Higher education institutions face strained budgets, declining enrollments, and shifting donor behavior—making fundraising a strategic priority, not just an operational function. In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Bill Crouch, CEO of BrightDot and former university president, about how presidents and boards can strengthen higher education fundraising by aligning it with strategic planning.

Topics Covered:

• Why fundraising must be integrated into institutional strategic planning

• The shift from the 80/20 rule to today’s 95/5 donor reality

• The concept of “mattership” and why donors need assurance that their lives matter

• Eagles vs. Sparrows as a framework for donor tiers

• Updating the Five I’s of fundraising with creativity and emotional intelligence

• Why presidents should dedicate two hours a week to intentional donor cultivation

• How boards can become fundraising multipliers through accountability and “Perk Banks”

• The growing importance of local impact in donor decision-making

Real-World Examples Discussed:

• A philanthropist redirecting gifts locally to ensure her contributions “mattered most”

• The researcher who cried after 16 years without ever being thanked for her role in million-dollar gifts

• A president telling his young faculty member, “You’re asking today,” in a million-dollar donor meeting

• The lasting impression of a three-sentence handwritten note from President George H. W. Bush

Three Key Takeaways for Leadership:

1. Fundraising must be elevated into strategy, not treated as a background function.

2. Presidents should focus time and energy on cultivating high-capacity relationships while modeling gratitude across the institution.

3. Boards need clear expectations and creative tools to fully activate their networks and influence.

Read the transcript: https://changinghighered.com/higher-education-fundraising-and-strategic-planning-alignment/

#HigherEducationFundraising #HigherEdStrategicPlanning #HigherEducationPodcast

AI dashboards offer higher education boards the opportunity to boost performance to improve their institutions.

In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed Podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Marc Huffman, CEO of OnBoard and eSCRIBE, about how AI dashboards provide trustees with better insight into board work and support more effective board governance.

This conversation is especially relevant for presidents, trustees, and board professionals seeking to strengthen board readiness and make governance more data-informed.

Topics Covered:

• How AI dashboards consolidate board materials and surface the most important information

• Methods for tracking progress against institutional strategy over multiple years

• Ways dashboards support board secretaries and committee chairs in managing follow-ups

• Why boards need AI use policies and trustee training to build digital literacy

• The coming role of predictive analytics and benchmarking in board planning

Three Key Takeaways for Leadership:

• AI dashboards give boards better visibility into performance trends and unfinished business.

• Board composition and trustee development determine how well these tools are used.

• Governance policies for AI create a secure, ethical framework for decision support.

Read the transcript on Changing Higher Ed:
https://changinghighered.com/ai-dashboards-for-higher-education-board-governance/

#BoardGovernance #AIDashboards #HigherEducationPodcast

Families are writing universities directly to ask if it’s safe to send their children to the United States. Institutions are also facing longer visa backlogs and growing competition from abroad.

In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Roger Douglas, Dean for International Programs and Development at St. Martin’s University, about how leaders can strengthen international enrollment pipelines, improve retention, and protect graduate research capacity.

• The 23-touchpoint recruitment model that keeps students and families engaged until they commit
• How graduate applicants often choose the first institution to deliver admissions and aid
• Families’ growing concerns about campus safety and how institutions can respond
• Why outcome-driven marketing and peer-to-peer outreach build more trust than traditional tactics
• The effect of shrinking U.S. research funding on graduate student pipelines
• Retention strategies such as host family placements, faculty check-ins, and cultural immersion

1. Presidents and trustees should engage directly with international students to understand barriers and improve the climate.
2. Retention investments—host families, advising, and cultural programming—are as critical as recruitment for revenue stability.
3. Boards must integrate international enrollment into institutional strategy, requiring documented plans, outcome-based marketing, and active policy advocacy.

Presidents, trustees, enrollment leaders, and academic administrators responsible for sustaining institutional revenue, research, and reputation through international education.

Read the transcript: https://changinghighered.com/international-student-recruiting-in-higher-education/

#HigherEducation #InternationalStudentRecruiting #HigherEducationPodcast

This episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast focuses on enrollment management solutions presidents and boards can use to navigate the enrollment cliff. Bill Conley and Bob Massa of Enrollment Intelligence Now join Dr. Drumm McNaughton to share practical guidance on setting realistic enrollment goals, aligning enrollment with finance, and managing institutional risk. (Part one examined the challenges; this discussion turns to the solutions.)

