For the higher ed HR community to thrive there must be a pipeline of early-career professionals waiting in the wings, and one way CUPA-HR equips early-career pros to grow in their role and take steps toward their career goals is through the Wildfire program.
The program, sponsored in part by HigherEdJobs, is a 12-month immersive experience that connects a small, select group of early-career higher ed HR professionals with some of the top leaders in the profession, giving them a variety of learning opportunities.
Rob Keel, a member of the 2019-20 Wildfire cohort and past president of the CUPA-HR Tennessee Chapter, had this to say about the program: “Wildfire helped open my eyes to the possibilities within higher education HR. The network I gained through my involvement with Wildfire has provided so much support as I navigate my career. If you want to develop relationships that have the power to transform, Wildfire has the power to do just that.”
As a new year gets underway, we want to congratulate and welcome the Wildfire program participants for 2022-23:
TJ Bowie, Equal Opportunity and HR Compliance Manager, Elon University
Joy Brownridge, Training and Development Specialist, University of Illinois System
Amanda Burshtynsky, Employee Payroll and Insurance Clerk, Genesee Community College
Kelleebeth Cantu, HR and Employment Coordinator, Trinity University
Audrey Ettesvold, Human Resource Specialist, Idaho State Board of Education
Alexis Hanscel, Benefits Manager, Denison University
Kathleen Hermacinski, Human Resource Coordinator, Eureka College
Anshuma Jain, HR Administrator, Hudson County Community College
Jessica Ludwick, Human Resources Consultant, University of North Carolina Wilmington
Tracey Pritchard, HR Coordinator, University of Iowa
Trevon Smith, HR Generalist, Drake University
Christopher Williams, HR Partner, University of Maine System Office
Interested in joining our 2023-24 cohort? Learn more about the Wildfire program.
Technology in education has transformed over time to better meet the needs of teachers and students. Dan Marrable, founder of 448 Studio in the United Kingdom talks how they’re jumping on this wave of technology to bring solutions for academic conferences and virtual events.
I met Dan back in 2020 when he invited me to speak at the All Day All Night 24 hour conference. It was a production to behold. Well managed, well organized. Speakers from all over the world joined in to share knowledge for Higher Education professionals. I’ve been on the steering committee ever since for this great online event.
In this interview, Dan Marrable opens up about some of the struggles professors have with virtual events (event organizers, speakers, and attendees). And, he asks for your help with their virtual teaching study funded by the Scottish Government and European Commission.
Jennifer: Hi everyone. My name is Jennifer van Alstyne. Welcome back to the new season of The Social Academic. Today, I’m here with Dan Marrable, the founder of 448 Studio, who is an amazing person I met in 2020. We worked together on the All Day All Night Conference.
He’s here to tell you about some ed tech software today that’s really amazing for faculty, for professors. If you’re in Higher Ed, I’m excited to share this interview with you.
Dan, how are you today? Would you start us off by introducing yourself?
Dan: Sure. Well, first of all, Jennifer, thanks for having me on the podcast.
My name is Dan Marrable. I’m the founder and CEO of a company called 448 Studio, launched back in October 2018. After working a stint at the University of Glasgow, I launched it as a consultancy to, to work with a variety of different higher education institutions working on their social media strategy, working on the support for digital media within academia.
That’s been going on for the past 3 years. It’s been quite an interesting time.
Obviously everyone knows that the past 2 years a lot of things had to pivot and change. And I think that’s kind of why I’m really excited to speak to you today about the evolution of not only 448 Studio, but kind of how we managed to jump on that wave of technology in teaching and learning. And what education institutions have had to cope with and deal with them the past couple of years [during the pandemic].
Technology changes for education during the pandemic
Jennifer: Yeah, it’s been increasingly difficult for faculty, but I love that you’re creating solutions for them. I’d really like to just let other people know, you know, what does your company do? Who are you helping and why?
Dan: Yeah. So primarily at the moment, we are very much embedded within higher education.
We have done some work with further ed, and with schools and things like that. That’s kind of more on the horizon. But I think for the company to grow, we’ve had to really focus on what I know. And what the people that worked for me know. And that is within universities.
