What do you do when you know a First-Year Experience course improves student success, but you don’t have the funding or institutional support to build one? In this episode, we explore an innovative workaround born from a simple idea: Thor’s Hammer of Knowledge.

This conversation covers how Susan Merrill and colleagues from Southern Utah University highlights created a low-cost workshop series designed to connect students with campus resources before they realize they need them. We discuss the power of proactive outreach, building belonging outside the classroom, and how small incentives (food, fun, and community) can drive meaningful engagement.

Join us as we unpack the results, lessons learned, and how this model might inspire new approaches to student success on your own campus.

What happens when financial literacy moves beyond theory and into honest, student-centered conversations? In this episode, we visit with Dr. Alexei M. Marquez and Fred Huang from the University of Arizona about how their “Practical? Possible? Sustainable?” model is transforming financial wellness for first-generation and underrepresented students. By demystifying financial aid, surfacing the real cost of attendance, and helping students ask “Does the math, math?”, this conversation highlights a transparent, scalable approach to financial decision-making that strengthens persistence, confidence, and student success.

How can career centers use data to design programming that students actually need and attend? In this episode, Jon Ambrose from the University of Oregon Career Center walks through a data-informed approach to evaluating past programs, tracking student engagement, and leveraging platforms like Handshake and labor market insights to shape future initiatives. From boosting survey response rates to launching a successful Graduate School Fair, this conversation highlights how thoughtful use of data can close equity gaps, guide smarter planning, and ensure career services meet the diverse goals of today’s students.

Transfer students often face unique academic challenges that can go unnoticed in traditional retention efforts. In this episode, Dr. Anna Newsome Holcomb and Dr. Brian Garsh from Georgia Tech share how a redesigned midterm early-alert initiative uses timely data, targeted outreach, and transfer-specific support to identify academic risk and promote student success. Learn how Midterm Progress Reports, advisor- and student-level interventions, and an anti-deficit framework are helping transfer students navigate “transfer shock” and build momentum toward persistence and completion.

In this episode, we discuss the “Long Night Against Procrastination" event, a practical and student-centered approach to tackling one of the most common academic challenges. Drawing on experience from a small liberal arts college, the conversation explores how a single, well-timed evening in the library evolved into a campus-wide tradition supporting hundreds of students at a critical point in the semester.

We unpack how centralized academic support, easy access to campus resources, peer connection, and a fun, low-pressure environment combined to help students make meaningful progress on coursework. This episode offers ideas for creating high-impact, scalable events that foster motivation, community, and academic momentum, even when outcomes are hard to measure.

A valuable listen for learning commons, academic support, and student success professionals looking for practical ways to meet students where they are.

Building a culture of student success doesn’t happen by chance, it requires focus, discipline, and shared accountability. In this episode, we explore how National University uses Quarterly Operating Reviews (QORs) as a powerful, and often overlooked, culture-building practice.

Based on the their write-up in ASCEND To Higher Retention Rates (Vol. 3), “The Unlikely Culture Builder: Using Operating Reviews to Drive Student Success,” this conversation highlights how structured, data-informed reviews align leaders around strategy, create a shared language for student success, and foster collaboration without blame. Listeners will hear how the simple rhythm of “get grounded, get real, get going” keeps student outcomes front and center while turning insight into action.

A practical listen for higher education leaders looking to build a strong culture of alignment, accountability, and a sustained focus on student success.

In this episode, we explore how Moore College of Art & Design is improving student retention through a deeply intentional, holistic support model. Dr. Joshua Wilkin, Dean of Students, shares how Moore’s multipronged approach (spanning academic early alerts, mental health services, and financial wellness initiatives) has strengthened student success and belonging at a small, mission-driven institution. The conversation highlights cross-campus collaboration, data-informed decision-making, and the real impact of meeting students where they are, resulting in the college’s highest first-year retention rate in nine years.

College affordability doesn’t end with tuition, and for many students, hidden financial barriers can be the difference between stopping out and graduating. In this episode, we explore how financial gaps, aid complexity, and basic needs insecurity impact student retention, particularly for Pell-eligible and first-generation students. Leaders from the University of South Carolina share a suite of innovative, cross-campus initiatives designed to remove these barriers; from micro-grants and debt relief to food security, fee transparency, and first-gen support. This conversation highlights how intentional, collaborative approaches to affordability can improve completion, advance equity, and ensure more students cross the finish line.