Elliot Felix -The Connected College Jun 19, 2025b

Gary D Stocker (00:01.094)
Welcome back to another special episode of This Week in College Viability. Hi, everybody. Gary Stocker back again. We're bringing on someone who is writing a lot of books, and we'll be talking to Elliot Felix today about his second book. He's also back for a second audio trip to This Week in College Viability. Elliot Felix, thanks for making time. Thanks for coming back on the show.

Elliot (00:23.864)
Great to be here, Gary.

Gary D Stocker (00:25.692)
So Elliot, on a regular basis, you are the higher education advisory practice lead for Bureau Hapold. And you write books about the higher education industry. And the one that's just now coming out is called the Connected College, Leadership Strategies for Student Success. Elliot, give us the highlights and why did you write this?

Elliot (00:47.96)
Well, thanks, Gary. And it's fun doing consulting work by day. I've had a chance to work with more than 120 colleges and universities to help them really understand and improve the experience of their students and help those students succeed by improving the spaces they live and learn in, the services that support them, the technology they use. And then in my spare time,

I write and speak about student success and had the chance to take lessons from working with the 120 plus colleges and universities. I think to really help institutions meet the moment and create a encouraging evidence-based playbook for busting silos so that students succeed. I why I wrote the book, I'll try that again, why I wrote the book.

is because I see so many smart, well-meaning, hard-working folks in higher ed really dedicated to the mission, really focused on student success, but there are so many things that get in their way. It could be the strategy, it could be the structure, it could be the culture. And I feel like what we really need is to find ways to work better together internally and partner externally.

to help our students. I, you know, as an example, I start the book off talking about something that a story that sounds apocryphal, but in fact was a real consulting gig I had where our job was to create a student success hub that brought together a whole bunch of different services and staff in one space. And we had library, we had IT, we had the math lab, and we had the writing lab, and we had the writing center.

And you heard that right. They had a writing lab and a writing center reporting to different folks doing the same thing, confusing students. And that's the, it may not be as obvious on every campus, but I think that the era of add people and programs and staff and technology as new needs emerge is over and we have to work better together. We have to co-locate. We have to coordinate.

Elliot (03:15.256)
We have to consolidate in some cases and we certainly have to collaborate. And this is a practical playbook for folks to do that.

Gary D Stocker (03:25.016)
Interesting. And you're right. One of the reasons people should look at this book and buy this book is that it is for people who believe that differentiation is destiny. What does that mean?

Elliot (03:41.966)
Well, think, I think flat is the new up and I think that's kind of the, that those, that's kind of the times that we're, that we're in. And so the idea that you can just keep adding or that you can be all things to all people just doesn't apply anymore. Maybe that worked when we had 20 million students, but now we've got 16. And I think, and given that.

I think folks need to focus and they need to deliver something that is different, that is valuable to their communities, students, parents, families, companies, community groups. And so if what you're doing is the same thing as everybody else, I don't think you're going to attract the students in terms of enrollment. I don't think you're going to attract the companies to do

Gary D Stocker (04:34.617)
to.

Elliot (04:38.904)
experiential learning programs with, or to partner on research. I don't think you're going to garner the support of your local community if you're not creating the workforce of the future and sending out grads that can make an impact. And so I really think people need to focus. And the great thing about focusing and differentiating what you do is then you're not competing with your friends and neighbors. That focus...

enables collaboration because you're not all doing the same thing. know, maybe you're focused on health sciences and your neighborly institution down the street is more liberal arts, whatever it might be. Then you can actually work together on something. You can share resources and it's a win-win. And I think that's what we need right now.

Gary D Stocker (05:21.582)
Right, right.

Gary D Stocker (05:30.236)
And I like the flat is the new up. I hope you trademark that. And I'm, I use a similar sentiment these days because I'm sharing with colleges and all the media that I do that shrink now to survive in hopes of thriving later. And that's kind of what you're talking about with that flat is the new up. You just can't grow your way out of financial challenges right now.

Elliot (05:52.75)
Yeah, well, I think tomato, tomato, you say shrink, I say focus. But I think there are some things that do need to shrink, or you do need to consolidate, or you do need to cut, but so that you can grow other things to meet new needs. I think it's very difficult to...

Gary D Stocker (05:59.803)
Right, right, right, right.

Elliot (06:21.78)
Only cut your way out of a crisis or to avoid a crisis. think you need to stop doing certain things so that you can start doing other things. I think also just like from a organizational change perspective, I think that's also quite helpful. Like one of my key principles of organizational change, which sounds simple is you can't ask people to let go of something unless you give them the new thing to hold onto.

