What does it take to lead with both strategy and soul?
In this moving and powerful episode of Start the Week with Wisdom, host Bridget Burns sits down with Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs for a conversation that redefines leadership in higher education. With a background in business and strategic planning, Jennifer brings a refreshingly different perspective to the chancellorship, one rooted not just in data and efficiency, but in deep compassion and human resilience.
This episode dives into Jennifer’s unconventional path to leadership, the profound personal and professional experiences that shaped her approach, and the vital role of executive coaching in navigating the complexities of higher ed. Jennifer shares the unimaginable weight of leading through campus tragedies, and how leaning into both vulnerability and resilience has become her compass for serving students, faculty, and community.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why nontraditional paths to leadership can be an asset in higher education.
The role executive coaching has played in Jennifer’s 20-year leadership journey.
How to lead through crisis with humanity, courage, and compassion.
The power of interdisciplinary undergraduate experiences in shaping career success.
Why “more curious than convinced” is a leadership mindset for the future.
"Without courage, the wisdom and experiences we have bear no fruit."
Subscribe to Start the Week with Wisdom, share this episode with a colleague, or reflect in your journal: What leadership lessons are you learning right now, and how are you growing through them?
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This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
What if college wasn’t built for the very students who need it most? In this episode of Pathbreakers, we talk to Dr. Bridget Burns, CEO of the University Innovation Alliance (UIA), about her deeply personal journey from first-generation college student to national higher education reformer. Bridget opens up about the systemic gaps that left her, and students like her, under-supported and misunderstood, and how that experience lit a fire that fuels her work today.
We explore how Bridget and the UIA are rewriting the playbook for higher education, one collaboration at a time. She shares how she’s brought together 19 university presidents, often former first-gen students themselves, to put competition aside and share not just their success stories, but their failures. Why? Because vulnerable students can’t wait for every school to reinvent the wheel.
Bridget also takes us inside UIA’s Listening Lab, a powerful innovation that puts student voices at the center of decision-making, and offers a candid look at the pressures facing college leaders today.
Key Takeaways:
Radical collaboration can drive real student success outcomes.
Scaling innovation means adapting, not copying, solutions.
Listening to students isn’t optional, it’s transformational.
Empathy and improv can change how institutions lead.
The classroom isn’t the only path to career readiness.
“We just need good ideas to not be a trade secret.” - Dr. Bridget Burns
If you believe higher education should work for everyone, not just the privileged few, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.
Subscribe to Pathbreakers, share this episode with an educator or student in your life, and journal about how your own education shaped your path.
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This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
How do you lead when the rules keep changing, and you’re not even on the field?
That’s the question this week as Start the Week with Wisdom welcomes Rob Anderson, President of SHEEO (State Higher Education Executive Officers Association). In a moment where campus leaders face overwhelming complexity, Rob opens a window into the headspace of the often-misunderstood university system leader, those working behind the scenes to bridge policy, politics, and student outcomes.
Hosts Bridget Burns (University Innovation Alliance) and Sarah Custer (Inside Higher Ed) sit down with Rob for a deeply human and surprisingly personal conversation. From his time at a military college to pursuing seminary, serving at a small faith-based college, and ultimately stepping into state policy leadership, Rob shares what drew him into a life of service and leadership, and how he's managed to stay grounded through it all.
They talk about:
The disconnect between campus and system leaders, and how to close the gap
What most people get wrong about higher ed policy work
How empathy and humility shape real leadership
Why taking things personally is a fast track to burnout
How system leaders protect campuses more than they’re given credit for
Takeaways:
Seminary training can shape policy leadership in powerful, unexpected ways.
System leaders are not “the cops”, they’re often the shield.
Collaboration between campus and system is essential for student success.
Don’t underestimate the quiet strength in not taking yourself too seriously.
Today’s leaders must “collabicate”, collaborate + communicate with empathy.
