EdTech Connect Podcast

Episode: Joshua Meredith: From Dean to Deloitte—Tech, Strategy & Student Success

Host: Jeff Dillon
Guest: Joshua Meredith, J.D., Client Relationship Executive (Higher Ed), Deloitte Consulting
Date: October 3, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features a conversation with Joshua Meredith, whose remarkable journey spans roles as Assistant Dean, Senior Director, faculty member, and now a consulting leader in higher ed at Deloitte. Host Jeff Dillon and Joshua dive into the profound transformation reshaping the higher education technology landscape, discussing digital integration, data strategy, AI, the challenges of legacy systems, and how institutions should invest in innovation to drive student success.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Career Trajectory & Lasting Lessons

• Unexpected Lessons from Career Transitions
  • Joshua emphasizes the long-term value of professional relationships:

    “The people that you meet, no matter where you are in your career, they always come back around to either affect your career or life in some way.” (02:17, Meredith)

  • Jeff reflects on this, sharing personal experiences of “small world” professional reconnections.

2. Motivation for Consulting & Broader Impact

• Moving from University Administration to Deloitte
  • Joshua’s goal: Leverage his impact by aiding multiple institutions rather than just one, motivated by the breadth and pace of consulting:

    “How many institutions can I have a positive effect on…which then will trickle down to the students?” (04:13, Meredith)

  • Enjoys engaging with diverse institutions, from 2,000- to over 20,000-student campuses, seeing unique challenges daily.

3. Higher Ed Insider Perspective

• Faculty, Administrator, Student—Bringing All Viewpoints
  • Joshua’s ongoing teaching enables him to connect directly with students, giving him a holistic view of campus life:

    “I understand the day to day challenges of the people working on the ground at our academic institutions…I think that kind of insight helps me with our clients.” (06:06, Meredith)

4. System Modernization & Digital Connectivity

• ERP Lifecycle & Need for Campus Systems Upgrades

  • Campuses are at the end of their legacy ERP lifecycle—time to upgrade for interoperability and mobile access:

    “We need to change it for the administrator, and we need to change it for the student who wants to be able to register on their device.” (08:19, Meredith)

• Data Revolution in Higher Ed

  • Most campuses have siloed, fragmented data; integrating it (with privacy in mind) is necessary to drive better decisions:

    “Universities have great big data. Every time you swipe that key card...it creates a data point. Those data points are important in understanding where students are on your campus.” (09:01, Meredith)

5. The Challenge of Student Information System (SIS) Upgrades

• Customization & the Trap of “Jailbroken” Legacy SIS
  • Decades-old, customized SIS pose major upgrade challenges and limit innovation—updating is essential for enabling micro-credentials, seamless registration, and integration with learning management systems (LMS):

    “Every student information system…has been customized to that institution…that creates a legacy system that is unique to one institution.” (10:24, Meredith)

6. Overcoming Siloed Campus Experiences

• Unified Digital Experience Platforms (DXP)
  • Siloed colleges create disjointed student experiences; a unified DXP is pivotal for the seamless navigation students expect:

    “There is nothing that can really change your campus faster than building, at least on the front end…a system that is unified.” (13:25, Meredith)

  • Change management is crucial—building “a committee of the willing” to coalesce campus units and support transformation.

7. Leveraging Data for Strategic Decisions

• Space Utilization, Heat Maps, and Smart Sensors
  • Rich, real-time data (ex: classroom seat utilization, movement data) can help institutions optimize facilities, avoid costly overbuilding, and better allocate resources:

    “Can we build more and share an integrated space?...Can we reutilize them instead of building $150, $250 million...buildings?” (17:32, Meredith)

  • Example: Innovative mixed-use dorm/classroom spaces based on data-driven needs.

8. The Evolving Faculty–Tech Relationship

• Faculty Adaptation and Data-Driven Improvement
  • Faculty are more open to well-presented data that can improve their teaching and student outcomes:

    “It just needs to be reported to them in a way that...is actually usable to make their class better.” (19:33, Meredith)

  • Post-pandemic hybridity and tech-enabled teaching are here to stay.