Primarily we help not only academics, but also people within professional services.
It started out as you know, as workshops and support for social media and working with academics to represent their research in a digestible manner for widening participation as well as for international connections. And we still do that. And it’s still very much the core of 448 Studio.
But two years ago, when everything went into lockdown, we launched a conference called All Day All Night, which is where I met you. That was for education professionals and academics based off the fact that I felt that the core of what we did and the core of networking and knowledge share had almost been stunted as soon as all these conferences closed. And as soon as you couldn’t meet people in person. So we launched this 24 hour conference.
That’s what started me on that journey of saying, okay, well what can we do? And what can we do better? Specifically for education. Now there’s a lot of solutions for private companies and for corporations. But it does seem like at the moment we’re trying to kind of cram corporate technology into education. And trying to kind of balance the two, which I find is working in various degrees, but not necessarily the most fit-for-purpose thing.
Jennifer: It feels like we’re at this explosion of all of this technology all at once. People aren’t always sure where to turn to. And with so much to learn it just becomes difficult because you’re finding lots of solutions for the same problem, not even sure which one to turn to.
Forumm, a solution for virtual events and conferences
Jennifer: I think that’s why I like what you’re doing with Forumm. Can you tell us a little bit about Forumm?
Dan: Yeah. No, of course. So off the back of All Day All Night I met with some of the guys that were doing the live streaming for it. And very quickly realized that there’s kind of two elements to a virtual event. One is a platform that you host the event on. But a very separate element that a lot of people overlook is a broadcast element of it. So I think we had the broadcast…
The platform that we were using wasn’t necessarily fit-for-purpose. It worked fine, but we just felt that maybe we could do a little bit better from an actual event perspective.
As of last year, January, we started Forumm, which is a virtual event space for the education sector. So something that’s fully customizable.
You’re able to change things like the registration and the user journey. Been able to update simple things like branding and stuff like that.
But also have elements, for example, PDF readers or PDF things for journals. We had academic poster competition within the platform. And 3D and virtual spaces as well, embedded in.
So it’s really focusing on the technology and seeing where the technology can make a virtual event better, as opposed to trying to replicate a physical event virtually.
It’s really trying to find those core things that people within education struggle with and try to find a solution for them on a virtual event in space.
It’s been quite a journey. Yeah. We’ve been doing it for a year and a half and learning as we go. We get so much feedback from the institutions and the people that we work with that it’s great. It really feels like a partnership there. They know that we’re dedicated to the sector which I think makes a big difference as opposed to going for everything.
Jennifer: That does make a big difference, especially because it means that you know the types of struggles that professors, that faculty, that other educators are dealing with when they attend virtual conferences. You’re finding solutions to those.
One of the things that I really like about it is that it’s the kind of this all in one platform. Like if you need that conference space to fit a certain way or to fit your needs. Maybe you’re a journal and you have a series of publications to share. Or again, like that poster competition.
Dan: Yeah.
Jennifer: That can make a really big difference in higher education for researchers and for professors to really create that engaging space. I love that.
Dan: Yeah, no. I think it’s been a real learning experience, Jennifer. And I think the big thing that’s come out of it is how much professional services within universities find it a challenge to run events.
It’s either the fact that you know, that they need a bit of upskilling, which we’re happy to do.
It could be a case that, you know, they’ve got a million and 1 different jobs. And all of a sudden they’re like, okay, now I’ve got to run a virtual event.
Where I think we’ve been able to support that. Show that and set and support where we’ll come alongside you help you
Plan the event
Build the platform
Run it
Broadcast it
Wrap-up
So then that’s where we’ve realized we can really provide a lot of support because when you do boil it down to an event platform, they are starting to pop up everywhere. And they do seem a dime a dozen at the moment. But a lot of times it’s just, you know, “Here are the tools,” and they’ll just step away.
Jennifer: Right.
Dan: And then everyone has to become a professional virtual event individual, whereas maybe they’re doing physical events to begin with and now they have to switch over.
Then obviously now, we can go down that hybrid route, which means so many things to so many different people. That’s that’s another challenge.