Topics Covered:

• Setting realistic enrollment goals using 3–5 years of funnel data

• Why inflated projections undermine trust with CFOs and boards

• Real-time dashboards and funnel monitoring for early intervention

• Mission-driven messaging and authentic student/alumni voices

• Balancing technology and AI with hospitality and personal interaction

• Enrollment management as part of long-term institutional risk planning

• Opportunities and risks of direct admission strategies

• Pipeline programs, community-based partnerships, and legal/political constraints

• Addressing the shrinking pipeline of experienced enrollment leaders

Three Key Takeaways for Leadership:

1. Monitor funnel data in real time and act on early warning signs.

2. Integrate enrollment management with finance and governance.

3. Invest in scenario planning, transparency, and leadership development.

Read the transcript or the extended show summary: https://changinghighered.com/enrollment-management-solutions-for-higher-ed-leaders/

#EnrollmentManagement #HigherEdLeadership #HigherEducationPodcast

Institutions face converging pressures that are reshaping enrollment management. Declining participation rates, tuition discounting that erodes net revenue, international enrollment volatility, and political mandates are forcing colleges to rethink how they attract and retain students. Enrollment management is no longer just admissions and aid — it has become a strategic system linking recruitment promises to student success and institutional stability.

In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Bill Conley and Bob Massa, Co-Founders of Enrollment Intelligence Now. They share how enrollment management has evolved over the past fifty years and why it now sits at the center of higher education’s most pressing challenges.

• How shrinking pipelines and lower college-going rates are reshaping enrollment outcomes

• Why unsustainable discounting is undermining financial health

• The growing impact of alternative credentials and new competitors

• The ways international enrollment declines and political mandates compound the crisis

• Why enrollment management functions as an accountability system for institutions

• The origins of enrollment management in the 1970s and how it spread

• Lessons from institutions that discounted themselves into financial instability

• How enrollment leaders balance institutional mission against market realities

Enrollment management has become higher education’s strategic fulcrum — the point where mission and market realities meet, determining whether commitments to students translate into institutional sustainability.

Recommended For: Presidents, provosts, CFOs, board members, and enrollment leaders navigating today’s enrollment cliff era.

Read the transcript: https://changinghighered.com/reframing-the-enrollment-cliff-a-new-lens-on-enrollment-management/

#HigherEdLeadership #EnrollmentCliff #EnrollmentManagement #HigherEducationPodcast

Caltech’s board once had nearly 80 members; too many for focused discussion or quick decisions.

In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton talks with Cathy Light, Caltech’s Secretary of the Board, about how the institution streamlined governance, strengthened committees, and made trustee reorientation mandatory.

Light, who has held senior roles at Carnegie Mellon University and the Semester at Sea program, outlines how Caltech conducts trustee assessments, structures its executive committee, and uses an ongoing governance review to keep the board working at its best.

Topics Covered:

• Governance changes prompted by the pandemic

• Defining trustee responsibilities in 2025

• Using the executive committee for responsive decision-making

• The role of the governance and nominating committee

• Trustee assessments and renewal decisions

• Making orientation and reorientation standard practice

• Maintaining strategic oversight without micromanaging

• Involving alumni and students without adding voting seats

Real-World Examples:

• Reducing the board from 80 members to a manageable size

• Giving young alumni trustees full voting rights

• Using retreats and campus visits to connect trustees with faculty research

Three Takeaways for Leadership:

1. Keep governance review continuous and adaptive.

2. Use orientation and reorientation to maintain alignment.

3. Structure boards for informed, timely decisions without overstepping into operations.

For presidents, trustees, board chairs, board secretaries, and governance committees aiming to improve board effectiveness.

Read the transcript: https://changinghighered.com/caltech-private-higher-education-board-governance-model/

#HigherEdGovernance #BoardGovernance #HigherEducationPodcast #HigherEdGovernanceModel

40% of California’s licensed doctoral psychologists come from one university that nearly failed a decade ago. Their turnaround didn’t come from diversifying programs or chasing enrollment—it came from making the hardest decision in higher ed: cutting what wasn’t excellent.