Right. Cause it's, it's destabilizing. you, you can't call for all these cuts and consolidations and sun setting programs and departments and majors, unless you're saying we need to do X cause that's going to enable us to do Y.

Gary D Stocker (06:51.196)
Yeah.

Gary D Stocker (07:06.972)
And so I'm talking with Elliot Felix, who is the author of the new book, The Connected College, Leadership Strategies for Student Success. Sharing resources is one of the topics that you talk about. And you and I, before we started recording this afternoon, talked about doing that shared resources across five or 10 or 15 colleges. That's my model, not yours. Is that feasible? Is that even likely?

Elliot (07:33.164)
It is, it is. And there's a number of consortiums and, and, sharing models that I, I referenced in the book, but since you said five, I'll just go to one of my favorites, which is the five college consortium, in Massachusetts. I think, I think I've worked, I think I've worked for four of the five and they have a great model, right? Where you're, can cross and roll in courses. they share library storage.

So the off-sites, they share library collections and library storage. They're on a common bus route. And, you know, they can do things as a consortium that they can't do on their own. And I really think I'm glad you brought that up because I think that's the way forward. And again, when you focus, then you can partner. Right. So then you're not then.

You know, because if all five colleges are doing the exact same thing, offering the exact same programs, then maybe you can share back office functions. But I think if you want to have even more substantive partnerships, it helps for you to complement one another. And that could be programmatically different areas of expertise, facilities, technology, whatever it might be.

Gary D Stocker (08:47.09)
Yeah, sure.

Gary D Stocker (08:54.866)
You also talk about academic program reviews, Elliot. And let's talk about that in the context of something I work on, and that is majors market share. If a college has a journalism major, for example, in a regional market, it could be national, but regional for the purposes of our discussion. And there's one college that has 2 % of the market share and one college that has 40 % of the market share. Do both of those colleges need to engage in academic program reviews or is the one that's so small?

should they even consider not being in a major which they own such a small percentage of the market share?

Elliot (09:32.098)
Yeah, I think, you know, I think it goes back to focus. think some, some programs need to be sunset. And I think when you do an academic program review, what you're really trying to do is align supply and demand, right? You're trying to Wayne Gretzky style. You're trying to skate to where the puck is going to be. And so you're looking at indicators, labor market data, job postings, other.

Gary D Stocker (09:53.564)
Hahaha

Elliot (10:01.718)
other trends that are, that are giving you a sense of where there's going to be future demand. And then you're trying to align your programs to that demand. And I think some, some things are jump off the page obvious, and they don't need a whole bunch of, you know, extraneous analysis and other things are going to be, are going to be tough calls. Like we just worked on a project for a business school, helping them.

you know, create an academic plan and do the market study. And what was really interesting is, you know, almost in any field, if you attach, if you attach data analytics, you're, good to go at least for the next, you know, five years. so marketing data analytics, you know, human resources, data analytics, whatever, whatever it might be.

You know, there's so much, there's so much growing demand that you're, you're good to go. So I think you can have different levels of rigor, different levels of detail, different levels of consultation. Depending on, depending on the question, but I think getting in a, in a regular rhythm of reviewing what you offer and understanding, are we working like at the intersection of like what we're.

really good at and what the world needs and what we can do in a financially sustainable way. I think it's really good. It's really good practice. think some sometimes there's analysis paralysis. So I don't think, you know, I think you avoid that by trying to be targeted, but I think it's a, it's a really good kind of discipline to get in, you know, it's it's a habit to build.

Gary D Stocker (11:34.215)
Yeah.

Gary D Stocker (11:53.456)
You've used the word focus a couple of times already during the podcast interview today. And one of the lines, one of the topics in the book, The Connected College, Leadership Strategies for Student Success, is strategic planning to provide focus. Now, I work in a world where I see colleges don't even have the resources to count things, let alone engage in strategic planning, kind of the old

and they forget that their original goal was to drain the swamp when they're neck deep in alligators. What are your thoughts on that whole strategic planning focus in the context of a really, really tough industry?

