Mental health is one of the greatest threats to student persistence and retention in higher education, but providing large-scale preventative and responsive mental health care is a looming challenge for colleges and universities.  

In addition to having sufficient clinicians and trained professionals to support students in need, finding ways to deliver wellness support to students before they’re in crisis is critical. 

One strategy is embedding mental health counselors into student spaces or academic departments. By integrating services into a physical location, such as a student center, clinicians can connect with students in informal and intentional ways, gaining their trust and supporting specific pockets of the campus community.  

In this episode of Voices of Student Success, Estevan Garcia, chief wellness officer at Dartmouth College, talks about the root of the youth mental health crisis and some of Dartmouth’s embedded services for student athletes.

Later, hear from Casey Fox, associate director of integrated services from the University of South Carolina, who leads the university’s integrated mental health program, about the benefits of these services for students and community members.  

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Student Success Reporter Ashley Mowreader. This episode is sponsored by KI.

Read a transcript of the podcast here.

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In this episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, editor in chief Sara Custer speaks with IHE’s news editor Katherine Knott about the policies, people and surprises from the first 30 days of the second Trump administration.

They discuss the executive orders and actions that could have the most impact on higher ed and what pushback they’ve seen from the sector, as well as the people who Trump has tapped to lead the department. Katherine shares what has surprised her the most in the last month and what she and the IHE reporters will be watching in the next 30 days.

Stay on top of the key developments in federal policy and funding by subscribing to The First 100 Days, IHE’s pop-up newsletter explaining the week’s news out of Washington. Learn more.

Having successful career outcomes is important for colleges and also for students, but getting students to engage in career services can feel like an uphill battle.

Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania leaders decided to bring careers to students with an event called LVC Success Expo. During this day, LVC cancels classes so students can engage in an all-day career fair or meet with academic support staff to ensure their success in and after college. 

In this episode of Voices of Student Success, Tomomi “T” Horning, vice president of college partnerships and strategic initiatives, and Jasmine Bucher, senior director of the Breen Center for Career and Professional Development, discuss the event, campus partnerships and how it contributes to a larger institutional mission.  

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Student Success Reporter Ashley Mowreader.  

Read a transcript of the podcast here.

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At the beginning of February, the deadly L.A. wildfires were fully contained after burning for nearly a month. A few weeks ago we spoke with colleges in the city whose communities were upturned by the fires. Hundreds of students and staff had lost their homes and thousands more were displaced from evacuation zones. Now that the embers have died out, we wanted to check back in with one college to see how it is managing to rebuild.

In this episode of The Key we speak with Ryan Cornner president of Glendale Community College which serves 24,000 students on a campus about five miles from where the Eaton wildfire burned. Dozens of GCC students and employees lost their homes and many more were displaced for more than a week. The college has expanded its efforts to provide access to basic needs for its students and has recognized that its part-time adjunct faculty need the most support.

Hosted by Sara Custer, editor in chief of Inside Higher Ed

Study abroad is tied to personal and professional growth for college students, but crossing the border can be an enormous hurdle for some learners or feel unattainable.  

A new initiative at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania seeks to empower and support first-generation and low-income students who are interested in experiential learning and study away through workshops, financial aid and mentorship.  

In this episode of Voices of Student Success, Chris Brown, Bucknell’s Andrew Hartman ‘71 & Joseph Fama ‘71 executive director of the Center for Access & Success, talks about the center and how it reduces barriers to student participation in high-impact activities. 

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Student Success Reporter Ashley Mowreader.  

Read a transcript of the podcast here.  

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In the run up to the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, Inside Higher Ed’s editor-in-chief Sara Custer and news editor Katherine Knott discuss what we know and what we don’t know about president-elect Trump’s policy agenda and how it could affect universities and colleges.

Katherine and Sara discuss what sources are telling IHE reporters about incoming education secretary Linda McMahon and who the key players in the Republican-led Senate and House are. It's anyone's guess what the administration's policy priorities will be, but Katherine shares what she and Inside Higher Ed journalists will be looking for to get a sense of which way the wind might be blowing for higher ed on Capital Hill.

Hosted by Sara Custer, editor-in-chief of Inside Higher Ed.

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In his final days in the newsroom, editor and co-founder of Inside Higher Ed and host of The Key, Doug Lederman, sits down with editor-in-chief Sara Custer to discuss his nearly 40-year career in higher education and what he plans to do next.

Doug talks about his work as a journalist over four decades, including leading Inside Higher Ed for the past 20 years. Doug shares what kept him up at night when he and Scott Jaschik started a new, independent media company in 2003 and the big breaks along the way that helped establish Inside Higher Ed as a trusted source of news for universities and colleges across the country. 

Doug and Sara discuss the future of IHE and how its role to both explain higher education to readers and hold it to account is more critical now than it has ever been.

"I don’t think us journalists would be writing about higher education if we didn’t think it was important,” he says.

Hosted by Sara Custer, editor in chief of Inside Higher Ed. This episode is sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

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College presidents don’t work in a bubble and there are a multitude of competing priorities jostling for their time and attention on a daily basis. It can be an overwhelming job, but having a guiding purpose behind every decision a president makes, the teams they form and the long-term strategies they develop can help keep leaders on the right track. How do they know which areas deserve their attention and which should be delegated to talented team members? How do they know they are making the right decisions and doing good by their institution? When should they take risks?

In this episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, Donde Plowman, the chancellor at UT Knoxville, Harry Williams the former president of Delaware State University and the current president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall Foundation, and Jonathan Koppell, president of Montclair State University tell an audience at the Student Success US event how they keep their purpose front of mind as they lead their institutions.

They share their experiences of making tough decisions, championing student success to stakeholders, lobbying for greater funding from legislators and striking out on paths unknown with new partners.

Hosted by Sara Custer, editor in chief of Inside Higher Ed. This episode is sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

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Over the past two years, generative AI has blazed its way on to college campuses, first in the students’ hands and increasingly in the hands of administrators and instructors to improve campus operations and enrollment management, as well as teaching and learning.

One of the greatest challenges of using generative AI in teaching is providing students with skills without interrupting the process of learning or introducing errors or misinformation. The University of Texas at Austin is in the initial stages of launching a custom GPT model, UT Sage, which serves as a tutor of sorts for students who need help related to a specific course.

In this episode of Voices of Student Success, Julie Schell, assistant vice provost of academic technology at UT Austin, shares the inspiration behind the tool, her work with AI in the classroom and teaching the ethics of AI use.

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Student Success Reporter Ashley Mowreader. This episode is sponsored by KI. Read a transcript of the podcast here.

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