I think one of the vast refreshing things that I have seen is the fact that we’re not constrained by geolocation anymore. We’re not restrained by how much is it going to take to fly someone over and put them up and speak?
And, I think it also broadened your access to knowledge because you would get speakers that are like, “Sure, I can give you half an hour, 45 minutes of a talk.” Whereas before it would be a major thing saying to bring someone like that in.
I mean, we’ve had events hosted by hosts in Sydney, in Australia, with the actual event taking place in the United Kingdom. They’ll have the event. Then they’ll go into breakout rooms, which need to be recorded with transcripts done because it influences policy decisions.
That was amazing to see, you know, somebody’s hosting it in a completely different time zone, but still being able to, you know, gain the knowledge that they need from individuals within the UK. I think it’s just opening up that space right now.
Jennifer: And with the All Day All Night Conference, you had people coming in from all over the world. And we had presenters in how many different countries? I mean, it was truly amazing to see the power of that kind of platform and that kind of organization.
So it sounds like it’s not just the platform that you’ve created. It’s the system for really supporting the people who are creating that virtual event. So that together with the platform, it can really produce something that’s engaging for all of the participants.
Dan: Yeah. I think that, and that’s just the whole thing as well, Jennifer.
Obviously we would love everyone to use our platform. But some people, you know, they’ve got their own things set up. Maybe they’ve actually developed their own space within university, the university team on the website. Which I think is great. It’s truly ambitious.
And obviously our platform is great, but I think where we’re really leaning to as well is that support mechanism to help people manage and run the events that they need to run.
And I think it does fit hand in hand with what we’re doing as a consultancy at the very beginning and being embedded within higher education. Now we’re continuing that, but then we’re adding on more layers of support where people need it.
Jennifer: Yeah. Well, I like it because it’s almost like the software production of this idea of how can people connect better online? How can people share their research online?
And this product is almost, it feels to me like this evolution of like here we can create this space in which this knowledge sharing can happen in real time. Asynchronously, it can happen. You can have your recordings and go back later and watch those as well. I just think that that’s so cool.
Compared to all of those other platforms for events. You’re actually focused on education in a way that many of the others are not. And I think that stands you apart, especially when paired with that support.
That’s what I would do. I did events like physical events for my university. And I loved that.
But virtual events presents is like whole new set of challenges. And really getting people engaged. Well, that takes extra planning and extra work and creativity to figure out how these academic spaces can also be online.
Dan: Yeah, and I think the physical event in my opinion can, can never really be replaced. I think there is a space for that. Nothing really compares to just being able to sit in a room with someone and just share knowledge and share information and talk about specific tailored topics and things like that based off of conferences.
But, I think in its own right, a virtual event needs to be looked at with different eyes. Trying to run a virtual event the way you would run a physical event is almost impossible.
Yes, there’s probably some crossover in terms of registration. There’s probably some crossover in terms of some of the communication that you send out to people.
But when it actually comes to the event itself, you know, having to organize different broadcasts of things, different tracks. The support that comes alongside of it as well from a technical perspective, when people aren’t able to log in or having trouble doing different things.
And then dealing with your speakers as well. You know, making sure that they’re up to speed on the technology, making sure everything’s running.
So there’s a lot of things from a virtual event in space that people have had to learn quite quickly.
Where we’re talking about the hybrid space, it’s such a broad term. I’m hoping that people are understanding that, you know, a hybrid isn’t just trying to replicate a physical event to virtual audience. Because I’ve found time and time again one of the audiences loses out.
Whether it’s the virtual guys at home where they don’t feel like they’re part of the event. Or maybe the people in person feel like too many things are catered towards making sure the live streaming is happening, everything’s working properly. So that could even cause delays in, in the event.
So I think it’s still just trying to crack that kind of where those two types of events interact with each other. And I think our platform where we’re trying our hardest to try and figure that out. And I think a lot of other people are trying to figure it out too. But yeah. It’s quite an interesting space to be involved in and to watch.
Jennifer: That’s fascinating.