9. Cutting-Edge Analytics: Athletics, Fleet, and AI

• Forward-Thinking Data Applications
  • Athletics: Data-driven recruiting, ticket pricing, and resource allocation.
  • Fleet Management: Efficiently running large fleets of campus vehicles using analytics.
  • AI & GPUs:
    • Institutions investing in AI supercomputers face new operational and strategic choices.
    • Trend: Even non-elite schools are acquiring GPUs for research and security reasons, marking these as academic “crown jewels.” (25:31, Meredith)

10. Hackathons as Innovation Engines

• Hackathons Power Collaboration & Problem-Solving
  • Events like Hoya Hacks foster innovation and teamwork, seen as critical in rebuilding post-pandemic student confidence:

    “Innovation comes from 2, 3, 4, 5 people…thinking about creative ways to solve [problems].” (26:20, Meredith)

11. AI’s Greatest Potential for Higher Ed: Student Success

• AI as an Advisor’s Assistant
  • Scaling student support—AI can help exhausted advisors track student progress and suggest interventions:

    “The number of students per advisor is going up. If it's going up, we got to give them tools. AI…is a tool…to help advisors either gain depth and understanding [or] organize their advisees.” (28:22, Meredith)

  • Example: Data from fitness centers, dining halls, and libraries can help identify at-risk students for proactive outreach.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Relationships & Career:
  “Everybody you meet, you may meet them again and they may be really integral to your life. It's happened to me so many times.” (02:42, Meredith)

• On SIS Modernization:
  “Without a modern and available SIS, that becomes a real struggle…for that institution.” (11:21, Meredith)

• On Siloed Universities:
  “The worst thing that we can have right now is a student needs to use 20 links…to manage their student experience. I mean, that is antiquated.” (13:25, Meredith)

• On Faculty-Data Dynamic:
  “If you talk to a faculty member and say, hey, these are three things that the data show to make your class a better one…that will be a real message you can sell on your campus.” (19:36, Meredith)

• On Hackathons:
  “It's the problem solving skills that a hackathon teaches you in a short amount of time that makes them really valuable to students.” (27:07, Meredith)

• On Budgeting for Tech Transformation:
  “How much are you earmarking for technological change, not what's in place right now?...Everyone is looking for an immediate cost savings…[but] it may take more time than a year or two for you to recoup…” (31:23, Meredith)

Timestamps of Key Segments

• 02:17 – Unexpected career lessons about relationships
• 04:13 – Why consulting—expanding impact across institutions
• 06:06 – The triple perspective: administrator, faculty, student
• 08:19 – The ERP life cycle and the need for modernization
• 09:01 – Data usability and campus analytics
• 10:24 – The SIS legacy system “jailbreak” problem & path to future upgrades
• 13:25 – Silos vs. integrated digital experiences for students
• 15:52 – Data empowering campus leaders and space utilization
• 19:32 – Faculty expectations, hybridity and data
• 21:20 – Athletics and fleet analytics; AI & energy/resource management
• 25:31 – The rise of university-owned AI supercomputers
• 26:20 – Hackathons and their evolving role
• 28:22 – AI as a tool to scale and support student advising
• 31:23 – Advice for CIOs: Budgeting for real innovation and change

Closing Advice for University Technology Leaders

Joshua’s final advice for university CIOs and presidents:

“How much are you earmarking for technological change...That is the band of dollars that every institution needs to say, hey, we're spending X on this now…Where can we infuse dollars to bring about…modernization?” (31:23, Meredith)

Big picture: Innovation in higher education requires intentional budgeting, patience for return on investment, and a mindset shift toward running campus technology more like leading-edge commercial enterprises.

Summary Takeaways

• Transformation is already underway, but requires comprehensive planning, inclusive dialogue, and investments in unified digital systems and data strategies.
• AI and analytics are not just hype; they are practical tools to enhance advising, student engagement, and resource management—if privacy, reporting, and adoption challenges are addressed.
• Faculty and students alike benefit when technology answers real needs and is implemented with care for user experience.
• Institutions must plan and budget for tech innovation, resist “quick fix” urges, and nurture a campus-wide culture of collaboration and ongoing support.

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