Higher Ed Conversations

Episode 14: Want your voice to be heard by senior leadersat your institution? Power Minds CEO Margo Turner says the best approach is to think about the issue from their perspective and learn how what you are advocating fits in with what they need to accomplish for the organization. The self-described serial entrepreneur believes the same shift in perspective would serve academic institutions well...

Episode 13: I don’t know about you, but one of the things I’ve missed most during the pandemic is going to sports events. Whether it’s cheering on my son and his teammatesor attending a pro sports game, I feel a real sense of excitement and community that’s hard to find elsewhere. Colleges and their surrounding communities have felt this loss as well, and it’s interesting to think about what role...

Episode 12: If you’re one of the many people who would rather avoid confronting someone with criticism or bad news, then you need to check out this episode of Higher Ed Coffee and Conversation featuring acclaimed speaker and author Sarita Maybin.  A former college administrator, Sarita has shared her wisdom about the power of positivity and how to make difficult conversations more effective all ov...

Episode 11: This month’s Higher Education Coffee and Conversation podcast features Aubrey Kuan Roderick, who first came to the U.S. as an international student and now is the program manager for International students at College of San Mateo. She speaks about recruiting to an  unknown community college system and how COVID has impacted community college international students. Her program is in th...

Episode 10: This Episode of Higher Ed Coffee and Conversation features two special guests, Dr. Nora Kenney, coordinator of Palmor College's Transition Program and Santos Rosado, a student who paroled in March of 2020. Transitions is a "Corrections to College" Program  that helps previously incarcerated individuals adjust to a college campus and successfully begin or resume their hig...

Episode 9: Dr. Dilcie Perez has led her college's implementation of amazing student support services and programs, including the Village, which provides safe and secure housing and support services to students who face housing insecurity.  Her work at Cerritos College has focused on serving students with dignity and respect and has resulted in equity and student support efforts that have impr...

Episode 8: Mark Evilsizer has served as a community college trustee for nearly 20 years. He meets all the ideal requirements of being a trustee: dedication to education and community service, a desire to improve the community he lives in, an optimistic and servant leader attitude, and a true passion for community colleges. In this episode, we discuss what it is like to be a trustee, how you deal w...

Episode 7: “Historically, higher education institutions have viewed students through a simple lens - traditional students enrolling in college straight out of high school or older students entering later in life. The simple truth is that students are changing, and colleges must also change to serve and market better."   These true words were written by Daniel Ramirez, director of public relat...

Episode 6: When Creative Director Alex Karvounis set out to build an alumni association for his community college, little did he know that It would blossom to one of the largest campus groups...growing from one founding member to more than 1,000 In just six months.  In this episode, Alex walks through how the alumni association became such a success and gives tips to other colleges looking to star...

Episode 5: Erin Green is an award-winning marketing leader with more than a decade of experience with digital strategy and media. She's worked with a number of leading organizations including Nike, FedEx, MD Anderson, Susan G. Komen, and has been a featured speaker with Google and Facebook. In this episode, Erin and I walk through how to implement digital marketing strategies and what’s new i...

Episode 4: Dr. Gustavo Chamorro was only 14 years old when he fled the civil war and violence in Nicaragua and headed to the United States. His amazing journey was full of obstacles and challenges, but his quest for a better life and the people he met along the way helped him succeed. Today, Dr. Chamorro helps others by counseling community college students, faculty, and business and industry prof...

Episode 3: What does it look like to run a department of 40 people and be responsible for everything from university advancement to crisis communications? This month’s Higher Education Coffee and Conversation podcast guest, Cathy Baur, recently retired from California State University San Marcos, where she worked tirelessly to integrate marketing and communications into every area of university se...

Episode 2: Everyone knows that community colleges offer associate degrees and are a gateway to transfer to a four-year institution. We talk a lot about credit students and credit courses. But there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of adults in the United States who rely on community colleges’ noncredit or adult education programs. Programs like citizenship classes, adult high school dip...

Episode 1: In this episode of Higher Education Coffee and Conversation, I am joined by Christina Romero, the Executive Director of College Advancement & Foundation for Santa Ana College In Southern California.  Christina and I discuss fundraising during today's challenging environment, ways we can keep foundation board members engaged, and how to tell the student stories that need telling...