The Fundamentals Are Still the Fundamentals

There are people in higher ed who see what’s coming. And then there’s Michael Stoner — someone who’s been building for it before the rest of us even had language for it.

From the earliest days of the web to social media to mobile, Michael didn’t just follow trends. He anticipated them. And more importantly, he made decisions before they were obvious — often when the cost, the risk, and the skepticism were at their highest.

In this first episode of Higher Ed Icons, co-hosts Mallory and Volt sit down with one of the architects of modern higher ed marketing to ask a deceptively simple question:

How do you know what’s real — and what’s just hype?

Because if you listen closely, this isn’t just a retrospective. It’s a mirror.

Michael walks us through the early days of digital in higher ed — when presidents questioned whether websites were worth the investment, when “new media” wasn’t a job title, and when every decision felt like a gamble. And the parallels to today’s AI moment are impossible to ignore.

You’ll hear how he approached uncertainty by asking better questions than everyone else in the room.

This conversation lands on a tension every higher ed leader is feeling right now:

We’re moving faster than ever, but we’re not always thinking more clearly.

Michael brings it back to fundamentals — goals, strategy, people, and the discipline to separate signal from noise. Because while the tools change, the work doesn’t.

And maybe that’s the real takeaway: The leaders who get the future right aren’t the ones who move the fastest. They’re the ones who stay grounded long enough to see it clearly.

🔑 What You’ll Take Away

• The hidden cost of chasing tools instead of defining outcomes.

• How skepticism (done right) becomes a strategic advantage.

• What hasn’t changed in 25+ years of digital transformation — and why that matters now.

• The difference between reacting to change and actually preparing for it.