Speaker 1Hi and welcome to Illumination by Modern Campus, your go-to podcast for conversations about transformation and innovation across higher education. I'm your host Shawna Cox and I'm excited to dive into today's conversation. Today I'm speaking with Janet Spriggs who is president of Forsyth Technical Community College. We explore how institutions can remove systemic barriers to support students and how aligning programs with workforce needs can drive equitable outcomes and long-term success. Let's get into it. Janet, welcome to the Illumination podcast. Thank you Shawna. It's great to be here with you. I am so excited to have our conversation today. We are going to be talking about institutional evolution. A little fitting because you know our publication is The Evolution. I did not try to do that on purpose but we are here to talk about that and talk about Illumination. Some equity gaps and drive measurable student success because it's really important as everything is constantly changing and the new model of higher ed is evolving. So to kick off our conversation I first want to ask how should institutional evolution be defined today to truly advance equity and measurable student success across that learner life cycle?
Speaker 2Well that's a great question and this is a wonderful topic so I'm really honored to be able to have this conversation with you because this is so important. I think that sometimes we think about institutional evolution meaning that we're changing what we offer when I think it's it's really so much more than that. It's about changing how we actually work. For us at Forsyth Tech it starts with removing barriers at every stage of the learner life cycle from enrollment to completion to employment because we also believe that is part of our role as well to make sure that we're changing what we offer. So I think that's a really important topic to make sure that we are getting our students connected to employment here in our region. So success for us is defined by outcomes versus activity and it's all about completion, job placement and wage growth mattering just as much as the number of programs that we offer or how we do our our processes for enrolling and registering students. I think for us it's all about designing systems for all of our students. So I think that's a really important topic to talk about. All students and being what we we say that we want to be the student-ready college versus having college-ready students. It's evolution for us is not expecting students to adapt to us but rather making sure that we are involving them in the way that we evolve so that we are using their feedback and their needs to drive the way we are evolving. And I think what you're really speaking to here is not just change
Speaker 1but meaningful change and within that in recruiting students and preparing students and all these other things when we think of personalization so oftentimes personalization can just lead to engagement recruiting just kind of you know getting those students in but going back to that meaningful change it is so much more than that. So what does it take for personalization strategies to move beyond just engagement and actually close those equity gaps at scale? Yeah well I think you
Speaker 2you know you said that very well. Personalization really has to go beyond communication and into action. So it's about making sure that students have clear program maps. They have consistent advising. They have timely support and I think that timely support is important too because it is not just support when we are ready to give it to them but it's making sure that we use the technology, AI, the tools that we have to be able to make sure that they have that timely support when they need it too. So again technology helps us with that but I think that it's people who develop very good personalized processes that actually make the biggest difference when we're talking about those personalization strategies. It's you know identifying when students struggle and responding right away and scaling. And I think that's a really important thing to think about. And I think that's one of the things that's really important to think about. And I think that's one of the things that's really important to think about. And I think that's one of the things that's really important to think about. And I think that's one of the things that's really important to think about. And really thinking about how we build support into the experience not just add support once a problem shows up. So I think you know to say it simply it's just help every student stay on track and finish strong whatever that looks like for individual students which is a lot of work and a really different way of thinking about how we build support into the experience not just add support once a problem shows up. So I think you know to say it simply it's just help every student stay on track and finish strong whatever that looks like for individual students which is a lot of work and a really different way of thinking of providing services that are one size fits all for students. You just can't do that I don't think anymore.