Elliot (12:32.184)
Well, think strategic planning is a huge untapped opportunity. think every college or university has a strategic plan because without it, they can't get it accredited. But I think very few colleges have an actual strategy. And I think I'm, I'm drawing from and I'm heavily influenced by like a giant in the field of strategy, Roger Martin, who, you he, talks about, you know,

One of the unfortunate things about a strategic plan is it's kind of two ideas at one, because a strategy isn't a plan. know, a plan is like a list of what you're going to do, but a strategy, you're making choices about where to play and how to win. And your strategy isn't a strategy unless the opposite of it is also a strategy. Right? focusing on innovation and excellence.

is not a strategy because no one's going around saying like our goal is to be mediocre and to have no new ideas. Right. But but saying we are going to we're going to be all in on experiential learning. Like that's a strategy saying we're going to focus on health sciences is a strategy saying saying that we're going to focus on

Elliot (14:01.198)
design your own major. So we're going to be like the most flexible institution that for adult learners and post-traditional post-traditional learners. Those are all strategies because there's lots of folks doing the opposite of that. So I think what happens a lot, unfortunately though, is that strategic planning is this exercise in how do we create a big enough tent that where we can fit our whole operation underneath it.

But actually the whole point is to figure out what should be underneath it based on what you're good at, based on what the world needs, based on what's good for students and society. I think instead we get anodyne statements about innovation and excellence. So I think it's untapped potential. And I think the litmus test is, does your strategic plan help you say no?

You know, imagine, imagine a department head, a director of, of something, and they have to decide like, should we partner with these people? Should we create this new program? Should we sunset this new program? Should we build this new place? Like, is this, is the plan going to tell them what to say no to? Not that you're micromanaging it and it's written in so much detail that nobody wants to read it. But like, is it, does it give people.

Gary D Stocker (15:00.764)
Push.

Elliot (15:27.382)
enough direction so they can internalize it and know what to say no to. And saying no is a lot harder than saying yes. So, you know, I get it. But I think that's, I think if, if we did better strategic planning so that we were making choices about where to play and how to win, I think that would unlock so many opportunities at colleges to increase.

Gary D Stocker (15:34.916)
Hahaha

Elliot (15:55.424)
increase student success because we're in this do more with less, add, add, add mindset. But if we focus, I mean, my goal is actually to have folks do less with more, right? Be more focused and then therefore have more resources to crush the things they're focused on.

Gary D Stocker (16:02.246)
Right, right.

Gary D Stocker (16:16.956)
So you also write in the book about breakthrough partnerships. in my experience, and I'm guessing most in higher education, everybody talks about partnerships. And some colleges even say that will be their saving grace. Well, all right, they're welcome to say that. But when I look at partnerships, I always look at it in the context of materially significant partnerships, not just something that a college can do a press release on and say, hey, we're partnering with somebody.

There was a college in Kansas City when Alabama made this announcement a couple of weeks ago. But you have to be able to drive materially significant revenue from those partnerships. How do you address that in the book?

Elliot (16:55.96)
Well, one of my favorite examples of that, somebody, this comes from somebody I interviewed in the book. The book is set up so that each chapter is a functional area of a typical college or university. You know, if you imagine the org chart, there's a, of course there's an intro and a conclusion, but there's a chapter on academic programs, on administration, on assessment, on advancement, athletics, student affairs, library, career.

Gary D Stocker (17:19.922)
Bye.

Elliot (17:25.378)
governance, IT facilities. And each one starts with a profile of an innovator, an inspirational profile of someone who is really leading a connected college or university. And one of the folks I profile is guy named Tom Ellett from Quinnipiac University. He's their CXO, the Chief Experience Officer. And one of the great examples that came from that interview is their partnership with a local healthcare firm.

which is very much materialistic, it's very much materially significant to use your phrasing and it's mutually beneficial. So the healthcare system can provide healthcare to the campus. They can also hire the grads from the campus and the campus can also do executive education, learning and development. And so.

I think a good partnership gets this like flywheel turning, right? Where you have a multifaceted relationship that's about recruiting, that's about revenue, that's about learning and development, that's about services and support. And that's just one of several in the book. But I think the idea that to call it a partnership, has to be materially significant is a good idea.

Gary D Stocker (18:51.568)
And then finally, you write in a book, the Connected College Leadership Strategies for Student Success. And bear with me while I read this quote from your book. Colleges should create effective reporting and decision making with finance and institutional research. It should guide the university's financial health through effective resource allocation, fundraising initiatives, and long-term financial planning. Finally, you write, this comes down to priorities and decision making grounded in broad input

and the best available data. And I'll you all know, I look at college financials way too much, every day, almost every hour some days. And it's obvious to me, right or wrong, from the data that there are precious few colleges that have the institutional skills, capacity, and resources to use financial data to both evaluate where they are and have been and to plan for the future. So here is the, to make you the king of the world for a second, all right? So with that set up,

Am I right or am I wrong?

