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Brody and Kevin sit down with W. Kent Barnds, Executive Vice President for Strategy and Innovation at Augustana College, for a conversation that zigzags from enrollment strategy to storytelling, from FAFSA frustrations to liberal arts value, and from Nebraska football loyalty to why innovation in higher ed is less about shiny new toys and more about smart combinations that actually matter.

Kent brings the heat on what makes strategic plans stick, why public thinking matters, how small colleges can compete in a noisy market, and why higher ed still has to stay deeply human in the age of AI. Along the way, the crew talks admissions essays, musical taste, red meat, Slate dashboards, and the old-person habits they have proudly adopted.

It’s thoughtful, funny, a little nerdy, and exactly the kind of meeting you actually want to be in.

*The Pickup Meeting is a spinoff of the Adventures in Advising podcast!

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Have a question? Want to chat? E-mail us at thepickupmeeting@gmail.com!

Connect with Brody and Kevin on LinkedIn.

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May is doing May things: inboxes are chirping, calendars are packed, batteries are blinking red, and somehow Brody is recording while standing up. In this “Just Us” episode of The Pickup Meeting, Brody and Kevin celebrate a major milestone, unpack the weird little work habits that make us all twitch, and dig into why academic and career advising should stop living in separate silos. This episode has it all from “reply all” crimes to recharge culture, lifeguard life lessons, AI as an advising sidekick, summer goals, and vinyl record collections.

*The Pickup Meeting is a spinoff of the Adventures in Advising podcast!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook! Also, subscribe to the Adventures in Advising YouTube Channel!

Have a question? Want to chat? E-mail us at thepickupmeeting@gmail.com!

Connect with Brody and Kevin on LinkedIn.

Send us Fan Mail

Dr. Clint-Michael Reneau joins The Pickup Meeting for thought-provoking and wildly quotable conversation about leadership, belonging, vulnerability, and the real work of student success. As Vice President for Student Affairs at Northern Illinois University, Clint-Michael reminds us that belonging does not happen by accident, care is not soft, and student success is not a program, but a system we are all responsible for designing.

Brody, Kevin, and Clint-Michael dig into what it means to lead through uncertainty, model vulnerability without losing clarity, and stay “trustworthy in the shake” when campuses face budget pressures, political challenges, morale dips, and constant change. Clint-Michael also shares powerful reflections on storytelling, social media, equity work, collaboration between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs, supporting men and masculinities, crisis leadership, and why curiosity may be one of the most important tools a leader can carry.

Of course, this is still The Pickup Meeting, so the conversation takes a few glorious detours through undergraduate transcript confessions, campus traditions, castle offices, Ed Sheeran feelings, favorite cities, hidden talents, dirty martinis, trash TV, and a spirited debate over whether A-ha’s Take On Me counts as a one-hit wonder.

*The Pickup Meeting is a spinoff of the Adventures in Advising podcast!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook! Also, subscribe to the Adventures in Advising YouTube Channel!

Have a question? Want to chat? E-mail us at thepickupmeeting@gmail.com!

Connect with Brody and Kevin on LinkedIn.