Podcast
The Rant Podcast
Hosted by Eloy Ortiz Oakley · EN
A bi-weekly podcast focused on pulling back the curtain on the American higher education system and breaking down the people, the policies and the politics. The podcast host, Eloy Ortiz Oakley, is a known innovator and leader in higher education. The podcast will not pull any punches as it delves into tough questions about the culture, politics and policies of our higher education system.
15episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Leveraging AI & Data with Laura Ipsen
Mar 3000:31:10Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailEloy Ortiz Oakley hosts The Rant podcast and welcomes back Laura Ipsen, CEO of Ellucian, to discuss how higher education is navigating intensified pressures around accountability, affordability, enrollment, staffing constraints, and workforce alignment. Ipsen explains that better data transparency is essential to building trust and improving outcomes, and describes Ellucian’s work helping institutions modernize from on-prem to SaaS, clean and connect siloed data, and adopt AI and agentic capabilities to streamline workflows and support decision-making while keeping humans central. She highlights rising AI adoption across higher education, new governance efforts, and Ellucian’s platform direction, including Ellucian Student, skills-to-jobs tools, and a partnership bringing Ariana Huffington’s Thrive wellbeing resources into the student experience. They also preview priorities for the upcoming Ellucian Live event and Ipsen’s vision for broader modernization over the next 3–5 years.www.ellucian.comeloy@4leggedmedia.com
Transcribe →A New American Talent Strategy with Margaret Spellings
Mar 1100:33:20Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailHost Eloy Ortiz Oakley welcomes former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, now leading the Bipartisan Policy Center, to discuss BPC’s Commission on the American Workforce and its report, “A Nation at Risk to A Nation at Work.” They outline the need for a national talent strategy that breaks down federal silos across agencies and better aligns education, workforce systems, employers, and support services like childcare and transportation. Spellings describes the commission’s structure, why urgency is growing amid post-pandemic disruption and AI-driven workforce change, and recommends creating a national-level American Talent Council, improving data and transparency, and focusing policy on workers and learners. They also discuss bipartisanship, the federal role in civil rights and accountability, and BPC’s broader work on housing, energy, fiscal policy, and election governance.https://bipartisanpolicy.org/event/americas-workforce-blueprint-national-talent-strategy/bipartisanpolicy.orgeloy@4leggedmedia.com
Transcribe →How University Of Phoenix Is Redefining Online Learning For Working Learners
Feb 1700:36:45Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailForget the clichés about online college. We take a clear-eyed look at the University of Phoenix with CIO Jamie Smith and unpack how how the university is rebuilding around a simple rule: design for working learners by assuming school is the third priority after family and work. That shift changes everything—from the reliability of the tech stack to the tone of a nudge—and it’s driving a wave of practical innovation that blends human care with AI “bionics.”Jamie shares how Phoenix differentiates through a clean, multi-petabyte data foundation, long-honed risk models, and a relentless focus on reducing friction outside the classroom. We explore why generic AI often fails without trustworthy data, how to set legal and ethical guardrails in a regulated space, and what it means to “build it in, not bolt it on.” You’ll hear concrete examples, from celebratory confetti that actually boosts motivation to skills-mapped coursework that flags when a learner is job-ready—then points to local openings.Culture is the other headline. Phoenix carved out weekly “AI leverage time” so engineers could experiment, document, and demo progress, while also opening safe on-ramps for non-technical teams to build useful tools without creating security headaches. Looking ahead, Jamie sketches a near future of zero-UI experiences and personal GPT copilots that know a student’s goals and rhythms, escalating to human advisors when nuance matters. We close with pragmatic advice for traditional universities under enrollment pressure: strengthen data, clarify ambitions, avoid vendor sprawl, and move IT from back-office to strategic co-leadership.If this conversation reshaped how you see online learning, subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review to tell us what you want explored next.https://www.phoenix.edu/eloy@4leggedmedia.com
Transcribe →From Classroom Hours To Competencies: How WGU And Calbright Build Value For Working Learners
Jan 2700:49:55Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailSkills without progress are just potential. We sat down with WGU Provost Courtney Hills McBeth and Calbright College President and CEO Ajita Talwalker Menon to break down how competency-based education turns learning into jobs, promotions, and lasting economic value for working adults. No hype—just practical models that measure what you can do, not how long you sat in class.We dig into two complementary approaches: WGU’s course-based CBE that maps to the credit hour, and Calbright’s direct assessment for short-term, skills-forward credentials. Both start from the same promise: meet learners where they are, honor prior knowledge, and personalize the path using AI, data dashboards, and one-to-one mentorship. You’ll hear how faculty roles are redesigned around proactive support, how pacing flexes with life and work, and how durable skills like problem solving and communication anchor technical training to outlast industry shifts.Economic mobility runs through every choice. WGU won’t launch programs without strong regional job demand and tracks factored graduate return to keep tuition low and value high. Calbright broadens the definition of outcomes to include wage gains, career pivots, benefits, and flexibility—because security is more than a paycheck. We also spotlight embedded work-based learning at scale: simulations, micro-internships, clinicals, and teacher apprenticeships at WGU, plus Calbright’s Career Bridge projects with partners like Riipen and HubSpot that produce real portfolio artifacts and references.Accreditation is changing, too. Our guests outline why quality assurance must recognize multiple pathways to outcomes, support speed to market for workforce-aligned programs, and evaluate direct assessment with clear standards. Finally, we talk partnerships—WGU and Calbright are building seamless pathways from short-term credentials to degrees, while employers and rural communities signal where talent is needed most.If you care about adult learners, ROI, and making education count at work, this conversation is your playbook. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review to help more people find the show.WGU.eduCalbright.edueloy@4leggedmedia.com
Transcribe →The Innovators - A Conversation with Deborah Quazzo
Jun 27, 2023Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis is the fourth in a series of episodes where I interview interesting innovators that I ran into at the recent ASU + GSV Summit. In this episode I talk with Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner at GSV Ventures and Co-founder of the ASU+GSV Summit. Deborah shares her experiences in ed tech, how her team partnered with ASU, her personal journey and she highlights the work happening with the ASU+GSV Summit in 2024 and beyond.
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