Mastering the Next

San Francisco Bay University is innovating their core curriculum with Agility Praxis Pathways, or APP reflecting their commitment to a new paradigm of higher education. What excites me about the APP Model is how it reframes the age-old challenge of bridging theory and practice in higher education. While many institutions talk about innovation, San Francisco Bay University has created a framework that actually delivers on the promise of adaptive, student-centered learning – no surprise given their reputation in this area. Ray does a deep-dive into this model with SFBU Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Bradley Fuster.

Guest Name: Bradley Fuster, DMA, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at San Francisco Bay University

Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-fuster-3540a350/

Guest Bio: Brad Fuster, DMA, has extensive experience in higher education management, particularly in academic affairs, enrollment management and technological innovation. He has held key leadership positions at Keuka College, where he served as provost and intermittently as acting president, managing a substantial institutional budget and leading numerous academic and infrastructural improvements.

During his tenure at Keuka, Fuster led sweeping advancements in experiential learning, program development and enrollment strategies. He significantly improved student retention and success by demonstrating a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Additionally, Fuster possesses a rich background in music education, having served as a professor and department chair, where he was instrumental in creating innovative academic programs and enhancing faculty and student resources.

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Connect With Our Host:
Dr. Ray Lutzky
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lutzky/

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Mastering the Next is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.

Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register

In this episode, we're diving into the radical transformation of online education from pandemic necessity to strategic imperative. Joining Ray is Taylor Swaak, Senior Reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education, whose article out this week “The Online Overhaul” tracks this seismic shift in the higher education landscape. Taylor's recent analysis reveals how institutions nationwide are scrambling to adapt—some successfully, others not so much.

Read the Article: https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-online-overhaul

Guest Name: Taylor Swaak, Senior Reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education

Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorswaak/

Guest Bio: Taylor Swaak covers technology and innovation at The Chronicle of Higher Education. She is drawn to nuanced stories about how colleges are navigating an increasingly tech-infused world — a world where they're relying on a growing number of ed-tech partners, and working to strike a balance between nurturing AI innovation and protecting their students and campus communities. This interest has sparked accountability reporting on controversial courseware products and tensions with online-program managers. It's also inspired trends pieces on competitive AI hiring sprees and experimentation with AI-detection tools to stymy admissions fraud.

She is a staunch supporter of solutions journalism as well, and contributes annually to The Chronicle's robust collection of newsroom reports. She wants readers to be not only informed, but energized, by what she writes.

Swaak joined The Chronicle in 2021. She previously wrote for The 74, a nonprofit news outlet, where she spearheaded K-12 coverage of the nation's two largest school districts — NYC Public Schools and L.A. Unified — before documenting D.C. Public Schools' pivot to virtual learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. Her byline has also appeared in Newsday, Newsweek, The Hartford Courant, and on CNN.com.

She earned her bachelor's degree in multi-platform journalism from the University of Maryland, where she got her start as a reporter and editor at The Diamondback. Swaak lives in northern Virginia; you can find her out on the bike trails or scoping out a new coffee shop.

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Connect With Our Host:
Dr. Ray Lutzky
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lutzky/

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Mastering the Next is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.

Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register

The landscape of online program management companies (or OPM) is undergoing significant transformation, with universities facing complex strategic decisions and OPM companies merging and shifting business strategies. Political and regulatory changes are creating both challenges and opportunities for higher education institutions seeking to expand their online learning offerings. To help us unpack these critical dynamics, Ray is joined by Phil Hill, Publisher of the On EdTech blog and Partner at Phil Hill & Associates – one of the leading experts in the evolving world of online education partnerships.

Guest Name: Phil Hill, Publisher of the On EdTech blog and Partner at Phil Hill & Associates

Guest Social:
https://x.com/PhilOnEdTech
https://www.linkedin.com/in/phildhill/

Guest Social: Phil is founder of Phil Hill & Associates and publisher of the On EdTech newsletter. Phil provides advice on educational technology strategy and organizational change management. He has assisted multiple colleges, universities, and systems of higher education in technology-enabled change initiatives, with an emphasis on the development of effective online and hybrid education strategies. Revered for his honest and upfront take on market trends for online / hybrid education, OPMs, regulatory analysis, and learning platforms, Phil provides thoughtful and practical advice to his clients. His unique graphics and visuals have been widely used and shared in the education space.

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Connect With Our Host:
Dr. Ray Lutzky
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lutzky/

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Mastering the Next is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.

Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register

An accomplished university president shares “what’s next” for graduate education at public universities – Dr. Joseph Bertolino, affectionately known as “President Joe” to his students at Stockton University, previously served as president of Southern Connecticut State University and Lyndon State College. Dr. Bertolino shares his thoughts on the balance between traditional graduate education and the evolving role of new technologies, serving non-traditional students in healthcare and education, and how technology enhances the graduate student experience.

Guest Name: Dr. Joseph Bertolino

Guest Social:
https://twitter.com/ospreyprez
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-bertolino-269580173

Guest Bio: Joe Bertolino, Ed.D., was named the sixth President of Stockton University on March 3, 2023.
President Joe, as he is affectionately known, has been a social justice educator for almost 30 years and is passionate about student success and access to higher education. Since 2016, Dr. Bertolino has led Southern Connecticut State University, a public institution of 9,000 students in New Haven, Connecticut. There, he has pursued several key priorities, including: raising the university’s profile; establishing Southern as Connecticut’s public university for social justice; expanding community outreach and partnerships, building strategic enrollment and streamlining students’ paths to earning a degree.
Prior to joining Southern in 2016, Dr. Bertolino was President of Lyndon State College in Vermont from 2012-2016. From 2004-2012, he held multiple roles at Queens College/City University of New York, including Vice President for Enrollment Management, Vice President for Student Affairs, Executive Assistant to the President and Chair of the Department of Student Personnel.
He also held the roles of Dean for Community Development, Academic Advisor and Associate Dean for Residential Life at Barnard College in New York from 1996-2004. Dr. Bertolino has taught leadership development classes for undergraduate and graduate students.
Dr. Bertolino has been recognized with numerous outstanding professional awards. He is a member of seven different national honor societies including Omicron Delta Kappa and Golden Key. The American College Personnel Association presented him with the prestigious Annuit Coeptis Award twice as an outstanding new professional and as an outstanding senior professional.
Dr. Bertolino holds a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration & Leadership Development from Columbia University; a Master of Social Work from Rutgers University, Camden; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology/Sociology from the University of Scranton.

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Connect With Our Host:
Dr. Ray Lutzky
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lutzky/

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Mastering the Next is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.

Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register

In this episode, New York Times bestselling author Jeff Selingo shares “what’s next” for graduate enrollment, student recruitment, and how technology is reshaping the academic landscape. Jeff discusses insights from his “Future U” podcast on PhD education, talks about the future of grad school-bound students, and provides details about his upcoming (fourth) book on the industry.

Guest Name: Jeff Selingo

Guest Bio: Jeff Selingo is a New York Times bestselling author of three books on education and the job market. For nearly twenty-five years, his in-depth reporting and powerful storytelling has provided practical insight about the future of higher education and the workforce to university leaders, corporate executives, as well as students and parents.
Whether delivering a keynote talk or engaging in a fireside chat, Jeff has talked before scores of colleges, businesses, healthcare organizations, and financial services companies and helped leaders understand what’s next for education and how companies can better compete for talent, especially among Gen Z. He has appeared at the Milken Global Institute, Dartmouth College, LinkedIn, Ohio State University, Salesforce, Spain’s Bankinter Innovation Foundation, the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions, and Deloitte, as well as before the boards of Carnegie Mellon University, the Duke Endowment, and Amherst College, among others.
Jeff's newest book, Who Gets In & Why: A Year Inside College Admissions, was published in September 2020 and was named among the 100 Notable Books of the year by the New York Times. It takes readers on a journey through the selection process from inside three admissions offices, revealing what really matters to the gatekeepers and how the ultimate decision is often based on a college’s priorities.
As both an observer of higher education and an insider with an academic appointment at one of the largest universities in the country, Jeff occupies a unique position to explain the intersection between work, life, and learning. He writes regularly for The Atlantic, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
His research focuses on the changing nature of work and its impact on education, paying for college, the student experience, and shifting expectations for what the public and employers want from colleges. He is co-host of the podcast, Future U., and writes a biweekly newsletter, Next.
Jeff is a special advisor for innovation and professor of practice at Arizona State University, where he is the founding director of the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership. He has also served as a visiting scholar at Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities. In addition, Jeff regularly counsels universities and organizations on their innovation strategy.
Previously, Jeff was the top editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education, where he worked for sixteen years in a variety of reporting and editing roles. His work has been honored by the Education Writers Association, Society of Professional Journalists, and the Associated Press.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University. He is a member of the board of trustees at Ithaca College. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Washington, D.C.

- - -
Connect With Our Host:
Dr. Ray Lutzky
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lutzky/

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Mastering the Next is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.

Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register