dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained

ACE President Ted Mitchell joins Jon, Sarah, and Mushtaq to talk about his impressions of incoming Secretary of Education Miguel A. Cardona and about his own experience working in the Education Department. The hosts kick off the episode talking about legislation making way through the new Congress, including a COVID relief bill, the DREAM Act, and recent staffing announcements at the Department of...

The hosts take the full episode to discuss how President Biden's actions in his first week in office will impact higher ed as well as how a slim majority for Democrats in the House and the Senate could impact legislation moving forward. **Tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @ACEducation or podcast@acenet.edu . EPISODE NOTES Here are some of the links and references from this week's show: Mc...

The hosts talk about the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, both what it meant to them as residents of Washington DC and the implications for American democracy. Later they are joined by Jill Allen Murray, deputy executive director of public policy for NAFSA: Association of International Educators, to discuss current policy climate for international students in the United States and what the hi...

With an epic year winding down and colleges transitioning to a much-needed holiday break, hosts Jon Fansmith, Mushtaq Gunja, and Sarah Spreitzer discuss the last minute flurry of activity in Washington, DC, as the transition to a President Biden administration begins. Later, Mushtaq and Sarah talk with cognitive scientist and Barnard College President Sian Beilock about how she is using her own re...

The Biden-Harris platform unveiled during the 2020 presidential campaign suggests that higher education will be a primary focus of the new administration. ACE Senior Vice President Terry Hartle joins the hosts to talk about what we can expect to see come January, including attempts to double Pell Grants and make public college free for middle-income families and roll back a range of Trump-era regu...

Co-hosts Jon Fansmith, Mushtaq Gunja, and Sarah Spreitzer talk about higher education policy developments in the week before the election, including how work on the COVID-19 relief bill has ground to a halt and the Trump administration's effort to curb international student visas. Later they are joined by Jason Perry of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics, who talks about hosti...

Just three weeks before the presidential election, hosts Jon Fansmith, Mushtaq Gunja, and Sarah Spreitzer discuss the surprising early voter turnout, higher ed's response to the Trump administration's executive order restricting diversity training and federal grants, and the Justice Department's lawsuit against Yale for its consideration of race in admissions. Later they are joined by Phi Beta Kap...

Co-hosts Jon Fansmith and Mushtaq Gunja discuss the new COVID-19 relief bill from House Democrats, keeping the government funded through the end of the year, and why the Education Department has targeted Princeton for discussing institutional racism. In Part 2, Jonathan Alger, president of James Madison University, joins the discussion to talk about promoting civic democracy and engagement on camp...

dotEDU returns for a second season with Jon Fansmith, Sarah Spreitzer, and ACE's newest co-host, Mushtaq Gunja. They discuss the state of higher ed policymaking, or the lack of it, as legislators gear up for the election. Later, Sarah and Jon are joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker, and immigration rights activist, Jose Antonio Vargas to discuss the prospects of DACA in the U.S....

As colleges settle into their reopening plans and Congress takes a break from negotiating a relief bill, dotEDU hosts Jon Fansmith, Sarah Spreitzer, and Jon Turk look back on the first year of the podcast and talk about their favorite episodes. They also look ahead to what will happen in a post-COVID higher ed world. dotEDU is taking a break until September! In the meantime, please go ahead and su...

Hosts Jon Turk and Sarah Spreitzer discuss the next round of COVID funding coming out of Congress and what that might mean for higher ed and its students. Also, (6:50) they talk with Lamar Hylton about his experience as the newly appointed vice president for student affairs at Kent State University and how his institution is preparing for a very unique and challenging fall semester. EPISODE NOTES...

Hosts Jon Fansmith and Sarah Spreitzer have a lively discussion about the recently issued ICE directive that bans international students from remaining in the United States if their colleges adopt an online-only instruction model for the fall, and speculate on what this means for institutions moving forward. Later, their colleague Anne Meehan and Holland & Knight Senior Counsel Jeff Nolan join the...

