Sarah Holtan, PhD talks to Sarah Lukas, Ed.D., who brings her flair for innovation to the table, discussing the crucial role of empathy and adaptability in higher education leadership. Dive into a candid conversation on how institutions can thrive amidst change and why the fear of the new should be left behind.

Sarah, who is the Director of Academic Operations at NLU Florida, imparts her wisdom on community engagement and the essence of listening to feedback for academic growth.

Plus, we tease an exploration into the actual costs of change in an upcoming podcast– a dialogue you won't want to miss. For insights that inspire and strategies that stick, tune in and join us on this leadership journey.

Episode Highlights:

04:08 - I'm an academic at heart, but I've also become an operator. As I moved on in my educational experience and I became an assistant principal, became a district administrator, you can't have one without the other. We have to make sure that we're serving students by being efficient and making sure that we are using our budget well, so that we spend it correctly for our students, with the students in mind, regardless of if you're in public ed or if you're in a higher ed institution.

07:30 - Our counseling curriculum is the same for our Master's program in both Illinois and Florida. However, we offer it on ground in Illinois, but it's online in Florida. And so, the modality is different and the enrollment and outreach is different because you're bringing in for different programs, but that allows Chicago to bring in their on ground program and have a very robust on ground piece there. But then we're able to provide the same quality between online student audience, so that allows us to be streamlined.

13:08 - As a satellite campus, every student, every faculty member, it's also critical to our budget responsibility , and how we are operating within those dollars. And if we have a program that's showing exponential growth, then we make sure we hire there. That's where you have to balance again, that flexibility and empathy.

Sarah Holtan, PhD

LinkedIn

Website 

Sarah Lukas, Ed.D.

LinkedIn

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