Struggles with virtual events, the problems people encounter often
Can I ask what are some of the biggest struggles that you’re seeing people have with these virtual events? The educators that you work with.
Dan: I think it depends on the question I guess, Jennifer. I think that the struggles are different for an event organizer, as opposed to a participant, as opposed to maybe a speaker.
Jennifer: Oooh, ok.
Dan: I think from an event organizer point of view. Yes, there’s a lot of technical challenges that need to happen. In terms of making sure everyone’s prepared for the event, making sure speakers are ready, making sure all the right communications are going out to the attendees. Not to mention having to promote it and things like that.
But I think the challenges for people that are speaking is the fact that without maybe more of a guiding hand, sometimes they’ll just have to show up and do everything themselves. I think that can be a huge challenge and a bit frustrating from a technical point of view.
Jennifer: Yeah.
Dan: I think there’s a bit of a barrier as well from the audience. And I think this is something that people have been seeing for the past couple of years, you know, from a webinar perspective. Not necessarily getting that instantaneous feedback. So you’re almost just sitting there talking to a screen and trying to be animated for it.
I think from an attendee point of view, some of the challenges are again from the technical side. Being able to even just simple things like log in, and network, and connect.
But also to be able to get as much out of it as possible from a networking point of view. I think a lot of people go to these events or virtual events hoping to make those connections. But we find time and time again, you know, you have your breakout rooms that people can join. But they’re really under utilized. People are scared to go into these spaces and just turn their camera on and talk to people.
We’ve been advising event organizers to really structure those breakout spaces and say, this is a topic. One of our guys will be in there and we’ll make sure that everything’s fine. And trying to facilitate that networking.
I think, yeah, as soon as they try to replicate a physical event, virtually it shows up a whole lot of challenges for organizers.
So I think their approach should be: We’re going to focus on a virtual or focus on a physical event with maybe some virtual elements to it.
Jennifer: Oh, that makes sense. Hearing all of those struggles also makes me understand why as an event organizer, you know, really thinking about the participants and the speakers is why going with something with support like 448 Studio offers, that can be beneficial.
Educators, university staff. They’re so busy. They’re overworked. And they need help and support with this kind of event. So I just love what you’re bringing to the table. And I’m really glad that you joined me for today’s interview.
Developing a new teaching and learning tool for lecturers
Dan: One of our core focuses over the next nine months because we received a grant from the European Commission to actually do a feasibility study.
Jennifer: Oh, congratulations!
Dan: Thank you. Yeah, it was about a year long process that gets it. But I think we realized quite quickly during the pandemic that the traditional tools that were being used by universities had pretty big barriers when it came to actually teaching.
So I guess aside from the event side of things and conferences side, I think, you know, university students and lecturers were really struggling.
I do commend all of the Higher Ed institutions, and further education, and schools as well for trying to utilize the tools that were given to them. And it ends up being, you know, the Teams or Zoom or something like that, where they really had to completely change the curriculum and the way that they taught to adapt to these tools.
Jennifer: Right.
Dan: We’re really focusing a lot over the next 9 months on understanding that learning and teaching process, that hybrid learning teaching process. And hopefully trying to develop a tool specifically for lecturers.
At the moment we’re doing a lot of sending out surveys to different academics and lecturers to find out where their pain points are. And we’ll hopefully have something to show for it,
I just think there’s quite an interesting time from a learning and teaching perspective. And yeah, just seeing if there’s better ways for tools.
Obviously, I think there’s overlap between learning a teaching platform and Forumm. But learning teaching is really is kind of its own space. It needs its own tools as well.
Jennifer: Yeah, I think that’s fascinating.
How are you soliciting those surveys? Do you want people who are listening to, to reach out to you?
Dan: Yeah, of course I would! I’d love to. I’ll send it across to you to share.
Jennifer: Yeah!
Dan: We’re definitely trying to get as much feedback as possible. We just kind of polished it up as of actually today. So we’ll hopefully in the next week or so we’ll be putting it out.
Jennifer: Yay! [Claps.]
Dan: Yeah, no, I think finding as much information as possible is really key for us at the moment. And then we’ll be developing something closer to the end of the year.
