Grounded in the Powers Index of College & University Performance™, this series examines the dynamic signals shaping institutional performance before they appear in the numbers. Supported by the Institute for Effectiveness in Higher Education® and hosted by Kristina 'KP' Powers, PhD.

Dynalytic Solutions Founder and Principal Consultant Don Rudawsky spent more than a decade as a VP for Institutional Effectiveness at a large private nonprofit institution before turning his attention to a pressing question: why doesn't the public trust us? In this episode, Don draws on his research and forthcoming book on IE and the public trust crisis to argue that the problem isn't a lack of evidence — institutions have been collecting it for decades. The problem is a governance decision that hasn't been made: who is accountable for pointing that evidence outward, and what does it take to close what Don calls the demonstration gap.

This series is designed for leaders, practitioners, and institutional partners committed to building learning systems that translate expertise into opportunity.

KEY INSIGHTS

• The demonstration gap is not a data problem — institutions already have the evidence of student learning. It is a governance problem: the decision to share it externally has not been made.
• Assessment data collected for accreditation is almost entirely closed-system. Students, employers, and the public rarely see what institutions know about learning outcomes — and that invisibility drives eroding public trust.
• Micro-credentials and comprehensive learner records only build trust when the transparency infrastructure is deliberate — employer communication, validity, and shared understanding of what the credential means.
• When institutional leaders aren't credible messengers to a distrustful public, institutions need to think creatively — alumni, community partners, and visible graduates whose outcomes are externally verifiable.

Powers Index™ Signal in Focus

• Signal #2: Transparency — measures whether institutions communicate honestly and clearly with key stakeholders; Don's research illustrates how the transparency gap that undermines internal decision-making shows up externally as public distrust — institutions are not failing to collect evidence, they are failing to decide what to do with it.

Key Resources

• KP on IE newsletter
• Kristina 'KP' Powers, PhD — EdUp Institutional Effectiveness podcast host
• Institute for Effectiveness in Higher Education®
• Powers Index of College & University Performance™