Hosts Jon Fansmith and Lorelle Espinosa discuss two recent Supreme Court decisions: one that protects individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, and another that protects the civil rights of LGBTQ workers, both of which will impact colleges and universities and students. They are later joined by Lori White, incoming president of DePauw University, who talks about taking...

Hosts Lorelle Espinosa and Jon Fansmith discuss the response to the murder of George Floyd while exploring how colleges and universities can encourage racial healing. Also, Senior Policy Advisor for the Department of Education Sharon Leu and ACE's Chief Learning and Innovation Officer Louis Soares talk about the potential applications of blockchain in higher education and about ACE's federally fun...

As we enter the unofficial start of summer, all eyes are on if and when colleges and universities will welcome students back to campus this fall. President Terry Hartle joins co-hosts Jon Fansmith and Sarah Spreitzer to discuss what higher education institutions need to support reopening and how Congress can help. EPISODE NOTES House Approves 5th Emergency Covid-19 Spending Bill With $100 Billion...

What lessons can scientists and the public learn from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Hosts Lorelle Espinosa and Jon Turk discuss that and sustainability on college campuses with Lisa Graumlich, dean of the College of the Environment at the University of Washington. Also, Lorelle and Jon explore ACE's response to the Education Department's recent release of new Title IX regulations and what...

More states are considering broad-based college aid programs, an idea that was sparked some 75 years ago with the GI Bill. Hosts Jon Turk and Sarah Spreitzer talk with College Promise CEO Martha Kanter about the future of college promise programs nationwide, particularly in light of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on higher education. EPISODE NOTES Here are some of the links and references...

COVID-19 has effected colleges and universities in myriad ways, and we're just beginning to understand the changes for students and institutions coming down the road. Students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status have particular needs during this time. Carrie Hauser, president of Colorado Mountain College, talks with co-hosts Jon Fansmith and Lorelle Espinosa about how her ins...

Recording from various remote workplaces around the DC area, the dotEDU team comes together to discuss the implications of the coronavirus pandemic on higher education. Hosts Jon Fansmith and Sarah Spreitzer focus on the federal stimulus relief, including why ACE and its members think the relief provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is not enough. Later they ar...

The common narrative surrounding independent colleges and universities is that they are either elite ivy institutions or small colleges on the brink of closure. Barbara Mistick, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, dispels this black and white view in a conversation with co-hosts Jon Fansmith and Lorelle Espinosa. Mistick talks about how private schools a...

Recent research into the prevalence of sexual and gender harassment in STEM fields has proven to be a much needed wake-up call to many in higher education. Frazier Benya , senior program officer at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine talks with Lorelle Espinosa and Sarah Spreitzer about how institutions can go beyond legal solutions to tackle the problem. Afterwards, Lorel...

Joyce Smith, CEO of the National Association of College Admissions Counseling (NACAC), talks about the many changes the field has undergone in the past three decades and what can be done to reshape it for the future. Along with hosts Jon Fansmith and Lorelle Espinosa, Smith looks back at her 30-year career at NACAC, how admissions counselors work to support students and families, and the importanc...

Now more than ever, community colleges are playing a vital role in the postsecondary space. Helping students earn credentials, degrees, and beyond, community college leaders are finding they need to adapt to changing needs. Former President of Montgomery County Community College Karen Stout , now president and CEO of Achieving the Dream , talks with hosts Jon Fansmith and Jonathan Turk about the c...

More and more universities are starting programs and other initiatives designed to enhance diversity and inclusion. But can the daily work of running a campus also contribute to this goal? Julie Posselt, associate professor of education at the University of Southern California, talks about her new book, Higher Education Administration for Social Justice and Equity , and how to carry out basic admi...

Former Secretary of Education John B. King , now president and CEO of The Education Trust , talks about his passion for giving all learners, particularly those in poverty and prisons, access to higher education. He discusses with hosts Jon Fansmith and Lorelle Espinosa how his own personal experiences, his work in the federal government, and his work as an education advocate drive him to help stud...