Bridget Burns, Executive Director of the University Innovation Alliance, and Doug Lederman, Editor and Co-Founder of Inside Higher Ed, speak with Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough, President of Dillard University in New Orleans. He shares his wisdom about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (H.B.C.U.s), African American student experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, and social media platforms as essential tools for higher education leaders in the 21st century. Topics include:

• Students balancing public health risks with a desire for the college experience
• The necessities and hazards of social media for higher ed leadership
• One of the biggest obstacles to college enrollment among Black students
• How incoming higher ed leaders need to study history and interrogate reality

Bridget Burns, Executive Director of the University Innovation Alliance, and Doug Lederman, Editor and Co-Founder of Inside Higher Ed, speak with Dr. Michael Sorrell, President of Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Texas. Ten months after his previous visit to the Innovating Together Podcast, President Quinn shares his most recent wisdom about leading a Historically Black College or University (H.B.C.U.) through a turbulent year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and a national protest movement against institutional racism. Topics include:

• Putting a human face on leadership
• Finding optimism amidst adversity
• Being an upstander for the moral role of higher ed
• Embracing the opportunity to make a difference for the disadvantaged

Bridget Burns, Executive Director of the University Innovation Alliance, speaks with Dr. Frank Dooley, Chancellor of Purdue University Global. Having recently transitioned from senior vice provost at Purdue University to his current leadership position, Chancellor Dooley shares his wisdom about the differences – in both administrative practices and student expectations – between traditional brick-and-mortar universities and universities that were designed specifically for remote learning. Topics include:

• How student needs differ between Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and Purdue University Global
• Skills required for effective virtual leadership
• Sharing of ideas and goals between traditional and virtual faculties
• Ensuring that all students feel seen and heard