Greg Pillar on Designing the Hidden Curriculum Out of Higher Ed

On today’s episode of the Illumination by Modern Campus podcast, podcast host Shauna Cox was joined by Greg Pillar to discuss how clear, consistent communication and intentionally designed processes remove hidden barriers and strengthen student trust and belonging.

Transcript

Shauna Cox (00:02):

Greg, welcome to the Illumination Podcast.

Greg Pillar (00:05):

Thrilled to be here. Thank you for the invitation.

Shauna Cox (00:07):

Absolutely. So we are here to talk about creating seamless processes and clear communication, which it's easier said than done in order to better the institution and the student experience. So I just want to kick off our conversation and first ask, how can clearer more consistent communication throughout a student's journey, so from inquiry to completion, kind of mitigate uncertainty and drive stronger persistent rates?

Greg Pillar (00:33):

And that's a question that oftentimes gets overlooked or a topic that gets overlooked in the details in the minutia of work that is done. But it's one of those things where, and apologies for the reference, but if not careful, death by a thousand paper cuts can quickly come about if there's, even if it's only minor inconsistency or issues, or just simply stop gaps in communication throughout that student journey. And so in its entirety over a student's time at an institution, that aspect of navigating the processes, the systems of the university, managing through communication is in many ways just as important as the classes that they're taking. So with that being said, I mean the most important thing schools can do is remove ambiguity. Students often leave not because of academics, though sometimes it does occur, but because they feel lost in the process. And that can, in a sense then lead to a feeling of loss of connection to the institution and even belonging. So clear, timely communication removes guesswork, speaking the student language, avoiding institutional jargon. I talk often with my students and with faculty and staff at my institution that we need to try to minimize that hidden curriculum that students have to navigate

(02:02):

As much as possible. And then the last thing I'll say is consistency builds trust. So the more consistent you can be in your communication, that you can be in various processes that will build trust over time, even if there's a flub or something that happens, consistency with how the response can go a long way.

Shauna Cox (02:30):

Absolutely. And I want to expand on that because you are right in the sense of we're all human, we're going to make mistakes now, and then you own up to them and you move on from that, I think really helps. But as you mentioned, if you're constantly inconsistent or things are happening that students don't expect and there's no at least kind of foreshadowing of what for them to expect, it can definitely lose their trust pretty quickly. And I think that's a lot harder to gain lose. So how can, oh yeah, yeah, go ahead.

Greg Pillar (03:02):

No, I was just going to add that. Well, and as part of that, what can be so much of a challenge is maybe the process or even the communication is consistent and is clear. But sometimes when you've got, nowadays in higher ed, you have a lot of turnover and change. A different person comes in or a different person within the university trying to communicate the same thing. There could be some differences there. It can really be daunting. And a challenge,

Shauna Cox (03:27):

Especially, it could be a first gen student, a student that came back to the institution, some of them who are just genuinely lost. They're not sure what this experience was supposed to be for them. And if there's not any support or just like I mentioned, that foreshadowing of what to expect can definitely turn them away in an instant. And I think that's much harder to get those students back. So how can institutions rebuild student trust when seamless administrative processes and that transparency communication carry as much weight as faculty interactions in shaping that learner experience?

Greg Pillar (04:01):

Sure. So I mean, trust is really built in the margins. I mean, students judge institutions just as much at times on billing, registration, responsiveness in terms of what happens in the classroom. And so it is important to make sure that in many ways, everyone takes ownership and accountability and realizes it's everyone's job to help with that strategy. It's not just the faculty, it's not just certain staff in certain offices. It really is everyone. And I've always been a big proponent for transparency. And sometimes that can be tough because decisions may be made, not that trying to be nefarious, but leading to not being quite as transparent because of concern of how certain things could be perceived or reacted or whatnot. But at its heart, transparency leads to credibility. If something is complex, if there is nuance to it, then explain why hidden rules or last minute surprises. They don't just erode confidence, but they significantly erode

