The Innovating Together Podcast

Weekly Wisdom Interview with SNHU President Paul LeBlanc

Weekly Wisdom Interview with Howard Community College President Daria Willis

Weekly Wisdom interview with Chancellor Cindy Larive from UC Santa Cruz

Weekly Wisdom Interview with Doug Lederman of Inside Higher Ed

Weekly Wisdom Commencement Special Episode With Bridget Burns & Doug Lederman

Weekly Wisdom Interview With Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell

Weekly Wisdom Interview with Fordham University President Tania Tetlow

Interview with University of LaVerne President Devorah Lieberman

Interview with CSU Fullerton President Framrose "Fram" Virjee

Today marks the 100th episode of the Innovating Together podcast, and Bridget Burns is in the hot seat to discuss the show's success. While the University Innovation Alliance has been around for several years, Weekly Wisdom just kicked off around the time of Covid. Bridget says it was needed for a variety of reasons, one being the palpable sense of people looking for optimism and leadership. The UIA was also ready to expand and had identified institutions it wanted to include. They wanted a way to interview presidents without signaling who they were considering, and weekly wisdom presented an opportunity to hear about the values of a leader.  She shared that she loves hearing from the audience and what types of questions they find most useful and what guests have had an impact on them.

Leadership can be a very lonely job, especially in higher ed. The podcast aims to give people a sense that they are a part of something bigger, and that someone, somewhere, is dealing with the same things they are. Bridget has felt so fortunate to be able to meet so many leaders through this podcast. She has been inspired through all the lessons shared by her guests.

Bridget shared that she has worked with over 40 college presidents and chancellors thus far, and observed a marked difference amongst them. To her, visionary leaders have a compelling vision, and an ability to get others enrolled in that vision. Her current work enables her to help university presidents see a shared, collective vision, and move in a common direction. She does this through genuine curiosity, empathy, and care. She takes the time to observe people in leadership roles, in order to really understand, to help them identify underlying challenges, and then to overcome those challenges.

When asked about important advice, she offered that people should aim to be less interested in who gets credit for the work and more about getting the work done.  She shared leadership advice that has been helpful to her from presidents and chancellors, including that taking care of yourself and your health is critical to being an effective leader, because you need energy to make difficult decisions. She suggested two books that were powerful in her journey: Leadership and Self Deception by the Arbinger Institute, and The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey.

What You’ll Learn:

• How negative examples can teach us just as much as positive ones.
• What it means to be a true leader.
• Why a president’s tenure matter when it comes to innovation

Favorite Quote:

“The most presidential moments on the show have been the ones where people have shown their true heart.” -Bridget Burns

Not even a year into her presidency role at UMBC, President Valerie Sheares Ashby feels right at home. The privilege of serving so many students, staff, and faculty is not lost on President Sheares Ashby. Always having had a central value around leadership, she has said if you turn a triangle upside down, the leader should be the point at the bottom. Everyone above you, you should be in service to. This is just one quality that President Sheares Ashby has learned from the many good examples in her life, including her parents. Her father was a minister as well as a math and science teacher. Her mother, who was an English teacher, went on to run a homeless shelter after retiring. Through their compassion and dedication, President Sheares Ashby learned that service should feel like a privilege.

While President Sheares Ashby shares that every job she has held has been her favorite job at the time, she says the UMBC presidency was the right role at the right institution with the right values at the right time.

If you are comfortable in your own skin, and you show up authentically, it’s easy to find the job you’re supposed to be in, she explains. When you find that perfect fit, President Sheares Ashby says you should spend everyday working to make it better than you found it. That way, when it’s your time to leave, you can do so well. President Sheares Ashby appreciates how former UMBC President Freeman handed over the reins. He introduced her to the people, the city, and helped her make connections, and then handed it off for President Ashby to lead.

To stay grounded as a leader, President Sheares Ashby relies on her people: a leadership coach and 4 mentors. Beyond that, she prioritizes self-care because she knows everyone she meets deserves the best version of herself. She utilizes exercise, church, time with friends, music, and more to take care of herself. Sometimes, she admits, self-care means saying no to requests. On her desk you’ll find ‘20 Ways to Say No’. While your job should bring you joy, it should not be everything to you, she notes, asserting that it’s important for leaders to have a whole life.

At the end of the day, leadership isn’t for everyone. President Sheares Ashby reminds us that you need a servant's heart and the right assets for the role. When it comes to keeping her leadership strong, she turns to her mentors and a few good books. For anyone who is looking at how to be an authentic leader, President Sheares Ashby recommends the books- The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni and Leading With Heart by John Baird.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why self-care is so important for leaders.
• What inclusive excellence means and why it’s important.
• Why everyone should have a mentor.

Favorite Quote:

“It is a privilege to be in leadership, and we are indeed in service to people.”

