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Episode Description

The ground is shifting daily in higher education—policy changes, legal battles, funding threats, and challenges to equity and access. These aren't just headlines; they have real consequences for students, educators, and institutions. That is why Student Affairs Now is launching a limited weekly series called "Current Campus Context."

In this week’s rapid-response episode, Dr. Heather Shea is joined by Drs. Brendan Cantwell and OiYan Poon to break down the latest developments—from the Department of Education’s uncertain future to new guidance in the form of a Feb. 14 Dear Colleague Letter and FAQ, and executive branch threats to punish campuses that hold "illegal" campus protests. Why does it matter? And what can student affairs educators and higher ed leaders do to respond? Tune in for expert insights and actionable takeaways.

Suggested APA Citation

Shea, H. (Host). (2025, March 7). Current Campus Context: Dear Colleague Letter FAQ, "Illegal" Protests, and more (No. 249) [Audio podcast episode]. In Student Affairs NOW. https://studentaffairsnow.com/currentcontext_march7/

Transcript

Heather SheaWelcome to the very first episode of current campus context brought to you by Student Affairs. Now the online learning community for 1000s of us who work in alongside and adjacent to higher education and student affairs, I'm your host, Heather Shea, and this episode was recorded at 5:15pm

Heather Sheaon Thursday, March 6. Things might have changed by the time you listen. This new limited series is all about making sense of the moment. We're in higher ed is facing rapid change, and each week we will bring two experts to break down what's happening, why it matters, and what we can do within our spheres of influence. Our goal not just provide the news, but context, perspective and strategies for action. So I'm so excited to introduce our first two correspondents for today. First, Dr Brennan Cantwell is an expert in higher education policy, governance and the political economy of higher education. He is a professor of higher adult and lifelong education at Michigan State University. Hi, Brendan, hey, great to be here. And Dr oyun Poon is an expert in the racial politics of education, access, college admission systems and Asian Americans in education. She is a co director of the college admissions futures collaborative and consultant on higher education equity to Eleanor Governor JB Pritzker education team. Hello, well, welcome, hey, great to be here. Yeah. Thanks so much for joining. So this week, we're focusing on a few key developments with some significant implications for higher ed the first item earlier this week, Linda McMahon, immediately after being sworn in as Secretary of Education, issued her first statement about the department's final Mission. Pretty ominous sounding statement, and I think we expect it hasn't dropped as of the recording yet, an executive order charging McMahon with dismantling the Department of Education, even though we know that officially abolishing it would require an act of Congress. But this leaves me with questions about TRIO programs, Pell Grants, FAFSA. So that's Topic number ONE. Topic number two, february 14, your colleague letter. And then the subsequent FAQ document, which I think was meant to provide some clarification, but for me, made it more hazy in terms of what if anything we should be doing. And then meanwhile, the Chronicle of Higher Ed has been reporting that many campuses are taking anticipatory measures to comply. So that's topic two. And then the third topic, well, I don't want to bring in every single social media post. Earlier this week, Inside Higher Ed reported that the President doubled down on social media posting that college and universities that allow a legal protest would be at risk of losing federal funding. I'm thinking this maybe flies in the face of free speech. Maybe so. I think it goes without saying that these three issues wi...

Join us for a special episode of Student Affairs Now, recorded live at ACPA25 on Monday, February 17, where hosts Raechele Pope and Heather Shea sit down with higher education icons Dr. Lori Patton Davis and Dr. Shaun Harper. These lifelong friends and influential scholars reflect on their groundbreaking research, leadership journeys, and unwavering advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion. As we reflect on the current moment, this conversation offers timely insights and inspiration for student affairs professionals and educators.

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We’re living in a moment where the ground is shifting daily—from policy changes and legal battles to funding decisions and challenges to the very foundations of our work to promote equity and access. The news isn’t just headlines; it has real consequences for students, educators, and institutions.

That’s why, starting next week, Student Affairs Now is bringing you a weekly, rapid-response conversation to break down the latest developments in higher education. Each Friday morning, we’ll release a brief but essential discussion featuring two experts - scholars and thought leaders - who are paying attention to the shifting landscape of higher ed. Together, we’ll discuss:

What’s happening right now? The critical issues making waves this week.

Why does it matter? The implications for students, faculty, staff, and institutions.

What can we do? How student affairs educators and higher education administrator can respond, advocate, and take action within their spheres of influence.

