The Signal

What if the reason your enrollment strategy keeps stalling has nothing to do with the plan—and everything to do with the culture?

In this episode, host Jeff Dillon sits down with Austin Blair, Dean of Admissions and Marketing for both St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing and St. Anthony College of Nursing, part of OSF Healthcare. Austin also coaches high school football, and that experience shapes everything about how he leads. He draws a direct line between coaching a team and building an enrollment operation: both are about creating belief, creating the experience before results, and understanding that talent rarely overcomes a bad culture.

Austin shares the story of uniting two distinct nursing college cultures—one in Rockford, one in Peoria, two and a half hours apart—with different histories, different demographics, and different ways of doing things. He explains why "buy‑in" is too small of a goal and why shared ownership is the real objective. He walks through his CULTURE framework: clarify the why, understand the terrain, listen before launching, turn committees into coalitions, use data as a mirror, reinforce through relationships, and empower shared ownership.

He also makes a provocative case against buying prospect names—a strategy he abandoned not out of philosophy, but out of necessity when his marketing budget was only $40,000. What he discovered was that relevance beats volume, and relationships beat lists.

For any enrollment leader, president, or marketing team trying to move a stalled strategy forward, this episode offers a practical, football‑tested framework for putting culture first.

Key Takeaways

Culture Before Strategy: Strategy tells people what you're going to do. Culture determines whether they'll actually get there. Enrollment problems rarely stem from enrollment challenges—they're usually cultural, communication, or trust issues.

Buy In Is Too Small a Goal—Build Shared Ownership: Buy in means the decision has already been made and you're trying to get people to agree. Shared ownership means shaping the decision together. People support what they build.

Talent Rarely Overcomes a Bad Culture: Austin has seen great enrollment plans fail because the culture wasn't ready to support them. He's seen talented teams underperform because they weren't aligned. Culture is the foundation.

Don't Skip the Listening Phase: The listening phase often gets compressed when leaders are under pressure to move fast. That's where you find who your arrogant leaders are—they think they've already solved it.

Good Ideas Don't Spread Just Because They're Good: They spread because people trust who's behind them, understand the idea, and see themselves in it. A good idea without adoption is just a recommendation.

Small Colleges Win by Being Human: Don't imitate scale—maximize intimacy. Own your traditions, own your identity, and don't try to be something you're not. The world will try to hate on you if you're inauthentic.

The First Question to Ask When Enrollment Stalls: What's your culture? Who's your biggest leader? Are you embracing who you are? Culture determines whether you'll actually get where you're trying to go.

 

The Signal Newsletter:
https://edtechconnect.com/newsletter

Find Austin Blair:

LinkedIn                              

https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-w-b-63a306a6/

OSF HealthCare

http://osfhealthcare.org/

 

And find EdTech Connect here:

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Introduction and Guest Background
(00:02:03) - Coaching Football vs. Enrollment Leadership
(00:04:27) - Culture Before Strategy: Merging Two Colleges
(00:08:17) - Buy-In vs. Shared Ownership
(00:11:39) - The CULTURE Framework Explained
(00:16:47) - Moving Away from Buying Prospect Names
(00:19:59) - Nursing Enrollment Challenges and Workforce Development
(00:23:07) - From Counselor to Director: Getting Ideas Adopted
(00:25:36) - Small Colleges vs. Large Universities
(00:28:48) - Final Advice and Wrap-Up

What if the biggest problem in higher ed marketing isn't technology, budget, or even strategy—but the fact that we assume students make rational decisions when they're actually driven by emotion, bias, and the simple need to feel like they belong?

In this episode, host Jeff Dillon welcomes Si Elliott, founder of Fabrics, a customer experience consultancy that applies behavioral science to how organizations design experiences and relationships. Si also runs Diversity, a creative agency in Nottingham, England, and guest lectures at three universities—including the Communication University of China. He brings a rare outside perspective to higher ed, challenging institutions to stop designing around the needs of the organization and start designing around the experience of the person.

He explains why the technology amplifies whatever process is already there—good or bad—and why "marketing is better with psychology." He also breaks down three behavioral biases that could change how enrollment teams communicate: the curse of knowledge, social proof, and peak-end rule. And he offers a simple but powerful challenge to any president or CIO: put on a pair of trainers and a hoodie, walk around campus anonymously, and just observe. Change your shoes.