-President Valerie Sheares Ashby

As Secretary of Education for the state of Virginia, Dr. Dietra Trent had a lot of colleges, universities, and departments underneath her. All of those colleges and universities were independent, with no system tying them together. At the end of the day, Dr. Trent was working with the governor to convey his vision for higher education, while helping agencies to see how they fit into that vision. She’s since transitioned into the role of Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). While her focus has narrowed, her impact has not.  Dr. Trent uses her bully pulpit not as a way to hammer her ideas, but as a way to collaborate with others to deliver on behalf of HBCUs. Working with 37 agencies, Dr. Trent finds opportunities for the advancement of HBCUs as a whole.

With a hundred plus colleges and universities relying on her, Dr. Trent ca not solve every issue for everyone, but instead must pick 2 or 3 issues that will move the needle forward for all of them. With HBCUs having their moment following George Floyd, Dr. Trent is working to turn that momentum into a movement. HBCUs have been historically underfunded and underappreciated. They’ve been around for a long time, with the first HBCU being established 28 years before slavery ended. In that time, they’ve produced a lot of leaders, with 85% of federal judges, 75% of MDs and dentists, and over 50% of teachers and engineers coming from HBCUs. With a lot of universities showing a decline in applicants, HBCUs are seeing an incline. Dr. Trent believes this is because people not only want a quality education, but they want one where they will be nurtured for who they are.

So, why is it that in 2018, all 101 HBCUs combined received less than $400million in federal funding, while John Hopkins received $2.6billion? It’s not just about money, though. Dr. Trent would like to see support through access to resources. If philanthropists have expertise in things like systems or going after grants, that knowledge could put HBCUs in a position to go after more research dollars. Dr. Trent says HBCUs have a lot of catching up to do with things that predominantly white schools take for granted. It’s truly amazing how much they do with so little.

What You’ll Learn:

• The differences between working for the state and the federal government.
• How philanthropists can support HBCUs outside of money.
• What it really means to support black students.
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“Leadership is not about title or position; rather, it's about posture.  And it's only in assuming a posture to serve can you truly lead others to bring their best.”

-Dr. Dietra Trent

As a licensed psychologist with more than 40 years of experience as an academician, scholar clinician, and administrator, Dr. Thomas A. Parham is well known for his work in African psychology and multicultural counseling. After serving faculty and students at the University of California, Irvine campus for over 30 years, President Parham took the presidency position at California State University, Dominguez Hills. His previous roles as vice chancellor for student affairs, adjunct faculty member, assistant vice chancellor for counseling and health services, Counseling Center director, and director of the Career and Life Planning Center, and an Ivy League professor before that at U Penn, have given President Parham a plethora of knowledge and skills.

President Parham’s goal was, and continues to be, producing excellence across multiple domains. He feels this not only prepared him for the rigors of the presidency, but also of life. He feels like the Cal State University system is a perfect fit for him. As one of the most diverse and inclusive systems of higher education in the nation, President Parham is happy that CSU makes education a right for many, rather than a privilege for the few. With a tremendous, dedicated staff, it feels more like a calling than just a job or a title. As someone that’s motivated by ideas, President Parham says staying engaged, inspired, and committed to the mission is easy for him.

What You’ll Learn:

• How President Parham prepared for the presidency role.
• What President Parham’s mentor told him regarding the key to mental health was.
• What President Parham’s term ’T-squared’ means.
• How CSU ranks in terms of diversity and inclusion.

Favorite Quotes:

“ Life at its best is a creative synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony”

“You will never find out how strong you can be until your moment of greatest vulnerability.” -Dr. Thomas A. Parham

In this interview, Bridget responded to questions from the host of the Educated Guest, Todd Zipper.

They discussed the goals and purpose behind the University Innovation Alliance, Bridget’s personal connection to the work, and what she and the UIA have learned over the past 9 years together.

She focused on the need to prioritize empathy, which she clarified as being the first step of design. While higher education institutions desire to improve and adapt, one of the biggest challenges they face is an uncoordinated and sporadic approach to capturing empathy to understand the perspective of students across a variety of perspectives. Even when institutions hear of a student's experience, they struggle with a process to capture, categorize and follow up with the vast array of problems being surfaced. The constant reactive/defensive approach higher education has taken to the task of improvement has left campuses incapable of broader systemic redesign. This is all caused by a broader, fundamental challenge: higher education was never designed around students. The UIA works in a variety of ways to elevate and advance on improving the student experience by shifting data systems, advising, using technology like chatbots, etc. Bridget shared about some of the lessons UIA has learned from implementing predictive analytics and proactive advising.

Other perspectives she shared include how much higher education can learn from failure and how much the sector needs to change its mindset about failure as a teaching tool. Aversion to risk and an inclination to reduce any potential failure prevents learning and reflection. Real collective growth can occur when people aren’t afraid to share their failures with others. In a world where everyone wants to pretend they have it all together, Bridget calls it the ultimate act of generosity when institutions share their failures for others to learn from. She shared the Michigan State process mapping story when they mapped out what happened from the time a student gets admitted to the day they start on campus. Sharing their failures with the alliance has allowed other universities to map out where their failures are, so they can actively fix them.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why higher ed was never designed around student success.
• How empathy and designed thinking are keys to change.
• How chatbots can help staff be more effective.
• How creating the social safety to fail is key to institutions innovating successfully.

