Dr. Kevin Walters, president of Allan Hancock College, discusses why the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) metrics miss the real story of community college students. He shares a clearer way using the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond data to count success that includes transfers, certificates, persistence, and the systems that help more students finish. He also unpacks strategies that have increased student success at the college.

Key points:
• Dr. Walters’ path from first-generation student to community college president
• Why IPEDS graduation rates miscount community college outcomes and why the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond data is more accurate
• Using outcome data to spark better teaching, retention, and counseling
• What unit load reveals about momentum and time-to-completion
• Promise scholarships that incentivize full-time attendance
• Auto-generated comprehensive education plans as part of guided pathways
• Performance-based funding focused on outcomes rather than rates
• Building a student-centered culture through stable leadership and teams
• Equity gains when completion efforts match the community’s demographics
• Expanding local access through Cal Poly degree offerings on the Hancock campus
• Practical take on A.I., classroom assessment, and workforce readiness

"The most exciting piece of the Richmond Fed data [as opposed to IPEDS) is our success rate is 41%. If you take that, of students that transferred, students that got a degree, students that are still there, students that got a certificate, 41% of those students. Keeping in mind that some of those students had no intention of pursuing a degree, but they were there for the first time. So 41%, that's way better than the IPEDS number--that's down in the 20% range. But it also shows we can improve." - Dr. Kevin Walthers

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Dr. Al argues that our society, with its advanced systems, still runs on primitive wiring, which explains today’s fear, cruelty, and attacks on education, science, and expertise. He makes the case that educators are quiet resistors who push the pendulum toward progress through daily, deliberate practice.

• educators as stewards who shift norms through practice
• human evolution limits against complex systems
• manipulation exploits tribal instincts and bias
• attacks on higher ed and shrinking research funding
• the “stupid epoch” frame for modern cruelty and fear
• comfort in naming the epoch and acting locally

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Continuous Learning Institute:
A resource hub for higher education professionals to support college student success. Subscribe for updates.

Student Success Podcast Homepage:
Access show notes, resources, & transcripts

Dr. Al breaks down how a loud few can distort narratives, stall reform, and make campuses feel toxic while most educators work hard for students. He shows how to replace blanket blame with specific accountability, evidence, and courage so truth can guide decisions.

• pattern of toxicity driven by a small few
• harm of blanket blame across groups
• distortion of messages and weaponized silence
• fear, bullying, and misuse of retaliation claims
• equity weakened by internal toxicity across identities
• shift from group blame to naming behavior
• document evidence and gather allies
• silence as complicity, courage as a norm
• truth as the foundation for student success

You can subscribe to the show and newsletter on the Continuous Learning Institute link below, and of course on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Continuous Learning Institute:
A resource hub for higher education professionals to support college student success. Subscribe for updates.

Student Success Podcast Homepage:
Access show notes, resources, & transcripts