signals in higher ed

signals in higher ed cuts through the noise to surface what’s actually working across admissions, enrollment, student success, and institutional strategy—told by the leaders building what’s next. Each episode turns real-world challenges into clear, actionable takeaways you can apply on your campus today. Expect candid conversations on innovation, policy, and the data behind better decisions. Host: Darin Francis—CEO & Managing Partner at Harbinger Lane Consulting and former host of DisruptED.

signals in higher ed is a business podcast hosted by 🎥, with 36 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

🎥 hosts signals in higher ed, a business show with 36 episodes published.

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  Episode #1

  AI Access vs. AI Readiness | Dr. Ngoc Cindy Pham on Experiential Learning & AI in Higher Ed

  Aug 17, 202633 min

  As artificial intelligence becomes more accessible across higher education, Dr. Ngoc Cindy Pham argues that access alone should not be the goal. The more important question is whether students know how to use AI to solve real problems, exercise judgment, defend their decisions, and translate new technology into professional opportunities. In this episode of Signals in Higher Ed , Darin Francis speaks with Pham about her approach to experiential learning at Brooklyn College and the work that grew from the CUNY AI Literacy and Professional Readiness Series into the Bridge AI Lab. Rather than treating AI use as inherently at odds with academic integrity, Pham designs assignments around critical thinking and reasoning. Students can use AI as a co-creator, but they must be able to explain, justify, and defend the choices they make. Pham also shares early findings from a spring 2026 program involving 101 participants, where researchers found no statistically detectable difference in measured outcomes between participating NYU Tandon graduate students and CUNY undergraduate students. While she emphasizes the need for larger samples and continued research, the finding points to a powerful possibility: structured training and real-world problem solving may help close readiness gaps that access alone cannot. The conversation also examines the role employers can play as curriculum co-creators. Pham believes higher education must start with the work itself, using evidence from employers and practitioners to identify emerging skills, build job- and task-specific frameworks, and continuously update training as AI changes the workplace. The result is a model of education focused not simply on teaching students to use AI, but on helping them become confident creators, critical thinkers, and professionals prepared to work alongside it. Signals in Higher Ed: https://www.marketscale.com/creator-hubs/signals-in-higher-ed/

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  Episode #1

  First Experiences Drive Beyond Year One, A Panel Discussion

  Aug 10, 20261h 11m

  The first year of college matters, but the experiences that shape student success extend far beyond a single academic year. In this panel discussion, host Darin Francis is joined by Brandee Popaden-Smith of ASU University College, Dr. T. Chase Hagood of the University of Utah, and Dr. Nicole Crevar of Podium Education to explore how institutions can create stronger pathways from students’ earliest experiences through graduation and career success. The panel examines how connection, exploration, empowerment, and career discovery can help students find direction without forcing premature decisions. They discuss embedding work-integrated learning and durable skills directly into the curriculum, creating space for uncertainty, demonstrating value each semester, and replacing institution-centered systems with experiences designed around how students actually learn, choose, and grow. From the University of Utah’s Quest program to ASU’s Work Plus Learn initiatives, the conversation offers practical insights into improving belonging, persistence, career readiness, and long-term student outcomes.

