MindMaxing: Conversations on Higher Ed

San José State University Associate Dean for the College of Professional and Global Education Namrata Shukla calls the past year in academia “transformational.” In episode seven of MindMaxing, MindMax CEO Lee Maxey and Namrata, who also goes by Nami, discuss how pivots at SJSU due to COVID-19 have paved the way for positive outcomes, such as the potential for resources to reach more community members, and that students are finding a better work-life balance. 

Looking ahead after a tumultuous year in higher education, Michigan State University Director of Academic Entrepreneurship Gerald “Jerry” Rhead tries to keep a balanced perspective. “A lot of stuff got done in the last year. Some of it great, some of it maybe not so great, but you have an opportunity to look at that from a balanced perspective and say ‘What worked? What do we want to continue to do? How does that benefit our learner?’,” Jerry said in episode six of MindMaxing. Listen to MindMax CEO Lee Maxey’s full conversation with Jerry to hear more about how he believes the University is positioned in the short term to continue building on changes made due to the pandemic, and his overall outlook on the state of higher education.

An unintended bonus outcome of the pandemic for the University of Central Missouri (UCM) was the re-examination of virtually every area on campus, from grading and admission criteria, to commencement ceremonies (of which they had 10 to accommodate students and families last year). In this episode of MindMaxing, Dr. Laurel Hogue, Vice Provost of Extended Studies at UCM, discusses the evaluation processes and the value of technology with MindMax CEO Lee Maxey.

Kathleen Ehlers, Fisher College's Vice President for Online, Graduate and Professional Studies, said 2020 was the hardest year in higher education “to help students in the way they truly need to be helped because of the pandemic.” How did Fisher navigate the challenges presented by COVID-19? Hear more from Kathleen in our third episode of MindMaxing with MindMax CEO Lee Maxey.

For Clark University Dean of School of Professional Studies and Associate Provost for Professional Education, John LaBrie, Ed.D., the most striking thing across the board when he reflects on the last year in higher education, is that no matter a student’s background, the pandemic has been difficult for them on a very personal and heartfelt level. In this episode of MindMaxing, MindMax CEO Lee Maxey and John discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Clark University and dig into John’s outlook for the future of higher education.

In our first episode we hear from J. Kim McNutt, Dean of the College of Extended and International Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). When COVID-19 reached the U.S. in 2020, Kim wasn’t too worried. But when the gravity of the situation became clear, he and his team adapted quickly to meet the needs of students at CSUDH. MindMax CEO Lee Maxey sat down with Kim for a virtual discussion on how agile thinking helped his unit find unpredictable success in an incredibly challenging year.