Speaker 1Yeah exactly. It is a whole ecosystem with many working parts and I want to touch on the point you made about the tools that are behind the scenes of that because you know there are so many components that are working behind the scenes and I kind of want to pull back the curtain for that. So how should institutions align academic programs those workforce pathways and learner data to deliver more equitable outcomes for their learners? Yeah another really great question on
Speaker 2this topic. You know we believe that data should guide decisions but the student experience should also guide our decisions and so when we when we talk about aligning academic programs with workforce pathways and using the data to make sure that we're delivering those equitable outcomes it's really about how programs connect directly to real jobs and for us as a community college not just any real job but to the real jobs that are needed to fit within our local employment market and to serve our businesses and industries that we serve. So we also think that if students need to be a part of the conversation but employers have to be a part of the design and not just the hiring for us that means that data will kind of show us where the students start where they go and then what they're going to earn and we work hand in hand with our business partners to build the pathways the laddered credentials and and all the things that will lead them to not only the initial job but to keep them on that lifelong learning journey and lead them to advancement. I think that alignment is really about removing dead ends of the equation and removing dead ends of the equation and creating more clear next steps for students that are directly aligned with how the businesses are going to hire them and move them forward within the organization. Think about things like short-term workforce training and credentials that build up to long-term degrees and they all work together. So for us it's about programs and workforce needs, lining up and then the students can see the value and they will stay engaged and and keep moving
Speaker 1forward. Absolutely and you mentioned the word connection, the word alignment. I'm going to take those words and flip them on their head and talk about the distance that exists because there's a lot of institutions of they're planning on where they are and where they want to go but oftentimes that's not always a smooth path. If anyone has had a smooth path let me know because I've never seen that before. From your perspective where do you see the biggest disconnect today between that learner center strategy that we talk about that is so important but then the real institutional
Speaker 2transformation that actually happens? Yeah well you know I think that it's not intentional at all but I think that some institutions talk about being student-centered but they they keep the same systems that we've always had in place. So I think that's a big disconnect. I think that's a big disconnect. I think that's the biggest disconnect that we've always had in place and if you're not checking in with students regularly to make sure that those same systems are still working then you really are not meeting students where they are and for us meeting students where they are is really what student-centered means. So a lot of times what what I've seen over my career is that policies and processes will create barriers again. Very unintentionally. I don't think anyone creates a process within their mind it it's going to create a barrier for students. You have to to really not always implement across the whole college but take a look you know in in specific areas to see what's happening along the continuum and where barriers might be unintentionally created. Some of these barriers may have been in place for a really long time. And without students speaking up and letting us know a lot of students will just try to find their way through the barrier versus saying you know if we did this differently it might not create such a problem for so many students and so flipping the conversation to one where you are proactive as an institution about bringing students into the conversation and trying to get their input on your current systems but also asking them to help you look towards the future. I think that's a big disconnect. I think that's a big disconnect. I think that's a big disconnect. That's where you can really make a difference. You know true transformation really does require leadership but it also requires alignment and accountability and I think that's one of the things maybe that sometimes creates a disconnect faculty and staff need our support. I will say, and clear direction from us and from our students to help make those changes stick. So you have to be careful not to create gaps between intention and execution to avoid those
Speaker 1kinds of disconnects. And in talking about, you know, the barriers that students may face and they've been facing for years, I think that can really have a ripple effect if you don't do anything. And if you do do something, because, you know, the students may try to find their way through on their own, get over those barriers or those obstacles. And at the same time, they could just give up, they could drop, they could just stop altogether, or it might leave even just a bad reputation on the institution. So there's a lot of risk there in just keeping, you know, the same flow around everything. So I think that alignment part is really, really key in making that meaningful change, as we talked about earlier.
Speaker 2Oh, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. In fact, I, a few years ago, just outlawed the most dangerous phrase in the English language, which I think is, you know, the way we've always done it. And so we are very, very focused on challenging the status quo, not just because anyone wants to go through a lot of change, but because we have to recognize that change is one of the only constants. And today, especially, I will say that things move faster and faster. In the 21st century and in 2026 than ever before. So you really have to be careful not to get complacent. And to start being very comfortable with recognizing that the pace of change has picked up and you've got to keep up with that and be ahead of that in order to serve today's
Speaker 1students. And in serving today's students, I want to keep on this theme of that meaningful change and ask, if we're looking ahead, what does success look like when equity is embedded, across that learner to earner journey? And then how should institutions hold themselves
