Higher Ed Social

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) serves more than high school and college counselors who help students and families navigate the admissions process. Shanda Ivory, NACAC's director of communications, joins us this week to discuss how the pandemic might permanently change college recruiting. Will the days of college fairs in convention centers with thousands of students ever come back? Is it such a bad thing if they don't? We explore those questions and talk about how admissions professionals can strike a balance between not getting stuck and the status quo and not going after every new trend that comes along. Links to cool stuff Shanda Ivory on LinkedIn College Admission Decoded podcast 2021 NACAC National Conference Episode 202 https://media.blubrry.com/highered/highered.social/episodes/HES-0202.mp3 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Google Play Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Stitcher

Morgan Campbell is only a few years out of college but already making a name for herself as a pioneer of TikTok in higher ed. She joins us this week to talk about how she built a successful presence for Indiana University and how her team plans to build on that strategy by expanding the use of vertical video on Instagram Reels and other platforms this year. We also talk about how TikTok seemed like a breath of fresh air during the pandemic at a time when it's easy to fall victim to doom scrolling on other social media platforms. Morgan is a social media specialist at Indiana University Bloomington. Her work has been featured on Sprout Social and on Josie Ahlquist's blog, just to name a few! Although she's made her name in the higher ed world on TikTok, she finds herself gravitating toward another platform outside of work. Tune in to find out what it is!

Higher Ed Social founder and co-host emerita Jackie Vetrano joins Lougan and Jenna to celebrate 200 episodes. We talk about returning to work on campus, returning to pre-pandemic activities, and the media empire Jackie's building through her podcast and Twitch streams — with a few diversions to things like hot tub Twitch and dads on TikTok. We are also excited to share that Jenna will be part of a panel on podcasting at organizations at the 2021 Podcast Movement conference in Nashville during the first week of August. Reach out to her if you'll be attending the conference and want to meet up! Links to cool stuff Jackie on Twitter JackiePlaysStuff on Twitch Jackie Watches Stuff podcast Episode 200 https://media.blubrry.com/highered/highered.social/episodes/HES-0200.mp3 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Google Play Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Stitcher

Bill Zimmerman, an instructor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State and host of the Happy Valley Hustle podcast, returns to the show to discuss his experience with a year of remote learning and how he hopes education will look different as schools fully come back in person this fall. He talks about how he managed — or sometimes didn't manage — Zoom fatigue for his students and for himself and how the time in remote learning might strengthen the desire for in-person connections inside and outside the classroom. Bill is an eternal optimist, and that sentiment really comes through in this conversation. We also talk about running and how it helps focus our minds that are constantly distracted by our inboxes and social media notifications.  Links to cool stuff: Our first episode with Bill Happy Valley Hustle podcast Bill on Twitter Episode 199 https://media.blubrry.com/highered/highered.social/episodes/HES-0199.mp3 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Google Play Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Stitcher

Anyone who works in communications knows that it's easy for productive conversions to turn dark and hurtful, particularly when it comes to issues like race and identity. Dr. Mordecai Ian Brownlee leans into the difficult parts of these conversations in his work as a leader, teacher, mentor, speaker, and more. He joins us this week to discuss the need for spaces where we can freely share our own experiences and learn from the experiences of others. We also talk about how to set a positive example on social media and use it to lift people up, rather than get dragged into the latest conflict of the day. Mordecai currently serves as the Vice President for Student Success at St. Philip's College. Effective July 15, 2021, he will serve as the sixth President of the Community College of Aurora within the Colorado Community College System. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Morgan State University School of Education & Urban Studies and the University of Charleston School of Business and Leadership, as well as a higher education columnist for EdSurge. His mission as an educator is to work collectively with all stakeholders to create a safe and equitable learning environment that promotes student inclusion, student engagement, and student success. That mission comes through loud and clear in this conversation.

The Registrar's office is one that even those of us who have been in higher ed for a long time sometimes struggle to understand. The profession has come a long way from the days of long lines of students waiting to register for classes and taken even more importance during the pandemic. Doug McKenna, the University Registrar at George Mason University, joins us this week for a dose of Registrar 101 in the most fun way possible. If you enjoy this episode and want to hear more from Doug — including the theme song we talk about — check out his podcast For the Record, which he hosts for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

Many of the episodes on this show focus on traditional, four-year universities, but community colleges have the same responsibilities when it comes to social media, enrollment management, and many other aspects of higher ed. This week, we welcome Van Nguyen and Olivia Perry of Schoolcraft College just outside Detroit, to talk about the challenges and the opportunities of working at a community college. We also talk about how the pandemic impacted community college staff and students and chat about plans for commencement and how to pull off ceremonies that honor students and their achievements in a safe way. Van Nguyen is the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Schoolcraft College; Olivia Perry is the school’s Marketing and Events Coordinator.