 

Key Takeaways

 

Psychology Is Better Marketing: Marketing isn't just persuasion—it's understanding people so you can serve them better. The goal isn't to trick people into converting; it's to make it easier for them to make the best decision for themselves.

 

Assume Emotional Decisions, Not Rational Ones: A 17-year-old choosing a university isn't just weighing league tables and employment outcomes. They're asking: "Can I see myself fitting in here? Does this feel like a place for me?" That's hard to track in a CRM, but it's the real question.

 

Three Biases That Matter Most: The curse of knowledge (you know your institution too well to explain it clearly to others), social proof (students need evidence they'll belong), and peak-end rule (people judge an experience by its emotional peak and its final moment). Use these to redesign open days, communications, and touchpoints.

 

Technology Amplifies What's Already There: If the underlying process is broken, technology will make it broken faster. Before buying a new platform, ask: are we fixing a process problem, an ownership problem, or a human understanding problem?

 

Don't Confuse Efficiency with Experience: AI and automation can streamline operations, but they can also strip the warmth out of a relationship. If an airline's automated messages leave a stranded passenger with no human contact for 72 hours, the technology is working against the brand.

 

The Value of Toil: Learning happens when you work through a problem yourself. AI shortcuts can rob students of the struggle that leads to true understanding. The future of education isn't competing with AI on processing—it's competing on context, nuance, creativity, and the human touch.

 

Map the Journey, Find the Friction: A customer experience audit starts with mapping the full journey—exploration, open days, offers, registration, student life—and identifying moments of high emotion or high friction. That's where you focus your attention.

 

Change Your Shoes: If you're a president, CIO, or marketing leader, put on a pair of trainers, jeans, and a hoodie. Walk around campus anonymously. Attend an open day. Buy a student a coffee and just listen. Observe body...

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Introduction to Cy Elliott
(00:01:57) - A frustrating airline experience
(00:04:47) - Why psychology, not just marketing
(00:07:39) - Comparing higher ed and corporate customer experience
(00:10:50) - How students actually make decisions
(00:13:40) - Key behavioral biases for enrollment teams
(00:16:06) - Technology as amplifier, not solution
(00:19:39) - Auditing the student experience for friction
(00:22:00) - Rethinking the application process
(00:23:15) - AI's impact on what students expect from lecturers
(00:25:39) - Comparing UK and Chinese student experiences
(00:27:47) - Practical steps for resource-limited teams
(00:28:42) - Final advice: walk in the student's shoes
(00:30:24) - Closing and sign-off

What happens when a veteran TV writer—whose credits include The Wonder Years, Dawson's Creek, and Disney's Tarzan—decides to build a film school inside North America's largest soundstage complex? You get a model that challenges nearly every assumption higher ed has about where learning happens, who should teach it, and what students actually need to succeed.

In this episode, host Jeff Dillon sits down with Jeffrey Stepakoff, founder of the Georgia Film Academy and now President and co-founder of the Trilith Institute. Jeffrey has spent 40 years in entertainment, has over 1 million books in print, and has built two groundbreaking programs that bridge the gap between academia and industry. The Georgia Film Academy grew to serve 2,500 students a year across 30 institutions, helping grow Georgia's film production spending from $2 billion to $4.4 billion during his tenure.

Now at Trilith, Jeffrey is taking the model further—launching "Semester at Trilith," a 15-week, 15-credit immersive program that drops students into a working studio environment. He argues that in an era of AI abundance, the most valuable thing we can teach isn't craft—it's taste, critical thinking, and the ability to discern what stories actually deserve to be told.

For anyone in higher ed wrestling with questions of workforce relevance, industry partnerships, or the future of experiential learning, this episode offers a bold, practical, and deeply human vision. 

Key Takeaways 

Partnership Is the Engine of Success: The Georgia Film Academy succeeded because it brought together labor unions, state leadership, production studios, and 30 higher education institutions—including universities, technical colleges, and private schools—all aligned around a shared goal. 

