Office Hours With EAB

EAB’s Jeff Schiffman is joined by enrollment consultant Errol Wint and Lindsey Hoyt from Reed College to talk about their respective career journeys in higher education. The three share advice on networking, on how to earn that coveted promotion, and on how to showcase your skills in ways that will resonate with prospective employers. They also urge listeners to listen to your gut and take that le...

EAB’s Abigail Zeiler is joined by Mary Lou Sole and Valerie Martinez from the University of Central Florida College of Nursing to talk about their work together on the Progresando initiative. Through the initiative, UCF is working with EAB, through a generous grant from Bank of America, to increase their capacity to recruit and educate students to meet soaring demand for skilled healthcare workers...

EAB’s Jada Harris and Katie Herrmann discuss the key drivers leading to faculty burnout, all of which stem from a weak workplace culture, not employee shortcomings. The two offer strategies for training deans and department chairs to be more effective at managing the issue. They also share novel approaches being used by a couple of forward-thinking institutions to foster a more supportive working...

EAB’s Wenie Lado is joined by Tufts university professor and author, Natasha Warikoo. The two discuss Natasha’s new book, “Is Affirmative Action Fair? The Myth of Equity in College Admissions,” as well as the potential impacts of the upcoming Supreme Court decision on the legitimacy of race-conscious admissions. Natasha and Wenie examine the arguments for and against affirmative action and offer r...

EAB’s Michael Fischer and Jon Barnhart guide listeners through the process of evaluating, prioritizing, and gaining leadership buy in on making their institution into a carbon net zero enterprise. The two explain how to assess costs and ROI on energy efficiency investments and how to engage the broader campus community in these efforts. Finally, they offer tips on how to sustain and build on early...

EAB’s Kevin Shriner and Camilla Arias discuss the elements of an effective graduate enrollment plan. The discussion covers a range of issues including the importance of market research, setting appropriate goals, staffing, and securing buy in from campus stakeholders. Kevin and Camilla also explore strengths and weaknesses of different course modalities and offer tips on finding and engaging today...

EAB’s Tara Zirkel is joined by Pueblo Community College VP of Student Success, Dr. Heather Speed, to examine changes Pueblo made to boost enrollment heading into the fall semester. Leadership began by listening to staff to identify and resolve disconnects between departments, which had been limiting their ability to market and fill open courses. They also provided more hands-on training for facult...

EAB’s Brooke Thayer joins Matt Mustard to talk about how schools are managing student mental health crises. The two urge university leaders to reexamine everything from student outreach to how counseling centers are staffed to whether campus security is using the right de-escalation techniques. Matt and Brooke also discuss the importance of developing differentiated response models to keep student...

Kent State University’s Ted McKown joins EAB’s Allison Akalonu and Matt Sheldon to explore better ways to engage, recruit, and support incoming transfer students. The three urge schools to invest in transfer advisors, website improvements, and auxiliary services designed to help transfer students build engagement with staff and other students even before they arrive on your campus. Finally, they i...

EAB’s Madeleine Rhyneer and Ed Venit discuss the impact of the staffing crisis on student advising. The two urge student success leaders to use the current crisis as an impetus to adopt a more technology-forward approach to strengthen early warning systems and use time devoted to one-on-one student advising sessions to greater effect. Ed and Madeleine also offer a preview of CONNECTED22, the premi...

University of Rochester Dean of Admissions, Robert Alexander, joins EAB’s Madeleine Rhyneer to discuss the impact of staffing challenges on admissions teams. Madeleine and Rob point out the dangers to institutions that ignore staff demands for greater flexibility. They also share ways to balance upward pressure on compensation with the need to focus on the core functions your teams have the capaci...

EAB recently acquired Concourse Global and announced an expansion of the Greenlight Match program the two companies have been collaborating on for the past year. Greenlight Match flips the script on the traditional college application process by enabling underserved students to connect with and receive offers of admission and financial aid from participating local colleges—without completing a for...

