Claim OwnershipOffice Hours with John Gardner
Subscribed: 1Played: 142
Subscribe
© 2026 Office Hours with John Gardner
Description
We are searching for big ideas that inspire hope and action in higher education around institutional transformation and innovation to advance student success outcomes. Joining John Gardner are higher education leaders and other relevant persons of interest who will discuss innovation and strategies that improve higher education.
All opinions and views expressed as part of “Office Hours with John Gardner” belong solely to the individual participants and do not necessarily represent those of the people, institutions, or organizations with which the individuals may be associated in a professional, educational, or other personal capacity unless explicitly stated. Likewise, all opinions and views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Gardner Institute.
187 Episodes
Reverse
Dr. Kelly Schrum is the Assistant Provost for Graduate Academic Affairs at George Mason University. In this role, she provides leadership for graduate education, working closely with faculty and staff across all colleges to strengthen graduate programs and support student success. Dr. Schrum is a historian and a professor in the Higher Education Program in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She has been a faculty member at George Mason University since 2000 and is the recipient of...
Denise Bartell is Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at Kent State University, where she facilitates strategic initiatives related to access, retention, completion, and student success with a focus on improving equity of outcomes for historically underserved students and empowering faculty as key stakeholders in this work. Her scholarship takes a systemic and explicitly relational approach, most recently exploring a reconceptualization of faculty development to utilize principles of high ...
Annie Goodykoontz is a Phoenix-born student journalist based in Columbia, Missouri. Previously, she has interned at The Los Angeles Times, The Arizona Republic and Brussels-based news site Euractiv. Annie is a junior at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she spent her sophomore year as editor-in-chief of the student paper, The Maneater. She’s currently a Youth / K-12 Education Reporter at the Columbia Missourian, and a Student Innovation Staffer at the Reynolds Journalism Institute. ...
Ashley Mowreader is a data journalist and education reporter. She is currently a master of journalism student at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and fellow for the Education Writers Association 21st class. Previously, Ashley was Inside Higher Ed's inaugural Student Success Reporter and host of the Voices of Student Success podcast. She holds a bachelor's in journalism from Pepperdine University. Thank you for listening! Subscribe to our email list for early epis...
Dr. Scott Evenbeck is a retired president of the Charles and Stella Guttman Community College and currently serves as a University Professor at Baruch College. Scott Evenbeck joined the City University of New York in 2011 as the Charles and Stella Guttman Community College’s founding president. He served as professor of psychology and founding dean of University College at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. Scott has long been involved in designing, implementing and assessing...
Tam is a senior marketing leader at BVK, where she co-leads the agency’s higher education practice, and she serves as President of the Board for Serve Marketing, BVK’s not-for-profit sister agency. She brings more than 25 years of experience working in higher education marketing and strategy, with a deep understanding of the sector’s evolving challenges, opportunities, and public perception. Tam is a key architect behind College: Proud Sponsor of America at its Best, a national public-service...
A pioneering social entrepreneur, Rajiv Vinnakota serves as President of the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, leading its mission to cultivate the talent, ideas, and networks that develop lifelong, effective citizens. To that end, he works tirelessly to build relationships with the partners and sponsors without whom Citizens & Scholars could not succeed, while at the same time fostering a strong organizational culture focused on American civic values. Raj has dedicated his lif...
Suzanne Benally (Navajo and Santa Clara Tewa)—Executive Director, Swift Foundation Suzanne has worked in the higher education and the non-profit sector for 40 years. Committed to social justice, diversity, and equity, she predicates her work on transformational change. Currently serving as the executive director of the Swift Foundation she advocates for transformative practices in philanthropy that address issues of racism, equity, justice, and seeks to influence philanthropic practices in be...
Aleksondra Hultquist is an Associate Professor of Critical Thinking and First-Year Studies at Stockton University. Her teaching focus is in Critical Thinking, and a variety of General Studies courses, including Poetry & Mathematics, The Passions, and Adaptations. Her work focuses on the literature and culture of the long eighteenth-century, especially women writers and the passions. She has edited a special issue for Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation called “Emotion in the Eig...
