CCA On the Air

York Technical College's Quality Enhancement Plan is turning experiential learning into everyday practice. Alliance Engagement Director, Jamia Stokes, sat down with a panel from York Tech to learn more about this work: Dina Massachi, the college's Experiential Learning Coordinator, on how she builds partnerships between faculty and the community through class projects, internships, and volunteer work, and how NACE career competency language helps students name what they've gained from them; Dr. Heather Eddy on how partnering with the Museum of York County reshaped her Biology 105 classroom; and Sarah Lewis, the museum's Site Director, on what makes a partnership worth a community partner's investment. 

In this episode, three leaders from Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech) share what happened after their team attended Complete College America's inaugural AI Summit in June 2026. Justin Pfeifer (VP of Student Success), Rob Gibson (Dean of Academic Services), and Brady Randall (Director of Systems Development) walk through how the summit's momentum helped them formalize a campus AI task force, launch an internal AI hub to showcase staff-driven innovation, and rethink governance and risk. They reflect on the surprising role frontline staff are playing in driving AI adoption on campus, the value of learning from peer institutions, and why starting with identifying a real problem — rather than the technology itself — leads to better outcomes. It's a candid, practical look at turning the energy of a convening into sustained, cross-campus action on AI for student success.

In this Accelerator Special Feature episode of CCA on the Air, Alliance Engagement Director Jennifer Torres sits down with Dr. Cheree Daniels, the Executive Director - Center for Online Learning & Instructional Technology and Interim Dean of the College of Transdisciplinary Studies and Dr. Chrisdolyn Dawson, Director of Student Advisement and Matriculation at Texas Southern University. As the institution project lead and centralized advising lead, respectively, for TSU's Gates Foundation-funded Complete College America Accelerator Project, Dr. Daniels and Dr. Dawson share how the university is driving systems-level transformation to improve student success. From increasing persistence and progression rates to celebrating the largest graduating class in the university's history, TSU's results demonstrate what's possible through intentional, institution-wide transformation. Tune in to hear how TSU is turning bold ideas into measurable outcomes with the support of the CCA Accelerator Project.

In this episode of CCA On the Air, Alliance Engagement Director Jennifer Torres sits down with Anika Van Eaton and Brendan Williams from uAspire to unpack their December 2025 report, Caution: Prices May Vary. After analyzing 211 financial aid offers from institutions across 34 states, uAspire found that the way colleges communicate cost to students is inconsistent, jargon-filled, and in some cases deeply misleading — with real consequences for enrollment, persistence, and completion. Financial aid communication, it turns out, isn't just a formatting problem; it's a structural barrier standing between students and their degrees. Listeners will hear what the data actually shows and what states, systems, and campus practitioners can do right now to make financial aid offers work better for students.

In this Accelerator Special Feature episode of CCA on the Air, we are joined by two leaders from the University of Akron: Vice Provost for Student Pathways & Dean of the Williams Honors College, Fedearia Nicholson-Sweval, and Bill Torgler, Senior Director of the Student Success Center at the University of Akron. UAkron has been a participant in CCA’s Accelerator, part of the Gates Foundation Intermediaries for Scale Investment, since 2023. This episode is a celebration of what’s possible when an institution makes a cultural and structural commitment to clearer student pathways.

In this episode of CCA on the Air: Success to and Through College, we’re joined by Christa Acampora, Buckner W. Clay Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia. Under her leadership, UVA has launched an innovative advising fellows model that embeds pre-major advising into the first-year academic experience through the Engagements curriculum. In this conversation, we explore why UVA redesigned advising, what it took to implement the model at scale, and what early results suggest about the power of relationship-centered advising to improve the student experience. 

In this episode of CCA on the Air, Midwest Region Alliance Engagement Director Nichole Mann takes listeners inside Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Cleveland, Ohio, for a conversation that came straight out of CCA's Complete College Photo Library project. She sits down with Dr. Connie Kassor, Chair of the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Humanities Center and Mandel Scholars Academy, and Morgan Dillard, a Tri-C theater student and Mandel Scholar, to talk about what it really looks like when a program gets belonging right. Dr. Kassor breaks down how the academy's cohort model, humanities curriculum, and "Cleadership" activities build community, drive persistence, and connect students to the city they call home. Morgan offers her own powerful perspective, tracing her path from discovering the program through TRIO, to acing honors courses she never thought she'd take, to earning a spot in the Continuing Scholars program with a potential full scholarship to Cleveland State's Honors College on the horizon. Don't sleep on community colleges. Don't sleep on the humanities. This episode makes the case for both.

In this episode of CCA on the Air: Transforming Advising at Greenville Technical, we’re joined by Brett Barclay ([email protected]), the Dean of Academic Advising at Greenville Technical College in South Carolina. GTC has participated in CCA’s Accelerator, a part of the Gates Foundation Intermediaries for Scale Investment, for nearly three years. Through this project, GTC has focused intently on advising transformation—listen to this episode to find out what they’ve done! 

In this episode of CCA on the Air, Alliance Engagement Director Dr. Jamia Stokes is joined by Dr. Anton Reece, President of West Kentucky Community and Technical College — a record five-time Aspen Prize top 10 finalist. Dr. Reece unpacks the philosophy behind WKCTC’s nationally recognized student success model, sharing how a data-driven, empathy-centered culture has produced outstanding outcomes for first-generation, lower-income, and diverse students across a 16-county, four-state region. He also discusses how a transformative $15 million gift from Mackenzie Scott is fueling community investment through a seven-sector vision and what mission-centered leadership looks like in today’s rapidly shifting higher education landscape.

In this episode of CCA On the Air, Alliance Engagement Director Jennifer Torres sits down with Dr. Carlos Cruz, Associate Vice Chancellor for Well-Being and Social Support at Dallas College. Together, they explore how Dallas College built a coordinated Student Care Network, transforming fragmented services into an integrated system of support for more than 100,000 students. Listeners will hear how Dr. Cruz and his team made the case for holistic student care through intentional leadership, shared infrastructure, community partnerships, data, and a clear return-on-investment framework, offering practical lessons for campus leaders looking to scale holistic student support and drive persistence and completion.