In an interview that originally aired in April 2022, Inside Higher Ed Editor Scott Jaschik highlights the news stories he believes will have an outsized impact on higher education in the months and years to come. Jaschik is joined on the podcast by Carla Hickman, whose take on these issues is informed by her role as head of EAB’s Research division. The two explore issues ranging from the massive c...

EAB’s Tara Zirkel, Kayla Laughton, and Joshua Ddamulira share findings from their listening tour of more than 20 community college presidents to uncover the best ways to help Black and Latino men persist and succeed at community colleges. The three review statistics that underscore the challenge and isolate five top strategies to help you make significant improvement. They also discuss ways to ove...

EAB’s Madeleine Rhyneer and Michael Koppenheffer share findings from EAB’s newest survey of parents and guardians of prospective college applicants. The survey helps pinpoint parent preferences around the types and timing of communication they most appreciate from colleges, as well as the top concerns they have about the college search process. Michael and Madeleine share tips for institutions loo...

EAB’s Earl Sires and Mike Laracy examine the “digital sprawl” problem that plagues many college campuses and discuss tips and tools for cutting through all that complexity. Rather than relying on overworked programmers and statisticians, the two urge campus leaders to use an education data platform to tame the sprawl and facilitate direct access to the data by those tasked with making strategic de...

Joel Spiess explains how the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee uses retention grants to close equity gaps and offers tips on how other institutions can establish similar programs.

EAB’s Lilia Shea and Lauren Edmonds examine factors limiting the growth of undergraduate and graduate-level nursing programs despite strong demand. The two urge leaders to build partnerships with regional healthcare providers as a way to supplement faculty ranks and help secure clinical placements for students. They also discuss the value of recruiting future instructors from among the student bod...

Allison Akalonu joins Matt Sheldon to discuss ways to fix the broken transfer system. The two point to data showing the precipitous decline in transfer enrollments and explore ways to identify and fix institutional barriers that frustrate students and cause them to look elsewhere for a more receptive landing spot. They also offer guidance on better ways to engage students at every stage of the tra...

Dr. Brian Reed and Zach Rossmiller from the University of Montana join EAB’s Pavani Reddy to discuss a new initiative their institution has launched to help Native American students succeed. The three discuss initial learnings from the project, dubbed “Data for Student Equity,” which is funded in part by a grant from the Gates Foundation. The project enables university leaders to access and analyz...

EAB’s Brooke Thayer is joined by Dr. Janet Greenwood who leads an executive search firm that works primarily with higher education institutions. The two discuss the talent management “whiplash” that higher education leaders experienced as they moved from a cost-containment mindset at the outset of the pandemic to today’s full-on battle to retain and attract employees. Dr. Greenwood touches on ever...

The California-based organization, A2MEND, was recently awarded $1.1M to expand their student mentoring program across the state’s 116 community colleges. Dr. Edward Bush and Dr. Abdilmalik Buul, both representing A2MEND, talk to EAB’s Meacie Fairfax about how institutions can create the conditions where Black students, and Black male students in particular, are more likely to succeed both in and...

EAB’s Sally Amoruso hosts a wide-ranging discussion with influential Arizona State University President, Michael Crow. The two discuss the role of technology in helping institutions serve more students and the value of challenging the kind of antiquated thinking that pervades higher education. Dr. Crow also reminds university leaders that their institution should not be judged by how many students...

Keith Ramsdell, VP of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Ashland University and a NAGAP Board member, joins EAB’s Pam Royall to discuss the findings of a new joint survey of graduate admissions leaders. The two highlight things that institutions should be doing differently to recruit students and staff, including giving staff greater flexibility and diversifying their graduate program portfoli...

Northern Arizona University President José Luis Cruz Rivera talks to EAB’s Tom Sugar about creative approaches to narrowing the college access and affordability gap. Under Dr. Cruz Rivera’s leadership, NAU is redoubling its efforts to enroll students from historically underserved populations across the state. NAU also announced plans recently to offer a tuition-free college education for every Ari...