Favorite Quote:

“If the university is a body, where is the ear?” -Bridget Burns

Dr. Stephen Percy became the full time President at Portland State University in 2020. President Percy said the most surprising part of his career was, “It was not linear and certainly not what I was planning.”

When asked about what change you see are needed in higher education. President Percy said, “higher education has been changing rapidly, and then you throw in the pandemic, which led to a lot of instability.” Three areas he thinks are important in education are to advance racial justice and equity, instructional pedagogy and modality with flexibility that online learning provides and packaging with “stackable degrees” and finally relevant in today’s world.

President Percy gave an example on how he creates change. He read a New Yorker article about “the Big One” and the importance of being prepared for a future earthquake at 9.0 in the Pacific Northwest. He built a multi-disciplinary Emergency Management degree at PSU to address this future concern. Recently, he invited staff to collaborate to put together a new degree for Climate action work. President Percy said he manages to bring about change by creating “connectivity without disrupting everything else.”

Bridget asked President Percy what he is most proud of. He responded, “I believe there are a lot of ways we can come together (with the community) and learn…mutuality of knowledge, learning, sharing, and growing. The tremendous power of knowledge creation and instruction and opportunity creation that universities bring” to the community. He mentioned the pandemic was surprising and unusual. This unexpected disruption created more flexibility in modality with online learning.

The best advice President Percy ever heard was, “You have to listen.”  Listening to people’s pain with empathy goes a long way.  Advice he consistently gives others is to “develop your own sort of equity lens. A set of internal questions that relate to whatever you are thinking about creating, implementing, or evaluating. What is the impact on people who are traditionally marginalized?” Empathy skills help a lot to “understand where people are coming from” and find problems to solve.

Interview with University of Texas San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy

From engineering to higher education in public policy and research

President Voight shared her background, “I took a pretty circuitous route to the position where I am now… I started out in civil engineering and minored in women’s studies. Then I worked in engineering for several years after college. I was consulting mostly for Departments of Transportation. What I realized was that even the perfect engineering design wouldn’t come to fruition unless the policy were in place to actually make it happen.” As a result of her bigger picture, she went back to school for public policy. She leans on her engineering skills of problem-solving. In grad school she explored both urban policy and planning and education, social and family policy. She was drawn to the education side. After several years at Education Trust, she transitioned to IHEP.

The draw of higher education in public policy

President Voight discussed access to higher education for students of color and students from low income backgrounds. “I think of policy as incredibly exciting. It’s what drives the real impact and change for real people on the ground.” One of the ways her work matters is increasing Pell Grant money regularly to help students with increased costs.

Advice for younger professionals to cultivate trust and confidence in your integrity

Observing leaders in those early career steps help one see positive and negative examples. President Voight explained one of the leaders she learned from taught her to “set high expectations for yourself and those around you, and people can rise to meet those expectations.” Another leader taught her “dogged determination.” She appreciated the empathy that the leader showed in recognizing her employee's feelings of just wanting to be done with a product and get it out the door when she was asking them to edit it a little more. The leader also listed the pros and cons of putting that extra work into it to motivate her staff to put in the extra effort. In the end, going back to doing more research and increasing the quality of the final product really made a difference.

What is needed from higher education at this moment?

“Through the pandemic, we’ve seen dramatic changes within higher education, and we’ve seen the inequities that have long existed come to the fore in new ways. We’ve seen them deepen and become more clear, especially as we’ve seen enrollment declines over the last two years… Higher ed turned on a dime and went online rapidly.” She acknowledged the positive things that came out of higher ed being more nimble and listening to students' needs, like needing internet access and meeting that need.

Advice she received from others

President Voight learned from her dad, who took her skiing when she was little. She found there is a tendency to hold one's breath when going fast down the mountain with the adrenaline rush. He advised her, “Remember to breathe.” She said that applies in her professional work as well, when things get fast in the policy world.

Advice for others

“Every task is an opportunity to show people what you have to offer.” She also recommended getting out there to meet with people in the field for coffee and lunches to “develop your network.” Her third piece of advice is to read articles related to your work to “build your knowledge base.”

Leadership journey into academic leadership

Paul LeBlanc has been President of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) for going on twenty years. President LeBlanc’s journey started as a faculty member as a grad student when personal computers first arrived. He was a composition TA. The full-time faculty didn’t want to touch the new computers that were dumped on the school. The TA’s were the first ones to use the computers. He discovered technology with its anonymity opened up a level of candor and trust he had not seen before. “I jumped into technology at a time when it was still so new.” He used a programming language as one of his foreign language requirements. After his PhD, he spent three years heading up a technology start-up program. He worked on a grant with Apple.

