The Rant Podcast

Eloy Ortiz Oakley

A bi-weekly podcast focused on pulling back the curtain on the American higher education system and breaking down the people, the policies and the politics. The podcast host, Eloy Ortiz Oakley, is a known innovator and leader in higher education. The podcast will not pull any punches as it delves into tough questions about the culture, politics and policies of our higher education system. 

  1. 6日前

    Hurtling Toward Change

    Send us Fan Mail Higher education feels like it’s moving on fast forward and the last year has been proof. We’re taking a moment to say thank you to everyone who’s watched, listened, subscribed, and helped grow The Rant Podcast across nearly 80 episodes, and then we pivot to what’s coming next as the education marketplace gets reshaped in real time. Conference season is here, and whether you’re headed to the ASU GSV Summit, Ellucian Live, or any gathering in the higher ed universe, one topic keeps taking over every hallway conversation: AI in higher education. I talk through why artificial intelligence is showing up everywhere from student experience and institutional data strategy to day to day fears about what happens to jobs. We also dig into the real opportunity if we get this right: using AI to lower the cost of providing education, reach more learners, and create more personal learning experiences for working adults, military learners, and students balancing life and school. I also share what we’re wrestling with in philanthropy and workforce development, and why state leaders are now treating AI and postsecondary attainment as economic strategy. A new report we’re publishing with Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce will spotlight the economic impact of not reaching more working learners in California and what that signal could mean for the rest of the country. If you care about college access, affordability, economic mobility, and practical ways technology can strengthen learning across a lifetime, hit play. Subscribe, share the show with a colleague, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations. eloy@4leggedmedia.com

    8分
  2. 2月17日

    How University Of Phoenix Is Redefining Online Learning For Working Learners

    Send us Fan Mail Forget the clichés about online college. We take a clear-eyed look at the University of Phoenix with CIO Jamie Smith and unpack how how the university is rebuilding around a simple rule: design for working learners by assuming school is the third priority after family and work. That shift changes everything—from the reliability of the tech stack to the tone of a nudge—and it’s driving a wave of practical innovation that blends human care with AI “bionics.” Jamie shares how Phoenix differentiates through a clean, multi-petabyte data foundation, long-honed risk models, and a relentless focus on reducing friction outside the classroom. We explore why generic AI often fails without trustworthy data, how to set legal and ethical guardrails in a regulated space, and what it means to “build it in, not bolt it on.” You’ll hear concrete examples, from celebratory confetti that actually boosts motivation to skills-mapped coursework that flags when a learner is job-ready—then points to local openings. Culture is the other headline. Phoenix carved out weekly “AI leverage time” so engineers could experiment, document, and demo progress, while also opening safe on-ramps for non-technical teams to build useful tools without creating security headaches. Looking ahead, Jamie sketches a near future of zero-UI experiences and personal GPT copilots that know a student’s goals and rhythms, escalating to human advisors when nuance matters. We close with pragmatic advice for traditional universities under enrollment pressure: strengthen data, clarify ambitions, avoid vendor sprawl, and move IT from back-office to strategic co-leadership. If this conversation reshaped how you see online learning, subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review to tell us what you want explored next. https://www.phoenix.edu/ eloy@4leggedmedia.com

    37分
  3. 1月27日

    From Classroom Hours To Competencies: How WGU And Calbright Build Value For Working Learners

    Send us Fan Mail Skills without progress are just potential. We sat down with WGU Provost Courtney Hills McBeth and Calbright College President and CEO Ajita Talwalker Menon to break down how competency-based education turns learning into jobs, promotions, and lasting economic value for working adults. No hype—just practical models that measure what you can do, not how long you sat in class. We dig into two complementary approaches: WGU’s course-based CBE that maps to the credit hour, and Calbright’s direct assessment for short-term, skills-forward credentials. Both start from the same promise: meet learners where they are, honor prior knowledge, and personalize the path using AI, data dashboards, and one-to-one mentorship. You’ll hear how faculty roles are redesigned around proactive support, how pacing flexes with life and work, and how durable skills like problem solving and communication anchor technical training to outlast industry shifts. Economic mobility runs through every choice. WGU won’t launch programs without strong regional job demand and tracks factored graduate return to keep tuition low and value high. Calbright broadens the definition of outcomes to include wage gains, career pivots, benefits, and flexibility—because security is more than a paycheck. We also spotlight embedded work-based learning at scale: simulations, micro-internships, clinicals, and teacher apprenticeships at WGU, plus Calbright’s Career Bridge projects with partners like Riipen and HubSpot that produce real portfolio artifacts and references. Accreditation is changing, too. Our guests outline why quality assurance must recognize multiple pathways to outcomes, support speed to market for workforce-aligned programs, and evaluate direct assessment with clear standards. Finally, we talk partnerships—WGU and Calbright are building seamless pathways from short-term credentials to degrees, while employers and rural communities signal where talent is needed most. If you care about adult learners, ROI, and making education count at work, this conversation is your playbook. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review to help more people find the show. WGU.edu Calbright.edu eloy@4leggedmedia.com