We’re really excited about it and really grateful to the European Commission and Scottish government as well for supporting us on this. It’ll be quite an interesting journey as well.
Jennifer: That is excellent. I love seeing how your business is growing, and changing, and adapting to meet the needs of the people that you serve.
I’m so glad that you’re working on all of that. And congratulations on that grant. That is so exciting. I can’t wait to see what you build.
Dan: Thanks. I know. I think it’ll be quite interesting because I think we’re definitely embracing the flexibility of it. I think, you know, going in with blinders on to say we’re going to create a live streaming that does X, Y, and Z that’s going to do this will be detrimental.
I think trying to find as much out as possible from lecturers and from people on the ground is really important.
And really exploiting technology as opposed to trying to replicate things. Getting that application to do things with the tech that you could never do in person. I think that’s what I really want to explore. As opposed to trying to find a way to replicate things.
So, yeah. It’s been a really interesting. We’re in the real thick of it for research at the moment. So it’ll be really interesting. I’ll make sure to keep being informed when we start to release some of the information.
Jennifer: Yes, I’d love to hear more about it. And I think that everyone listening will be very excited as well.
Yeah. Thanks for sharing that sneak peek with us. [Laughs.]
All Day All Night Conference
Jennifer: Well, Dan Marrable of 448 Studio, thank you so much for coming on The Social Academic blog podcast, YouTube channel. It’s going to be on all of it.
Where can people get in touch with you if they want to learn more about 448 Studio or Forumm?
We also have All Day All Night coming up on November 10, 2022. So we’ll, we’ll be sending more information out about that as well. Which I’m very sure you’ll be involved in some capacity, Jennifer.
Jennifer: Yes. I would love to be involved!
Just for everyone who’s listening. They might not know what All Day All Night is. So could you just end us with a couple of sentences about it?
Dan: Yeah, of course. So it’s a conference for the education sector. This year steam is regrowth. It’s a 24 hour virtual conference that starts in the United Kingdom. And then follows the sun around the world with speakers from Canada, United States, Australia, South Africa. Well, people from all over the place, I think.
It’s fully live, 24 hours. And again, it’s hosted on Forumm.
It really is out there for them for digital knowledge sharing. And I think it’ll be a really great event on the 10th of November.
Jennifer: I love it. November 10th, adding it to my calendar now.
Dan, thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you have a great rest of your day!
Dan: Great. Thanks, Jennifer!
Bio for Dan Marrable
Dan Mararable is the founder of 448 Studio, an EdTech company that is committed to the future of knowledge sharing with a product called Forumm; a ground-breaking virtual event platform designed for the education sector.
The company supports institutions such as the University of Glasgow, University of Leeds, LSE, Lancaster University, the Welsh Parliament and Cornell University.
In May, I was pleased to see the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) offer a virtual Telehealth Conference. I am always on the lookout for good professional development opportunities, so I signed up.
My schedule had a conflict on that day and I was unable to attend, BUT they posted videos of the sessions online. I was so excited and I could not wait to block time on my schedule, grab some lunch, and listen to the sessions.
You can listen to the sessions as well!
Here is a list of the sessions and the video links:
Leaders from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will discuss priorities and highlight key efforts across the Department to expand access to telehealth services.
Providers and experts will discuss telehealth’s key role in access to behavioral health services as well as the integration of behavioral and physical health services, especially for those in underserved communities.
This session will discuss ongoing efforts to facilitate access to inter-state telehealth services through HRSA’s Licensure Portability Grant Program. Through this program, HRSA provides support to the Federation of State Medical Boards and the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards. Participants will learn about current options to address licensure portability reform and have an opportunity to provide feedback.
This session will discuss key policy and infrastructure issues at the state and federal level needed to ensure continued access to telehealth beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency.
This session will discuss key considerations for integrating telehealth in various medical settings. Participants will learn of current models and provide input on ways to address challenges and barriers.
This session will provide an overview of Federal efforts and resources to improve access to broadband, which is a key component to the delivery of telehealth services as well as other social determinants of health.
