Pathfinder

Rob served for more than a decade as a director, dean, and provost in the California community college system, before branching out to  begin his work helping a number of colleges, as well as regional and national organizations, navigate their way through his challenging new landscape.

The San Jacinto College District has received considerable national attention for the work they've done to improve student outcomes. They've worked with philanthropy, partners in the Houston area, researchers and, crucially, they've formed teams across the institution to look closely at what's happening that inhibits student success or keeps them moving forward.  A key figure in this work has been Laurel Williamson, Deputy Chancellor and College President at the District. It's been her role to oversee many of these efforts, and help make sure things are done in an integrated way.

I sat down a few weeks ago, in Dallas, with Senator Florence Shapiro, former chair of the Senate Education Committee. She's now working with the Texas Association of Community Colleges to help communicate their message to members of the Texas Legislature. You can tell, right away in our conversation, how deeply she cares about these issues and the students at our institutions. 

How do we encourage the adoption of good idea? How to we create a culture that promotes and internalizes positive change? Wynn Rosser, the president and CEO of the Template foundation, has spent the better part of his career wrestling with these questions. Resources mentioned on today's episode: The Fifth Discipline, Peter M. Senge The Fifth Discipline Field Book, Peter M. Senge Trying Hard Is Not Good Enough, Mark Friedman

Tanya Garcia is the Associate Director of Postsecondary Policy Research at the Center for Education in the Workforce at Georgetown University. She’s working to support states integrating postsecondary and labor market data to improve policy and practice. She hopes her work and the work of the Center can help institutions understand and make better decisions at the intersection between the academy and the workplace. Resources mentioned on today's episode: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, Susan Cain  The stories of J.F. Powers, J. F. Powers Sunrise, Sunset, Edwidge Danticat The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz

Nathan Venske is the Associate Dean of Student Services at Jackson College in Michigan. He and his colleagues have devoted a great deal of time and energy to improving the experience their students have. They've received some grants to support these efforts, and they've had a chance to look closely at what they're doing from the student's perspective.  Nathan has been the Associate Dean of Student Services at Jackson College since 2014. In his time at Jackson, Nathan has directly overseen the complete revamp of the academic advising model, new student orientation, and student intake process. Using the Michigan Career Pathways information and the Big 5 personality assessment, Nathan created a new student intake assessment that has been integral to the work of the Student Success Navigators. This intake assessment, coupled with a robust Outreach and Intervention plan, guides the Navigator’s daily work. Data-driven approaches have been the hallmark of the recent innovations and changes that Nathan has brought to his role at Jackson College. Resources mentioned on today's episode: Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl

Matt Lewis has been a professor of mathematics at San Jacinto College since 2009, and has just recently moved into the position of Qualitative Research Analyst, devoting himself full-time to understanding what works in our efforts to improve student success. Winner of several teaching awards, including the 2017 National ACCT Faculty Award, Matt has both studied the effectiveness of new ideas for improving student outcomes and applied them in his classes. Resources mentioned on today's episode: Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter Everyday Zen: Love and Work, Charlotte Beck Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

Michael Aguilar is this year’s Texas Regional President for Phi Theta Kappa, the two-year college international honor society. Michael is studying economics at Lone Star College - CyFair, where he is a student in the honors college.

I spoke last week with Josh Wyner, who directs the college excellence program at the Aspen Institute, about the work they're doing to improve student outcomes in community colleges across the country. He’s interested in the factors that truly drive excellence in an institution and he’s discovered the crucial role leadership plays in effecting high-quality, lasting change. Joshua Wyner is founder and Executive Director of the College Excellence Program at the Aspen Institute, where he also serves as a Vice President. Josh has spent the past two decades investigating organizations aimed at improving and equalizing educational outcomes. He has authored numerous publications about education, including a book, What Excellent Community Colleges Do: Preparing All Students for Success (Harvard Education Press, 2014). He has a B.A. from Vassar College, a MPA from Syracuse University, and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. Resources mentioned on today's episode: David Copperfield, Charles Dickens This Boy’s Life, Tobias Wolff The Round House: A Novel, Louise Erdrich