We are very excited to have Dr. Josie Ahlquist back on the show to discuss her new book, Digital Leadership in Higher Education. We talk about the book and what leadership looks like during global pandemic and ongoing struggles for racial justice. No matter what’s going in the world, Josie stresses that higher education leaders need to show up authentically to their interactions with students. With so much misinformation out there, students need to know that they can trust their institution and its leaders before they will believe what they’re reading in an email or seeing in a video. Josie also reminds us about the importance of taking time to recognize the difficulty of the work we’re doing right now and the fact that we can’t vent to colleagues or celebrate achievements in the normal ways right now. That’s where the digital hug comes in. Josie talks about how she uses them and the power of building mastermind cohorts that are on part strategy session and one part therapy session.

Many of our organizations have spent the past year working on ways to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion on our campuses. However, that work sometimes stalls out before it even gets going because it’s such a big task that it’s hard to know where to start or how to keep the momentum going. That’s where Dar Mayweather shines. Dar is the founder of Good Mayweather Consulting, where he helps his clients confidently engage in critical conversations around diversity and inclusion.He has more than 15 years of professional leadership experience in higher education, business, and diversity & inclusion training. His professional journey began in the corporate world, then he moved to mental health, and now calls higher ed home. He believes in fast tracking his client's learning by utilizing research and lived experiences to develop actionable solutions. Lougan and Jenna talk with Dar about what these high-level concepts look like at a granular level — everything from time blocking and task prioritization to starting difficult conversations and resisting the pressure for quick, superficial change rather than something more meaningful. The tips Dar shares are important not just for DEI work, but for managing workloads and dealing with burnout in general. Dar is a first-generation college student. He earned a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice, a Master of Science in Education and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Educational Leadership while teaching Leadership to undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

We’re a year into the pandemic, and many of us are getting ready for commencement and everything that the end of the school year brings. Anyone feeling a little (or maybe a lot) of burnout? Ken Schneck has been there and joins us this week to share his journey from student affairs professional to an administrator in his mid-20s to a tenured faculty member and published author. Ken found himself burned out at age 35 and spoke up about what he was experiencing. The message resonated more than he ever thought it would and became the catalyst for launching his speaking and writing career. In this episode, Ken talks with us about that journey and the advice he now gives to his students in the Leadership in Higher Education program at Baldwin Wallace University. Ken also talks with Lougan and Jenna about how escaping the grind of administrative work allowed him to pursue a writing career and tell the stories of Ohio’s LGBTQ communities.

Dr. Liz Gross returns to the show to talk with Jenna about what’s happening at Campus Sonar, the company she founded to help organizations throughout higher ed harness the power of social listening. We talk about how social listening has changed during the pandemic, how going to conferences outside higher ed helped Liz see what our industry was lacking, how to run a growing organization that’s entirely remote, and much more. Liz is a recognized expert, data-driven marketer, and higher education researcher. She specializes in creating entrepreneurial social media strategies in higher education and has a passion for teaching, which she brings to colleges and universities as the founder and CEO of Campus Sonai. She’s also an award-winning speaker; you might have seen her at SXSW, SXSW EDU, the American Marketing Association Symposium, the Carnegie Conference, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, or one of many other conferences inside and outside of higher ed.  She received a Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service in Higher Education at Cardinal Stritch University, a master’s degree in educational policy and leadership from Marquette University, and a bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communication from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

We’re back! And we have some great episodes in store for you. Thank you to everyone who responded to our requests to be on the show!  For our first episode of 2021, Lougan and Jenna are joined by David Mee, vice president for enrollment management at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. David reflects on how the pandemic has upended how we think about enrollment management and higher education more broadly — and why that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Before joining Campbell University, David spent 10 years at Belmont University, where he worked with Lougan. Like many of us, he never thought that higher education would become his career, but he’s glad that it has. We hope you’ll find this conversation as inspiring as we did!

