James Bennett, Chief Academic Officer at Ameritas College, is an educator and media artist who has spent his career pushing the boundaries of how learning happens. From broadcasting film history courses on public TV in the early '90s to pioneering adaptive learning and live-streamed instruction before online meeting tools like Zoom existed, he has consistently leveraged media and technology to make education more humane, accessible and practical.

Recognizing Bennett’s leadership in reimagining hybrid education with purpose and accessibility, this interview explores how a student-first philosophy, rooted in personal experience and pedagogical rigor, shapes Ameritas College’s mission to serve real learners with impact.

AT A GLANCE:

• Flexibility Starts with Intention – Teaching formats should align with the nature of the content, enabling hybrid models that support depth and access.

• ReadinessRequires Relationship – Purposeful course design and close faculty engagement help students build the skills and confidence to succeed.

• Remediation Must Be Rethought – A one-size-fits-all approach fails underprepared students; success comes from scaffolding and differentiated support, not compliance.

Education as Purposeful Media: Blending Access with Academic Rigor

My philosophy of education is rooted in the concept of Uses and Gratifications Theory of Media, a communication theory that explains how people actively choose media to satisfy needs such as entertainment, engagement and connection. That applies to learning too. As educators, we must avoid rigid models and instead tailor delivery to content. It’s not about identifying “learning styles” as much as ensuring the medium supports the message. One can’t really learn programming just by listening, and won’t master writing by only looking at visuals. The delivery must serve the discipline.

This student-first thinking has shaped my approach for decades, long before remote learning became the norm. Whether broadcasting classes on public television or building course websites, my goal was to increase learners' access.

Today at Ameritas College, we’re carrying this philosophy forward through a hybrid model that blends the strengths of in-person and online learning. For students balancing work, family and financial responsibilities, this kind of flexibility is essential. I know this firsthand. When I was working full-time and raising a family while pursuing my degree, flexibility wasn’t available. That’s why now, it’s something we’re determined to build in from the start.

But flexibility doesn’t mean giving up depth. Our new Classical Liberal Arts program blends rigorous online learning with immersive, in-person “Wisdom Weekends.” Here, students engage in faculty-led, discussion-based learning. We design around the subject matter because not everything translates online. Writing, coding and deep reading demand interaction. This model reflects a shift from rigid, one-size-fits-all instruction toward purpose-built education. The goal is to combine the flexibility students need with the structure that drives meaningful learning.

“Broad, one-size-fits-all models rarely produce equitable outcomes. If we are to fulfil our mission as educators, we must build systems that reflect the diversity of student readiness and empower all learners to succeed.”

Building Career-Ready Graduates: A Grounded Approach to Student Success

Student success requires intentional design, personal engagement and a deep understanding of how learners interact with information. At Ameritas College, our programs are built on that premise, grounded in experience and evidence.

I’ve co-authored three college success books, including one with OpenStax at Rice University, developed national programs, and consulted with universities to help students thrive. What matters most is recognizing who our students are now, especially “COVID kids,” whose high school years were disrupted. Educators and students weren’t fully prepared for that transition.

To meet the challenge, I taught a first-year course, How to Read a Book, a foundation in critical thinking that helps students read, reflect and analyze across disciplines. A year later, many of the same students returned, transformed. As one parent said, “My daughter’s a completely different person; she’s thinking deeply, articulating clearly.” Education should create this kind of personal growth, not just deliver content.

Moving Beyond Statistics: Rethinking Equity in Higher Education

While it is common to cite statistics, such as the 48 to 52 percent of incoming U.S. college students placed into remedial coursework, data alone do not offer solutions. The real work lies in how institutions respond.

Too often, the response is to create non-credit developmental courses, requiring students to complete them before or alongside credit-bearing ones. Students already underprepared or overwhelmed end up carrying the heaviest burden. Though well-intentioned, this approach often worsens the very issues it seeks to solve.

Institutions must ask how to support students more effectively. As Dean at an open-enrolment college, I saw this firsthand. Our population included both high-achieving students aiming for four-year transfers and others entering with apprehension. Yet expectations were uniform. Faculty often assigned 15-page papers within weeks, despite many students never having written more than two or three pages. Such demands set them up for failure.

Instead, we must commit to structured skill development—shorter, scaffolded assignments in early courses that build toward full readiness by graduation. While data can guide strategy, true educational impact comes from meeting student needs directly. Broad, one-size-fits-all models rarely deliver equitable outcomes.

Key Advice for Aspiring Leaders: Teaching beyond Traditional Models

Although we claim to be student-centered, higher education still focuses on administrative metrics—retention rates, graduation data and student evaluations. These reflect institutional priorities rather than true student success.

Student-centered education means redefining what we measure and how we teach. In my courses, I emphasize outcomes that matter. Can students form an opinion, support it with evidence and articulate it clearly? The method is their choice, essays, videos or even a song, as one student once did with Antigone, which was both thoughtful and academically sound.

The method matters less than the learning. We must adapt to students and acknowledge that communication modes are evolving. Clinging to outdated formats like traditional papers does little to prepare them for the future.

Concerns about artificial intelligence echo past fears over grammar checkers. We adapted then, and we must again. I now require students to use AI in assignments as a tool for critical thinking and digital fluency. My message to educators is to stop looking back. Education must keep pace, or risk becoming irrelevant to the learners we aim to serve.