The Connected College Podcast with Elliot Felix

Elliot Felix
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The Connected College Podcast provides leadership strategies for student success. Join Elliot Felix for insightful interviews with higher ed innovators along with the stories, stats, and strategies he's learned as a consultant to 100+ institutions. Let's create better connected colleges and universities where students find belonging, feel supported, and connect their courses to rewarding careers.

  1. 22h ago

    Introducing “Ask AI Elliot” Your 24/7 Virtual Coach on Creating Connected Colleges

    How can a virtual coach help you create better connected colleges, eliminate departmental silos, and redesign facilities and technology to drive measurable student success? In this special episode of The Connected College Podcast, Elliot interviews his AI Self to give you a sense of how it can help. They talk about effective strategic planning, agile organizational design, harnessing technology for student success, sustainable support services and staffing, campus facilities for student success, and creating company and community connections. Let's explore how modern higher education leaders can bridge silos, streamline technology, and optimize campus facilities to build a truly connected college. Episode highlights include: [2:28] Effective Strategic Planning - Learn how to use scenario planning and Roger Martin’s “Opposites test” to build actionable institutional plans. [5:20] Agile Organizational Design - Discover strategies for breaking down departmental silos and reorganizing around core service models. [7:21] Harnessing Technology for Student Success - Explore methods to audit campus systems, curb digital sprawl, and integrate targeted AI tools. [9:43] Sustainable Support Services and Staffing - Uncover approaches to eliminate administrative friction, prevent burnout, and foster communities of practice. [12:04] Campus Facilities for Student Success - Examine how active learning classrooms and co-located support hubs boost retention and student belonging. [14:06] Creating company and community connections through relationship-based recruiting, experiential learning, research, and shared spaces. Check out "Ask AI Elliot" – https://www.elliotfelix.com/ask-ai-elliot

  2. Sep 29

    Mario Rewers and Paul Stob on How Debating Dangerous Ideas Leads to Student Success

    How can colleges and universities design courses that foster constructive debate on controversial topics? What strategies effectively build psychological safety while encouraging students to engage with opposing viewpoints? How does practicing civil discourse prepare students and build skills to navigate complex societal and technological changes? We talk through these with Mario Rewers and Paul Stob, Professors at Vanderbilt University who teach a course called "Free Speech, Dangerous Ideas." Together, they outline actionable approaches for utilizing tech-free spaces, small-group deliberation, and active modeling to cultivate intellectual humility and durable skills for student success. Episode Highlights include: [04:45] Designing a "Big Tent" Course for Controversial Dialogue - Vanderbilt professors structure their 125-student course around small table groupings and guest speakers to debate real-world issues. [07:34] Fostering Psychological Safety in a Tech-Free Environment - Implementing a strict no-tech policy allows students to voice provocative ideas without the fear of going viral online. [17:04] Building Durable Life Skills Through Civil Discourse - Open deliberation equips students with intellectual humility and essential collaboration skills for navigating professional and civic spaces. [20:27] Debunking Free Speech Myths on Campus - The discussion highlights how college students are eager to grapple with challenging issues across political lines rather than avoiding them. [31:53] Human Connection and Liberal Education in the Age of AI - Face-to-face interaction and open-ended debate teach students to navigate ambiguity and think critically in an automated world.

  3. Sep 15 ·  Bonus

    Elliot Felix on AI and the Student Experience

    How are colleges and universities responding to the evolving artificial intelligence landscape, how policy choices truly drive student adoption, and what can institutions learn from each other? How can institutions identify, support, and collaborate with internal "lead users" at the forefront to transform the student experience? How do we scale peer-to-peer learning and engage frontline staff without simply adding administrative complexity? In this episode originally recorded as a webinar for EDUCAUSE, Elliot Felix explores real-world institutional examples, actionable strategies for discovering campus innovators, and frameworks for scaling change through strategic alignment, peer engagement, and intentional collaboration. Episode Highlights include: [03:29] Policy Drives Adoption - Clear institutional encouragement and supportive policies can triple student AI engagement compared to standard environments. [06:16] Real-World Retention Gains - Institutions utilizing AI-driven transfer tools and conversational chatbots report significant increases in credit transfer efficiency and student retention. [11:47] Innovating with Lead Users - Finding grass-roots campus innovators allows institutions to observe bleeding-edge practices and scale homegrown solutions across departments. [18:46] Engaging Frontline Staff - Successfully adopting new tools requires emphasizing relative advantage and directly addressing everyday operational pain points for staff. [24:55] Innovating Beyond Addition - Modern higher ed transformation requires sunsetting legacy programs and consolidating resources rather than continually adding administrative complexity.

