Episode 193-Leading First-Year Initiatives in Taiwan with Chuan-Chin Chiao and Sindy Peng

Episode 196- Graduate Student Data with Deirdre McMahon and Anne Converse Willkomm

Deirdre H. McMahon, PhD, is a Teaching Professor of English, Department of English and Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences, and the Assistant Dean of Online Program Assessment in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies, College of Medicine at Drexel University. Her literary research focuses on nineteenth-century British literature and culture. A former Provost Fellow, Chair of the Online Learning Council Faculty Fellows, and Assistant Dean of Online Education at the Graduate College, she is leader in online education. Her portfolio also includes the design, support, and assessment of graduate programs across modalities. Anne Converse Willkomm serves as the Assistant Vice Provost for Curricular Support Services and an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Communication in the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University. In her current role, she leads university-wide efforts to support curriculum development, academic policy, and program innovation across undergraduate and graduate education. Previously, as Associate Dean of the Graduate College, she advanced interdisciplinary initiatives, oversaw academic administration and student affairs, and supported the growth and quality of graduate programs. With nearly 20 years of experience in higher education, Anne’s work spans curriculum design, assessment, and strategic planning across professional and liberal arts contexts. She has played a key role in launching new programs, guiding institutional policy, and leading cross-university initiatives, including assessment and AI integration. An award-winning educator, she continues to teach, grounding her work in a deep commitment to the student experience. Thank you for listening! Subscribe to our email list [https://ty5x0.share.hsforms.com/284dWli7oSxSlLJUoztgE9w] for early episode release! Stay in touch on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/gardnerinstitute], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/28118244], Instagram [https://www.linkedin.com/company/28118244], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrGGR7-6K_WJzUusuQbb51w], and our website [https://gardnerinstitute.org/].

Episode 195- Anthropological Insights for Student Success with Jennifer Wies

Jennifer Wies has spent more than two decades working across teaching, research, and academic leadership. She holds a PhD in Anthropology and a Graduate Certificate in Medical Behavioral Sciences from the University of Kentucky. Her work focuses on applying anthropology to pressing social issues, including gender-based violence, incarceration, HIV/AIDS, and the experiences of college students and higher education more broadly.  In her administrative role, Dr. Wies leads initiatives in assessment and accreditation, curriculum and faculty development, and student success, while supporting institution-wide program evaluation processes. She is also an active leader within the anthropology community, having served as President of the Association of Feminist Anthropology and as both Treasurer and President of the Society for Applied Anthropology. Thank you for listening! Subscribe to our email list [https://ty5x0.share.hsforms.com/284dWli7oSxSlLJUoztgE9w] for early episode release! Stay in touch on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/gardnerinstitute], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/28118244], Instagram [https://www.linkedin.com/company/28118244], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrGGR7-6K_WJzUusuQbb51w], and our website [https://gardnerinstitute.org/].

Episode 194 - Conversations and Connections with Susannah McGowan

Susannah McGowan is the director for curriculum transformation initiatives at The Red House at Georgetown University where she leads institution-wide initiatives on curricular change and experiential education. Prior to Georgetown, she worked at University College London and King’s College London. While at King’s, she co-established King’s Academy in 2017, a center for educational development supporting integral programs for faculty and graduate students around inclusive pedagogy and assessment. She is a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy/AdvanceHE in the UK. She serves as an advisory fellow of the Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education working on global student success. Thank you for listening! Subscribe to our email list [https://ty5x0.share.hsforms.com/284dWli7oSxSlLJUoztgE9w] for early episode release! Stay in touch on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/gardnerinstitute], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/28118244], Instagram [https://www.linkedin.com/company/28118244], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrGGR7-6K_WJzUusuQbb51w], and our website [https://gardnerinstitute.org/].

Episode 193-Leading First-Year Initiatives in Taiwan with Chuan-Chin Chiao and Sindy Peng

Chuan-Chin Chiao obtained his PhD from University of Maryland in 2000, and finished his postdoctoral training in Harvard University in 2002. He joined Department of Life Science, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan, in 2002, and is currently a Tsing Hua Distinguished Professor in this department. He is interested in a variety of vision related topics, including retinal neurobiology and cephalopod neuroethology. Multidisciplinary approaches are undertaken in the lab to seek deep understanding of vision in the context of biology. In addition to research, he is passionate about teaching. He has won the Best Lecturer Awards for three times from NTHU. In 2020, he has also obtained the Best General Education Teacher Award from Ministry of Education in Taiwan. He has produced three MOOCs and several OCW online courses. He has served as the Vice President for Academic Affairs in NTHU in 2020-2021. In 2021-2025, he served as the Director General of National Museum of Natural Science, the largest science museum in Taiwan. In February 2025, he returned to NTHU and continued his research and teaching. Particularly, he helped to advocate the First Year Experience movement in Taiwan, and served as Advisory Consultant at the Center for Exploration and Life Transitions (equivalent to the FYE office) in NTHU. He has taught the First Year Seminar course since fall 2025. Most recently, he has helped to organize the first Taiwan-FYE conference in NTHU. Dr. Hsinyi (Sindy) Peng holds a B.A. in Chinese Literature from National Taiwan Normal University and a Ph.D. in Information Science and Learning Technologies from the University of Missouri.  Her career spans K–12 teaching, teacher education, and higher education. She began her career as a Chinese teacher in Taipei and later served as an assistant professor at National Chiao Tung University. She also spends a decade in the United States raising her two daughters—an experience that deeply shapes her perspective on life transitions, identity, and the challenges of restarting a career. During that time, she continued teaching as an online instructor with Oregon State University.  Now based at National Tsing Hua University, Sindy works at the intersection of student development, learning design, and higher education innovation. In May 2025, she founded the Center for Exploration and Life Transitions (ExALT), where she leads efforts to support first-year students in exploring their academic and life paths, develops first-year seminars with faculty across disciplines, and trains peer leaders to guide new students. She also organizes Taiwan’s first national conference on first-year education, The 1st Annual Conference of the Taiwan First-Year Experience (T-FYE), in collaboration with Prof. Chuan-Chin Chiao and Prof. Ming-Chi Wu.  Thank you for listening! Subscribe to our email list [https://ty5x0.share.hsforms.com/284dWli7oSxSlLJUoztgE9w] for early episode release! Stay in touch on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/gardnerinstitute], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/28118244], Instagram [https://www.linkedin.com/company/28118244], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrGGR7-6K_WJzUusuQbb51w], and our website [https://gardnerinstitute.org/].

Episode 192- Embracing Non-Traditional Models with Geordie Hyland

Geordie Hyland is the President and Chief Executive Officer of American College of Education (ACE). ACE is an accredited, fully online college that specializes in high-quality, flexible, and affordable programs in education, business, leadership, healthcare, and nursing. ACE has over 13,000 students and more than 54,000 graduates and is focused on providing a strong value position to students. 85% of ACE’s students graduate with no debt, and 3rd party market research calculates that for every $1 invested in ACE’s tuition, graduates receive $19.20 in future career earnings. Geordie holds a bachelor's and an MBA from Harvard, as well as an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Thank you for listening! Subscribe to our email list [https://ty5x0.share.hsforms.com/284dWli7oSxSlLJUoztgE9w] for early episode release! Stay in touch on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/gardnerinstitute], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/28118244], Instagram [https://www.linkedin.com/company/28118244], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrGGR7-6K_WJzUusuQbb51w], and our website [https://gardnerinstitute.org/].