His relationship with Clayton Christianson

Clayton Christianson and President LeBlanc met playing basketball in a church gym in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while President LeBlanc was still in graduate school at Boston College. Clay was the head of high-tech ceramics before he went to Harvard and went back to graduate school. They discussed reinventing ceramics and technology. They did a column for higher education on innovation. They were friends for over forty years. “Everyone uses the phrase disruptive innovation but if you go deeper there’s actually very practical things one needs to do depending on what kind of innovation you are implementing, and you can sort of game plan it… Clay was very thoughtful about that. One of the greatest teachers I’ve ever met.” Clay’s theories of disruptive innovation in higher education and healthcare are playing out slowly. He predicted “50% of schools will go out of business.”

Learning from good vs. bad examples of leadership

After watching a president not being willing to admit his mistake cost him his presidency, President LeBlanc said, “I remember saying to myself, when I mess up I am going to get in front of people and say so. I think there are great lessons to be learned by watching people’s leadership journeys, and sometimes you learn more when they struggle, and that’s been true in my own life.” He gave an example of a contractor who came in and interviewed President LeBlanc’s staff and confronted him and his team to be open to other opinions and being courageous to share a different opinion.

Best Advice he ever received

“Say Yes to the invitation.” He shared an example from his personal life.

A Book about leadership he recommends

“I keep coming back to novels, to fiction, to understand who we are as human beings. The one I’m reading right now is by George Saunders called A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.” He then shared he has moved from starting meetings with the agenda to starting with relationships by asking, “How are you?”

Academic Advising Panel

Interview with Arne Duncan, Former Secretary of Education

Interview with NVCC President Anne M. Kress

University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) President Loren Blanchard has moved back and forth between a campus and a system. Now as a University President he finds it takes “strong policies that need to be in place that can augment and give support to the work we are trying to get achieved to make sure that ultimately our students are going to graduate with knowledge, skills, and dispositions that empower them with readiness for either graduate school, the work force, or further self-exploration.”

Unique role a campus plays in a broader portfolio of a system

Doug asked how UHD fits into the system and how having been in a system helps President Blanchard understand and appreciate its place in the larger system.  To give context, President Blanchard compared California State University, which has twenty-three universities in their system and the University of Houston, which has four universities. “Where I really see the difference between University Houston Downtown and University Houston Main Campus” is that the main campus’ goal is to be in the top 15 research universities. The Downtown campus is working toward each student earning their degree in essential services like nurses, teachers, and police officers that “inspires” generations that come after that one person.

Transitioning in the midst of COVID

Bridget was intrigued by President Blanchard's successful transition during COVID.  President Blanchard said, “When I was at California State University, the role I played at the system level was really helping create policies that could best understand what should be the ways in which we are going to have a viable educational enterprise while shifting to the virtual modality.” He went on to explain there is a “big difference between the policy level and the practice level” like the difference in policies from California to Texas. “My biggest discovery was understanding how important it is to have ongoing professional development support for faculty, staff, and students.” By having regular training that gives checklists and addresses how to handle events that could happen like wildfires, hurricanes, pandemics, etc. such as who to contact and how to keep moving forward help bring stability in the midst of change.

The core of our work transcends politics

President Blanchard shared, “Moving young people from one level of economic or social mobility to the next… the empowering factor is education… It transcends politics.”

Advice

“Results matter most. Talk becomes cheap.” President Blanchard shared putting together a new strategic plan as an example. In California, he showed evidence annually of an increase in graduation rates, progress in eliminating equity gaps, and meeting workforce goals.

Dr. Bridget Burns and Dr. Tiffany Polite from University Innovation Alliance (UIA) interviewed Dr. Amelia Parnell from NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

Dr. Parnell wrote a book titled “You are a Data Person: Strategies for Using Analytics on Campus.” Her target audience is anyone who works in higher education in any position. She gathered context for the book by interviewing 40 professionals from a variety of roles to learn about their uses of data in their daily work. The book reflects themes from those discussions and introduces the Data Identity Framework, which describes six core competencies that are key to making data-informed decisions. The six areas are:

• Curiosity and Inquiry
• Research and Analysis
• Communication and Consultation
• Campus Context
• Industry Context
• Strategy and Planning

Dr. Burns reflected that the book sounds like it gives the reader confidence to use data to be an informed decision maker. Establishing the appropriate sequencing, timing, and pace using big data is doable for anyone in a collaborative environment, according to Dr. Parnell.

The most popular question, especially from graduate students, is “which is better, quantitative, or qualitative?” Dr. Parnell likes both. “Almost every conversation comes back to strategic communication.” Dr. Parnell said the book is not meant to be a one-time read. “I think the goal is to convince the reader… to have a lifelong commitment to building out a set of skills.” It’s a quick read, but a book you can come back to over and over as you develop these skill sets.

