Geeking out about higher ed since 2013.
Our guest this week is Melis Limes aka “The Girl with Beer” who speaks with Dustin about her journey into the craft beer world and how she was able to define her career through digital media.
Confidence Code by Katty Kay
Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard
Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, or Google Play.
Music by pond5.com
Our guest this week is Gino Ferrand, founder and CEO of Tecla, where he helps recruit remote talent for companies. We explore his journey and how remote work is changing the way people work, why it is important, and how we works with companies to integrate remote teams.
Remote, Office Not Required by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hanson
Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games by Jamie Madigan
Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, or Google Play.
Music by pond5.com
Our guest this week is Tara Gilboa, who spoke about her journey in education through teaching, instructional design, and studying abroad.
The Flat World & Education, Linda-Darling Hammond
Range, David Epstein
Originals, Adam Grant
Give & Take, Adam Grant
Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, or Google Play.
Music by pond5.com
Over the past few months, I’ve worked with, spoke with, and visited with several different higher ed tech companies. Obviously I’ve worked in this space myself for the past nearly three years, but through this experience, I’ve garnered a unique perspective on our greater ecosystem in higher ed.
Coming up through traditional campus based student affairs, I had no idea what was out there. Learning more about all the different organizations that help support the mission of institutions was helpful to appreciate how important these partnerships are. Done right, they augment our work with students. They don’t replace it.
With that being said, there are other valuable lessons I took to heart as I met with various folks in higher ed tech that I hope can resonate with other campus based professionals.
I’ve found it to be far more ubiquitous in the ed tech world to have the best tools to support our work. It helps with everything from collaboration, communication, expenses, HR, analytics, and student support. It seems like it is just a different mindset for the most part. Nothing is preventing campuses from using most of these tools (I know privacy can be a big concern). A lot of them have catered to colleges, there just needs to be the willingness to invest the time and energy in implementing it. We can often experience a lot of inertia with our processes, especially in higher ed. Now more than ever with the disruptive demographic challenges and competitive marketplace for students, we need to make sure we’re doing the best work we can to recruit and retain students. We also need to be doing this in the most efficient way possible with modern tools on our side. Take a look at tools like Workday, Slack, Salesforce, Presence, Roompact, Zoom, and AdmitHub.
Something else that is fairly fundamental to ed tech teams is a remote first policy. I currently work fully remote for a company that is mostly remote. It’s been a great perk to have this flexibility to work wherever and however will allow me to be the most productive. This is a topic I’ve written about before and it is even getting notice from places like Inside Higher Ed. I won’t belabor the point again here, but we really need to consider this more so that we can attract and keep high quality talent.
The last point I’d like the emphasize is that for anyone looking to work in higher ed but having trouble finding a good fit, there is a wide array of different jobs out there now. So many organizations want people with formal campus based experience to bring that perspective to their team. Whether it is working directly with campuses for support, doing trainings, marketing, or back end admin support, there is a place for everyone in higher ed tech. I’ve greatly appreciated still being able to support student success while being able to work in a far more healthy environment for me.
I think about this topic a lot and have for a while. I wrote as a contributor to the Defectors series a few years ago which has been a great insight into the experiences of other folks in this space. Something else to note here is that just because you leave a campus based role doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t ever go back. I know of some people who have gone back and forth. You can certainly contribute valuable knowledge coming back that you perhaps may never been able to garner otherwise.
I hope that we can get to a place where the ed tech space is discussed in graduate programs. I hope we get rid of “vendor” as a dirty word at conferences. I hope we can aspire to be a more adaptable field that can measure up to the expectations our students have of us to be digital, nimble, accessible, and responsive. I hope everyone who wants to stay and work in higher ed can find environments that appreciate them and jobs that fulfill them.
I’m always happy to discuss this further with anyone interested. Please connect with me if you have questions!
Our guest this week is Eric Olsen from Helix Education and host of the Enrollment Growth University podcast! This is a really fun chat exploring marketing, digital education, and the future of higher ed.
Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson
Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, or Google Play.
Music by pond5.com
Our guest this week is Melissa Ruiz from our good friends at Swift Kick! She speaks about her journey to being a speaker, how her college experience at Rutgers shaped her and what’s she working on now to help expand access to high quality fitness experiences.
Upstairs at the White House by JB West & Mary Lynn Kotz
Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, or Google Play.
Music by pond5.com
Our guest this week is Anne Trumbore who works with Wharton Online but has a long history working in digital higher education and a unique journey of how she got into the field.
House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
AI Superpowers by Dr. Kai-Fu Lee
Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, or Google Play.
Music by pond5.com
Our guest this week is another repeat guest of mine from the SAC podcast days, Kevin Forch! It was great to catch up with Kevin and hear more about his story as he has built his career and family out in Nebraska.
Insight by Tasha Eurich
Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, or Google Play.
Music by pond5.com
In this episode, we give a brief update on the past few months and what listeners can look forward to this season.
Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, or Google Play.
Music by pond5.com
Our guest this week is Dr. Saby Labor, the founder & CEO of Resilient Campus as well as a director of an LGBTQ campus resource center. We speak about her journey and what is grabbing her attention right now. Check out everything we mention in this episode:
Bright City by DC Edwards
The Binti Series by Nnedi Okorafor
Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, or Google Play.
Music by pond5.com