This session will discuss current efforts to assist providers in using telehealth and considerations for training the workforce for tomorrow. Issues to be discussed will include provider-to-provider mentoring, developing telehealth curriculum for providers and addressing burnout.
This session will provide participants with an opportunity to learn more about the HRSA supported Telehealth Resource Centers including their work and expertise in assisting providers with implementing telehealth services.
This session will discuss leveraging telehealth technology in addressing and treating COVID-19.
Experts will discuss the key telehealth issues and priorities identified by their stakeholders and how those telehealth issues may evolve beyond the pandemic.
Check out the sessions. Which session was your favorite?
On July 15, a federal judge from the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Tennessee issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the Department of Education’s Title IX guidance that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. Specifically, the ruling blocks enforcement of a June 2021 Notice of Interpretation issued by the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in light of the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County and President Biden’s Executive Order, “Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.”
Twenty Republican-controlled states, led by their attorneys general, were listed as plaintiffs on the case, arguing that the department’s guidance should not be enforced by the agency as it did not go through the notice-and-comment rulemaking process and is not codified law. They claimed that the department’s enforcement of the guidance also puts states at risk of losing significant federal funding if they do not comply with the guidance. The Eastern District of Tennessee judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, issuing the preliminary injunction while stating that the guidance interferes with states’ abilities to enforce their own laws that prohibit transgender students from participating on sports teams or using restrooms that align with their gender identity.
As it currently stands, the injunction applies only to the 20 states listed as plaintiffs in the case, potentially impacting the policies of colleges and universities in those states. Notably, the injunction does not impact the recently issued Title IX proposed regulations that are currently undergoing a 60-day notice-and-comment period. If the Title IX regulations are codified into law, however, they may face similar legal challenges.
CUPA-HR will continue to monitor this issue and keep members apprised of any developments related to Title IX.
One of my favorite grocery stores is H-E-B. Seriously, after our major grocery store in Carthage, Texas (a very rural area in East Texas) left a sizable gap in the strip center between Wal-Mart and Eckerd’s (CVS Pharmacy), we were pleased when H-E-B moved into the grocery store space that was vacant for 10+ years. It opened in the late 1990s and the city has shown their love for H-E-B since that time. It greatly contributes to the health of the region.
One of my cousins works for H-E-B and she absolutely loves the company. Even when she travels, she is all about visiting the nearest H-E-B store. Talk about H-E-B-based travel, that is her favorite thing!
H-E-B, like other stores, had to pivot during the pandemic. In fact, our local H-E-B store in Carthage, Texas was very proactive in implementing measures to keep their team members and shoppers safe. They enabled only a certain amount of people to enter the store at one time, etc.
Earlier this month, I saw this amazing webinar focused on how the H-E-B organization reflected on how they changed procedures during the pandemic and other aspects of their store.
So, take a BIG bite of this webinar and reflect in the comment box below about how your local grocery stores pivoted (or did not pivot) during the pandemic.
Thanks for visiting! Sincerely, Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards Professor of Communication
Executive Director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute & Rural Communication Institute
New research from CUPA-HR shows that higher education institutions are in the midst of a talent crisis, as many staff, professionals and administrators are considering other employment opportunities due to dissatisfaction with their pay, their opportunities for advancement, their institutions’ remote and flex work policies, and more.
The newly published research report, The CUPA-HR 2022 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey: Initial Results, provides an overview of what proportion of the higher ed workforce is at risk for leaving, why they’re considering leaving employment, and with which policies, work arrangements and benefits employees are satisfied or dissatisfied. The report includes several recommendations for addressing these issues.
Data from 3,815 higher ed employees across 949 institutions and representing 15 departments/functional areas were analyzed for this report.
Findings
Higher ed employees are looking for other jobs, mostly because they desire a pay increase. More than half (57%) of the higher ed workforce is at least somewhat likely to look for other employment opportunities in the next 12 months. The most common reason for seeking other employment (provided by three-fourths of those likely to look for another job) is an increase in pay. Other reasons are that they desire more remote work opportunities, a more flexible schedule, and a promotion or more responsibility.
