ASCEND Podcast

In this episode, we explore how Concordia University Irvine is advancing equity in graduate education through its Future Faculty Fellows Program. Designed to support low-income and Hispanic students pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees, the program combines scholarships, mentoring, academic coaching, and career preparation to help students overcome barriers and succeed in higher education. The conversation highlights how intentio...

In this episode, we explore how the University of Indianapolis is using predictive analytics and case management to improve student retention and success. Through its Success Slate platform, the university combines machine learning, real-time student data, and personalized outreach to identify students who may be at risk of stopping out before challenges escalate. The conversation highlights how technology and human connection work...

In this episode, we explore how Southern Utah University is using early-term data and peer mentor insights to deliver strategic nudges that improve student retention. Focusing on the critical weeks between two and six, the conversation highlights a simple yet powerful framework that categorizes students by likelihood to persist and prioritizes outreach where it matters most. By combining data with human connection, peer mentors are...

In this episode, we explore how institutions are rethinking student engagement by prioritizing experiences over traditional events. The conversation highlights how intentional design, inclusive programming, and thoughtful marketing can transform routine activities into meaningful moments that foster connection, belonging, and well-being. From supporting commuter students to creating immersive campus environments, this episode offer...

In this episode, we visited with Nii Kpakpo Abrahams to explore how Butler University is strengthening student success by investing in one of its most powerful assets, faculty. The conversation challenges common misconceptions and highlights how institutions can encourage, empower, and equip faculty to play a central role in retention, especially for first-year students. Through initiatives like faculty development workshops, first...

In this episode, we explore how proactive academic advising can play a critical role in retaining students who struggle in their first semester. Drawing on the work at Idaho State University, the conversation highlights how early identification, personalized advising, and intentional follow-up can help students on Academic Warning regain confidence and momentum. We discuss the importance of meeting students where they are, creating...

In episode 20, we had a fun conversation with Dr. Anna Newsome Holcomb and Rick Clark from Georgia Institute of Technology where we explored how Georgia Tech is building a networked approach to student success by aligning access, retention, and academic support for high-priority student populations. The conversation examines how cross-campus collaboration, data-informed strategy, and new leadership roles are helping the institution...

In this episode, we examine how clearer curricular pathways can improve transfer student success and reduce one of higher education’s most persistent barriers, credit loss. Featuring insights from experts at the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, the conversation explores how faculty and staff can work together to analyze curriculum design, identify unnecessary complexity, and create more transparent rout...

In this episode, we explore the art and science of helping students use the support services available to them. Drawing on the work of Joe Cuseo, the conversation focuses on how faculty and staff can make referrals more effective by listening carefully, explaining resources clearly, personalizing connections, and reducing the barriers that often keep students from seeking help. Rather than simply directing students to an office, th...

In this episode, we explore the New Vol Experience at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, an innovative approach to supporting first-year student transition and success. This program guides new students through a multi-phase onboarding journey, from online orientation and academic advising to the six-week Big Orange Welcome experience and a first-year success course. The conversation highlights how extending welcome programming...

In this episode, we explore Purdue Global’s Best in Class Basic Needs Support Badging Program, an innovative approach to building a campus-wide culture of care for students facing non-academic challenges. Designed for a large population of working adult learners, the program empowers faculty and staff to identify students struggling with issues such as food insecurity, housing instability, and other basic needs, and connect them wi...

What do you do when you know a First-Year Experience course improves student success, but you don’t have the funding or institutional support to build one? In this episode, we explore an innovative workaround born from a simple idea: Thor’s Hammer of Knowledge.

This conversation covers how Susan Merrill and colleagues from Southern Utah University highlights created a low-cost workshop series designed to connect students with campus...

What happens when financial literacy moves beyond theory and into honest, student-centered conversations? In this episode, we visit with Dr. Alexei M. Marquez and Fred Huang from the University of Arizona about how their “Practical? Possible? Sustainable?” model is transforming financial wellness for first-generation and underrepresented students. By demystifying financial aid, surfacing the real cost of attendance, and helping stu...

How can career centers use data to design programming that students actually need and attend? In this episode, Jon Ambrose from the University of Oregon Career Center walks through a data-informed approach to evaluating past programs, tracking student engagement, and leveraging platforms like Handshake and labor market insights to shape future initiatives. From boosting survey response rates to launching a successful Graduate Schoo...

Transfer students often face unique academic challenges that can go unnoticed in traditional retention efforts. In this episode, Dr. Anna Newsome Holcomb and Dr. Brian Garsh from Georgia Tech share how a redesigned midterm early-alert initiative uses timely data, targeted outreach, and transfer-specific support to identify academic risk and promote student success. Learn how Midterm Progress Reports, advisor- and student-level inte...

In this episode, we discuss the “Long Night Against Procrastination" event, a practical and student-centered approach to tackling one of the most common academic challenges. Drawing on experience from a small liberal arts college, the conversation explores how a single, well-timed evening in the library evolved into a campus-wide tradition supporting hundreds of students at a critical point in the semester.

We unpack how centra...

Building a culture of student success doesn’t happen by chance, it requires focus, discipline, and shared accountability. In this episode, we explore how National University uses Quarterly Operating Reviews (QORs) as a powerful, and often overlooked, culture-building practice.

Based on the their write-up in ASCEND To Higher Retention Rates (Vol. 3), “The Unlikely Culture Builder: Using Operating Reviews to Drive Student Success,” th...

In this episode, we explore how Moore College of Art & Design is improving student retention through a deeply intentional, holistic support model. Dr. Joshua Wilkin, Dean of Students, shares how Moore’s multipronged approach (spanning academic early alerts, mental health services, and financial wellness initiatives) has strengthened student success and belonging at a small, mission-driven institution. The conversation highlight...

College affordability doesn’t end with tuition, and for many students, hidden financial barriers can be the difference between stopping out and graduating. In this episode, we explore how financial gaps, aid complexity, and basic needs insecurity impact student retention, particularly for Pell-eligible and first-generation students. Leaders from the University of South Carolina share a suite of innovative, cross-campus initiatives ...