“I try not to take myself too seriously, but understand what I do contribute.” - Rob Anderson
If this conversation reshaped how you see higher ed leadership, share this episode with a colleague, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a dose of wisdom.
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
What if the clarity you seek as a leader is already walking the halls of your campus?
In this inspiring episode of Start the Week with Wisdom, co-hosts Bridget Burns and Sarah Custer sit down with Chancellor Kenneth “Ken” Christensen of the University of Colorado Denver, a leader who proves that service, collaboration, and a student-first mindset can transform an entire institution.
Ken shares the unexpected moments that shaped his journey from a first-generation college student in New Mexico to becoming a nationally recognized leader in higher education. From his engineering roots to groundbreaking innovations in access and student success, Ken reveals the values and strategies that are uniting CU Denver’s campus in a time of great complexity.
You’ll hear about his leadership philosophy, the lessons learned from his grandfather, and why walking across campus is his secret to staying grounded. This isn’t just another talk about change in higher ed, it’s a masterclass in clarity, purpose, and courageous transformation.
Five Key Takeaways:
Clarity drives change: In times of uncertainty, leaders must simplify and focus on what matters most, students.
Student-centric leadership works: Reorienting a campus around student success can unite even the most divided stakeholders.
Innovating with access in mind: Ken’s Coursera initiative showed how performance-based admissions can open doors for adult learners.
Ground-level engagement matters: Visibility and relational leadership foster trust and purpose.
Shared mission fuels momentum: When everyone rallies around a single purpose, real collaboration happens.
"If there’s ever a moment for us to find some unity of purpose internally to help drive change, it’s now." - Chancellor Ken Christensen
Don’t keep this wisdom to yourself, subscribe, share the episode with your team, or take 5 minutes today to journal what clarity of purpose means in your own leadership.
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This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
Is higher ed still worth it, and who decides what’s valuable? In an era of AI disruption, value skepticism, and demographic cliffhangers, college leaders face mounting pressure from every angle. In this week’s episode of The Innovating Together Podcast, President Harrison Keller of the University of North Texas brings grounded, energizing clarity to the whirlwind. With roots in philosophy, public policy, and military intelligence, Keller offers a rare and practical kind of wisdom, one rooted in action, trust, and long-term vision.
We dive into Keller’s leadership journey from commissioner of higher ed in Texas to university president, uncovering how his undergraduate studies in philosophy still shape his leadership. From debating the ROI of liberal arts to building actionable intelligence networks between campuses and employers, Keller shares how he's staying focused on delivering value, no matter how chaotic the moment gets.
This conversation is packed with practical leadership insights, reminders of what really matters, and a hopeful perspective for anyone feeling the headwinds of change.
Key Takeaways:
Liberal arts degrees, while slower to pay off, still offer high long-term value, especially when paired with career-focused experiences.
True leadership requires offering people something they can be for, not just resisting what's wrong.
Intelligence work taught Keller how to turn data into actionable insights, and why dashboards alone don’t drive change.
Institutions must collaborate across sectors to keep pace with AI’s rapid evolution.
Joy is non-negotiable: whether it’s time with students or marching band rehearsals, leaders must schedule moments that renew them.
"You’ve got to give people something they can be for." - Harrison Keller
Don’t miss this one.Subscribe to Start the Week with Wisdom, share it with a fellow leader, or take five minutes to journal your own “North Star”, what keeps you grounded when everything feels like it’s coming from all directions?
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
In this episode of the Innovating Together podcast, host Bridget Burns welcomes Dr. Carole Basile, Dean of Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton College of Teaching and Learning Innovation. Together, they dive deep into education innovation, structural change in teacher preparation, and the bold reimagining of the K–12 and higher education workforce.
Dr. Basile’s fresh approach centers on a groundbreaking premise: the average student or teacher no longer exists, so why are our systems still designed for “average”? Instead of tweaking curriculum or offering surface-level professional development, her team is working to completely redesign school structures based on variance, strengths-based staffing, and collaborative educator teams. She explains how the outdated “one teacher, one classroom” model is being replaced by dynamic, team-based configurations that align with the unique strengths of educators and the individual needs of students.