Ravi Jain from Boston College joins us on the show this week! Ravi serves as the Senior Associate Director of Digital Media & Web at Boston College. We talk with Ravi about being selected as an inaugural INBOUND2019 Fellow and his upcoming talk at INBOUND 2019. Ravi tells us more about why he’s become a short form video evangelist and how he uses micro-storytelling to tell the story of the different “cities” at BC. We also discuss why vinyl sounds better and the fun and agony of designing email templates.

This week, we’re bringing you an episode from Democracy Works, the podcast Jenna hosts when she’s not on Higher Ed Social. She talks with Nancy Thomas, director of the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education, an applied research center in the Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University. Nancy argues that higher education faculty, staff, and administrators can be political without being partisan when it comes to things like encouraging students to vote or thinking about how political issues will impact their day-to-day lives. She also offers some advice for how to keep voting in your messaging mix this fall despite everything else happening on campus and in the country.

There’s a big stir in northern Maine this fall, and Dr. Melik Khoury is in the middle of it. As President of Unity College, he recently announced a plan to move fully to distance and hybrid learning — a move that included layoffs and furloughs for dozens of faculty and staff and the potential sale of the physical campus. Dr. Khoury describes these changes as not only essential to keeping the college open during COVID-19, but also as part of a bigger vision he has for what education should look like. He sees a world in which students can break free of the traditional campus model and get the information they need to solve society’s greatest problems right away, without waiting four years or more to graduate. Sound ambitious? It is, but Khoury stands by it and joins us this week to discuss. You might not agree with everything he says about higher ed, but it’s hard to deny that he has a vision and is passionate about making it a reality.

Like a lot of us, Corynn Myers is basically working two jobs right now. She’s serving as the lead on all of the University of Michigan’s COVID-related communications and managing a team that’s part of Michigan’s in-house creative agency. It’s a lot, but she handles it all with poise and made time to talk with us about how thinking like an agency has helped her team thrive and bring big results in enrollment marketing. We also talk about how Corynn and her family are copying during quarantine and why running is not for everyone, no matter how much we might want it to be right now. Corynn also talk about how working from home has impacted her productivity for better and her diet for worse — something else many of us can relate to right now!

Episode 33 starts off with an ice breaker, introducing Lucky Luke Haumesser, Assistant Director of Student Activities and Governments at the University at Buffalo. After our ice breaker session, we’re comfortable enough with each other to argue about the correct pronunciation of ‘gif,” and make animal noises. Move in week is coming up, and in his new role outside of Residence Life for the first time, Luke talks about the Welcome Week events that he’s helping to plan – including the overhead “interlocking UB” photo, break dancing, and all night pancakes. We also talk about IKEA and Home Depot, in part to celebrate Luke’s transition from a live-on position to his own apartment.

By day, Jessica DePaul is the Associate Director for Recruitment Marketing at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She previously worked at Rutgers as the Assistant Director of Marketing. She is a passionate marketer that is an expert in the latest education technology and trends, including virtual reality for campus tours and open houses.  By night, she’s a makeup artist who has done everything from zombie makeup to more traditional styles. In this conversation, we talk about both sides of her personality and how COVID-19 has impacted her work in recruitment and in makeup.  Jessica will be presenting at the eduWeb Digital Summit on Monday, August 3 at 4:00 p.m. ET. Learn more about her session at: https://www.accelevents.com/e/eduweb2020

Hey everyone! We wanted to share something special with you this week. Jackie Vetrano, who helped create our show, has started a new podcast called Jackie Watches Stuff. As you might know from previous episodes of Higher Ed Social, she’s missed out on a lot of great movies and in this new show, she watches them and discusses them with friends. Today, we’re sharing her first episode about Top Gun. That’s right, Jackie had never seen Top Gun. It’s a great episode, but a quick warning that there’s some explicit language and a bit of adult content. So be mindful of the kiddos and the workspaces. The first 4 episodes are available now at jackiewatchesstuff.com and anywhere you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to follow the show on Twitter at @JackieWatches.

Leigh Hall is a professor and the Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chair in Literacy Education at the University of Wyoming. While studying at the University of South Florida, she realized she wanted to be a teacher and create a better environment for future students. She got her master’s at Vanderbilt University then taught social studies for 6 years in Houston before getting her Ph. D at Michigan State University. Her research on literacy at the University of Wyoming aims to help elementary and middle school teachers around the state.