Dr. Burns recommends the book as a holiday gift or pass around the office, and asked for Dr. Parnell’s background. Dr. Parnell shared that her experiences in legislative policy, student affairs, research, and graduate teaching all reflect her passion for making complicated topics easy to understand and accessible.

Dr. Parnell responded to an audience question regarding how to brief one’s boss with data. She said, “For example, if you received a question from a senior leader who is curious about the number of transfer students who come to the campus from more than 500 miles away, a good first step is to probe to clarify what the senior leader is trying to accomplish. A key question to ask in doing so is how the requested data would be used. After ensuring that the desired use of the data is clear, the next step is to complete the analysis and provide the results.” Parnell suggests that a good approach for sharing results is to start by providing brief bullet points, which can help the colleague clearly identify relevant information.

“I have never been more excited,” said UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski in a recent Weekly Wisdom interview with UIA Executive Director Bridget Burns and Inside Higher Ed Editor and Co-Founder Doug Lederman. Dr. Hrabowski was reflecting on his plans to retire in June 2022 after thirty years as president of UMBC.  He is excited because the University is doing so well. Students, faculty, and staff are excelling and are sustaining UMBC’s supportive community, and the legislature is continuing to invest in higher education across the state. His next chapter will involve talking about the UMBC model, and further supporting the success of all students, with leaders across the country.

Bridget asked Dr. Hrabowski to share the most surprising thing about his career. He shared, “The challenges of humankind are always there. You have the same feelings you had when you were 25 or 30. The other part is the wonderful experience of drawing on life to help you get through the next period. And most important, the few words we give to people of encouragement can make a big difference. I’ve seen that over and over again. How do we support each other as we go through these challenging times? We connect to other people. We either elevate them or bring them down.”

Doug asked, “What skills and attributes do future presidents need to have?” Dr. Hrabowski responded with authenticity, honesty, and humility. He shared the importance of being “humble enough to own mistakes and know when we need help. We are going through a period of time when people are questioning the truth. Optimism says we can be realistic, but we can get through this.”

“Is there anything you recommend people do to help them be successful in their career?” Bridget asked. Dr. Hrabowski responded, “I talk about one's health: physical, emotional, mental health.” He acknowledged leadership positions can be stressful. He has seen what happens to leaders who did not take care of themselves physically or mentally. “We need to take the time to look at everything from nutrition to physical health to having people to talk to about the challenges that affect one's mental state. The more secure one is, the more one can say, ‘I need help’ given what we go through.”

Active listening is something Dr. Hrabowski has learned through the course of his career. As a young college president, he felt an expectation to be at the center of conversations and always have something illuminating to say. But over time he came to focus on asking questions, listening, and bringing in new voices. That active listening approach became core to his leadership style and how he mentors emerging leaders. He appreciates the phrase, “smile more, talk less.”

Discussing the broader national landscape, he noted the important role of colleges and universities in helping people learn how to understand different points of view and be comfortable with discomfort. These skills, he suggests, will help our future leaders productively communicate across differences and collaborate to solve our biggest challenges.

Bridget was curious about the things Dr. Hrabowski will miss at UMBC. He said, “I will miss walking around the campus, hearing people speak French to me… being in the midst of it.”

He also shared helpful advice he heard years ago from civic leader and philanthropist Walter Sondheim, who told him, “Live life seriously, but don’t take it seriously.”

Change is bittersweet, he summarized, but laughter and an optimistic attitude help leaders connect in a meaningful way to other people. He closed the interview with one of his favorite phrases: “Keep hope alive!”

Interview with U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal

Background

Today on the Innovating Together Podcast, we are interviewing President L. Song Richardson. President Richardson is the 14th President of Colorado College. She started in that position in the summer of 2021. Most recently, she was the Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. During this interview, we addressed leading during COVID, compared her position as dean with her current position as president, and the importance of students having access to higher education and the removal of barriers to success.

Leading during COVID

Bridget asked President Richardson to share what it was like to start as a new leader during COVID in a remote world. President Richardson stated that it has been an opportunity to “hone her skills of communication and just being present.” She shared that it is important to be deliberate in getting to know people. In a digital world, she observed she cannot be as spontaneous as she can in person. Seeing 40 people in little boxes on Zoom, she had to make a more conscious effort to pay attention to who was communicating and who wasn’t and to make sure she engaged with everyone on the call. However, she also noticed Zoom and the chat function made it easier for some people to communicate who might not feel comfortable speaking up in public in a group. “It provides a variety of different ways for people to engage with each other and with me.”

Contrasting positions as President vs. Dean

President Richardson reflected on the enormity of being the final decision maker as president, whereas when she was dean, there was a chancellor to address the most important decisions. She finds that the enormity of being president is humbling. She was surprised that her career path in law led her to become the president of a college, but said that she is guided by those times when her values and beliefs intersect with a wonderful opportunity. The Colorado College presidency was a match with her values.

Access and removing barriers to success

Bringing people of a broad range of backgrounds and experiences in and creating an environment where they can be successful is essential to President Richardson.

