Episode Eight: The Many Paths to Completing a Bachelor’s Degree

Episode 13: Registered Apprenticeships and the Future of AI in Healthcare

Jared sits down with Richard Meiklejohn of Lahey Clinic’s Innovation Hub and Diego Martins, a current CPS graduate student, to discuss Massachusetts' first registered apprenticeship in AI — a partnership between Northeastern, Lahey Clinic, and the state. Richard explains how the Innovation Hub, launched in mid-2025, is using the apprenticeship model to build talent from the ground up while giving patients and clinicians a stronger voice in how AI tools get built. Diego describes his day-to-day work as the state’s first AI Apprentice generating synthetic patient datasets, supporting the Care-AI-thon (a hackathon-style event pairing outside teams with Lahey's clinical staff to co-design solutions), and building AI systems while learning to navigate a technical, data-sensitive healthcare environment. Both guests unpack why a 2,000-hour, 12-to-18-month apprenticeship offers a different kind of runway than a co-op or internship — more time to build relationships, deepen domain expertise, and develop soft skills like communication and networking alongside technical ones. Richard and Jared also talk about the state's broader push toward 100,000 registered apprenticeships, the importance of employer-education collaboration in designing new pathways, and how students can be proactive in creating opportunities that don't yet exist. Guests * Richard Meiklejohn, Director, Lahey Innovation Hub, Lahey Clinic * Diego Martins, CPS Graduate Student and AI Apprentice, Lahey Clinic

Episode 12: The Weight of Care — Caregiving, Wellness, and Belonging at CPS

Jared is joined by a national caregiver advocate, a wellness leader, and a mindfulness practitioner for a conversation about what it really costs to care. CPS students, faculty, and staff carry more into the classroom and the office than their coursework and project lists. They are raising children, supporting aging parents, managing chronic illness, and holding together households — often while pursuing a degree or leading a team. This episode names that reality and takes it seriously. Jared sits down with three guests who approach caregiving and wellbeing from very different angles: a national advocate using data and storytelling to reframe how caregivers are seen and supported, an institutional leader building the wellness and belonging infrastructure at CPS, and a dean and certified yoga instructor who bridges the practical and the embodied in her work with students every day. Together, they explore what it means for an institution to truly show up for the people in its care — not just acknowledge the weight they carry, but actively help them set it down. Guests * Alex Drane, Co-Founder & CEO, ARCHANGELS * Shannon Alpert, Assistant Dean of Wellness and Belonging, CPS * Erin Clair, Associate Dean of Bachelor's Completion & Certified Yoga and Mindfulness Instructor, CPS

Episode 11: Student Spotlight! An honest conversation with two CPS students graduating this year.

Dean Auclair sits down with Joseph Randall Kwadwo-Obeng Manford and Sushmitha Katherine Jayaraj in an honest reflection about what worked, what was surprising, and what could have been done differently during their journey at Northeastern. This is an authentic, unscripted glimpse into the CPS experience from the student perspective.

Episode Ten: The Future of Higher Education and Work: Research Driving Skill-Based Pathways

CPS is centered on teaching and workforce and economic development, but our research is expanding to serve both of those core strengths.  The Center for Higher Education and Work (CHEW) is a great example of that as a lab that has successfully partnered with both public and private funders to deepen our understanding of the changing role of higher ed and the demands of shifting workforce and economic development realities.  This podcast discusses the integration of that research into CPS’s overall mission to catalyze learning pathways for all learners that are skill-based and work integrated.  Guests * Connie Yowell, Executive Director Center of the Future of Higher Ed and Work (CHEW) * Sasha Goldman, Senior Director Center of the Future of Higher Ed and Work (CHEW) * Michael Dean, Associate Teaching Professor * Richard Arum, Professor of Sociology and Education

Episode Nine: Higher Education Pathways: Northeastern and Roxbury Partnership

This episode focuses on a successful and expanding educational partnership that created an “associates to masters” pathway, allowing RCC students a seamless transition to a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree at Northeastern. Guests: Francesca Grippa, Senior Associate Dean of Research Earlene Avalon, Teaching Professor and Academic Lead Hillel Sims, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at Roxbury Community College Daveen Blythe, Associate Dean of Professional Studies and Health Careers at Roxbury Community College