The LearnWell Projects

We've spent years trying to fix retention, persistence, and engagement in higher ed—with only modest gains. But what if the real issue starts with the language we use?

When we call students “customers” or “clients,” we frame the relationship as transactional. That changes everything—from how we design experiences to how students see themselves.

In my latest piece, I explore why it’s time to start viewing students as stakeholders—and how this one shift could transform our institutions from the inside out.

👇 Read the full article and let me know: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳?

From Customers to Stakeholders: The Power of How We Define Students Some of the most significant changes in higher education haven’t come from sweeping policies or groundbreaking technologies, but from something far more subtle: the words we use to describe the people we serve. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the shift from referring to students as students to r...

I used to argue with colleagues that student-athletes should have the highest GPAs on campus. After years of results, I let them speak for me.

Student-Athlete Success: The Secret Weapon Boosting Enrollment Athletics is quietly becoming the engine of college enrollment—especially at small and mid-sized schools. In this video, I reveal the “secret weapon” I use t...