In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Andy Vaughn, President and CEO of Alliant International University, about how institutional leaders can drive university transformation by making tough calls, realigning programs, and embedding scalable mental health support into their core operations.

Drawing from Alliant’s strategic shift, Vaughn explains why program focus and transparent leadership are more effective than traditional diversification models. He shares how embedding mental health services into academic programs created both a market advantage and a support system for students, faculty, and staff.

Topics Covered:

• Why eliminating underperforming programs can drive institutional transformation

• How program realignment strengthens financial stability and market positioning

• Embedding scalable mental health services into academic programs and operations

• The leadership imperative: transparency, inclusion, and decisive action

• Codifying organizational values to guide behavior and decision-making

• Managing faculty-administration relations with professionalism and respect

• Preparing for unprecedented policy and legislative changes impacting higher ed

Real-World Examples Discussed:

• Alliant International University’s strategic focus on licensure-driven programs

• The integration of Alliant Clinics, providing community mental health services

• Leadership communication practices to maintain trust during operational changes

• Partnering with psychology schools for scalable mental health service delivery

Three Key Takeaways for Leadership:

1. Codify and normalize institutional values so that decision-making and behaviors align across all levels.

2. Be transparent with stakeholders about challenges and solutions, fostering trust and shared ownership of outcomes.

3. Involve the entire institution—including part-time staff—in transformation efforts to ensure unified execution during critical periods.

This episode offers a practical framework for institutional leaders navigating transformation, operational challenges, and the rising demand for campus-wide mental health support.

Recommended For: Presidents, trustees, provosts, CFOs, student affairs leaders, and higher education executives focused on institutional sustainability and student success.

Read the transcript: https://changinghighered.com/university-transformation-program-focus-scalable-mental-health/

#UniversityTransformation #HigherEdLeadership #MentalHealthSupport #ProgramRealignment #HigherEducationPodcast

With first-generation and low SES students facing steep barriers to completion and career entry, Great Jobs KC has built a replicable model that starts in high school, continues through college, and delivers real workforce outcomes. In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Great Jobs KC CEO Earl Martin Phalen about how regional collaboration, wraparound services, and employer partnerships are helping underserved students succeed beyond graduation.

Phalen outlines how Great Jobs KC collaborates with 24 higher education institutions, over 150 employer partners, and K–12 feeder systems to support students from high school through college graduation and into strong first jobs. Through initiatives like KC Scholars and the Great Jobs KC scholarship, the organization provides $50,000 per student for tuition, transportation, and wraparound support—including case managers, success coaches, and career placement services.

This episode offers practical, data-backed insights for institutional leaders working to improve retention, increase degree completion, and strengthen job placement results for underserved students through strategic regional partnerships.

• The unique needs of first-generation and low SES students
• Designing holistic support systems that extend beyond financial aid
• How to build college-employer partnerships that deliver job outcomes
• Regional collaboration between 24 colleges and over 150 employers
• The role of scholar advocates and success coaches in student persistence
• How investing $50,000 per student can produce high ROI
• Measuring impact: retention, completion, and employment rates

• Great Jobs KC’s partnership with regional colleges, including UMKC, Avila, William Jewell, and Donnelly College
• How the KC Scholars program helps high school students complete FAFSA, ACT prep, and college planning
• Employer partnership models, including apprenticeships, internships, and work-based learning
• The importance of wraparound services like transportation and mental health support in student success
• Scholar experiences navigating college with the help of long-term coaching

1. Institutions that want to serve first-gen and low-income students need more than scholarships—they need scalable systems of support.
2. Long-term coaching and employer-aligned programs can dramatically improve retention, completion, and career outcomes.
3. Regional collaboration between colleges, K–12 schools, and employers isn’t just ideal—it’s necessary to build equitable education-to-career pipelines.

Presidents, provosts, trustees, enrollment and student success leaders, and system executives seeking replicable strategies to improve access, retention, completion, and career outcomes for first-generation and low SES students.

Read the transcript on our website:
https://changinghighered.com/first-gen-and-low-ses-student-success-strategies/

#HigherEdLeadership #StudentSuccess #FirstGenStudents #LowSESStudentSuccess #RegionalCollaboration #HigherEducationPodcast