(05:09):

Confidence. And so again, the term hidden curriculum is used in a number of ways in higher ed, but in this case I'm truly referred to in it as hidden processes, hidden steps that have to be done that maybe aren't in writing, but it's just known that that's how you're supposed to do it, or it's just expected that, oh yeah, anyone in college or university knows that's what you do or where you go. But first gen students or even other students that are transferred in from other institutions where it was completely different, they simply don't know. So it's important that when mistakes do happen, as you mentioned, because it's complex or just because of oversight, that institutions own that mistake and correct them quickly. And students will see that. They see that kind of integrity in action and all that helps to building trust. And although faculty may be seen as the face of the experience, the clunky administrative processes can undo even the best of teaching. So again, it's everyone's job to try to do that work.

Shauna Cox (06:17):

Absolutely. And I want to go to this point of this kind of all hands on deck that you're alluding to here, because we look at a student's journey and I think there are some clear markers that we can indicate of this is the time when they register. This is time when there's financial aspects or this campus engagement, but how can we, looking at a student's holistic experience, how can an academic affair leader ensure that those in-between moments of the student journey are thoughtfully designed as well as a classroom experience?

Greg Pillar (06:53):

And it's, again, at times, no one, at almost any institution is underworked. And so it's one of these things that it can be really tough. And the reason why I think at times these get missed is because I, based on what's ahead of them that day or what's going on, it just quickly falls to a lower priority. But what's important though is the design of these processes, designs of these experiences should be intentional and not an afterthought. They should be designed with the same care as the curriculum.

(07:36):

And if you put a little bit more of that kind of importance on it, then perhaps time can be triaged, allocated more for that over other stuff. And then I mean centered testing or student focused, kind of like testing where if a process is confusing to staff or if a communication is unclear to some staff or faculty, then just imagine how it feels for a first generation student or just even a new incoming student, even if they're not first generation. And so take that kind of feedback seriously and intentionally act on it. And that acting on it may simply be a short conversation or just a double checking of bits and pieces of it, but sometimes it's easy to dismiss, oh, they just simply didn't understand, we're fine. Well, no, I mean even if it may seem like it's a one-off still worth it, just a little bit of just to make sure, is it clear? Is there something there? So using student voices and data to refine pain points and processes, whether it's in advising or graduation audits and checkouts and things like that can be really helpful to help strengthen those in-between moments and find some clarity.

Shauna Cox (09:07):

Absolutely. And I think if there's one student that's going to be confused, I am sure there are a dozen others who are either not saying anything, and it just seems like the odds that you're playing with that there's going to be more.

Greg Pillar (09:19):

Well, absolutely. And this is something that in my work in faculty development in certain workshops and settings that I've been in where pointing out that if sometimes a faculty member may dismiss, well, there's only one or two questions, clearly we're good to move on. But in some cases, one question could really be the case that there's actually 3, 4, 5 people who have that question and for whatever reason are hesitant to raise their hand, whether it's because they don't want to have a negative stigma or whatnot. Now I get it doesn't mean that every time one single question issue is brought up that therefore we completely overhaul. But I guess my point is don't go so quick to be quickly dismissive, give it a little bit more thought before moving on.

Shauna Cox (10:12):

Absolutely. A little bit of investigations worth it. And then if you uncover there are more issues or questions or students that don't understand something, then you can deep dive. If not, then you get to be, I guess, dismissive in that point, but you just kind of check your sources and then you move on from there. That way you're not missing any gaps. It's better to investigate than just dismiss and it become a bigger problem later. So in looking at analyzing what's working, what's not, I want to peel back the curtain and talk about behind the scenes of the institution. So what role do institutional systems and workflows play alongside the faculty behaviors in reducing those stop-out and fostering more persistence across a student's life cycle?

