Becoming the Employers We Wished our Students Had: Brandee Popaden-Smith at the UIA National Summit

Bridget Burns, CEO of the University Innovation Alliance, introduces a powerful episode of the Innovating Together Podcast, featuring a UIA National Summit session with Brandee Popaden-Smith, Senior Director at University College, Arizona State University.

In this talk, Brandee shares the story behind Work+, ASU’s innovative approach to student employment that reimagines how institutions support working learners. Sparked by the UIA’s Bridging the Gap from Education to Employment initiative, ASU asked: What if we became the kind of employer we want our students to have?

Topics include:

• What empathy interviews revealed about student work
• How ASU launched and iterated Work+ to meet real student needs
• Why student employment should be part of a student success strategy
• The messy, nonlinear process of building a national model
• The launch of the Work+ Collective, now over 25 campuses strong

Tune in to hear how one university turned internal jobs into purpose-driven learning experiences—and why waiting for perfect solutions risks leaving students behind.