I had the chance this week to talk with Denise King, Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Cleveland State Community College. She talks about the need these days to supplement the perspective of an educator with analytical and data tools that help explain the environment we’re working in, and come up with solutions to the challenges we’re dealing with. This was our first attempt at a remote interview, where we weren't both sitting in the same room, and I appreciate Denise's great attitude as we tried something new with technology! Resources mentioned on today's episode: Redesigning America’s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success, Bailey, Jaggars and Jenkins Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t, Jim Collins Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, Collins, Hansen The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People, Chapman, White All will be Will: 30 Days With a Great Spiritual Teacher, Julian of Norwich To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis

Today, we’re talking with Brent Chambers, chief of the Tyler Junior College police department, about issues related to campus safety. The topic being discussed is all over the media, including social media, as students, faculty, administrators, and parents all wonder how safe they are on campus, and what it will take to make things safer. Resources mentioned on today's episode: The Constitution of the United States The Federalist Papers Texas Got It Right!, Wyly, Wyly, Isaacson

Today we’re sitting down with Sandy Dochen, Director of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs for IBM in Texas and some of the surrounding states. He’s been working for some time on a program called P-Tech, an early college high school model IBM has pioneered with high schools across the country and overseas. Resources mentioned on today's episode: http://www.ptech.org/ Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, Steven Ambrose  The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, Douglas Brinkley Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America, Douglas Brinkley The Road to Character, David Brooks 

Susan Barkley is the Executive Dean of World Languages, Cultures and Communications at Richland College in Dallas. Her division enrolls more than 20,000 students each year and includes English, ESOL and 13 foreign languages, plus International Education, Global Studies, Ethnic Studies, Cultural Studies and Peace Studies. Resources mentioned on today's episode: Redesigning America’s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success, Bailey, Jaggars, Jenkins The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry West with the Night, Beryl Markham

Today, we're picking up on the conversation we began last week with Wanda Mercer, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs in the University of Texas System, and David Troutman, Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Research and Decision Support in the UT System. It's a live recording of a program held at this year's TCCTA annual conference and we're discussing dual credit. 

Last week, we were at the annual TCCTA convention, where we had a chance to sit down with Wanda Mercer, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Services for the University of Texas System, and David Troutman, Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Research and Decision Support for the UT System. The conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at the conference, so we were able to bring faculty from across Texas into the discussion! Presentation PDF download

Today, we’re picking up from last week’s conversation with TCCTA lobbyist, Beaman Floyd. We’re discussing a number of policy issues involving the state’s higher education policy framework, called 60x30TX, as well as recent developments around the guns-on-campus debate and how we address the presence of foreign-born students who are here, legally or not. Resources mentioned on today's episode: Three Soldiers, John Dos Passos The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler The High Window, Raymond Chandler

Beaman Floyd has spoken to legislators and policymakers on behalf of Texas community college educators since 2003. As you'll hear in our conversation, he takes his work seriously, and personally, trying to understand the perspectives of TCCTA members, and how he can best articulate them to folks at the Capitol, in Austin. 

Glenda Barron stopped by last week and we had the best conversation about her background growing up in deep east Texas-not northeast Texas, she said. It's "deep east" Texas-in the little town of Joaquin. She talked about her educational journey, her time working for the Texas legislature and the Higher Education Coordinating Board, and her current role as President of Temple College. Resources mentioned on today’s episode: What Excellent Community Colleges Do: Preparing All Students for Success, Joshua Wyner   Redesigning America’s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success, Bailey, Jaguars, Jenkins   Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell   To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee  

Today we’re in Lake Jackson, Texas on the campus of Brazosport College. We’re talking with Jeff Detrick and Nicole Tunmire about their work here, especially about the progress their making in developing guided pathways for students.

Carolyn Landel is the Managing Director of the Charles A. Dana Center in Austin. She oversees the Center’s day to day operations and is deeply involved in their partnerships with organizations around the country working on new models for the mathematics curriculum in higher education. Resources mentioned on today’s episode: The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander What’s Worth Fighting for in the Principalship?, Michael Fullan A Colony in a Nation, Chris Hayes

Today I’ll be meeting with Garrett Groves who directs the economic opportunity program at the Center for Public Policy Priorities. In particular, he’s looking at the impact higher education has on the state’s economy and he wants to make sure all Texans have the chance to benefit from it.

