrollify
  • Show Website
    Higher Ed Pulse

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