Elliot (19:54.222)
Yeah, I think there's a lot of data out there, Gary, but I don't know that there's a lot of decisions getting made with it. And that's why I think the places that really have gathered and harnessed the data are making the headlines and getting results like, you know, George, Georgia state or Ivy tech are a couple of the folks that I talk about in the book that, you know, lots of other people talk about too, where they made a concerted effort to, um,

gather the data, to share the data, to act on the data. And they use that to make better decisions so that their resources are better allocated and targeted. I think lots of places now have early alert systems, which I think is great news. You're looking at attendance data and LMS login data, assignment submission.

advisor appointments, those kinds of things. And you're flagging who seems like they might be lagging, you know, and then you're reaching out to the right people at the right time in the right way. So I think the tide is starting to turn, but I think a lot of places are, you know, are swimming in data, but they're not swimming in data-driven decisions. And I think it goes back to the silos point.

I think there are a lot of functions that higher ed has done a pretty good job over the years at figuring out how to coordinate and how to centralize in a reasonably effective way. know, HR, IT, finance, most places have some kind of federated model where there's central resources and then there's school or college or department resources. And they have some clarity on who does what centrally versus distributed.

But I think there's all kinds of newer functions within the university that need at the very least some kind of federated model or some kind of community of practice. Like I'm thinking about marketing and communications, data analytics, assessment, instructional technology. There are roles like that where every department has somebody, know, every center or institute has somebody.

Elliot (22:19.488)
Every D every school or college has somebody then you have, you know, institutional research and assessment. And I think we could make, we could make a big improvement if we started to think about those groups as communities of practice that met regularly, that knew each other, that collaborated on projects, that shared data, that had common templates.

So yeah, lot of data and not a lot of decisions.

Gary D Stocker (22:51.76)
Yeah, and I agree wholeheartedly. the only nuance I would add to that is I worry that the percentage of colleges that don't use data to make decisions is too large. And I think that's one of the factors contributing to the layoffs, cutbacks, and closures that we see right now.

Elliot (23:08.91)
Yeah, or they have a lot of data and it's backward looking instead of forward looking. So they're reacting and not predicting. And a lot of the times in the assessment chapter, there's really interesting data from the AIR survey about how big the institutional research departments typically are and how much of their time is spent on.

Gary D Stocker (23:15.461)
Absolutely, yeah.

Elliot (23:37.038)
compliance reporting and those kinds of things. there's sometimes you have the resources, but they're overrun by compliance reporting instead of looking ahead. the other thing that happens a lot is people want to design the perfect study because they want it to be rigorous. And the results come out about a year after the president had to make the decision.

Gary D Stocker (23:37.936)
Yeah, right, right.

Gary D Stocker (24:05.298)
You

Elliot (24:06.742)
So sometimes we let perfect be the enemy of good. And sometimes what we need is something, like what's the minimum viable analysis or what's the minimum viable assessment?

Gary D Stocker (24:20.654)
Yeah, right, right. So, Elliott, the book is The Connected College Leadership Strategies for Student Success. When does it come out and how can listeners order?

Elliot (24:31.03)
You, they'll find it on Amazon this summer. And, the best way to stay in touch is through my newsletter, which is just Elliott Felix.com forward slash newsletter. And folks that sign up for that, get a discount on the book and they get updates and special offers. And that's, that's a good, a good place to start.

Gary D Stocker (24:53.426)
Well, Elliot, always a pleasure to have you on the show. Should we do this again sometime?

Elliot (24:57.92)
Absolutely. When I've got another book, I'm ready to rock. But, you know, if I could be helpful with your listeners as they think about how to navigate the storm or the uncertainty that we find ourselves in and think about their strategy, their structure, their systems, and make better decisions about them, I'd love that.

Gary D Stocker (25:13.82)
You go.

Gary D Stocker (25:23.666)
Well, Elliot Felix has been my guest. He's the author of the Connected College Leadership Strategies for Student Success. For those listening to the podcast, I'll be back every Monday with a regular episode of This Week in College Viability, my news and commentary. Elliot, always a pleasure. We'll talk again soon. Everybody else, thanks for listening.

Elliot (25:40.536)
Thanks, Gary.