Ron started a new job as the Assistant Director of Residence Life and Student Conduct at Northwestern in May — in the midst of a pandemic and just before protests against racial violence began across the U.S. Both of these events directly impact Ron’s work both now and in the fall. Despite all the turmoil, he remains collected and more motivated than ever to create an inclusive environment for Northwestern’s students. Ron and Lougan worked together at Belmont, but Lougan was not able to join this interview so Jenna caught up with him to talk about his history as a campus organizer and whether it’s possible to address public health and racial justice at the same time. We also discuss Ron’s work as a tour guide and organizer for Black travelers and where he wants to go once travel resumes. Ron holds a master’s in college student affairs from the University of West Georgia and is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in student affairs leadership at the University of Georgia.

While a lot of colleges and universities talk about ending racism and inequality on their campuses, Carah Ong Whaley and her team at JMU dove headfirst into taking action. Carah is Associate Director of the Center for Civic Engagement, which has put together weekly virtual discussions on topics related to racism, policing, and more. She is also part of an effort to rename JMU buildings currently named for well-known racists in history. As you’ll hear, she’s active in both the #JMUchangethenames social media campaign and working behind the scenes with university leaders. We recorded this episode on June 18. Stay tuned to the end of the show on what’s happened at JMU since then.

This week we're rebroadcasting Lougan and Jackie's episode with Junior Delgado, the director of the Career Center at Westfield State University. He started as the coordinator of senior programs 18 years ago and nine years later he started his current role. The center is staffed with 13 people who oversee career services for undergraduates, graduates, and alumni. Junior discusses how the university uses the platform Handshake to promote one on one connections and as a tool to host networking events. His signature lesson topic to prepare students is to have them think about life after Westfield.

This week, Lougan and new Higher Ed Social host Jenna Spinelle catch up with Jackie about what she’s been up to in her new role at UNC and how the grad school world differs from undergraduate when it comes to enrollment and recruitment. We also talk about how COVID-19 has impacted everyone’s work and non-work lives, including 100% more Animal Crossing and Tiger King than has ever been discussed on the show before.

This week, we're rebroadcasting Lougan & Jackie's episode with Kate Post, digital engagement lead at California State University, Chico. She has a master’s degree in Japanese and planned to go into translation work, but found a passion for communications and social media. She translates her love of Japanese culture and literature into her work every day. To Kate, communication (especially through social media) is similar to translation in that both break down a message to its essential pieces and then re-packaging it in a different way.

This week, Lougan sat down with Beth Wolfe, the executive Vice President for enrollment management at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. Beth’s 22-year career in education has ranged from teaching secondary English and chemistry to serving in a variety of higher education administrative roles. Lougan and Beth chat about how Beth got into higher education, her new role at University of Charleston and the magic of admissions visit days.

This week on the show, Lougan chats with front-end web developer Nikki Massaro Kauffman. She develops open source web components to make Penn State University’s online courses accessible, media rich, and interactive. Nikki has always been passionate about teaching, and she translates that love into mentoring. Lougan and Nikki talk about the importance of mentorship, making mistakes and failure.

This week on the show, we sat down with RJ Thompson, the associate director of student engagement in the College of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburg. RJ’s career in higher education has been in an interesting one. He’s always had a passion for teaching students, and has worked as a both an adjunct and a tenured professor. We talk about RJ’s long career as a professor and why he decided to move from faculty to staff. We also chat about Star Trek: Picard, but no worries. We don’t talk spoilers.

Jenna Spinelle is the communications specialist for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State. She describes herself as a team of one, where she handles digital content and media outreach. She is also host of the Institute’s Democracy Works podcast which is produced in partnership with WPSU Penn State, Pennsylvania’s NPR station. Lougan and Jenna have a great chat about working her work hosting Democracy Works, podcasting and listening to audio books. Also, apologies for Lougan’s audio quality. We’ve had some issues with his microphone and are working to fix it.

This week we discuss the barriers faced by low-income students with Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, president of the Amarillo College. In his time as president, he's overseen significant increases in student retention and graduation rates while also working to make his institution an economic driver for the community and region. On the show, Dr. Lowery-Hart shares how Amarillo College made such radical change happen and the many opportunities for higher education to break tradition and adapt to a changing world.

