Next Practices

Student success rarely belongs to just one office or one team. The real challenge is getting people across an institution to work toward the same goals while still bringing their own expertise and perspective to the table. When that happens, individual efforts can become something much bigger. Today's guest, Tara Stopfel Warden, knows that challenge well. Tara is Assistant Vice Provost for Enrollm...

Federal accountability is putting more pressure on colleges to show strong career outcomes. The problem is that the clearest employment data often arrives after graduation, when there is little time left to change the result. In this episode, we look at how UT San Antonio is trying to see career readiness earlier through a real-time career readiness index built with Civitas Learning. You'll hear f...

Career readiness can no longer be treated as something students pursue only if they happen to walk into a career center. As colleges and universities face growing expectations around employment outcomes, institutions are being challenged to think differently about how they prepare students for life after graduation. That means moving career development into the broader academic experience and givi...

AI agents are moving from answering questions to taking action across higher education. In this edition of Signals , we look at what institutions should consider before trusting AI to act on behalf of their teams and students. You'll learn: Why the data and intelligence behind an AI agent matter as much as what it can automate Five questions to ask when evaluating agentic AI How AI can create more...

Data can reveal patterns, but it can't tell the whole story. In higher education, where decisions about budgets, programs, staffing, and student success carry real consequences, relying on the numbers alone can leave out the context that matters most. The better approach may be to use data to identify what needs attention, then bring people into the conversation to understand why it's happening an...

Higher education leaders are taking a harder look at every technology investment. In this edition of Signals , we explore a recent EdTech Insiders analysis that argues every platform should be able to answer three questions: Does it improve the top or bottom line? Does it build trust around AI? Has it earned its place? We discuss why usage metrics aren't enough, how institutions can evaluate techn...

Colleges have spent years building programs to help students succeed, but having support available does not always mean students can actually use it. Work schedules, commuting, family responsibilities, and the realities of everyday life can make traditional office hours and campus-based resources difficult to access. That raises a different question for higher education. Instead of asking why stud...

What if waiting is the bigger risk? In this edition of Signals , we explore the hidden cost of delaying student success investments. Every semester of inaction carries both a human cost and a financial one—from missed opportunities to support students to millions in unrealized tuition revenue. You'll also hear lessons from a higher ed IT leader on how to avoid the wrong technology investment, and...

A student can do everything asked of them to get into college and still arrive unprepared for what comes next. Even when tuition is covered, college can still become expensive fast. Students may be dealing with late refunds, work hours, family responsibilities, and costs they never saw coming. For first-generation students, there is often an emotional side too. They are trying to fit into a new wo...

Higher education is under pressure to prove impact. But many institutions struggle with a different challenge: turning isolated wins into lasting momentum. In this Signals audio edition, we explore what the 2026 Student Success Impact Report reveals about the difference between quick wins and systems that keep producing results. We unpack why only 40–60% of student success initiatives lead to meas...

Technology implementation can shape how well colleges and universities support students, but the process is rarely as simple as choosing a platform and turning it on. Behind every successful deployment are questions about data, integration, trust, support, and whether the technology actually helps teams do their work better. In this episode, we talk with Linda Kucinski, business analyst and liaiso...

Higher education is being flooded with AI pitches. Agents. Automation. Efficiency at scale. But the question most demos skip is the one that determines whether any of it works: what is the agent actually acting on? In this Signals audio edition, we explore why the gap between automation and outcomes isn't a product feature — it's an intelligence problem. Drawing on Lawrence Technological Universit...

Building a student-ready college takes more than good intentions. It requires us to look honestly at the systems students are trying to navigate and ask whether those systems are helping them move forward or quietly creating barriers along the way. Our guest today is Dr. Michelle Nelson, Dean of Student Success at Macomb Community College in Michigan. She is a native Detroiter, the first in her fa...

Higher education has become remarkably resilient. Institutions have weathered enrollment declines, funding pressures, and years of disruption. But resilience has a limitation: it restores systems to their previous state. It doesn't necessarily improve them. In this Signals audio edition, we explore why the institutions making the most progress aren't focused on getting back to normal—they're askin...

Higher ed leaders talk a lot about student success, but the real work often happens in the spaces between departments. When academic affairs and student affairs operate separately, students can feel the gaps in everything from advising and course scheduling to basic needs support and completion pathways. This conversation looks at what can happen when those two sides of the institution stop workin...

Most retention conversations end when the numbers go up. But the real work often begins after institutions hit their goals. In this Signals audio edition, we explore what some researchers are calling higher education's "plateau era" — a moment where demographic pressure, funding constraints, and changing student behavior mean the easy retention gains are behind most institutions. Drawing from the...

Artificial intelligence is moving so quickly that it can feel hard to know what's useful, what's hype, and what's actually worth bringing into the work we do with students. But one of the most important questions may not be what AI can do. It may be whether it helps us create more meaningful human connection, or quietly pulls us further away from it. My guest today is Chadd Engel from Waubonsee Co...

Most buying conversations in higher education start with features. Dashboards. Alerts. Predictions. AI capabilities. But stronger evaluations ask a different question: Will this system actually help our institution coordinate action? In this audio edition of Signals, we explore why lasting impact depends on more than platform capabilities alone. Drawing from recent Inside Higher Ed and EDUCAUSE re...

Retention is often treated like a finish line, where you hit the number and move on. This conversation pushes back on that. When outcomes improve, the work doesn't settle down, it gets more precise. The obvious fixes are gone, and what's left takes more attention, better questions, and a willingness to keep testing things that aren't guaranteed to work. John Rindy, Assistant Vice President for Car...

Most implementations focus on reaching go-live. But the real test often begins after launch. In this Signals audio edition, we look at the handoff no one talks about: the space between what technology can do and what teams actually do with it. Through Lawrence Technological University's six-week Civitas Learning deployment story, we explore why speed matters, why structure matters more, and why pa...

This Signals edition — adapted for audio in the Next Practices feed — explores a question many institutions are facing: What does it actually take to sustain student success gains over time? Six years ago, Slippery Rock University was told that improving retention by a single percentage point wasn't realistic. This fall, they reached 86.4% — the highest in their history. The number matters. What's...

This Signals newsletter edition — adapted for audio in the Next Practices feed — explores a common challenge across higher education: If your teams can see risk, why does action still stall? Early-alert systems and predictive insights are now widespread. But visibility alone doesn't improve outcomes. When insight doesn't clarify what comes first, momentum fades. In this edition of Signals , we exa...

This Signals newsletter edition — adapted for audio in the Next Practices feed — explores a common challenge across higher education: If insight is clear, why doesn't action follow? Institutions have more data and analytics than ever. But when insight doesn't move cleanly across teams and systems, it stalls — losing urgency, clarity, and impact. In this edition of Signals, we examine why the real...

This Signals newsletter edition — adapted for audio in the Next Practices feed — explores a common challenge across higher education: If teams can see risk, why does action still stall? Early-alert tools are now widespread across campuses, but visibility alone doesn't improve outcomes. What matters is whether insight arrives early enough, with enough context, to help teams prioritize what to do ne...

This Signals newsletter edition — adapted for audio in the Next Practices feed — examines why alignment is the real lever behind student success. Drawing from Aesop's The Lion and the Mouse and insights from Slippery Rock University, we explore how responsiveness, trust, and partnership determine whether effort compounds or stalls.