Antonio Merlo, PhD, became Drexel University’s 16th president on July 1, 2025. An accomplished higher education leader, scholar and professor, Merlo joined Drexel after serving since 2019 as the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at New York University. In this role, Merlo worked meticulously and strategically to expand the limits of NYU Arts & Science, overseeing the completion of a new, innovative home for the college, NYU’s founding school; establishing ne...
Carin Silkaitis is Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and a Professor of Humanities. Carin has also served UAS in a number of Interim positions, including Provost (AY25), Dean of Research & Sponsored Programs (AY25), Dean of Graduate Studies (AY25), and Dean of Career Education (AY24). Carin hails from Chicago, where she served the faculty and students at Columbia College Chicago as the Allen and Lynn Turner Chair of the Theatre Department, a Professor of Theatre, and a Faculty Fello...
Dr. Evan Faulkenbury is the University Historian for the University of South Carolina. He holds a Ph.D. in History from UNC Chapel Hill, and before joining USC in 2024, he taught U.S. and public history for eight years at SUNY Cortland. As the University Historian, Dr. Faulkenbury records oral history interviews with people who shaped USC, co-produces the podcast Remembering the Days, leads historical tours of campus, teaches the occasional history class, and collaborates with various departm...
Marcella David is a higher education leader, most recently serving as Senior Vice President and Provost at Columbia College Chicago, a liberal arts college with a creative arts focus. Prior to that, she served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Florida A&M University (FAMU), and in various collegiate and university leadership roles at The University of Iowa, including as its chief diversity officer from 2004-2009. As an academic administrator, David has focused on provi...
Michael McGinnis was appointed Vice President for Academic Affairs at Saint Francis University in July 2022. Dr. McGinnis has 29 years’ experience in higher education and currently in the 2025-2026 cohort of the Executive Leadership Academy sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges. Dr. McGinnis came to Saint Francis from Norwich University, a senior military college, where he served as Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics and professor of chemistry since 2013.&nb...
Suzanne Benally (Navajo and Santa Clara Tewa)—Executive Director, Swift Foundation Suzanne has worked in the higher education and the non-profit sector for 40 years. Committed to social justice, diversity, and equity, she predicates her work on transformational change. Currently serving as the executive director of the Swift Foundation she advocates for transformative practices in philanthropy that address issues of racism, equity, justice, and seeks to influence philanthropic practices in be...
Mays Imad received her undergraduate training in Philosophy from the University of Michigan, focusing on Philosophy of Science and Consciousness. She earned her Ph.D. in Cellular and Clinical Neuroscience from Wayne State University in Detroit, and then completed an NIH-IRACDA post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona. Mays’s current research focuses on stress, self-awareness, advocacy, and classroom community, and how these relate to cognition, metacognition, and, ultimately, stu...
Valerie Shepard, PhD, CSAEd, is a student affairs scholar-practitioner who currently serves as the Senior Content and Assessment Analyst for UCLA Recreation, which is organized under Campus Life in the UCLA Division of Student Affairs. She reports to the Executive Director of UCLA Recreation. Prior to her work at UCLA Recreation, she served as the Assistant Director of the UCLA Graduate Student Resource Center. As the Senior Analyst, she supports the UCLA Recreation Executive and Communicatio...
As an academic leader and author, J. David Arnold has focused on learning communities, first-year programs, strategic planning with faculty and promoting the “teacher-scholar” model of faculty professional development at liberal arts institutions. Dr. Arnold's dedication earned him recognition as a National Learning Community Project Fellow. He attributes much of his success to the influence of great mentors throughout his life, which fueled his passion for higher education and student advoca...
Dr. Lisa Lambert was appointed Interim President at Chatham University in 2025. After joining Chatham in 1985 as a faculty member in biology, she was promoted to Professor of Biology in 2012. While at Chatham, Dr. Lambert has served as Chair of the Science Department, founding Program Director for MS Biology, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Assistant Vice President of Undergraduate Learning, and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. While serving as Provost, Dr. Lambert partic...
Paul Mabrey is Director of Student Success Analytics and Associate Professor in Communication Studies at James Madison University. His work bridges holistic student success, data analytics, communication education, and civic engagement to improve the transformative impacts of higher education. At JMU, he leads the Early Student Success Quality Enhancement Plan and campus-wide student success & retention efforts, collaborating on campus-wide initiatives that integrate academic, well-being,...
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States