  4. Sep 1

    Ania Peczalska on Assessment as Campus Connector

    How can assessment serve as a campus connector rather than just a compliance requirement? How do disaggregating student data and building cross-departmental relationships drive student success across higher education? We talk through these with Ania Peczalska, the Director of Institutional Effectiveness at University of Kentucky. Together, we explore actionable strategies for overcoming survey fatigue, tailoring outreach to diverse student populations, building trust across administrative divisions, and leveraging artificial intelligence as a thought partner to strengthen institutional assessment. Episode Highlights include: [01:40] Assessment as a Campus Connector - Ania Peczalska shares how data can break down institutional silos and connect academic and student affairs divisions. [05:20] The Pitfall of One-Size-Fits-All - Discover why standardized success models fail to address individual student needs, goals, and obligations. [08:08] The Power of Disaggregating Data - Learn how breaking down survey data by sub-populations exposes key differences in resource usage and student preferences. [14:25] Strategies for Fighting Survey Fatigue - Ania discusses how clear messaging, partner collaboration, and small incentives yielded high response rates. [21:40] Navigating AI in Institutional Assessment - Explore how artificial intelligence can be utilized as a research assistant and thought partner while addressing its impact on learning outcomes.

  5. Aug 25 ·  Bonus

    Carrie West, Jeff Doyle, and Elliot Felix on Building First Gen Belonging

    How can higher education institutions foster a deeper sense of belonging for first-generation students through connected programs, services, and physical spaces? What national trends and campus-level strategies best empower first gen success? We talk through these with Carrie West, Director of Campus Planning, Design, and Construction at UT Austin, and Jeff Doyle, former leader at UT Austin and current Vice President at Marymount University. Together, we explore how holistic approaches, cross-departmental collaboration, peer coaching networks, and strategic facility design can break down administrative silos and improve first generation student recruitment and retention. [Recorded live at the NASPA Student Success in Higher Education Conference in June 2026] Episode Highlights include: [03:15] National Belonging Data - Elliot Felix outlines national survey trends connecting student belonging to increased graduation rates. [07:46] Peer Success Coaching - Jeff Doyle shares how peer coaching and parent webinars build critical social capital for first-gen students. [11:58] Living-Learning Communities - UT Austin demonstrates how targeted residential communities and laptop checkout programs foster immediate connection. [18:07] Co-Locating Support Services - Carrie West explains how embedding academic centers like Sanger directly within residential halls increases service utilization. [22:13] Activating Outdoor Spaces - UT Austin leverages exterior campus corridors with seating and food trucks to spark organic community interactions. Download presentation: https://www.elliotfelix.com/podcast-collection/ep123-carrie-west-jeff-doyle-and-elliot-felix-on-building-first-gen-belonging-connected-college

  6. Aug 18

    Alexis Redding on Designing Better Transitions to College

    As we think about how students transition to college, how do we set expectations, how do we support students, and how is this all changing with social media – including for the better in some ways? We talk through these questions with Alexis Redding, developmental psychologist at Harvard's Graduate School of Education who co-leads their Transition to Adulthood Lab and edited the new book Mental Health in College: What Research Tells Us About Supporting Students. Discover how to dismantle perfectionist myths, support students through typical developmental hurdles, and build a stronger sense of campus belonging. Episode Highlights include: [04:33] Debunking the mythology of the best four years - Alexis Redding explains why normalizing the difficulty of transition is essential for student success. [08:31] Rethinking program calendars with the W-curve - Why colleges need to extend student programming beyond orientation week into the mid-semester dip. [12:45] Leveraging sense of belonging as a key outcome - How meaningful campus connections ensure struggling students are noticed and connected to resources. [23:37] Decoupling developmental challenges from clinical mental health care - A five-question framework to help faculty distinguish expected struggles from crisis situations. [30:53] Centering student voices in campus design - Why institutions must gather and act on student feedback from day one to preserve institutional resources. The book Alexis edited: Mental Health in College: What Research Tells Us About Supporting Students https://hep.gse.harvard.edu/9798895570753/mental-health-in-college/