Credit Portability Is a Political Problem, Not a Technical One: The mechanics of transferring credits are doable. The challenge is institutional anxiety about losing students and resources. The solution is a consortium model with an R1 institution (like Clemson) serving as the accrediting body—similar to a semester-at-sea model. 

Own Less, Access More: Institutions shouldn't be building their own soundstages or buying equipment that will be obsolete in 18 months. The future is about buying access to industry infrastructure, not owning it. Trilith partners with a 34-soundstage complex so students train on professional equipment in a professional environment. 

In an Age of Abundance, Taste and Curation Are the Valuable Skills: AI can generate endless content. The scarce skill is knowing what deserves to be made—developing taste, critical thinking, and the ability to discern what stories matter and why. 

What Do You Have to Say? Craft can be taught in a weekend. The deeper question is: who are you as a person? What stories are only you equipped to tell? That's what educators should be spending their time on. 

The Goal Is to Build a New Creative Hub, Not Just a Factory: Georgia grew its production infrastructure to serve Hollywood. But the real opportunity is to build a self-sustaining industry based on original intellectual property—where writers, directors, and creators live, work, and tell stories that originate in the region. 

Economic Impact Requires Measurable Metrics: To convince legislators and policymakers, programs must track outcomes—credit hours, job placements, industry spend. Accountability builds credibility and long-term investment. 

The Future of Higher Ed Is About Partnership, Not Replacement...

Chapters

(00:00:00) - What is content?
(00:00:44) - Jeffrey Stepakov on the Georgia Film Academy
(00:02:07) - The Hardest Place In The World
(00:02:51) - In the Elevator With Georgia Film Academy's Founder
(00:06:23) - Getting the institutions to join the film and television consortium
(00:08:42) - Clemson on Campus and Credit Portability
(00:14:38) - Film Programs and the Equipment Problem
(00:16:28) - Higher Ed: The Need for AI Skills
(00:18:07) - What is content in a world of abundance?
(00:20:17) - The role of the university
(00:21:24) - What should we be teaching students?
(00:25:04) - Georgia's film and television industry
(00:29:56) - The Signal: Where Learning happens

What if the real crisis AI has exposed in higher education isn't student dishonesty, but the fact that we've been treating final papers as evidence of thinking—when AI can now simulate that thinking in seconds?

In this episode, host Jeff Dillon sits down with Michael Leggs, who has taught English at St. Paul College for 21 years and is the founder of Smartlby, an AI‑powered revision tutor designed to help students strengthen their writing through guided reflection—without writing for them. Michael brings a rare perspective: he's not a technologist or an administrator talking about AI in the abstract. He's the person reading the papers, watching students struggle, and redesigning assignments in real time.

Michael argues that detection software is a triage response, not a long‑term solution. The deeper problem is that our curriculum and assessment models were already fragile—AI just made it visible. He explains why surveillance tools create environments of mistrust, why revision should be treated as evidence of thinking, and how tools like Smartlby can guide students through a Socratic dialogue about their own writing without ever rewriting a single sentence.

For any faculty member, department chair, or academic leader trying to figure out what actually works in the AI era, this episode offers a grounded, practical, and deeply human perspective. 

Key Takeaways 

The Real Problem Isn't Cheating—It's Assessment Design: AI didn't create the problem; it exposed a weakness that was already there. We've been treating final papers as evidence of thinking, but AI can now simulate that product. The solution isn't more surveillance—it's redesigning how we assess learning. 

Detection Software Is a Triage Response, Not a Solution: Institutions rushed to buy detection tools because it was something they could control. But surveillance creates environments of mistrust—students know we don't trust them, and that damages the learning relationship. 

Revision Is Evidence of Thinking: The shift needs to be from product assessment to process assessment. When a student revises, they are thinking. Tools that track revision give instructors visible evidence of that thinking process. 

Process Assessment Is Instructionally Scalable—Not Just Technically Scalable: Many tools are technically scalable (they work at scale) but not instructionally scalable (they don't actually help teachers teach better). Smartlby was designed by a teacher with 21 years of classroom experience, so it solves problems faculty actually face. 

AI Closes the Production Gap—But the Learning Gap Is Still Open: Students can produce more effectively with AI assistance. But producing more isn't the same as learning more. The goal should be to close the learning gap, not just the production gap. 