The cost of higher ed is a top challenge. “If I could wave a magic wand, I would make tuition free for all students. But even with free tuition, it does not mean everyone is set up for success. How do we encourage those courageous conversations?” In addition, she tries to create a healthy culture where people acknowledge failure, learn from it, and apply that growth toward innovating. She is open and vulnerable with her team about changing decisions she has made that were not good decisions. She also likes to ask her senior leaders to share mistakes that they have made and what they learned from them. Modeling that is especially important for students, she said. “How do we encourage resilience and grit and being comfortable with failure?” When people approach her about the challenges and obstacles we are facing today, she feels optimistic because they are invested: They care enough to want solutions.

Advice

“The best advice I like is from Brene’ Brown about ‘being in the arena. Taking the armor off and knowing you are in the arena fighting the good fight, trying to move forward. Don’t be so worried about armoring yourself. True leadership is being vulnerable, showing what that looks like. Not everyone is going to like you, and that’s OK.’ ”

She said self-reflection, and self-leadership, are more important than criticizing others.

“Ask yourself, are you leading yourself the way you want others to lead?”

Background

Today on the Innovating Together Podcast, we interview Dr. Harrison Keller.  Dr. Keller previously worked as Deputy to the president for Strategy and Policy and as a faculty member at UT Austin. Earlier in his career, he was heavily involved in the Legislature at the Texas Capitol. As Texas Commissioner of Higher Education, he leads the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the state agency that coordinates across multiple University systems, fifty different community colleges, and private higher education institutions throughout Texas.  Dr. Keller sees the agency's mission to serve as a resource, partner, and advocate for students and institutions. He spends much of his time working with chancellors, presidents, the Texas Governor, the Legislature, chambers of commerce, and employers. Most recently, Dr. Keller led development of a new higher education strategic plan for the state, which is called Building a Talent Strong Texas.

When Bridget asked Dr. Keller what skills, he was surprised he has leaned on in his current role, Dr. Keller responded with, “Besides wit and self-deprecating humor, the most surprising thing would be that I found my dissertation was even more useful than I ever expected. My education is in philosophy and specialized in moral and political philosophy. I wrote my dissertation on respect for persons. I think drawing on those years of serious study in philosophy was great training for the kind of work I get to do every day as Commissioner.”

Aligning with workforce needs

Dr. Keller discusses some of the fundamental workforce needs everyone can get behind. One specific example he talked about was the difficulty that employers are currently having when it comes to finding the talent they require in an employee. After COVID when the Texas economy came roaring back, there are more jobs than pre-pandemic, “but the jobs look different. Almost all the new jobs require education beyond a high school diploma.” Many displaced workers have found that additional training is required just to get a similar job in the same industry. Strengthening work-force education will be essential for Texas to be competitive in the future.  Dr. Keller said they will  be working with employers and institutions to get a sense of what employers are looking for and what drives the variance in earnings in different disciplines. “We want to make sure credentials have value as reflected in wage premiums. We are listening to and paying attention to the signals from the job market about what translates into value for individual students.”

Career Advice

Dr. Keller often gives upcoming leaders the following advice. “Don’t get too focused on obtaining a specific position. Think about the kind of problems that you’re compelled to work on, and whether different kinds of career opportunities give you a platform to do that kind of work in the world.”  He also shared, “As a leader, your most important job is to build an excellent team.” There are three qualities he looks for when it comes to his team members. First, he looks for people who are competent and get things done. Second, he looks for people who fit into the team dynamic. Third, he looks for people who have ambition for the work, who are constantly thinking about how the work can be better.

Book Recommendations

Michael D. Watkins, “The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting up to Speed Faster and Smarter” about “accelerating your learning” when transitioning into a new role.

Jay Lorsch and Thomas J. Tierney’s “Aligning the Stars: How to Succeed when Professionals Drive Results” on building high performing teams.

Jackson State University President Thomas Hudson, J.D., joined Bridget Burns and Doug Lederman in this week's episode of the Innovating Together Podcast. There have been 12 presidents in JSU’s 144-year history, and President Hudson is only the second alumnus president, which he believes is an advantage. President Hudson said, “It shortens the learning curve when it comes to alumni relations.” He has been affiliated with JSU all of his life before taking on several roles in the administration. He was appointed interim president at JSU when the pandemic was just on the horizon. President Hudson said, “Maintain the focus on your core mission, your core constituency, handle the business of the University and keep your focus there. As long as you are doing that, I don’t think you can go wrong. You always have to have the future of the University in mind, even when you are in a role that may very well be temporary.”

Evolution of decision-making

“One of the things that I talk to my colleagues and members of my administration often is this concept of getting to the solution quicker, not staying so much in assessment mode. When you’re in a leadership position you are constantly evaluating, you’re constantly in some level of assessment, but you cannot stay in that mode. You have to get to solutions. You have to make decisions. So, if anything, the response time and response rate in terms of how soon you get to the solution when you are confronted with problems. You just don’t really have a lot of time to linger. You have to be willing to make mistakes… We have to understand if it doesn’t work, you have the flexibility to pull back and rethink… That’s probably the biggest change I have seen in terms of my leadership.”