    50分
  4. 1月13日

    Public-Private Partnerships As A Path To Economic Mobility with Fernando Bleichmar

    Send us Fan Mail What if the ROI debate could be settled with simple math and clear outcomes? We open the year by pulling apart the “enrollment cliff” narrative and focusing on what actually moves learners forward: affordable, workforce-aligned online programs with measurable value. Our guest, Risepoint CEO Fernando Bleichmar, shares Ipsos data showing average tuition around $20,000, first-year salary gains near $13,000, and compounding earnings growth by year three—plus a surprising stat that more than half of surveyed graduates took no loans. We talk through how regional universities can compete with mega players by designing for the modern learner and linking tightly to local employers. That means building programs around real demand, offering flexible formats, and telling a sharper story to the community. We dig into practical services that make a difference—analytics to spot melt, PR to reach the right audiences, and student experience tools that support persistence—so presidents and deans can focus on teaching and outcomes. AI gets the “human in the loop” treatment here. Faculty can use generative tools to accelerate course design and free up time for high-impact interactions. Marketing adapts as search behavior changes and AI answers reshape discovery. And along the student journey, technology handles speed and personalization while people step in at moments that matter. We also unpack the policy landscape: long-standing federal clarity on public-private partnerships and emerging state frameworks that prioritize transparency and accountability. If you care about economic mobility, regional strength, and real outcomes for working adults, this conversation offers a grounded playbook: start with ROI, build programs for the learners you have, connect to employers, use AI wisely, and measure everything. Subscribe, share with a colleague who needs a fresh strategy, and leave a review to tell us what you want to hear next. https://risepoint.com/ https://risepoint.com/student-roi/ eloy@4leggedmedia.com

    43分
  5. 2025/12/16

    Agentic AI and the Student Experience with Lev Gonick

    Send us Fan Mail What if AI actually made college more human—more supportive, more accessible, and more affordable? We sat down with Arizona State University CIO Lev Gonick to unpack how agentic AI, low-code tools, and faculty communities are transforming the student journey from recruitment to graduation. Lev takes us inside “Agentic AI and the Student Experience,” a standing-room-only event that drew 650+ attendees from 25 countries. The focus wasn’t jargon; it was outcomes. We talk about “Experience AI” as a design principle that keeps value visible: faster curriculum design with human-in-the-loop checks, assessment aligned to skills and competencies, and agents that scout resources, research, and opportunities while faculty sleep. You’ll hear how ASU empowers staff and instructors through CreateAI, a low-code platform that moves innovation closer to the work, and why the university is replacing data silos with “data rivers” that support learners end to end. We also dive deep on trust. Privacy, IP protection, and security aren’t footnotes; they’re the foundation. Lev explains how ASU differentiates its environment from consumer platforms, educates students and faculty on how AI engines operate, and uses principled innovation to set ethical guardrails. The result is a culture that scales experimentation without abandoning accountability. On the access front, we explore how agentic, multimodal recruiting tools help first-gen and low-income students discover pathways, compare programs, and get timely guidance that used to be out of reach. If you care about student success, equity, or the future of learning, this conversation offers a clear, usable playbook: build communities of practice, define your trust posture, pilot targeted use cases, and scale what proves value. Enjoy the episode, share it with a colleague, and if it resonates, subscribe and leave a review so more educators and leaders can find it. https://ai.asu.edu/ eloy@4leggedmedia.com

    31分
  6. 2025/11/25

    Earnings Premium Under The Microscope with Phil Hill

    Send us Fan Mail A single number now threatens to define whether a program survives: does it deliver an earnings premium over a high school diploma? We sit down with Phil Hill to unpack how federal accountability just shifted from dashboards to consequences, why the current metric is misaligned with how real labor markets work, and what leaders must fix before 2026. We break down the design choices that matter—statewide medians versus sub‑state regions, demographic blind spots, and the absence of program cost and debt from the core test. Phil points to stronger models in state systems and long‑running research from Georgetown CEW, then lays out practical steps for negotiated rulemaking that would keep accountability sharp while avoiding collateral damage to open‑access colleges and regionally constrained programs. The conversation turns to graduate loan caps and the end of easy cross‑subsidies. Expect new pricing discipline, tougher portfolio management, and experiments in financing that need safeguards to avoid a repeat of the 2000s. We also map the OPM shakeout: why some giants stumbled, how mid‑market firms are adapting, and where state‑level transparency rules are reshaping contracts. With generative AI accelerating change in curriculum, support, and marketing, universities need partners—and policies—that keep pace without losing sight of honest outcomes. If you care about ROI, mobility, transparency, and the future of online learning, this is your field guide to the next era of higher ed policy. Listen, share with a colleague who owns program strategy, and leave a review telling us which metric you’d add—or drop. https://onedtech.philhillaa.com/ eloy@4leggedmedia.com

    44分

番組について

A bi-weekly podcast focused on pulling back the curtain on the American higher education system and breaking down the people, the policies and the politics. The podcast host, Eloy Ortiz Oakley, is a known innovator and leader in higher education. The podcast will not pull any punches as it delves into tough questions about the culture, politics and policies of our higher education system. 

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