Key insights from this episode:
Personalized learning requires a shift in structure, not just content
Workforce development in education is about strategic team design, not just hiring
AI and technology are tools to empower educators and personalize education, not replace them
Teacher satisfaction, retention, and student success increase in structurally innovative models
True innovation starts with permission to change and the courage to move with the willing
Dr. Basile also shares the real impact of this model, now implemented in over 150 schools across 17 states, reaching more than 27,000 students, and how it’s transforming both student outcomes and educator morale.
“When we build teams around real expertise, everyone wins—students and teachers alike.”
If this episode sparked a new vision for your institution or school system, share it with a colleague, and visit Mainstay.com to explore research-backed retention tools that are shaping the future of student engagement.
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
Recorded live at the ASU GSV Summit in San Diego, this episode of The Disagreement Podcast tackles the pressing question: Is college still worth it? Host Alex Grodd moderates a dynamic debate between higher education experts Dr. Bridget Burns, CEO of the University Innovation Alliance, and Ryan Craig, Managing Director at Achieve Partners and author of Apprentice Nation. Together, they unpack whether the traditional college model delivers economic and societal value in today’s economy, or if shorter, skills-based alternatives like apprenticeships offer a better path. The discussion dives into ROI, workforce readiness, and the need for institutional reform, with Burns defending college’s broader societal benefits and Craig advocating for "earn and learn" pathways to address employability gaps.
With sharp insights, personal anecdotes, and a candid exchange of ideas, this episode challenges assumptions about higher education’s role in a rapidly changing world. From the alarming statistic that only a quarter of college matriculants achieve their desired job outcomes to the call for integrating work-based learning into curricula, Burns and Craig offer compelling perspectives. A lively “steel man” exercise caps the debate, showcasing their ability to articulate each other’s arguments. This episode is a must-listen for parents, students, and educators grappling with the future of post-secondary education.
Key Takeaways:
College’s economic ROI is under scrutiny, with nearly half of students not completing degrees and over half of graduates underemployed.
Societal benefits of college, like critical thinking and civic engagement, remain vital but must be balanced with better employment outcomes.
Apprenticeships and work-based learning offer viable alternatives, though they may limit long-term career flexibility.
Higher education needs reform to align curricula with workforce demands, especially in the AI-driven economy.
The debate highlights the need for diverse, adaptable educational pathways rather than a one-size-fits-all model.
“College is not a monolith, and it is a very individual choice, and we have to do a far better job actually helping people be successful with it.” – Dr. Bridget Burns
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
In this episode of the Innovating Together Podcast, host Bridget Burns introduces two trailblazers from the University Innovation Alliance (UIA) Fellows Program, Amy Martin and Renata Opoczynski, who share their transformative journey at Michigan State University (MSU). Recorded at the UIA National Summit, the episode highlights how MSU sustained student success despite significant challenges, including seven presidents and five provosts in a decade, alongside institutional trauma. Amy and Renata reveal the power of process mapping—a low-cost, high-impact tool sparked by a 2015 UIA convening at Georgia State—that drove systemic change by exposing inefficiencies and fostering student-centered solutions. Their story underscores the Fellows Program’s role in building a pipeline of innovative, empathetic leaders for higher education.
The episode dives into five key strategies MSU employed to maintain momentum: embedding a “learn, thrive, graduate” vision in campus culture, focusing on incremental action through strategic doing, fostering collaborative change, co-designing with students, and empowering UIA fellows as strategic leaders. Amy and Renata’s firsthand accounts offer practical insights and inspiration for institutions navigating turnover and complexity while prioritizing student outcomes.
Key Takeaways:
Process mapping reveals systemic flaws, enabling effective student success interventions.
Embedding a clear vision, like “learn, thrive, graduate,” anchors progress amid leadership changes.
Strategic doing and collaborative frameworks drive consistent, incremental advancements.