This week, Lougan talks with Brendan Foley, the director of communications for the Morehead-Cain Foundation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Brendan is responsible for creating and implementing a content strategy that supports Morehead-Cain’s many goals. Whether it’s recruiting the brightest students across the globe or inspiring alumni to participate in the Foundation’s first-ever capital campaign, Brendan creates content that encompasses every aspect of student and alumni journeys. On the show, we discuss Brendan's work and how he made the jump from award-winning broadcast news producer and journalist to higher education. Brendan's wife Jenna Hartwell is also an Higher Ed Social alum! Check out Jenna's episode from October 2018!

If you can believe it, it’s the FIVE YEAR anniversary of Higher Ed Social! To celebrate, host emerita Jackie Vetrano is back on the show this week. It’s been a semester of change for her as she recently graduated with a Master of Professional Studies in Integrated Marketing Communications from Georgetown University. AND she started her new position as assistant director of marketing & prospect management at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Jackie and Lougan talk about the ins and outs of generating and nurturing leads and reminisce about the last five years of the podcast. 

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be university president? This week on the show, Lougan talks with Dr. Martha Saunders, President of the University of West Florida. In her more than three decades in higher education, Dr. Saunders has served in multiple academic and leadership roles and has led UWF a to new heights. Lougan chats with her about how she became a university president, her strategic vision and how the resources in west Florida helped drive the creation of new and innovative programs at UWF. 

Kevin Singer is a PhD student in higher education at North Carolina State University where he serves as a Research Associate for the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS). He also serves as Co-Director of Neighborly Faith, an org helping evangelical college students to build bridges of friendship with people of other faiths, and teaches world religions at two community colleges. IDEALS recently released a national report called "Friendships Matter" about befriending people across all faiths. Lougan and Kevin talk about consequences of online behavior as well as empathy in conversations one might disagree with. When he's not in higher ed, he's hanging out with his wife and their 4 kids.

We're taking a little break from recording the next couple of weeks, so enjoy Jackie and Lougan's episode with James Stafford!  James Stafford is the director of marketing and public relations at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas. He never planned on going into higher ed, but stumbled into it by being a data nerd. James shares his love for how excel sheets can solve a lot of problems. James current tasks vary from changing the virtual tour to the military appreciation football game. The group discusses the challenges of being in university photos and hiding from 360 degree camera. James and Lougan discuss cameras and the potential of iPhone video. And Lougan pulls out his 11 year old OG iPhone and yes, it still works. 

Jason Miller is the digital specialist at York University in Toronto, Canada. As part of the central communications office, Jason’s has his hands in a lot of digital work, but his primary job is to develop the university-wide social media strategy and assist various areas across campus with their digital strategies. Lougan and Jason talk about the quirks of being in charge of social media, and why we love doing what we do. We also talk about the fun little things he does outside his role, and how doing those types of things are important.

Cathy Dunn is an acquisitions librarian at her alma mater, Mississippi State University. Lougan and Cathy talk about how she chose her career and the way digital information has changed the landscape of being a librarian. They also discuss the importance of libraries when it comes to the dissemination of information in the current age.

Eric Stoller is the vice president of digital strategy at GeckoEngage. You may know him from his articles on Inside Higher Ed, his speaking engagements and his consulting work around digital engagement. He’s always loved doing marketing and public relations, but never wanted to work for an agency. Eric’s experiences in student development services at University of Illinois Chicago and enrollment management at Oregon State University really cemented interest in the intersection of technology and student success. He’s had an incredible and unique journey through the world of higher education.

What's better than actually going to the HighEdWeb Conference? Recording an episode with your friends that actually went! At least that's what Lougan is telling himself this week as he welcomes Jackie and Jon-Stephen back to the show along with new guest Alaina Wiens. We chat about what it's like running social media for the conference, and the various presentations they gave. We also talk about the "golden nuggets" they are taking back home this year. 

It's been a crazy week, and we'll be back next week with a new episode. For now, enjoy this rebroadcast episode with Jon McBride! Jon McBride works at Brigham Young University as the media relations and social media manager. Since he started at BYU 6 years ago, he has begun to develop a strong and creative social media strategy. In this episode, he explained how he loves that his department is adaptive to the field of communication. Jon tells us about the time he pitched Beyonce’s publicist, and also chats with Lougan and Jackie about his student social media team and their thoughtful Instagram stories on tough campus topics.

