ASCEND Podcast

In this episode, we explore how Eastern Kentucky University uses pulse surveys and early progress reports to identify students whose perceptions of their academic performance do not match reality. The conversation examines how timely data, strategic nudges, and personalized advising can help students who either underestimate their struggles or lose confidence too quickly. By connecting student self-assessments with classroom performance, advisors are able to deliver targeted support that encourages help-seeking, resilience, and realistic self-awareness. This episode highlights how simple, proactive interventions can play a powerful role in student retention and success. 

In this episode, we explore how Concordia University Irvine is advancing equity in graduate education through its Future Faculty Fellows Program. Designed to support low-income and Hispanic students pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees, the program combines scholarships, mentoring, academic coaching, and career preparation to help students overcome barriers and succeed in higher education. The conversation highlights how intentional support systems can improve retention, diversify the pipeline of future educators and leaders, and create meaningful pathways into academic careers for underrepresented populations.

In this episode, we explore how the University of Indianapolis is using predictive analytics and case management to improve student retention and success. Through its Success Slate platform, the university combines machine learning, real-time student data, and personalized outreach to identify students who may be at risk of stopping out before challenges escalate. The conversation highlights how technology and human connection work together, allowing advisors, coaches, and student affairs staff to deliver timely, relationship-centered support that helps students stay enrolled and thrive. This episode offers a compelling look at how data-informed strategies can strengthen both student outcomes and institutional sustainability. 

In this episode, we explore how Southern Utah University is using early-term data and peer mentor insights to deliver strategic nudges that improve student retention. Focusing on the critical weeks between two and six, the conversation highlights a simple yet powerful framework that categorizes students by likelihood to persist and prioritizes outreach where it matters most. By combining data with human connection, peer mentors are able to identify at-risk students, personalize support, and intervene early. This episode offers a practical look at how institutions can use timely insights and targeted engagement to help more students stay on track and succeed.

In this episode, we explore how institutions are rethinking student engagement by prioritizing experiences over traditional events. The conversation highlights how intentional design, inclusive programming, and thoughtful marketing can transform routine activities into meaningful moments that foster connection, belonging, and well-being. From supporting commuter students to creating immersive campus environments, this episode offers practical strategies for building engagement that lasts, showing how memorable experiences can drive student satisfaction, persistence, and success.

In this episode, we visited with Nii Kpakpo Abrahams to explore how Butler University is strengthening student success by investing in one of its most powerful assets, faculty. The conversation challenges common misconceptions and highlights how institutions can encourage, empower, and equip faculty to play a central role in retention, especially for first-year students. Through initiatives like faculty development workshops, first-year summits, and fellowship programs, Butler has built a culture that prioritizes academic belonging and classroom engagement. This episode offers practical ideas for fostering collaboration, deepening faculty involvement, and transforming the classroom into a cornerstone of student success.

In this episode, we explore how proactive academic advising can play a critical role in retaining students who struggle in their first semester. Drawing on the work at Idaho State University, the conversation highlights how early identification, personalized advising, and intentional follow-up can help students on Academic Warning regain confidence and momentum. We discuss the importance of meeting students where they are, creating space for reflection, and empowering informed choices as they navigate academic challenges. With data showing meaningful gains in retention, this episode offers practical insights into how targeted, student-centered advising strategies can turn early setbacks into opportunities for long-term success.

In episode 20, we had a fun conversation with Dr. Anna Newsome Holcomb and Rick Clark from Georgia Institute of Technology where we explored how Georgia Tech is building a networked approach to student success by aligning access, retention, and academic support for high-priority student populations. The conversation examines how cross-campus collaboration, data-informed strategy, and new leadership roles are helping the institution close achievement gaps for limited-income students while expanding opportunity. From targeted mentoring and early interventions to the new Atlanta Bridge Program, this episode highlights how strategic partnerships can connect enrollment and student success efforts across the full student journey, from admission through degree completion.

In this episode, we examine how clearer curricular pathways can improve transfer student success and reduce one of higher education’s most persistent barriers, credit loss. Featuring insights from experts at the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, the conversation explores how faculty and staff can work together to analyze curriculum design, identify unnecessary complexity, and create more transparent routes to degree completion. Through examples from the Curricular Analytics Community, this episode highlights how examining prerequisite structures and transfer pathways can strengthen retention, reduce excess credits, and create more equitable outcomes for transfer students and the broader student population.

In this episode, we explore the art and science of helping students use the support services available to them. Drawing on the work of Joe Cuseo, the conversation focuses on how faculty and staff can make referrals more effective by listening carefully, explaining resources clearly, personalizing connections, and reducing the barriers that often keep students from seeking help. Rather than simply directing students to an office, this episode highlights practical strategies for building trust, increasing follow-through, and reinforcing help-seeking as a strength, showing how thoughtful and human-centered referrals can play a critical role in student success.