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  Episode #1

  Higher Ed's Seed Round: How Universities Decide Which Programs to Build

  Jun 30, 20261h 1m

  For years, the decision to launch a new online program rested largely on instinct and institutional appetite. But as competition intensifies and budgets tighten, universities can no longer afford to guess. The programs that succeed are increasingly the ones backed by rigorous market analysis, conservative enrollment modeling, and a clear-eyed view of the costs involved. So when a department wants to build or expand an online program, how should an institution decide whether it is actually worth funding? On this episode of Signals in Higher Ed, host Darin Francis sits down with Fritz Andover, Director of Online Program Support Services at the University of Minnesota, to unpack how that decision really gets made. Andover walks through the process his office uses across all five campuses, from the first conversation with a department chair to the financial modeling that determines whether a program can stand on its own. He explains why he deliberately discounts his own enrollment projections, how his team structures funding to carry programs through the lean early years, and what it takes to knit teaching capacity together across a large public university system. Key takeaways from the conversation… Successful online program decisions start with defensible market research and intentionally conservative enrollment projections, not optimism. Andover discounts his own numbers to avoid building a case on a rosy picture. Andover's office structures support as a two-year, loan-style investment, carrying programs through the ramp-up period before enrollment revenue can offset launch and marketing costs, then stepping back as the program repays the investment over roughly five years. He calls it a booster-rocket model. The "distributed" mandate goes beyond online launches. Part of the work is connecting teaching capacity across campuses so students can complete a program from different locations, online or in person, without administrative friction, a use of scale smaller institutions cannot replicate. Fritz Andover is the Director of Online Program Support Services at the University of Minnesota, where his office works across all five campuses to evaluate market opportunity, model enrollment scenarios, and help academic units secure funding for new and expanded programs. He brings an unusually broad background to the role, having started as a history PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis before moving into educational technology, spending nearly a decade working directly with faculty at Macalester College, earning a doctorate in higher education policy and administration at Minnesota, and working at a small online program management firm before returning to the university system. That combination of faculty-side experience, institutional research, and OPM market work shapes how he approaches program decisions today.

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  Episode #1

  From Measuring Memory to Measuring Thinking: How Simulation-Based Learning Could Reshape Higher Education

  Jun 15, 202638 min

  As artificial intelligence continues reshaping the workforce, higher education faces growing pressure to demonstrate its value beyond content mastery. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, employers expect 39% of workers’ core skills to change or become outdated by 2030, while 69% identify analytical thinking as the most essential workforce skill. As a result, employers are increasingly prioritizing critical thinking, communication, adaptability, and problem-solving abilities—capabilities that AI cannot easily replicate. If employers care less about what students can memorize and more about how they think, how can colleges effectively measure and develop those durable human skills at scale? On this episode of Signals in Higher Ed, host Darin Francis sits down with Chad Wilson, Founder and CEO of immersionED, to explore how AI-powered simulations are creating new opportunities for experiential learning. Wilson shares his journey from studying history and classics to founding an education technology company focused on immersive, adaptive learning experiences. Together, they discuss how simulation-based learning can bridge the gap between classroom knowledge and workforce readiness while offering institutions new ways to assess student growth. Key takeaways from the conversation… Simulation-based learning is helping students develop real-world skills faster than traditional instructional methods, particularly among students who have historically struggled in conventional academic environments. Generative AI has unlocked a new era of scalable experiential learning, enabling adaptive simulations that respond dynamically to student decisions rather than relying on predetermined pathways. The future of assessment may be a dynamic skills transcript, allowing institutions to track and measure critical thinking, communication, empathy, and problem-solving across courses, disciplines, and career pathways. Chad Wilson is the Founder & CEO of immersionED, a Techstars-backed edtech startup building AI-powered adaptive simulations that measure learners’ reasoning, decision-making, and competencies in real time. He brings a rare mix of education, product, venture, and finance experience, having worked as a high school history teacher, EdTech investing intern at Owl Ventures, and investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley. His career highlights include growing immersionED to roughly 4,000 school signups, raising funding from angels and accelerators, partnering with organizations such as Arizona State University, The Gilder Lehrman Institute, and NVIDIA, and improving student engagement and test scores through game-based learning.

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  Episode #1

  Scaling Experiential Learning in the Curriculum: How Iron Range Engineering Transformed Engineering Education

  Jun 1, 202654 minS0

  <p>Engineering has transformed nearly every part of modern life, from the phones in our pockets to the systems powering global industry. But the way engineers are educated has often moved far more slowly than the profession itself. Employers are asking for graduates who can navigate ambiguity, communicate across teams, and contribute meaningfully from the start. At the same time, AI is making it harder to rely on closed-answer assessments as proof of real understanding. Together, those pressures are forcing colleges to rethink what real mastery looks like in technical fields—and whether the traditional classroom-first model is still enough.</p>...

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