Future U Podcast - The Pulse of Higher Ed

It’s March Madness, a prime time for college sports – and for sports betting. Some two-thirds of college students now bet on sports, and the meteoric rise in popularity brings a mix of tough challenges for campus leaders. On this episode, Jeff and Michael talk with two officials from the NCAA, Clint Hangebrauck and Mark Hicks, to understand why a rise in student gambling could become “the next big public health crisis” for campuses. This episode is supported exclusively by Ascendium Education Group.

For 30 years now, colleges have relied on the Learning Management System, or LMS, as a key portal for professors and students to teach and learn. It's a tool that has helped colleges adapt to online learning and bring digital tools to classroom teaching. But generative AI seems poised to disrupt the LMS. And it’s unclear whether the LMS will evolve—or be replaced altogether. For this episode, Jeff and Michael talk with a pioneer of the technology, Matthew Pittinsky, about the lessons of past moments of tech disruption like the smartphone and cloud computing and about what could be different this time. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

Tenure is a defining feature of U.S. higher education, but these days the practice is in decline and under attack by critics. On this episode, Jeff and Michael talk with Jacques Berlinerblau, a Georgetown University professor who has written extensively about the tenure system, for an explainer on its colorful origins as well as a look at the dramatic changes that seem to be coming. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

Colleges and other providers have flooded the market with non-degree credentials in the past decade. But a recent analysis shows that only one in three credentials bring meaningful returns for graduates. Jeff and Michael talk with Matt Sigelman, president of the Burning Glass Institute, who is working to provide data to consumers and policymakers about the ROI of non-degree credentials. Given many of the returns of credentials come to those with traditional degrees already, the future of the degree and credentials are inextricably tied together. This episode is supported exclusively by Ascendium Education Group.

College trustees consider more than just the monetary policies of universities. And former Brown University trustee Lauren Zalaznick is out with a new book that aims to humanize these often secretive roles with letters of reflection by Brown board members going back more than 100 years, some of them during other turbulent times in U.S. history. She brings the sensibility from her career as a television executive, when she led the Bravo network as it created The Real Housewives franchise and hits like Project Runway and Top Chef. Jeff and Michael talk to Zalaznick about her new book and her views on how colleges need to reassert their broader social value to meet this moment of crisis for higher ed. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.