If you work in higher education leadership, you really should know about The Innovating Together Podcast, created by the University Innovation Alliance (UIA) in partnership with Inside Higher Ed. To celebrate this year’s International Podcast Day, the UIA revisits the most popular episodes of this podcast from 2022 and 2023. These ten must-listen episodes explore how higher ed leaders regard the value of joining an organization like the UIA, the advantages of ongoing long-term leadership, the opportunities and possibilities of starting a new presidency, the challenges that leaders of color might expect, and how humanity -- both expressing and appreciating it -- is the cornerstone of any leadership position.
To read the full summary of each podcast, click on the episode title above the description. To watch a video of the original event, click on the banner below.
1. The Rewards of High-Level Collaboration
Our conversation with Dr. Michael Rao on February 7, 2022, served as our official reveal that Virginia Commonwealth University had just joined the UIA. President Rao reflected on how his previous collaborations with like-minded leaders had demonstrated the power of raised expectations and better outcomes. He also described the positive climate that can grow from shared leadership experiences and institutional data, and the importance of maintaining professional respect even during episodes of profound disagreement.
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2. A Thousand Flowers Blooming
On May 2, 2022, Dr. M. Brian Blake sat down with us to discuss his first year at Georgia State University. President Blake recalled how his path to the presidency of this historic institution had included his previous career in the technology sector, well outside of academia. He shared how his years in software engineering taught him about finding the critical balance between the silos of specialization and the generosity required for collaboration. Additionally, he outlined his four-pillar strategy for Georgia State: research and innovation; student success; the college-to-career path; and identity and placemaking.
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3. Pragmatic Optimism and Managed Transformation as a Higher Ed Leader
When we spoke with Dr. Taylor Randall on December 19, 2022, it had been slightly over a year since he’d started as President of the University of Utah. However, as a UU alumnus with a history of balancing optimism and proactive problem-solving, he’d already engaged in several notable accomplishments (one of which was bringing his institution into the UIA). He talked to us about his leadership philosophy, setting expectations to manage transformation, reshaping curriculum based on student input, and how passion and creative tension can fuel positive change.
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![https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSnHEIsOOkw&list=PLjMPRlODjdbQPap9Q51dycvblsLnJhZyT&index=6]](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Randall-Blog-Thumbnail%20%401x.jpg)
4. The 100th Innovating Together Podcast
February 6, 2023, marked a historic date for the UIA: the 100th episode of our Innovating Together Podcast. To honor the occasion, UIA founder and CEO Bridget Burns sat in the guest chair, this time answering questions instead of asking them. She spoke about the origins of the podcast during the dark, uncertain days of COVID, the challenges that all higher ed leaders share regardless of institution, the roles of generosity and kindness in leadership, and the necessary qualities of humanity and humility.
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5. Balancing New Leadership With a Powerful Legacy
The past academic year at University of Maryland, Baltimore County started with profound change when Dr. Valerie Sheares Ashby replaced Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, who retired after 30 years as UMBC’s leader. President Sheares Ashby joined us on the January 30, 2023 Weekly Wisdom Podcast to share her thoughts on becoming an institution’s first new leader in a generation, the nature of servant leadership, how higher ed can shape the future, and how her own self-care routines are vital in continuing to do her work effectively.
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6. Showing the Human Face of Higher Ed Leadership
Dr. Michael Sorrell, longtime president of Paul Quinn College, has been a frequent guest on our podcast. We love his warmth, candor, and willingness to put a human face on the challenges of higher education leadership. He joined us again on April 17, 2023 to talk about witnessing good and bad examples of leadership, the benefits of showing vulnerability, finding work-life balance in a high-pressure position, the best way to deliver bad news, and DIY executive professional development.
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7. The Transformational Power of Higher Education
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) is world-renowned for its progressive values and unconventional approaches, and we invited UCSC’s chancellor, Dr. Cindy Larive, to talk about some of these values and approaches on our April 18, 2023 podcast. Chancellor Larive described how she went from avoiding administrative leadership to embracing it. She also discussed the pandemic's lessons about collaboration and community, including the UCSC campus’ near miss with a catastrophic wildfire, and she shared her view of what will be needed to reenergize higher ed.
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8. Lessons for Higher Ed Leaders of Color
When we last spoke with Dr. Daria J. Willis in 2020, she was leading Everett Community College through the crisis of COVID lockdown. By our May 1, 2023 podcast, Dr. Willis had moved across the country to serve as president of Howard Community College. In comparing these two leadership positions, she shared some lessons learned at her previous job, the expectations and challenges for presidents of color, how to ensure support from your board, tips for contract negotiations, and a book from grad school that still resonates with her.
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9. Weekly Wisdom Commencement Special
On May 16, 2023, the Weekly Wisdom Podcast featured a commencement address that UIA founder and CEO Bridget Burns had recently delivered at the University of Central Florida. She helped those 9,000 students celebrate their milestone event with advice that included: take all advice with a grain of salt; embrace your inner underdog; be aware of how you make others feel; challenge your thoughts, especially when they’re born of fear; and spend time around people with whom you disagree.
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10. A Deeper Study of Higher Education Leadership
There’s more to higher education than what many people think of as the traditional college campus. On July 17, 2023, Dr. Mark David Milliron joined us to talk about National University, which offers remote degree programs for working adults. President Milliron shared his broad experience in leadership positions, the workings and role of a board of trustees no matter what the institution (he estimates that he’s served on 30 of them to date), and the ups and down of leading actual people, who are the true backbone of any organization.
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These ten Weekly Wisdom podcasts are just a taste of what the UIA has to offer. We invite you to see where The Innovating Together Podcast has been, and to tune in every week to see where we’re going next.
About Weekly Wisdom
Weekly Wisdom is an event series that happens live on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It also becomes a podcast episode. Every week, we join forces with Inside Higher Ed and talk with a sitting college president or chancellor about how they're specifically navigating the challenges of this moment. These conversations will be filled with practicable things you can do right now by unpacking how and why college leaders are making decisions within this unique and challenging time within higher education. Hopefully, these episodes will also leave you with a sense of optimism and a bit of inspiration.