Podcast
CCA On the Air
Hosted by Complete College America · EN
Complete College America (CCA) is committed to being a bold voice in the higher education space elevating critical conversations that both actively and passively impact college completion. We find ourselves at a time when the need for these conversations has reached a heightened level of importance. As a convener of thought leaders, CCA's On the Air podcast provides access to the most innovative and effective higher education leaders and advocates through candid conversations.
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
16episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
When Confusion Costs Completion: The Financial Aid Offer Letter's Hidden Role in Student Success
2w ago00:32:52Tap to summarizeIn this episode of CCA On the Air, Alliance Engagement Director Jennifer Torres sits down with Anika Van Eaton and Brendan Williams from uAspire to unpack their December 2025 report, Caution: Prices May Vary. After analyzing 211 financial aid offers from institutions across 34 states, uAspire found that the way colleges communicate cost to students is inconsistent, jargon-filled, and in some cases deeply misleading — with real consequences for enrollment, persistence, and completion. Financial aid communication, it turns out, isn't just a formatting problem; it's a structural barrier standing between students and their degrees. Listeners will hear what the data actually shows and what states, systems, and campus practitioners can do right now to make financial aid offers work better for students.
Transcribe →CCA on the Air: Accelerator Special Feature — Charting a Better Path for Students at the University of Akron
3w ago00:20:09Tap to summarizeIn this Accelerator Special Feature episode of CCA on the Air, we are joined by two leaders from the University of Akron: Vice Provost for Student Pathways & Dean of the Williams Honors College, Fedearia Nicholson-Sweval, and Bill Torgler, Senior Director of the Student Success Center at the University of Akron. UAkron has been a participant in CCA’s Accelerator, part of the Gates Foundation Intermediaries for Scale Investment, since 2023. This episode is a celebration of what’s possible when an institution makes a cultural and structural commitment to clearer student pathways.
Transcribe →CCA on the Air: Reimagining First-Year Advising at the University of Virginia
Jul 200:30:26Tap to summarizeIn this episode of CCA on the Air: Success to and Through College, we’re joined by Christa Acampora, Buckner W. Clay Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia. Under her leadership, UVA has launched an innovative advising fellows model that embeds pre-major advising into the first-year academic experience through the Engagements curriculum. In this conversation, we explore why UVA redesigned advising, what it took to implement the model at scale, and what early results suggest about the power of relationship-centered advising to improve the student experience.
Transcribe →Humanities, Leadership, and Belonging: Inside Tri-C's Mandel Scholars Academy
Jun 400:27:25Tap to summarizeIn this episode of CCA on the Air, Midwest Region Alliance Engagement Director Nichole Mann takes listeners inside Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Cleveland, Ohio, for a conversation that came straight out of CCA's Complete College Photo Library project. She sits down with Dr. Connie Kassor, Chair of the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Humanities Center and Mandel Scholars Academy, and Morgan Dillard, a Tri-C theater student and Mandel Scholar, to talk about what it really looks like when a program gets belonging right. Dr. Kassor breaks down how the academy's cohort model, humanities curriculum, and "Cleadership" activities build community, drive persistence, and connect students to the city they call home. Morgan offers her own powerful perspective, tracing her path from discovering the program through TRIO, to acing honors courses she never thought she'd take, to earning a spot in the Continuing Scholars program with a potential full scholarship to Cleveland State's Honors College on the horizon. Don't sleep on community colleges. Don't sleep on the humanities. This episode makes the case for both.
Transcribe →CCA Accelerator Special Feature: Transforming Advising at Greenville Technical College
May 500:23:06Tap to summarizeIn this episode of CCA on the Air: Transforming Advising at Greenville Technical, we’re joined by Brett Barclay (Brett.Barclay@gvltec.edu), the Dean of Academic Advising at Greenville Technical College in South Carolina. GTC has participated in CCA’s Accelerator, a part of the Gates Foundation Intermediaries for Scale Investment, for nearly three years. Through this project, GTC has focused intently on advising transformation—listen to this episode to find out what they’ve done!