Greg Pillar (10:57):

Yeah. Well, these are oftentimes these institutional systems and workflows, the issues are a bit invisible and it's not easily seen. And I mean ultimately I would say students rarely stop out because of one class or one situation. They stop out because of the cumulative friction of the systems of what's going on, outweigh their will to persist. And in some cases it can be exacerbated by what they're experiencing in the classroom or a lack of connection that they're having outside of the classroom. Those are all very important opportunities to help build that connection and sense of belonging for the student. That's critical in retaining them. But oftentimes, again, coming back to the death by a thousand paper cuts, it is one of these things where the systems are things that are living, but the people who are operating these systems and these workflows, they're sort of continually changing. And so even if you have a modern system and you've got a great workflow, sometimes some of those steps are in there because a person who had a particular role, they felt this would work best or it was best for them, or they thought it would be that way. And then when they leave and someone else comes in, maybe there's no change. Maybe there is a change. They don't understand why is that step in there, why is that there?

(12:29):

And after iterations of this, pretty soon you've got systems that are not quite near as clean and easy to navigate. And in some cases you have faculty and staff with no clear idea of, well, wait, why are we even doing it that way to begin with? And again, you can have invested millions of dollars in the best systems and all that, but it's one of these things where if the data that's in there is not clean and good shape, and if the people operate navigating that aren't clear on steps or understand what's going on, it can derail very quickly.

(13:12):

So it really, really is important to not necessarily every single time a person leaves a position, okay, we got to stop and completely look at this, but at least have some regular periods of time where you do a little bit of check-ins and see, okay, let's look at this workflow. Let's look at what this process here. Does this still make sense? Are we catching anything? Are we hearing anything that might be an issue? I'll give a great example real briefly with simplifying workflows or addressing them. Recently in my current institution discovered that we had a workflow as it related to in two areas, one grade changes, particularly when a grade is going from an incomplete to now being complete. Now a grade's being assigned as well as in certain situations where there's substitutions for certain types of degree requirements. There were these layers upon layers of signatures that were needed.

(14:13):

And finally someone asked, well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Why do we need all these different layers? And at different points in time, there was probably a clear reason why No, no, this person needs to be involved and that person needs to be involved. But we're at a point today where, no, we don't need three, four layers of signatures. We can definitely simplify this down and still maybe make a little bit of a tweak with some communication as a part of it that still gets the people the information that they need by having to go through those signatures. But reducing that greatly helped the students because it got certain appeals, certain requests, certain things done faster. And sometimes those things like changing a grade from incomplete to a grade has financial aid implications because of how incompletes may be on there. So I mean, that's just one example about what having some sort of a, and I can't say that that was due to one of our a frequently timed review, but to me that raised the point that it's important that we from time to time stop and look at what we're doing and being like, does this make sense?

Shauna Cox (15:24):

And just because something may have worked at one point in time back then doesn't mean it's going to work now. And as times are changing, processes are changing demand for faster things and programs to stand up faster, I think it is important to have those check-ins. And I'm so glad that you mentioned that because kind of gave a little taste of a best practice, which dovetails beautifully in the next question of what strategies should institutions prioritize to align faculty practices with kind of a seamless institutional process, ensuring that students are feeling supported at every touch point in their educational journey.

Greg Pillar (16:05):

So a couple strategies that I can think of is, one is, again, I've mentioned this earlier, but shared ownership. Student persistence is not just a student affairs or just a faculty task. I mean, it's everyone's job. And it goes a little bit beyond just simply saying, Hey everyone, you need to do this. There does need to be at times a little bit of cohesive planning discussion around those roles so people understand what's going on. You also don't want a situation of where one team in student affairs is doing X, another team in academic affairs is doing Y

(16:45):

And not knowing that. And in a situation where they could be really working together to really amplify their efforts, or it could be possible too that they're even sort of working against each other and not realizing it. Another strategy I would say is faculty as translators equipped faculty with the right training and information so that they can help demystify institutional processes for students. Because oftentimes that is sometimes the first touchpoint before they go to a certain office just talking to a faculty member. And it's totally okay. A faculty member does like, you know what? That's a good question. I don't know. Let's go to the registrar's office or check with the registrar's office. That's completely fine. But in many cases, if we can get faculty equipped with some of that, some knowledge, the student may still need to go to the registrar's office, but they can lay that groundwork for helping the student to understand.