In a time when funding, equity initiatives, academic freedom, and institutional policies are in flux, staying informed isn’t enough. We need context. We need perspective. And we need to talk about how to move forward.

So, whether you’re a campus administrator, faculty member, student affairs educator, or just someone who cares deeply about the future of higher ed, we hope you’ll tune in.

Our first episode drops next Friday, March 7—stay tuned, and we’ll see you then!

Listen in on a conversation with the ACPA Asian Pacific American Network (APAN) Leadership Team. While at the 2025 ACPA Conference in Long Beach, host Glenn DeGuzman invited members of the APAN leadership team, Sam Thornton, Wilson Deng, Em Nakamura, IC Ulep, and Yi Xuen Tay into his kitchen for a sit down conversation on a variety of API related topics and issues currently on the top of their minds. APAN represents APIDA issues and advocates for programs, services, research, and actions within the leadership of the Coalition for Multicultural Affairs and ACPA: College Student Educators International. The APAN Leadership team brought their voices to the table to speak about and react to issues that are relevant to them and their work on APAN and on their respective college campuses.

Editors and authors of the new book Addressing Student Success at Small Colleges join to discuss the power of small colleges in their community, unique niches, and culture. They also discuss the challenges around changing students and families, staffing, financial viability and possibilities around innovation, collaboration, and adaptability.

The team of scholars that researched and developed the Shared Equity Leadership model discusses the origins, applications, and emergence of this model. They discuss the personal journey, values, and practices and how they can support various ways toward helping all students succeed. They explain how distributed, embedded, and integrated responsibility and leadership can make a difference for all.

https://youtu.be/Glu7V0aro2g?feature=shared

Episode Description

In the midst of managing a campus hurricane evacuation during a pandemic, an administrator recounts a story of an escaped hamster lost in a hotel and his precocious 7 year-old daughter’s spirited campaign to find and rescue it.

Suggested APA Citation

Snipes, J.T. (Host). (2025, February 5). Here’s the Story: “The Hamster and the Hurricane.” (No. 243) [Audio podcast episode]. In Student Affairs NOW. https://studentaffairsnow.com/heres-the-story-hamster/

Episode Transcript

J.T. SnipesWelcome to Here's the Story, a show that brings Student Affairs to life by sharing the authentic voices and lived experiences of those who are shaping our field every day as a part of the Student Affairs NOW family, we are dedicated to serving and furthering the people who walk the walk, talk, the talk, and carry the rock all of us who find ourselves serving students and their education in student affairs and higher education, we hope you'll sit with us every Wednesday where we'll laugh, reminisce, commiserate, maybe even cry a little, but always celebrate our own little corner of the college experience. You can find us at studentaffairsnow.com, or directly at studentaffairsnow.com/here'sthestory, or on YouTube and anywhere you enjoy your podcast. Today, we'd like to thank today's sponsor evolve. Evolve. Evolve helps senior leaders release fear, gain courage and take action for transformational leadership through a personalized cohort based virtual learning experience, and I'm your host. J.T. Snipes, my pronouns are he him and his? I serve as an Associate Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. I'm trying my best to live as a free black man in a world that would have me live otherwise. I'm with you today from the ancestral lands of the Kickapoo and the Illinois Confederacy. My university resides on land seated in 1819 treaty in Edwardsville, and is now home to SIUE. I'm here with my wonderful co host, Helena.

Helena GardnerI'm Helena Gardner, and my pronouns are she, her, hers. I serve as the director of residency, education and housing services at Michigan State University. I live my life as a mom, a sister, a daughter, a friend and a mentor. I'm with you today from the ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Anishinabe, three fires, confederacy of Ojibwa, Ottawa and Potawatomi peoples. The University resides on land seated in the 1819, treaty of Saginaw, and is home to Michigan State University.

J.T. SnipesHelena. So glad to be with you today. And now I want to introduce my friend Neil, who has a story to tell. But first, Neil, I'd love for you to tell our listeners about how, here's the story podcast came into being and why we're doing this project.