Keeping your team resilient

“During the pandemic, you learn different ways to communicate. We all learned to use Zoom effectively and all of these virtual spaces… I meet monthly with my faculty senate, my staff senate. I meet bi-weekly with my administrative team individually. And once a week of course we meet as a body. When I first started, I had four specific priorities of the presidency. And really just pushing those things and as we go forward we released our strategic plan this past September… That requires constant communication to make sure we are all on the same page.”

Communicating with Optimism and Confidence

President Hudson explained it is important to communicate with optimism and confidence. Being the senior person in the room at all times, he has learned there is power in your words, what you say matters, and people act on it. You have to be careful what you say. When asked by Bridget how he decompresses, he shared that if there are problems he wants to process orally, he calls a previous president who understands the job, rather than venting to his staff.

President Hudson's favorite book on leadership is called The President's Club, written by Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs. It discusses the transition of power with US Presidents going back to the Hoover administration. “We all build on the great work that was done before us. We are just here for a time. It’s our job to make sure we leave it better than we found it and hand it off to the next leader.”

The best advice that President Hudson has received  was by Dr. Page, “Finding yourself in your role and responsibilities you’ve been given and staying true to yourself and staying true to the mission of the University.”  Another piece of advice was from Dr. Nelson, “Never forgetting the business of higher education. The nuts and bolts of what we do here, how we deliver our product, how we market our product, and how we pay for our product. Your first responsibility is to make sure the University has the resources it needs to act in accordance with its mission.”

In this week’s episode of Weekly Wisdom, Bridget Burns and Doug Lederman announced that Virginia Commonwealth University has joined the University Innovation Alliance (UIA) as a new member. Bridget explained, “The University Innovation Alliance is a collection of institutions who are scaling innovation to eliminate their equity gaps and actually improve outcomes and produce more high-quality graduates across the country.”

Michael Rao, the President of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and VCU Health, a research and teaching institution and comprehensive healthcare system, was this week’s guest. A few of the main topics discussed were the partnership between UIA and VCU, collaborative endeavors, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted VCU’s role in the community.

Doug began off the conversation by asking, “What attracted VCU to UIA?” and “What does your institution gain from this partnership?”

President Rao said, “We have a lot in common. We are motivated to make a difference. We are geared to research that matters to people.” He shared that he likes having regular contact with colleagues to learn from each other.

Bridget added that “VCU shares UIA’s values.” She said, the UIA president is willing to talk about the hard stuff. President Rao continued to answer Doug’s question by sharing that when he started as President of VCU the graduation rate was under 50% in terms of their 6-year graduation rate and now the graduation rate is around 70%.

He feels there is more that can be done to reach diverse populations. He thinks colleagues can learn from each other -- and what works and doesn’t work for different groups of people. “What we as presidents expect to gain from each other is sharing positive energy about what’s possible.”

Bridget asked President Rao to share examples of collaborative endeavors he has experienced. He shared that when he was on the NCAA board, he discovered, “it was worth every second I put into it because I got so much back.” He found chatting with other presidents in between board meetings about similar issues they were both dealing with and asked, “What do you think?”

He also said that when he was chair of the statewide council of presidents,  along with the president of the University of Virginia, they were connecting two to three times a week via phone and eventually via video during COVID-19.  It helped to not be a “lonely island.”

“Putting people in the right place” is critical for a president, said President Rao. Strategies are shaped by conversations with other presidents.

Bridget asked President Rao to expand about why it is helpful for presidents to team up. He shared an example, “One of my big jobs was to start a new medical school at the other institution from which I had come. I teamed up with a president who had started a new medical school. He was literally just a year or two ahead of me. I went and visited him and his team, and I came back with a very clear plan.”

Doug asked, “How has VCU’s role in the community shifted during the pandemic?”

President Rao responded, “a lot of the changes are focused on more inclusively engaging with people who have not been a part of what has been going on.”  He shared an example of how they switched their freshman convocation from an indoor event to an outdoor event with more than 4,000 people there.

Several students expressed appreciation for not canceling the in-person event and not being in front of a screen. There were also many students who asked, “Can you get more stuff online for us? We really like that option.”  He shared with the freshmen, “There is more information out there than there has ever been, but also more agenda’s than there have ever been. You’ve got to develop your own sense and your own gut of what you believe in. What are your values? Decide whether what you are hearing matches that.”

California Competes is a policy research and advocacy organization focused on driving system-level change to improve the state's higher education and workforce outcomes. Dr. Su Jin Jez said, “Our work sits at the intersection between higher education, equity, and the economy. We spend a lot of time thinking about what are the problems in our state and then doing research to come up with evidence-based solutions.” The discussion centered around non-traditional learners such as working adults and online learning, as well as leadership books she recommends and advice for leaders.