Ashley Alvarado is a doctoral student at the University of South Carolina where she serves as a teaching assistant while obtaining her Ph. D in literature. Lougan and Ashley talk about how general education classes teach students to analyze and interpret information, as well as think critically. We also talk about Ashley’s plans for doctoral research, specifically diaries and their place in literature. 

Back in January of 2018, Emma Hawes joined the Higher Ed Social podcast team with episode 97. This week, Lougan sat down with her to chat about how she came to be on the podcast, her unique college experience as a triplet, her love for the Parks and Recreation and other shows we're watching.

Amber Owens is the social media manager for Indiana Institute of Technology. Amber graduated in 2016 and like many new graduates drifted around from job to job when someone connected her with the position at Indiana Tech. Her passion is for putting stuff online and watching people’s reactions. We chat about the challenges of social media burn out and growing up and watching social media evolve over the years. When Amber isn’t on social media, she builds Star Wars Droids and travels to conventions with her husband.

The start of the academic year is upon us! We hope you're enjoying welcoming students both new and old to your campus. Because of all the craziness (and a random trip to Oregon), we're rebroadcasting our episode with Lisa Catto. It's a great episode, so check it out. We hit the big 5-0 with Lisa Catto, Director of Social Media and Media Relations at Western Oregon University. Because she’s in Oregon and Lougan loves it, we talk about Portland…a lot. That includes public transit, ramen noodles, and the fact that it really is awesome despite what Portlandians say about it. With the new year starting, all of us are thinking about upcoming conferences, and we discuss why they’re awesome, how to be a newbie, and other great benefits. We close the show talking about social media groups, from faculty to students!

This week, we welcome back the amazing Chris D'Orso. Since he was on the show back in 2015, Chris has move to SUNY College at Brockport where he is now the associate director of undergraduate admissions. The move for him was a positive change, as it's allowed him to reconnect with his passion of working in undergraduate admission. You'll also find out about something really big that's been happening in Lougan's life and why the podcast has been a little inconsistent lately. A HUGE thanks to Chris and Jon for being so supportive.

This week, Lougan chats with Dr. Toby Stapleton, the dean of graduate and continuing education programs at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island. We chat about the rise of hybrid professional graduate programs and the many innovative programs at Salve Regina. At his previous institution, Toby lead a technology incubator which has become a global leader in marine (blue) technology. We also discuss his work there and the future of this growing field. 

Ravi Jain from Boston College joins us on the show this week! Ravi serves as the Senior Associate Director of Digital Media & Web at Boston College. We talk with Ravi about being selected as an inaugural INBOUND2019 Fellow and his upcoming talk at INBOUND 2019. Ravi tells us more about why he’s become a short form video evangelist and how he uses micro-storytelling to tell the story of the different “cities” at BC. We also discuss why vinyl sounds better and the fun and agony of designing email templates.

This week, Dave Eng returns to the show! Since his first episode, Dave has finished his doctorate and serves as a clinical professor & educational technologist at New York University’s School of Professional Studies and a professor of practice of table top game design at Troy University. We chatted with Dave about his research into table top gaming, the future of voice technology and Lougan’s tendency to not throw away things. We also discuss escape rooms and the fundamental differences between puzzles and games. 



It's vacation time, so we're taking a break this week. In the mean time, enjoy Lougan and Jackie's episode with Andy Shaw! We'll be back next week.  Get ready for a VERY lively episode this week. Lougan and Jackie talked with the hilarious Andy Shaw, director of enrollment communications at York College of Pennsylvania. Andy loves his job because he makes stuff that get students to come to his college. He also teaches a class about comedy for freshmen to help them build confidence in public speaking. Andy is a new father, and that’s become a very important part of his life. He has an upcoming book titled The New Mom’s Guide to New Dads which helps new mom’s understand the minds of new dads. We talk about that and his experiences being a dad!

Kelsey Ryan the coordinator of fraternity and sorority life at University of Memphis. After deciding that pharmacy school wasn’t for her, she chose a career in student affairs working with fraternity and sorority life. Kelsey is a true advocate for Greek Life on campus, and we discuss how Greek organizations contribute to the community and how a few bad apples can tarnish the good work of others.

Shanna Carmack is the director of residence life for Carson-Newman University in east Tennessee. In this week’s episode, we talk to Shanna about getting acclimated as a new director in her first year at a university and how much a mentor can make a difference to an up-and-coming administrator. Shanna also lends us some insight on what it’s like to raise a child—in a residence hall!