Speaker 2accountable to that? Well, you know, success for us or for me, my personal opinion is that success means that more students are finishing their credentials, their degrees, but also that they're not just finishing their education with us and then moving into a job that doesn't help them move forward. So. They're getting good jobs. They're getting quality jobs with strong, livable wages. It's about making sure that outcomes improve for every group of students. So you cannot design, again, a one-size-fits-all student experience anymore because our students are so incredibly diverse. We have generations from, I think our youngest graduate last year was 16 and our oldest was 74, and I've got a 79-year-old that's finishing this year. So we've got to recognize that that kind of diversity requires us to look at students as individuals, or at least to be able to recognize that working students, student parents, your dual enrollment students who are still in high school, they all have different needs. And you have to be looking at how you move each student through programs without creating any unintentional or unnecessary delays or barriers. What we are striving for is to make sure that we're able to make sure that employers see graduates who are ready for work on day one. Again, that alignment, they've got the skills that the job descriptions are calling for, and they're ready to go to work and ready to be successful. The accountability part of that question, I think, starts with having very clear goals and also having shared ownership. I never talk about buy-in. For me, it's always about how do we own this? How do we build this together? How do the staff and faculty and the leadership, everyone at the college, owns what we are doing, what we are trying to achieve for our students, and how we are trying to support our students to success? And we own our students' success together. That also means that we own the data and that we are not ashamed by it. We accept what it is telling us where we are without making it punitive, but rather saying that is the starting point. And now let's ask questions of ourselves and our students and our employers to figure out how we make those results what we want them to be and how do we expand student success. So I think you have to really track your results and be able to adjust very quickly when we talk about how quickly things change. I think in higher ed and in community colleges especially, you have to work much faster than we probably have. 30 years ago when I started this work, the pace of change was much different. I think it's important to be able to adjust very quickly when we talk about how quickly things change. I think it's important to be able to adjust very quickly when we talk about how quickly things change. I think it's important to be able to adjust very quickly when we talk about And it just can't continue to be that slow anymore. And then I think the final thing I'll say is that you have to be very transparent. Again, being open about what the data shows, open about your progress and your gaps, and also making sure that that data, the metrics you're using to guide your decisions is very accessible, that everyone understands it, and that the goals and outcomes that you develop are co-developed and owned collectively and not hidden. And I think that's in a way somewhere we all know where we're trying to go, so that at the end of the day, success is going to be students reaching their goals. But more broadly than that, our communities being even stronger because we have the highly skilled, highly prepared, ready to work workforce that
Speaker 1our businesses and industries need. Janet, there are so many golden nuggets in there, and I just have like a whole list of all of the good tangible takeaways and best practices that you shared there. So thank you so much. Thank you so much for that. Now, before I finish my formal questions for you, is there anything else that you would like to add in terms of maybe some of the work you're doing, anything on the topic I missed that you want to talk about, or maybe any advice you would have to share with someone who is looking to bring all of those stakeholders to the table, rather than having
Speaker 2this idea of buy-in, but collaboration? Yeah, well, I think that that's it. Today's word for me is partnership and collaboration. You know, two words, a bonus word there. It's not work that can be done in isolation. I think that the days of build the programs and build every program that anyone could ever want, and they will come, are just simply not where we are now. I think that that worked years ago. We're in a new season. The pace of change for all the reasons that we've talked about that things are different. We have to be different, too. Our students have a lot more choice today than they ever had before, and we want to be the choice, the best choice for all of the students in our community, and we think we are. The way that we approach doing that is to recognize that the work can't be done in isolation. The work has to be owned by all of us collectively, and that we have to bring the students that we are supporting and the businesses that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. We have to bring the students that we are supporting into the conversation. All of our students are doing better. We had some students that were only at 12% when our completion rate overall was at 21% in 2019, and now those students are at 45% too. So I think it's working. We have to keep our momentum and keep bringing those students into the conversation and working in partnership with all the people to make this go and make it keep going.
Speaker 1Absolutely. I would say that percentage different means it's certainly working. And I can see that you're still open to keeping things going and innovating where you need to and improving where you need to and understanding. If your data may not be pretty at the moment, it could be pretty in a couple years or in some time. But really focusing on meeting the learner where they are, I think is so, so critical to this conversation. Before I let you go, I'm going to ask you my bonus question that we like to ask you. My bonus question that we like to ask you on the podcast. If you had a book recommendation for somebody, hired, related or not, what would you recommend?
Speaker 2Well, you know, since we're talking about student success, I will share a book that I read last year. It's called The Connected College Leadership Strategies for Student Success. It was written by, oh my goodness, who was it written by? Elliot Felix. And what I love about this book is that it's a leadership book. It's a leadership book and it challenges us to focus and differentiate our institutions by breaking down silos, working better together and really enabling college success, student success. And so that's what we've been talking about. And that'll be my recommendation for you for today.
Speaker 1Amazing. I love the connection. It sounds like a great recommendation. Janet, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2Thank you, Shawna. It's been great. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1This podcast is made possible by a partnership between Modern Campus and The Evolution, the Modern Campus Engagement Platform. powers solutions for non-traditional student management, web content management, catalog and curriculum management, student engagement and development, conversational text messaging, career pathways, and campus maps and virtual tours. The result? Innovative institutions can create learner-to-earner lifecycle that engages modern learners for life while providing modern administrators with the tools needed to streamline workflows and drive high efficiency. To learn more and to find out how to modernize your campus, visit moderncampus.com. That's moderncampus.com.
PodcastTranscript AI