Today I'm talking with Jacob Fraire, President of the Texas Association of Community Colleges. Jacob has been with TACC going on two years and we've had the opportunity to work together on a number of projects, most of them policy related.  Resources mentioned on today's episode: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander

Steve Head is Chancellor of the Lone Star College system, one of the largest higher education systems in the United States. He’s served as Chancellor since 2014 but has been with Lone Star for more than 30 years as Executive Vice Chancellor, President of two of the colleges in the system and other leadership roles. Resources mentioned on today's episode: Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad, William Craig Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't, Jim Collins A History of the Arab Peoples, Hourani, McCaddon

Martha Ellis has seen the community college world from more points of view than just about anyone I know. From faculty member to college administrator to college president, she understands life on a college campus inside and out.

Greg Morris is the Academic Vice President at El Centro College, in Dallas. He joins us today to talk about the work he is doing at El Centro, and how he approaches the task of helping students find success.  Resources mentioned on today's episode: HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself, Harvard Business Review, Drucker, Christensen, Goleman, Orphan Train: A Novel, Kline, Almasy, Toren

Kelty Garbee joins us today to discuss her work at Educate Texas, an organization in Austin that works on education policy, as well as program development in both K-12 and higher education. They were pioneers in the early college high school movement and have fostered a number of transformational programs.  Resources mentioned on today's episode: Redesigning America's Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success, Bailey, Jaguars, Jenkins Gil Scot-Heron: Pieces of a Man, Marcus Baram The Flavor Bible, Page, Dornenburg TheTexasNetwork.org Subscribe to this podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Play or the RSS Feed

Today, we're in San Antonio, at the Texas Pathways Institute, organized by the Texas Success Center. We've had a chance the past couple of days to visit with people at community colleges working on developing guided pathways at their institutions, and we sat down with Davis Jenkins, a senior researcher with the Community College Research Center, at Columbia University Teachers College. Resources mentioned on today’s episode: Austerity Blues: Fighting for the Soul of Public Higher Education, Fabricant, Brier On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, McNeil, McCain Subscribe to this podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Play or the RSS Feed

Today our guest is Tonie Badillo, who directs dual credit and Early College High Schools at El Paso Community College. EPCC was a pioneer in both dual credit and early college high schools, and Tonie has been involved since the very beginning.  Resources mentioned on today’s episode: One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez Redesigning America’s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success, Bailey, Jaguars, Jenkins Subscribe to this podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Play or the RSS Feed

Today, Jenna Cullinane Hege joins us to talk about the overarching policy goals for higher education in Texas. The agenda is called 60x30TX and aims to ensure 60% of adult Texans have some sort of higher education credential by 2030. Resources mentioned on today’s episode: Texas Higher Education Data 60x30TX PlanPredictably Irrational, Dan Ariely The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, Sandberg The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, Granny, Patterson, Mayfield, McMillan, Switzler Subscribe to this podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Play or the RSS Feed

Today, Wanda Mercer, vice chancellor for student affairs, and David Troutman, vice chancellor for institutional research and decision support, at the University of Texas system join us to talk about the current state of dual credit in Texas and what changes we may be seeing over the next few years.  Books mentioned on today’s episode: Giant of the Senate, Al Franken Being Mortal, Atul Gawandre From Numbers to Words, Morgan, Reichert, Harrison Subscribe to this podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Play or the RSS Feed

Today, Uri Treisman is with us to talk about his career as a teacher and researcher, and what he’s been up to lately, changing the way we all think about mathematics in higher education. In our conversation, Uri reflects broadly on the systemic change he’s been a part of, and roots it all in the deep pleasure he’s found in the classroom. Books mentioned on today’s episode: Euphoria, by Lily King How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough Causal Inferences in Statistics: A Primer, by Judea Pearl Subscribe to this podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Play or the RSS Feed

This week, we talk with Rex Peebles, Assistant Commissioner for Academic Quality and Workforce at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. In our conversation, we talk about his background, what the world looks like from his current perch, and the intersection between higher education policy and practice. With all the changes happening in our world these days, Rex has some important insights about what’s coming, and how people on campus can help steer the direction we take. Books mentioned on today’s episode: The Bible Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville The Attainment Agenda, by Laura Perna Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide, by Linda Suskie   Subscribe to this podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Play or the RSS Feed

I sat down with Warren Donworth, Tom Gingras, and William Bastas in the Welding program at Austin Community College. These teachers love welding. They love the precision and the attention it takes to get a piece just right. And they love the students. You can hear it in their voices when they're talking about the program and the people who have gone through it with them. Subscribe to this podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Play or the RSS Feed