Higher ed institutions are not providing the remote work opportunities that employees want. Nearly three-fourths (71%) of employees report that most of their duties can be performed remotely, and 69% would prefer to have at least at least a partially remote work arrangement, yet 63% are working mostly or completely on-site.
Higher ed employees are working longer and harder than ever. Two-thirds (67%) of full-time staff typically work more hours each week than what is considered full-time. Nearly two-thirds (63%) have taken on additional responsibilities of other staff who have recently left, and nearly three-fourths (73%) have taken on additional responsibilities as a direct result of the pandemic.
Higher ed employees have clear areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Areas of satisfaction include benefits, relationship with supervisor, job duties, and feeling a sense of belonging. Areas of dissatisfaction include investment in career development, opportunities for advancement, fair pay, remote work policies and parental leave.
On this podcast episode of Higher Ed Without Borders co-hosted by Edu Alliance Founders Dr. Senthil Nathan and Dean Hoke speak with Dr. Jim Henderson, President of the University of Louisiana System.
Dr. James Henderson, President of the University of Louisiana System, a multi-university campus system with an enrollment of approximately 90,000 students. Prior to being appointed as President of the System, Dr. Henderson served as President of Northwestern State University. He is a native of Shreveport Louisiana. He received his Master’s in Administration from the University of West Florida, and his Doctor of Management degree from the University of Maryland – University College.
In an October 2021 newspaper article in the Acadiana Advocate, Dr. Henderson’s wife Tonia discussed her husband and love of learning. “Jim has “gone through a lot of schooling” during their marriage and he is a constant reader. He earned his master’s and doctorate while they were married. He also has routinely taken coursework where available — he oftentimes takes Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs — most recently one in Irish literature. “He’s always trying to learn new things,” she said.
His penchant for lifelong learning made an impact on their three children; only the youngest lives at home now. She says she gets inspired by watching him use his time so well. He allots time for work, family, and his own study.”
Senthil and Dean discussed with Dr. Henderson about the university system and his views on education and leadership.
Comments and Suggestions:
Higher Ed Without Borders would love to hear your ideas for future topics and guests. Connect with Dr. Senthil Nathan or Dean Hoke on LinkedIn. You can also visit the Edu Alliance website. To hear the entire series please subscribe to Higher Ed Without Borders on your preferred podcast platforms such as Apple, Spotify, or Google. The podcast is sponsored by Edu Alliance, an education consulting firm located in Bloomington Indiana, and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
We assist higher education institutions worldwide on a variety of mission-critical projects. Production support was provided by White Rabbit Printing and Design.
If your organization wants to know more about how Edu Alliance can best serve you, please contact either Dean Hoke or Dr. Senthil Nathan.
CUPA-HR’s Association Leadership Program (ALP) has taken place every July for more than two decades, bringing together chapter, region, and national board members; association staff; key corporate partners; and other invited guests. After two years of meeting only virtually, these leaders were finally able to meet again in person last week.
“We’re Still Standing!”
The HR challenges of the past two years have included leading emergency COVID-19 response, exploring a new frontier of flexible work, and addressing unprecedented talent recruitment and retention challenges. Through it all, higher ed HR professionals have been on the front lines, adapting and transforming the workplace with resourcefulness, leadership and strategic insights.
To celebrate that strength and resilience, CUPA-HR president and CEO, Andy Brantley, and national board chair, Jay Stephens, kicked off the two-day meeting with Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” playing in the background and issued an irresistible photo challenge for attendees. (Be sure to check out the photos posted to Twitter with the hashtag #cupahr22.)
Building Knowledge and Connection
The ALP’s highly interactive program included:
tips for managing chapters and developing a leadership pipeline
updates on CUPA-HR’s work on Title IX and other public policy imperatives
a practical overview of CUPA-HR’s DEI Maturity Index and new Research Center
a discussion of winning strategies for higher ed’s post-pandemic war for talent
a presentation on cultivating trauma-informed practice in higher education leadership
Beyond the programming, however, what attendees valued most about the event was the opportunity to validate their campus experiences in conversations with peers, rekindle the motivation behind their work, and take away great ideas for transforming their HR teams and their institutions in ways big and small.
