Articles
From Conveyor Belts to Control Towers: Helping Students Navigate College Learning
The video above is an animated makeover of an authentic audio clip from a first-year student focus group. Can you relate to these students' situations? One of the most overlooked reasons high school graduates underperform in college is that they—and often their...
Good Students, Mediocre Results—The Hidden Crisis in Higher Ed
By the time students enter college, they’ve logged over 16,000 hours in academic learning. One would expect them to be expert learners, poised for success. Yet instead of thriving, many are struggling, disengaging, or quitting altogether. Why? This isn’t about apathy...
How to Quickly Turn AI Skeptics into AI Users
Discover a simple AI hack that saves time, enhances clarity, and boosts productivity in meetings. Learn how to use AI for seamless note-taking today! Have you ever struggled to take notes during a meeting or conference, only to end up with a jumble of disorganized...
The Power of Transformation in Higher Education: Why Learning Centers Must Lead in 2025
The Role of Transformation in Higher Education In the evolving landscape of higher education, "transformation" has become a buzzword. Leaders are consumed with discussions around how artificial intelligence (AI) will disrupt or enhance education. While AI may mimic...
Change or Improvement: Avoiding Pseudowork and Driving Educational Success
Table of Contents: Are We Changing or Improving? The Pseudowork Trap: The Silent Killer of Transformation A Blueprint for True Improvement From Traps to Triumph: Driving Institutional Success in 2025 Are We Changing or Improving? The Distinction That Matters Not all...
January is Refocus Month: Time to Reflect, Reestablish, Succeed
January is more than the start of a new semester for students and educators—it’s a time for renewal! When students return, they bring fresh energy and focus for the second semester. I recently asked students from the campuses I’ve worked with about their 2025 academic...
Burned Out vs. Bummed Out: Reignite Your Passion in Higher Education
Burned out and bummed out are often used interchangeably to describe exhaustion and frustration at work, but they represent two distinct experiences. Understanding the difference is crucial to finding solutions and reigniting your passion for your work. Burned Out:...
The October Surprise: Understanding Uneven Academic Performances
Every four years, as the nation gears up for a presidential election, the term "October Surprise" is on everyone's lips—a sudden, unforeseen event that shakes up the campaign and changes the course of the election. Just as voters brace for an unpredictable twist in...
Bounce-Back Month: Helping College Students Recover and Thrive
October marks a turning point for many college students. By now, they’ve received their first exam scores, and for many, those scores are lower than expected. I call this “Bounce-Back Month.” It’s a critical time when students face a choice: either bounce back and...
ICLCA Conference Presentations 2024
I'm excited to share a fun overview of the Rescuing Students from Transition Traps escape room challenge, straight from the International College Learning Center Association's (ICLCA) 2024 Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah! #ICLCA2024🌟 The conference was another...
What’s Fueling Your Students This Month: Foresight or “No Sight”?
Foresight is beneficial in many aspects of life. Whether you're planning a big project at work, preparing for a career change, or even organizing a vacation, foresight helps you navigate uncertainty and work toward a clear outcome. But what happens when students don't...
The LearnWell Projects’ Four-Step Sequence of Success: Higher Education’s Path to Student Success, Academic Integrity, and Financial Viability
Colleges and universities are complex organizations, requiring many different divisions to work together to maximize operations and outcomes. In addition to good people, sound processes are needed to ensure success. I was introduced to the power of process in the...
The Backbone of Academic Excellence: Prioritizing the Importance of Academic Infrastructure
In higher education, infrastructure plays a critical yet often invisible role in the success of both educators and students. Academic infrastructure, much like the physical systems that underpin our daily lives, forms the foundation upon which meaningful and impactful...
Save Lives and Students this Summer! Understanding and Overcoming Transition Traps in College
On July 4th, 2019, I had a striking revelation that inspired me to write my recently published book, How to Successfully Transition Students into College: From Traps to Triumph. My family was staying with our extended families in a beachfront house on Kure Beach, a...
The Triple Bottom Line Dilemma: Balancing Operational, Academic and Employment Goals in Higher Education
Despite the entrenched perception, colleges and universities do not have enrollment problems. Higher education institutions are grappling with significant challenges, often rooted in the split-focused nature due to a misalignment in their triple bottom line approach....
Unlocking Academic Success for College Students: Are Your Students Using the Right Formula?
As college educators, we constantly seek ways to enhance our students' learning experiences and outcomes. Understanding the underlying approaches students use to tackle academic work can provide invaluable insights into their success or struggles. There are three...
Energize Your Academic Year-End: Move from Traps to Triumphs!
As the academic year draws to a close, it's common to find students, faculty, and staff feeling a bit emotionally drained. Remember, it's not unique to this year—many of us have been here before. But what if we could end the year on a high note instead? Successful...
Teach Students to Love Learning: A special Valentine’s Day Post
It’s Valentine’s Day; once again, love is in the air. I want to challenge you today to make your students fall in love with learning. Learning is about establishing relationships with information. If students are to be effective learners, excelling in class and...
The Path to Solving Our Most Persistent Problems: Understanding Student Underperformance
Colleges and universities face a range of challenges, such as retaining new students, ensuring returning students make satisfactory progress, and maintaining high academic standards, all while achieving high levels of community satisfaction. These challenges may...
First-Year Focus Group Session Look-in
Focus groups can provide solutions or lead to wild goose chases. In this post, I allow you to listen in on a session in which students try to reconcile their past high school academic successes with their current college...
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