(17:42):

Again, going back to I earlier, look, this is complex. Here's the reason why it's complex, but we'll step through you all along the way. And I will say a little sub note with that. And as a strategy, I definitely try to take when student issues come to my office working in academic affairs is try to minimize that bouncing around that can happen with students where they're going from one office to another, to another to another. So when issues do come to me and I very quickly realize, oh, you're going to need to talk to someone in financial aid or the registrar's office or student success, I tell them, look, as you're navigating this, I am a resource that's going to help you through this process. So if after that next place you get stuck or they pass you on somewhere else, by all means come back to me and let's talk through this. So I want them to feel some sort of, that there's some central support there for them and they're not just getting bounced around like a ping pong ball.

(18:41):

I'd also say integrated communication, faculty messaging should echo institutional communication. That can be a little bit tough just because of the wide range of different bodies that send stuff out. But there still can be some work done with whether it's deadlines or resources or reminders that trying to make that as consistent as possible. Professional development, invest in, again, from the faculty stage, whether it's connecting pedagogy with processes or it's on the staff side with understanding workflows and systems. And then finally, I would just say a culture of care. Recently, Kevin McClure has a great book out called The Caring University, and having a culture of care where you align systems and faculty practice around empathy, transparency, students will feel that difference versus it being punitive and high stakes because they didn't happen to know how a certain process or step work.

Shauna Cox (19:52):

Absolutely amazing. Well, Greg, those are all the questions I have for you. But before I ask you our bonus question, is there anything you would like to add around this shared collaboration, internal communication, just kind of creating the seamless experience for students that I may have missed or any advice you'd like to share? Anything like that?

Greg Pillar (20:14):

Yeah, I mean, just that at the end of the day, the focus should be on students.

(20:19):

And it is real easy, and I'll admit myself at times where in my workday trying to look at steps or things to do to simplify my job and trying to avoid additional extra work. And again, right now, the current higher ed ecosystem is such that you've got people at many universities doing more with less, taking on more as there's departures. And so it is trying just to stay at times afloat, but still in everything that they do. Trying to keep in mind that we're here trying to help students get to that goal, whether it's a particular degree or a career or some outcome. So just trying to keep in mind that ultimately what we do, we should keep them front and center.

Shauna Cox (21:16):

Absolutely. Fully believe a student-centered mindset is the way to go and the way that we can move forward in higher ed in such crazy times, and if we want to stay grounded, I think putting that at the center will help us achieve our mission and everything like that. Again, thank you so much. And again, before I let you go, we're going to need a very important question. We got to shift gears, got to think about food. You are based in Charlotte, North Carolina. If someone's coming to town, where do they need to go to eat?

Greg Pillar (21:47):

There's a lot of great places in Charlotte, but one that I'm going to sort of highlight is in a small suburb, just sort of southeast of Charlotte in Matthews, and it's called the Portrait Gallery, and it's an awesome little restaurant in downtown Matthew's, the ceiling, it's called the Portrait Gallery because in the ceiling they have a bunch of sort of portraits that make up the ceiling, but they have a evolving menu that changes frequently, very relaxing atmosphere. They have a great little patio, outback that's sort of a nestled between a couple of buildings, but you again, has a very nice feel and the food's phenomenal. The food is absolutely phenomenal. So I would say the Portrait Gallery.

Shauna Cox (22:31):

Amazing. I love that so much. Again, Greg, thank you for coming on, having this conversation and sharing a great recommendation.

Greg Pillar (22:38):

Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Bye.