The COVID pandemic has been changing the economy. As a result, there are a couple top issues that are current priorities of California Competes. Dr. Jez sees the need for Higher ed to be more responsive to general workforce needs, such as retraining adult workers in new career fields. The second issue is the need for improving online learning with higher quality and improved access. “Online ed - we think it’s here to stay, and we need to figure it out,” stated Dr. Jez.  She also sees the progression from K-12 to community college to four-year colleges and the workforce as inefficient because each entity is being run separately. She thinks coordination between the entities would make them more efficient. She feels the COVID pandemic has made us more conservative in our planning. Dr. Jez shared how she is more nimble in her planning, “This could all change tomorrow, and we have to be okay with that.” She also said, “You can go faster alone, but you can go further with a team.”

Bridget Burns asked Dr. Jez to share some books she recommends on leadership. Dr. Jez suggested “Policy Paradox Art of Political Decision-Making” by Deborah Stone. She says the author has a great analysis of what’s fair and what’s equitable. For example, if

your underlying assumption for a complicated issue is x and mine is y, then it unpacks more clearly how to move forward. For example, how does security vs. liberty challenge each other or compliment each other?  Her second favorite book is a textbook, “Understanding and Managing Public Organizations” by Hal G. Rainey. She explained, “As a leader when you’re thinking about the changes you want to make to think about what is the H.R. perspective around this? What are the cultural perspectives on this? It builds a nice frame for thinking through the different sort of aspects of leading an organization.”

Doug Lederman asked Dr. Jez, “What is your favorite piece of advice?”  Dr. Jez likes the four paths one can take, “Do, Defer, Delete, Delegate.” This advice helps her not feel overwhelmed and reminds her that not everything needs to be done immediately. “It’s like a deep breath around demands.”  Another favorite piece of advice she learned from a mentor and shares with her team, “You have to write something twenty times in order to have an impact. Don’t give up.” It has to be reframed for different audiences.  Bridget acknowledged that she has observed the most effective leaders who repeat themselves are the ones who get where they need to go. Dr. Jez also said she shares with up-and-coming leaders, “Find your reason for wanting to lead.” She also said, “Find your helpers.”

“Where does hope come from?” Paul Quinn College President,  Michael Sorrell pondered in today's interview. President Sorrell unpacked his optimistic and honest message in the midst of extended COVID-19 variants affecting higher education. “We don’t know when it’s going to be over. What I can tell you is if this is our new reality, we will create a way to fly.”

We were told the pandemic might be a sprint. Then it might be a middle distance race. “Then it became apparent this might be a marathon,” President Sorrell shared, as he compared the pandemic to a race. He continued, “Folks are now beginning to ask, “Is this now my life?  If this is my life, I don’t like it.” “Americans don’t like being told, “No,” or “to sacrifice.”  We have to make peace with the fact that we have to be vaccinated. None of us have lived through a sustained national crisis. Pandemics evolve. We had no context for that. The CDC has been overwhelmed. Just when we think we can breathe, here comes Delta. We are going to function to preserve health and safety, and that’s going to make some people uncomfortable. We are going to delay the in-person meetings and make some compromises, but we will not compromise on tough decisions.”

Bridget asked President Sorrell, “Over the past two years as a leader, what strikes you the most in terms of change?” He responded, “My background was in crisis management. Crisis management is a very lonely place. What this sustained crisis has allowed me to do is to invest in my cabinet differently. For example, I created a chief administrative officer. She’s been with us for over a decade. I moved a significant segment of things under her authority. She is our “COVID-19 Czar.”

According to President Sorrell, COVID-19 has even changed the reasons people go to college. “There are many reasons people come to college. I can provide for my family better than if I don’t go.” Another reason why people used to go to college was for the “huge social dynamic with parties, fraternities, clubs, etc. but we can’t do that the same way now. This changes how people look at going to college. A different set of decision-making parameters. How do we, as institutions, respond to that? This is the third year that has been impacted by COVID-19. We are looking at a class of Seniors that COVID-19 is all they know. How you communicate why you should come is very different now.”

President Sorrell went into great detail with examples of the political upheaval in a divided America. He encouraged even small colleges to speak up to our legislatures regarding “fights that matter.” He summed it up by saying, “Given the pandemic, people don’t have the emotional bandwidth to manage. That’s where you need your leaders to provide the emotional bandwidth. I don’t think we’ve seen that at a level that would bring many people comfort.”  Bridget asked, “How do you stay optimistic and focused as a leader with all of this noise?” President Sorrell responded, “We are going to win.  Together we can create a plan to win. You don’t have to have a five point plan. I’m sitting on ideas that acknowledge the landscape has changed. Things aren’t coming back any time soon the way they were. By the time they do come back, students won’t remember. Staff will remember how it used to be. You build it, so people feel they can still win. ”