EdUp Insights

Ben Unglesbee has been a senior reporter with Higher Ed Dive since early 2024 covering institutional finance, operations, closures, mergers and higher ed disruption. Ben started his career covering higher ed at the local level for the Lawrence Journal-World, and he has worked as a business reporter for Supply Chain Dive, Retail Dive, Capitol Forum and the St. Louis Business Journal. 

Karin Fischer is a veteran higher-education reporter and the author and creator of a weekly newsletter on global education, Latitudes. She covers American higher education’s engagement in the world, including foreign students and study abroad, comparative education, and, increasingly, the impact of geopolitics on colleges. Her reporting also examines the economic, cultural, and political divides that shape the relationship between the American public and higher education. Karin is the recipient of East-West Center’s Jefferson fellowship and the International Reporting Project fellowship, and her work has appeared in The New York Times and on NPR.

Dr. Dhanfu E. Elston (pronounced: dah-NEE-foo) has served a 28-year career in postsecondary education that spans a range of executive leadership, federal and state policy, not-for-profit operations, and academic officer positions. He is Complete College America’s Senior Vice President for Strategy and Chief of Staff, where he utilizes his national policy and campus expertise for practical application, implementation, and scaling of high impact strategies across a 53-member Alliance network of states and institutional consortia throughout the United States. He provides oversight of national external partnerships and has led CCA’s guided pathways initiatives, Purpose First career alignment strategy, 15 To Finish national campaign, and standards to close equity and institutional performance gaps. Elston has also coordinated relationships with Governors’ Offices, higher education state-wide systems, and national partners in their college completion efforts. He launched a national initiative with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to amplify completion efforts at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and minority-serving institutions. Prior to joining CCA, he provided leadership to Georgia State University, which is nationally recognized as a model for collegiate academic success, as the Faculty Assistant Director for Undergraduate Studies. Over his higher education career in academic and student affairs, Elston has created and implemented comprehensive success and retention programs that have garnered national attention.

Joe Sallustio is one of higher education’s most recognized voices onleadership, innovation, and institutional transformation. As the co-founder andhost of The EdUp Experience, he has helped build one of the world’sleading higher education podcast networks, conducting hundreds of conversationswith college and university presidents, industry executives, policymakers, andthought leaders from across the globe. Through these discussions, Joe hascreated a trusted platform for sharing ideas that shape the future of highereducation. (ApplePodcasts)

Today, Joe serves as Vice President of Industry Engagement at Ellucian,where he works with institutional leaders to advance digital transformation,student success, and innovation across colleges and universities. Drawing onmore than two decades of executive leadership experience in higher education,he connects institutional strategy with emerging technologies and bestpractices to help campuses navigate a rapidly changing landscape. (Ellucian)

Joe is also leading EdUp Leadership, a new AI-powered intelligenceplatform built from the insights of hundreds of conversations with college anduniversity presidents. Rather than simply delivering podcast episodes, theplatform enables higher education leaders to search, discover, and learn fromthe collective wisdom of experienced presidents on topics ranging fromenrollment and finance to governance, leadership, and institutional change. Theapp transforms years of executive conversations into an accessible knowledgeresource for today’s higher education decision-makers. (ApplePodcasts)

Whether hosting influential conversations, speaking at national conferences,or collaborating with institutional leaders through Ellucian, Joe Sallustiocontinues to help shape the future of higher education by connecting people,ideas, and innovation.

Megan Crane, CPA, is an Assurance Director atDean Dorton, where she has been serving clients since joining the firm in 2009.With extensive experience providing audit, accounting, and consulting servicesacross a wide range of industries, Megan is known for her strong commitment toclient service and her passion for supporting higher education institutions andnonprofit organizations. She leads the firm’s higher education industry teamand contributes to its healthcare and equine practice groups, bringing deepexpertise in single audits.

Beyond her professional work, Megan is activelyinvolved in several industry and community organizations, including serving onthe Board of Trustees for the Southern Association of Colleges and SchoolsCommission on Colleges (SACSCOC), and participating in the AICPA, KYCPA, andNACUBO. A graduate of the University of Kentucky with degrees in Accounting andBusiness Administration, she is also dedicated to giving back throughleadership and service in her local community.

Megan resides in Lexington, Kentucky, with herhusband and 3 kids. 

In this episode of EdUp Insights, we sit down with Carey Thompson—principal and founder of CVET Strategies and a nationally respected voice in enrollment management—to explore the evolving landscape of higher education and what it will take to move it forward. Drawing on more than four decades of leadership across some of the nation’s top liberal arts institutions, Carey reflects on the transformative power of the college experience, the enduring importance of relationships, and the realities facing institutions navigating rising costs, declining demographics, and increased scrutiny around value.

Through a deeply personal and insightful conversation, Carey shares how mentorship, community, and access shaped his own journey—and why those same elements remain critical for today’s students and families. From the complexities of financial aid and the “buyer’s market” in college selection, to the growing influence of data, technology, and institutional strategy, this episode offers a rare, behind-the-scenes perspective on how colleges can better align mission, message, and outcomes.

Jim Carr, President and CEO of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), brings decades of leadership at the intersection of college athletics and higher education to this episode of Ed Up Insights. With a career spanning roles in law, athletics administration, and national governance, Carr has been instrumental in advancing a model of education-based athletics that emphasizes access, character, and student success. From his own experience as a collegiate athlete to leading an organization that supports nearly 90,000 student-athletes, he offers a grounded perspective on how athletics can serve as a powerful driver of opportunity, personal development, and institutional impact across small colleges nationwide.

Trained as a designer, Sukhwant Jhaj uses design thinking to discover new solutions for incremental and disruptive challenges facing higher education. In his role as vice provost at Arizona State University, Jhaj pursues ways to create greater levels of student success for all learners across all degree types. He works to identify new ways the university can improve learning outcomes, and helps ASU set a new standard of quality and accessibility that can be shared with institutions of higher education around the country and the world. In addition to his role in the Office of the University Provost, Jhaj is the dean of University College, an instrumental and significant part of ASU’s efforts to enhance retention, graduation, and overall student achievement. Jhaj is also a professor of practice in The Design School within the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

Jhaj is an active design researcher and has received funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Association for Public and Land Grants Universities and government agencies. He is an expert in design thinking, design of student services, managing change, open innovation and user centered design. He speaks extensively on these topics and has served on several national advisory groups focused on improving student success and institutional transformation.

In his book, “Delivering on the Promise of Democracy: Visual Case Studies in Educational Equity and Transformation,” Jhaj has crafted a new look at how imaginative leadership and a shift in perspective can guide institutions as they work to improve access and success for all students.

Greg Britton is the Editorial Director at Johns Hopkins University Press, where he plays a leading role in shaping and publishing influential works in higher education, the humanities, and the social sciences. With decades of experience in academic publishing, Greg partners closely with authors to develop ideas from early concept through publication, helping translate complex research into accessible, impactful books. Known for his deep understanding of the academic landscape and his role as both mentor and curator of ideas, he focuses on identifying timely topics, guiding authors through the publishing process, and ensuring that scholarly work reaches the audiences who need it most.

Kevin co-founded Rize Education in 2019. After working on Wall Street for The Blackstone Group, Kevin moved to rural Michigan, along with Rize’s other co-founders, to learn first hand about the challenges facing higher education at Adrian College. His deep passion for expanding access to education and economic mobility is core to everything we do at Rize.