Interested in Taking Your Professional Development Further?
CUPA-HR’s volunteer leaders have committed to advancing the profession and the mission of CUPA-HR. They understand the complexities of higher ed HR, and they want to enhance the knowledge and skills they need to lead their institutions into the future.
Are you ready to take that next step in developing your leadership skills, shaping the profession, and gaining one-of-a-kind access to successful practices and HR professionals from across the country? Then CUPA-HR leadership — in a chapter, at the region level, or even on the national board of directors — might be right for you. Learn more about how you can get involved.
The goal of CUPA-HR’s Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders program is to identify potential volunteer leaders who have shown exemplary leadership and initiative within higher ed HR and exhibit the desire to play an active role in advancing the profession. Invited participants have the unique opportunity to engage in problem-solving work groups and develop deep networks with peers while gaining an inside look at CUPA-HR’s operations and structure.
Throughout the program, participants are encouraged to serve the association in a leadership capacity, lending a fresh and informed perspective. Many participants have gone on to hold positions on chapter boards, region boards and CUPA-HR’s national board of directors.
The 2021-22 Cohort Curated Best Practices for CUPA-HR Chapters
Before our previous cohort of leaders embark on the next step in their professional journeys, we want to acknowledge a special project they developed over the past several months. Each year, CUPA-HR recognizes outstanding work by chapters across the country, especially in the areas of event planning and programming, engagement, chapter management and leader development. The 2021-22 Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders wanted to collect those best practices in a format that was easy to share with future chapter leaders. As a result, CUPA-HR’s Chapter Toolkit now includes recorded interviews with some of CUPA-HR’s most experienced chapter leaders passing along lessons learned and secrets to chapter success.
Many thanks to our 2021-22 Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders for their time and efforts:
Meg Arnold, Director of Organizational Development at Belmont University
Nicole Englitsch, Organizational Development Specialist at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Jamee Harrington, Chief HR officer at Rogue Community College
Shannon Raum, Assistant Director of HR at Notre Dame of Maryland University
Taylor Zeilinger, HR Manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
The 2022-23 Cohort Will Explore New Ways to Grow the Profession
“We are excited to welcome this year’s Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders cohort,” says CUPA-HR President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Brantley. “These individuals are outstanding higher education human resources leaders who will help us lead the association into the future.”
Congratulations to the 2022-23 Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders:
Laura Good, Assistant Director of Human Resources and Benefit Systems Manager, University of Mount Union
Leslie Hardin, Vice President Human Resources, Johnson County Community College
Beth Muha, Assistant Vice President of Human Resources, American University
Allyson Mullin, Executive Director of Human Resources, Alvernia University
Krista Vaught, Assistant Director, Employee Learning and Engagement, Vanderbilt University
Angela Wurtsmith, Executive Director of Human Resources, Colorado Mountain College
Throughout the past few years we have definitely been part of a Zoom and Microsoft Team centric world. As we meet with teams and individuals, we have to account for the life that is happening on the other side of the screen. Through Zoom we have a unique opportunity to gain a glimpse into another person’s life to which we would normally not have access.
This means that we have a moral and ethnical responsibility as peers and as leaders to genuinely care about the people to which we are communicate with on Zoom. Here’s a great resource from the Collective Impact Forum (http://www.collectiveimpactforum.org).
The Team Color Check-In Tool is a communication tool to help people in virtual and face-to-face conversations have a check-in. The colors range from:
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Gray
If you are wondering how to apply this for your teams or classrooms, I would definitely recommend the following:
#1 – Utilize it when you meet with individuals one-on-one (BEFORE) the meeting.
#2 – Utilize it in Zoom via an anonymous poll to gauge how their audience is feeling BEFORE the meeting and providing resources at the end of the meeting (or in a follow-up email).
#3 – Send the check-in tool to your team/organization at the beginning of the week and provide workshops and support throughout the week for the team.
Respond Below – How would you use the resource? Do you think teams would benefit from this resource? How would you modify it?
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely, Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards Professor of Communication
Executive Director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute & Rural Communication Institute
