In this episode of the Innovating Together Podcast, host Bridget Burns spotlights one of the most inspiring leadership journeys in the University Innovation Alliance’s history: Dr. Ryan Goodwin. A member of the UIA’s inaugural Fellows cohort, Dr. Goodwin reflects on his evolution from a fresh post-grad working out of a closet office at UCF to now serving as Senior Assistant Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff in UCF’s largest division.

Listeners will hear how the UIA Fellows Program laid the foundation for Dr. Goodwin’s extraordinary career: shaping policy, leading advising reform, and helping UCF make student success its top strategic priority. His story illustrates the power of believing in people early, investing in collaboration, and the transformative impact of empowering others to lead. From pioneering one of the largest advising reforms in the country to cutting student-to-coach ratios in half and dramatically improving graduation rates, this conversation highlights how incremental, daily efforts can create breakthroughs.

Key Takeaways:

• Great change comes from consistent small steps, not one-time innovations.
• Investing in early-career professionals unlocks scalable, long-term impact.
• UIA’s Fellows Program is a powerful pipeline for future higher ed leaders.
• Cross-functional collaboration and bold risk-taking are essential to institutional transformation.
• Student success isn’t a strategy, it’s a culture.

“Transformation isn’t a single stroke of genius. It’s the daily intentional efforts to drive forward, to innovate, and to uplift those around you.” — Dr. Ryan Goodwin

In this episode of the Innovating Together podcast, host Bridget Burns is joined by Dr. Allison Calhoun-Brown, Senior Vice President for Student Success at Georgia State University, to explore how the university moved from fragmented, paper-based advising to becoming a national exemplar of proactive, data-informed student support. This conversation highlights the real-world steps Georgia State took to transform advising; boosting graduation rates, closing equity gaps, and creating scalable systems that prioritize student care and timely intervention.

Listeners will gain practical insight into:

• How to clean and organize institutional data for actionable use
• The difference between predictive analytics and proactive advising
• Building cross-campus buy-in and securing leadership support
• Creating consistent advising standards and training
• Engaging students meaningfully and equitably in support systems

“You can do good and do well at the same time.” - Dr. Calhoun-Brown

Bridget Burns, CEO of the University Innovation Alliance, introduces an episode of the Innovating Together Podcast featuring UIA Summit session presenters Clare Creighton, Director of Oregon State University’s Academic Success Center & Writing Center, and Steve Wuhs, OSU’s Deputy Senior International Officer. Ms. Creighton and Dr. Wuhs talk about how to create a unique strategic plan, flip challenges into assets, build leadership teams, share data, operate task forces, and foster collaboration. Topics include:
 

• OSU’s Prosperity Widely Shared strategic plan
• Reframing an institution’s weaknesses as strengths
• The Every Student Graduates advisory and leadership group
• The data behind student success initiatives
• Building and coordinating task forces to implement ESG’s recommendations
• Student success through leader collaboration

 
Tune in to learn about the nuts and bolts of building an institution-wide student success program.