  7. Aug 10

    Sarah Williams on Creating Connected Student Journeys

    How can higher education institutions connect the entire student lifecycle from applicants through alumni using a unified technology platform? How can consolidating systems curb digital sprawl while enhancing user experience and improving data quality and lowering costs? We talk through these with Sarah Williams, Product Manager and Interim Associate Dean for Online Education at the University of Utah. Discover how leveraging role-based access, overcoming political data silos, and deploying personalized platforms and communications can transform student engagement, streamline operations, and support continuous institutional improvement across campus departments. Episode Highlights include: [05:51] Breaking down institutional data silos - Sarah Williams outlines how unifying data across departments creates a continuous student journey. [09:15] Segmenting communication to eliminate noise - Moving away from blanket emails toward targeted notifications improves student engagement and safety alerts. [14:22] Creating a unified platform for all audiences - The University of Utah consolidated multiple separate apps into a single personalized entry point. [14:24] Selecting Pathify to drive role-based personalization - Replacing three expired software contracts with one unified platform enabled custom views for over 350 campus roles. [25:56] Preventing portal overload through dynamic user design - Prioritizing user personas ensures heavy amounts of campus content remain organized and relevant.

  8. Aug 6

    Stacia Edwards and Daniel Serota on Successful Degree Apprenticeships

    What does it take to build, operate, and scale a successful degree apprenticeship program? How can higher education institutions and employers collaborate to drive student retention, mobility, and career growth? We talk through these with Stacia Edwards the Deputy Provost at City Colleges of Chicago and Daniel Serota the Vice President of Government Affairs at Aon. Together, they outline actionable strategies for managing curriculum, providing wraparound support, solving the early-career experience catch-22, and scaling regional employer networks to future-proof the workforce in the age of AI. Episode Highlights include: [4:16] Sector-Based Campus Alignment - City Colleges of Chicago organizes specialized programs across campuses so regional employers have a single clear entry point. [7:01] Solving Corporate Early-Career Retention - Aon introduced degree apprenticeships to overcome high turnover in entry-level roles while building local talent pipelines. [12:45] The Earn-and-Learn Funding Model - Employer partners fund full tuition, books, and salary, offering a direct path to full-time employment upon graduation. [18:01] Centralizing Partnerships with an Apprenticeship Office - Creating an internal hub acts as an "easy button" to handle scheduling, curriculum updates, and student support. [26:27] Scaling via the Four-Pillar Moonshot - City Colleges of Chicago targets 1,000 annual apprentices by expanding pre-apprenticeships, recruitment, and employer-of-record models. References: 1. Daniel’s Op-ed “Apprenticeship is the future of work, even in an AI economy” https://www.chicagobusiness.com/elevate/ccb-apprenticeship-value-ai-economy-20260511/ 2. Chicago Apprenticeship Network “Starter Guide” https://www.chicagoapprenticenetwork.org/assets/membersAndPartners/Apprenticeship%20Starter%20Guide.pdf 3. Elliot Op-Ed with Dana Stephenson from Riipen on “Internship bottleneck: How to break the work experience Catch-22” https://universitybusiness.com/internship-bottleneck-how-to-break-the-work-experience-catch-22/

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The Connected College Podcast provides leadership strategies for student success. Join Elliot Felix for insightful interviews with higher ed innovators along with the stories, stats, and strategies he's learned as a consultant to 100+ institutions. Let's create better connected colleges and universities where students find belonging, feel supported, and connect their courses to rewarding careers.

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