Neil E. GolemoY'all, I'm so excited that we're finally, after all the work we've been doing, that it's paying off our first episode. So first I want to say, you know, I'm coming to us from the lands for the COVID The atacap Ishaq and the Karen Kawa people once roamed where they thrived, where they built their lives and left their legacies. And so I'm super excited. I want to remember them for land I'm home. So about this? Okay, so we all know this is a new thing. It's a, you know, a project, this passion thing that we have. It all started, well, actually, it all started with the joke I used to tell about being the one white guy I know that doesn't have a podcast. And, you know, it really kind of comes from this idea that, you know, it's a tough world out there, and in student affairs, it's just one of those. It's not a, you know, it's a calling. It's not yeah question so much. And it's tough out there, you know, like we are problem solvers, and so often we're the ones who get called to clean up messes. Yeah? You know, it's one of those jobs where, like, when you're operating at peak, you know, and you're doing excellent, amazing work,

https://youtu.be/ZU3n1YBJfr0?feature=shared

Episode Description

Faced with a difficult financial need and slightly overwhelmed with doubt,  a single mom learns a powerful lesson about collective good and allowing colleagues and others to help with creative resolutions.  

Suggested APA Citation

Golemo, N.E. (Host). (2025, February 5). Here’s the Story: “Leaning on Collective Good.” (No. 244) [Audio podcast episode]. In Student Affairs NOW. https://studentaffairsnow.com/heres-the-story-leaning-on-collective-good/

Episode Transcript

J.T. SnipesWelcome to Here's the Story, a show that brings Student Affairs to life by sharing the authentic voices and lived experiences of those who are shaping our field every day as a part of the Student Affairs NOW family, we are dedicated to serving and furthering the people who walk the walk, talk, the talk, and carry the rock all of us who find ourselves serving students and their education in student affairs and higher education, we hope you'll sit with us every Wednesday where we'll laugh, reminisce, commiserate, maybe even cry a little, but always celebrate our own little corner of the college experience. You can find us at studentaffairsnow.com, or directly at studentaffairsnow.com/here'sthestory, or on YouTube and anywhere you enjoy your podcast. Today, we'd like to thank today's sponsor evolve. Evolve. Evolve helps senior leaders release fear, gain courage and take action for transformational leadership through a personalized cohort based virtual learning experience, and I'm your host. J.T. Snipes, my pronouns are he him and his? I serve as an Associate Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. I'm trying my best to live as a free black man in a world that would have me live otherwise. I'm with you today from the ancestral lands of the Kickapoo and the Illinois Confederacy. My university resides on land seated in 1819 treaty in Edwardsville, and is now home to SIUE. I'm here with my wonderful co host, Helena.

Helena GardnerI'm Helena Gardner, and my pronouns are she, her, hers. I serve as the director of residency, education and housing services at Michigan State University. I live my life as a mom, a sister, a daughter, a friend and a mentor. I'm with you today from the ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Anishinabe, three fires, confederacy of Ojibwa, Ottawa and Potawatomi peoples. The University resides on land seated in the 1819, treaty of Saginaw, and is home to Michigan State University.

J.T. SnipesHelena. So glad to be with you today. And now I want to introduce my friend Neil, who has a story to tell. But first, Neil, I'd love for you to tell our listeners about how, here's the story podcast came into being and why we're doing this project.

Neil E. GolemoY'all, I'm so excited that we're finally, after all the work we've been doing, that it's paying off our first episode. So first I want to say, you know, I'm coming to us from the lands for the COVID The atacap Ishaq and the Karen Kawa people once roamed where they thrived, where they built their lives and left their legacies. And so I'm super excited. I want to remember them for land I'm home. So about this? Okay, so we all know this is a new thing. It's a, you know, a project, this passion thing that we have. It all started, well, actually, it all started with the joke I used to tell about being the one white guy I know that doesn't have a podcast. And, you know, it really kind of comes from this idea that, you know, it's a tough world out there, and in student affairs, it's just one of those. It's not a, you know, it's a calling. It's not yeah question so much. And it's tough out there, you know, like we are problem solvers, and so often we're the ones who get called to clean up messes. Yeah? You know, it's one of those jobs where, like, when you're operating at peak, you know, and you're doing excellent, amazing work,

Lisa Gerber discusses her new book, The Power of Story. Lisa shares that stories can help us connect, relate, and build trust. She also shares the three keys to good stories. Dr. Neil Golemo joins to learn from Lisa as he and colleagues launch a new episode format for Student Affairs Now called Here's the Story.

Drs. Jorge Burmicky and Kevin McClure discuss their research on effective leadership in higher education. They bring quantitative and qualitative data to help us understand the challenges and competencies of successful college presidents. They discuss the seven interconnected competencies and ways to develop them for more effective executive leadership in higher education and beyond.