Co-designing with students ensures solutions address real barriers.
Empowering fellows as strategic leaders fosters innovation and sustains momentum.
“You can’t bring a good solution into a toxic system. You need to actually see the system for how it is and not how you fantasize it to be.” – Bridget Burns
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and well-being. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
In this episode of the Innovating Together Podcast, host Bridget Burns spotlights one of the most inspiring leadership journeys in the University Innovation Alliance’s history: Dr. Ryan Goodwin. A member of the UIA’s inaugural Fellows cohort, Dr. Goodwin reflects on his evolution from a fresh post-grad working out of a closet office at UCF to now serving as Senior Assistant Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff in UCF’s largest division.
Listeners will hear how the UIA Fellows Program laid the foundation for Dr. Goodwin’s extraordinary career: shaping policy, leading advising reform, and helping UCF make student success its top strategic priority. His story illustrates the power of believing in people early, investing in collaboration, and the transformative impact of empowering others to lead. From pioneering one of the largest advising reforms in the country to cutting student-to-coach ratios in half and dramatically improving graduation rates, this conversation highlights how incremental, daily efforts can create breakthroughs.
Key Takeaways:
Great change comes from consistent small steps, not one-time innovations.
Investing in early-career professionals unlocks scalable, long-term impact.
UIA’s Fellows Program is a powerful pipeline for future higher ed leaders.
Cross-functional collaboration and bold risk-taking are essential to institutional transformation.
Student success isn’t a strategy, it’s a culture.
“Transformation isn’t a single stroke of genius. It’s the daily intentional efforts to drive forward, to innovate, and to uplift those around you.” — Dr. Ryan Goodwin
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
In this episode of the Innovating Together podcast, host Bridget Burns is joined by Dr. Allison Calhoun-Brown, Senior Vice President for Student Success at Georgia State University, to explore how the university moved from fragmented, paper-based advising to becoming a national exemplar of proactive, data-informed student support. This conversation highlights the real-world steps Georgia State took to transform advising; boosting graduation rates, closing equity gaps, and creating scalable systems that prioritize student care and timely intervention.
Listeners will gain practical insight into:
How to clean and organize institutional data for actionable use
The difference between predictive analytics and proactive advising
Building cross-campus buy-in and securing leadership support
Creating consistent advising standards and training
Engaging students meaningfully and equitably in support systems
“You can do good and do well at the same time.” - Dr. Calhoun-Brown
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
In this episode of the Innovating Together Podcast, host Bridget Burns sits down with Dr. Toyia Younger of Iowa State University to shine a spotlight on one of the most overlooked drivers of social mobility in higher education: transfer student success. Dr. Younger, a national thought leader and passionate advocate for transfer students, shares her personal journey; from her early days as Director of Student Activities at a community college to becoming a national voice for reform through her work with the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS).
This episode revisits her riveting Ed Talk from the UIA National Summit, a session that sparked vital conversations about why higher ed must prioritize transfer pathways if we truly care about equity and mobility. Dr. Younger recounts the lessons she learned working alongside students who shattered outdated stereotypes about community colleges, and she calls out institutions for the glaring disparities in resources and support between first-time freshmen and transfer students. With humor, candor, and clarity, she challenges leaders to stop paying lip service and start implementing real, systemic change.
You’ll learn:
We can’t talk about social mobility without addressing transfer success.
Institutional inequities in support and resources for transfer students are unacceptable.
Authentic commitment means scaling programs, funding, and services proportionately.
The power of collaboration and transparency—we must share what works.
Transfer work is not optional for any institution serious about student success.
This episode is a rallying cry: whether you're a policymaker, administrator, or practitioner, it’s time to take action. Listen now and commit to transforming how your institution supports transfer students because together, we go farther.
“Don’t tell me you’re committed to transfer students if you have two people doing transfer at an institution with 30,000 students.”
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click Mainstay.