Redesign Starts at the Grassroots Level: Faculty sharing ideas about how they're redesigning assignments is where real change begins. It doesn't have to be a top‑down mandate. Department‑level collaboration on assignment types can create scalable, shared solutions. 

Surveillance Tools Should Be Abolished in Five Years: Michael's hope is that within five years, institutions will stop policing student writing and instead focus on ethical AI use, assistive tools, and redesigning assignments that actually teach students how to think—not just how to produce.

 

The Signal Newsletter:
https://edtechconnect.com/newsletter 

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Chapters

(00:00:00) - The Real Problem with AI in Higher Education
(00:02:11) - The Name of Smartlby
(00:03:02) - What Pulled You Back into the Classroom?
(00:04:47) - The Tipping Point for Academic Writing
(00:06:44) - SmartAlby on How to Prevent Student Cheating
(00:15:41) - Does generative AI Close the Production Gap?
(00:21:33) - How to Keep AI Out of the Composition Classroom

Jeff talks to Raffi DerSimonian, VP and Chief Strategy Officer at ERI, a digital agency that has been building for colleges and universities since 2005. Raffi came up on the institutional side—alumni relations at Becker College, then marketing and communications at Maine College of Art—before moving to the agency side. He brings a rare combination: deep empathy for campus dynamics and a strategist's eye for what actually moves the needle.

Raffi shares the story behind ikiGuide.ai, a tool that takes the Japanese concept of Ikigai—the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for—and turns it into a guided college search experience. Instead of handing a student a list of programs, ikiGuide gives them a path and the reasoning behind it, pulling in not just curricular offerings but also clubs, activities, study abroad, and stories of students and alumni who have walked similar paths.

The conversation also tackles the shifting role of the college website in an AI-driven discovery landscape. Raffi argues that with nearly half of prospective students now consulting AI before visiting a website, the site's purpose is no longer to provide facts—it's to provide a "vibe check," a sense of connection, and evidence that a student can see themselves there. He also offers a sobering challenge to institutions: if your differentiators sound like they could apply to any school in America, it's time to go back to the drawing board.

 

Key Takeaways 

Start with Purpose, Not a Major: The traditional college search process begins with "what do you want to study?"—a question many 17‑year‑olds can't answer. ikiguide flips that by asking who you are, what brings you joy, and what you're good at, then connecting those answers to a full ecosystem of opportunities. 

Only 30% of Gen Z Students Feel Prepared for Life After High School: According to Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation, the majority of students enter higher education without a clear sense of direction. Colleges have a responsibility to help them explore, not just funnel them into a predetermined path. 

The College Website's Role Has Shifted from Facts to Vibe: With nearly half of prospective students now consulting AI before ever visiting a site, the website is no longer the primary source of information. Its job is to provide a sense of connection, evidence of differentiation, and a clear path forward—all within the first three seconds. 

AI Is Moving the Discovery Upstream—But Websites Still Matter: Students are coming to websites already briefed by AI, with comparisons and assumptions already formed. The site needs to validate that they can see themselves there, not just repeat the facts they already know. 

Personalization Requires Judiciousness: Over‑personalization can backfire if the institution can't fulfill the expectations it creates. The safer approach is to let users opt in to sharing their interests and then use that data to surface relevant opportunities—not to make assumptions about them. 

Write for Both Humans and the Machines That Read for Them: AI is now summarizing institutions on behalf of students. Content needs to be findable for AI while still resonating with the human who will eventually read it. The line between the two is blurring rapidly. 

Differentiation Is the Only Defense Against Sameness: Most higher ed websites look and feel identical. Institutions that clearly articulate what sets them apart—with evidence, not just claims—are the ones that win attention in...

Chapters

(00:00:00) - The Signal: The Future of Higher Ed Websites
(00:01:51) - In the Elevator With a Consultant
(00:04:31) - Exploring Ikigai: The College Search
(00:14:36) - The Future of the University Website
(00:20:21) - Will Higher Ed Content Be Personalized by AI?
(00:24:25) - Higher Ed: The Need for Personalization
(00:28:42) - The Future of Higher Ed: Reimagining the Signal