Transcribe →We Never Underestimate You: How West Kentucky Community and Technical College Built a Culture of Excellence
Mar 3100:30:43Tap to summarizeIn this episode of CCA on the Air, Alliance Engagement Director Dr. Jamia Stokes is joined by Dr. Anton Reece, President of West Kentucky Community and Technical College — a record five-time Aspen Prize top 10 finalist. Dr. Reece unpacks the philosophy behind WKCTC’s nationally recognized student success model, sharing how a data-driven, empathy-centered culture has produced outstanding outcomes for first-generation, lower-income, and diverse students across a 16-county, four-state region. He also discusses how a transformative $15 million gift from Mackenzie Scott is fueling community investment through a seven-sector vision and what mission-centered leadership looks like in today’s rapidly shifting higher education landscape.
Transcribe →From Transactional to Transformational: Dallas College's Blueprint for Holistic Student Support
Feb 2400:30:22Tap to summarizeIn this episode of CCA On the Air, Alliance Engagement Director Jennifer Torres sits down with Dr. Carlos Cruz, Associate Vice Chancellor for Well-Being and Social Support at Dallas College. Together, they explore how Dallas College built a coordinated Student Care Network, transforming fragmented services into an integrated system of support for more than 100,000 students. Listeners will hear how Dr. Cruz and his team made the case for holistic student care through intentional leadership, shared infrastructure, community partnerships, data, and a clear return-on-investment framework, offering practical lessons for campus leaders looking to scale holistic student support and drive persistence and completion.
Transcribe →Getting in the Mud: How Real Connection Transforms Student Success
Jan 2700:32:09Tap to summarizeMidwest Alliance Engagement Director Nichole Mann speaks with Breana Brown, Program Coordinator at Illinois State University's Stevenson Center, about her journey from first-generation college student to passionate advocate for student success. Breana shares her unique perspective working with both graduate students and first-year undergrads, emphasizing the importance of shifting from a deficit lens to examining how institutional systems can better serve all students. Through powerful personal stories and practical insights, she demonstrates how bringing your authentic self to student success work can create transformative connections and help students recognize their own potential.
Transcribe →From Access to Completion: How CollegeBound Foundation Supports Baltimore Students
Dec 900:23:49Tap to summarizeIn this episode of CCA On the Air, Alliance Engagement Director Jonathan Gowin sits down with two leaders from the CollegeBound Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland: Khala Granville Williamson, Director of High School Programs, and Jennifer Covahey, Director of College Success. They explore how CollegeBound has built a comprehensive "to and through college" model that supports Baltimore City public high school students from college access through graduation. The conversation reveals the power of individualized advising, strategic partnerships, and financial support in driving student success. Listeners will learn about CollegeBound's impressive retention rates, their recent merger with Adelante Latina to better serve Baltimore's Latina students, and the essential ingredients for replicating this work in other communities. Learn more about the CollegeBound Foundation at www.collegeboundfoundation.org.
Transcribe →How System Collaboration is Driving Impactful Statewide Postsecondary Targets in Kentucky
Oct 2800:40:21Tap to summarizeIn this episode of CCA on the Air, recorded live at CCA's Data Days convening in Denver, we dive deep into Kentucky's ambitious journey toward its 60 by 30 educational attainment goal. Hear from higher education leaders across the state who are redefining what success looks like by moving away from rigid target-setting toward progress-based benchmarking.In Kentucky, constant communication, transparent data validation, and collaborative processes are driving real results. Learn how they've built trust between state agencies and institutions, aligned KPIs across multiple levels, and leveraged performance funding to support underrepresented student populations.Whether you're working at the state, system, or institutional level, this conversation offers practical insights on building effective data partnerships, measuring what matters, and moving everyone in the same direction.Featuring:Travis Muncie, MS, Chief Information Officer, Data & Advanced Analytics, KY Council on Postsecondary EducationChristopher Ledford, PhD, Director, Data and Advanced Analytics, KY Council on Postsecondary EducationMelissa Young, Senior Fellow, Communications, KY Council on Postsecondary EducationAlicia Crouch, MPP, Vice Chancellor of Research and Policy Analysis, KY Community & Technical College SystemCori Henderson, EdD, Associate Director, Institutional Research, Northern Kentucky UniversityModerated by Carrie Hodge, EdD, Director of Data Analysis, Complete College AmericaHelpful links:Kentucky's 60x30 Goal: http://www.cpe.ky.gov/ourwork/60x30.htmlKentucky CPE's Data Center: https://cpe.ky.gov/data/index.html
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