In this episode of the Innovating Together Podcast, host Bridget Burns sits down with Steve Wuhs and Claire Creighton from Oregon State University to review a transformational story of change. How do you drive institutional change in a way that’s people-centered, ambitious, and built to last; especially in a complex, decentralized university? Oregon State has cracked the code.
Steve and Claire share their journey of developing a student success architecture that’s not just a slogan but a fully embedded, action-oriented strategy. They explain how they moved beyond reports gathering dust on shelves to build a collaborative framework that spans leadership teams, engages advisors, and ensures that every student, not just a select few, has the support to thrive.
You’ll learn about their strategic plan, “Every Student Graduates,” why building consensus and community matters more than top-down mandates, and how they created structures to sustain progress even through presidential transitions. Expect practical insights on:
Designing effective leadership teams at the college level
Democratizing data access to fuel real-time decisions
Fixing broken task force models
Turning decentralization from a barrier into an asset
Keeping the human element at the heart of student success work
"We didn't just want a metric. We wanted a mindset: every student who starts here should have what they need to finish."
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This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click Mainstay.
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
In this episode of the Innovating Together Podcast, host Bridget Burns welcomes Dr. Raj Chetty from Opportunity Insights for an insightful discussion on social mobility, economic opportunity, and higher education’s role in shaping the future. Recorded at the UIA National Summit, this episode dives into the data-driven realities of economic mobility in America, highlighting the disparities that exist and the actionable steps institutions can take to close the gap.
Dr. Chetty breaks down the powerful research behind social mobility, explaining how race and geography play critical roles in shaping economic outcomes. He discusses the latest findings on how universities can serve as catalysts for mobility, leveraging student success initiatives, data-driven interventions, and innovative partnerships. This episode also features a live Q&A segment where audience members ask thought-provoking questions, pushing the conversation further into policy changes, systemic barriers, and new approaches to measuring university impact.
Key Takeaways:
• The Role of Higher Education in Social Mobility: How universities can drive economic opportunity.
• Geographic and Racial Disparities: Insights from nationwide data on where social mobility thrives and where it struggles.
• The Power of Social Capital: Why networks and relationships matter in economic success.
• Redefining Institutional Rankings: How new classification methods could reward universities that prioritize student success.
Higher education leaders, policymakers, and changemakers won’t want to miss this episode. If you’re passionate about reshaping the future of student success and economic mobility, listen now and take action to drive meaningful change.
🎧 Tune in now and subscribe for more conversations on higher education innovation!
“The fading American Dream is not just an economic issue; it’s a social and political one. If we don’t address social mobility, we risk losing what has historically made this country unique.” - Dr. Raj Chetty
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
In this episode of Innovating Together, Bridget Burns, Executive Director of the University Innovation Alliance (UIA), shares a groundbreaking keynote from the UIA National Summit, marking ten years of collaboration and institutional transformation. Bridget reveals the hard-earned lessons about innovation, scale, and diffusion in higher education—exploring what truly drives student success and how institutions can break down barriers through strategic collaboration.
Key Takeaways:
• Collaboration is essential—systemic change in higher education is nearly impossible without working together.
• Higher ed was never designed around students—traditional systems were built for faculty, and real reform requires rethinking institutional structures.
• Innovation spreads through adaptation, not replication—scaling solutions means modifying them to fit each institution’s unique needs.
• The biggest threat to change is turnover—sustaining progress requires leadership buy-in, cross-functional teams, and clear accountability.
• The power of storytelling—changing the narrative about what’s possible can accelerate transformation in student success efforts.
From the challenges of process mapping to the power of friend rules in collaboration, this episode is packed with actionable insights for higher education leaders. Whether you’re navigating systemic change, tackling student retention challenges, or rethinking institutional structures, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on making innovation stick.
Listen now and discover how collaboration can drive bold and brave transformation in higher education! 🎧
“The best way for us to move forward, we found, is by doing it together.” - Bridget Burns
Learn more about the UIA by visiting:
This week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.
