Elliot Felix

Elliot Felix Speaking Topics

• The Connected College: Leadership Strategies for Student Success

  Instead of silos and separations, how can colleges and universities help all students feel a sense of belonging, create courses that lead to rewarding careers, provide students the support they need to succeed, and help everyone work better together to make this happen? In this talk based on The Connected College drawing from Elliot’s work more than 100 leading colleges and universities, will challenge leaders with its breakthrough ideas, success stories, and practical tactics

  You’ll learn how to enable student success across key function areas in higher education: senior administration, academic affairs, student affairs, athletics, assessment, advancement, career development, libraries, facilities, technology and governing boards. You’ll understand the key demographic, technological, and cultural trends, learn inspiring case studies of connected colleges and universities, and apply tactics to enable student success. This talk can also include an activity to assess the connectedness of your institution or department and/or create the roadmap to improve it.

• Space & Student Success

  What role do spaces like classrooms, libraries, and residence halls play in student success? How do the support services offered in these spaces enable student success? How can staff best be structured to collaborate on providing these services? How can technology systems best be configured to help students find and use spaces as well as access services? How can these come together to help students find their places, people, and paths?

  In this talk, based on Elliot's books and work with 100+ colleges and universities, you’ll learn what the evidence shows about the role that spaces play in supporting the key activities that help students succeed, activities like interactive learning in the classroom, finding a mentor, experiential learning projects, getting involved and belonging to a community and more. You’ll also learn the organizational and operational best practices to make these spaces work. This talk can also include an activity to analyze your campus experience for the future and/or create the roadmap to improve it.

Future Workforce, Future Workplace

Who are today’s students, how are they learning, and what does this mean for the future of work and the future workplace? How will students’ expectations for technology and support services shape their views on the workplace? What will today’s classroom/career connections through speakers, projects, and internships mean for their future employee experience? How will the spaces they learn and live in today inform where, how, and why they work in the future?

Based on Elliot’s work with 100+ colleges, national surveys he’s led, and conversations with 2,000+ students, you’ll learn about today’s college experience and how you can design tomorrow’s employee experience – and the workplace, technology, and services that will shape it. You’ll hear the trends changing how we learn, live, and work and see bleeding edge examples that provide a window into the future, a future that anticipates AI and focuses people on the creativity, collaboration, and community that complements it. This talk can also include an activity to assess your employee experience and/or create the roadmap to improve it in the short• and long-term.

How to Get the Most Out of College

How can students use design thinking to get the most out of college? Design is about understanding people, thinking holistically to make connections, trying things out, and learning along the way. With this mindset, skills, and tools, you can design a college experience where you feel connected and supported, find your program and career path, and take full advantage of what college has to offer.

You’ll learn evidenced-based tips and student stories from his book to help students and parents make better decisions about not just where but how to go to college – decisions about where to live, what courses to take, what to do a class project on, how to seek support, how to find belonging, what to major in, and how to explore career paths. This talk can also include an activity to create a college experience roadmap so that students can get the most out of it.