Brent Colescott

Leading Innovation in Learning

Higher Education Must Change or Face Irrelevance

Higher Education Must Change or Face Irrelevance

If you’ve followed me at all over the past year, or even longer, you know I’m critical of what Higher Education has become.  Note how I say, “has become.”  I am a product of Higher Education and for many years there was absolute value in the system.  However, in the past 20 years there has been an inability of brick and mortar schools (4 Year University Campuses) to adapt and innovate or produce large classes of graduates exhibiting core fundamental skills.  The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated the pace of what was most likely to happen in less than ten years if unchanged; irrelevance. 

I want to focus first on the lack of innovation in general at institutions of higher learning. The news that caught my attention this week is how Higher Education is scrambling (yes, that would be an appropriate term) to covert as much of their instruction to an online delivery format for the Fall.  There was a report published in the Chronicle of Higher Education titled “Online 2.0 – How to lead a large scale transformation of virtual learning.”  The “insight” derived from just the highlights is at least 10 years past its freshness date:

Purchase the report for insight into:

  • How to prepare for the fall by supporting professors in teaching more effectively online, redesigning course offerings, and determining which experiences must be done in person and which can be handled remotely.
  • How to think creatively about what you teach, lead a good online discussion, engage your faculty members, connect with your students, make the most of the internet, and prepare your gateway courses.
  • What research says about online learning.
  • What lessons can be learned from the pivot to online learning in the spring and how they will inform decisions about the fall, based on Chronicle survey results and enhanced with detailed commentary. 

Keep in mind that the “pivot” in the Spring to Online generated a 77% dissatisfaction rate from students.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is 2020?  If not for the irony of major institutions looking down their nose at the Capella, University of Phoenix or Southern New Hampshire State online schools, this might be more disturbing.  The online schools, while not steeped in the history or gravitas of the Institutions of Higher Learning, have been more effective in adapting and improving their curriculums for the modern learner.  It is clear from the “insight” one could gain from this report that the effort may be too little too late for many institutions. 

Online Training, whether synchronous (VILT) or asynchronous (eLearning) are not new concepts.  They have been around for over twenty years, yet Higher Education focused primarily on Instruction in person as a primary delivery.  Why?  Mostly due to the Faculty Structure that exists in most brick and mortar campuses, predicated on Tenure.  Academia should look to “Tenure” as one of the biggest reasons why adaptability is not the first term that comes to mind in Higher Education.  Community Colleges and Online Universities have made the pivot and may very well be in a much stronger position in 2021. 

Now, to the second concern regarding student quality.  The examples of this trend are numerous.  From the devaluation of a College Degree, i.e. Google, Facebook, Apple and others waiving a Degree requirement, to the multiple CHRO’s and Executives I’ve spoken with – Graduates are just not prepared. A survey was taken and reported on in the Wall Street Journal regarding the development of Critical Thinking Skills a few years ago.  Freshman and Seniors were tested to establish baselines and show improvement of Critical Thinking.  Sadly, very few showed development from many notable schools. 

Lately there have been hushed conversations happening about the fate of Higher Education.  Ok, not so much “hushed” but more than I’ve seen in a while.  The financial implications for COVID-19 on Higher Ed are disastrous to say the least.  Expect to see enrollments down, state funding cut, dorms half full (if at all), shortened semesters (hearing most schools done by Thanksgiving) and the growing trend of “Gap Year” for many new High School graduates.  There is also the potential impact to the biggest money maker (College Football) through reduced capacity of crowds or even reduction in number of games.

As I’ve indicated before in my articles, this may be the tipping point where Businesses can pick up the pieces of broken Higher Education System for a fraction of their value.  It is clear that moving forward the brick and mortars will need to think more like the University of Phoenix model to truly survive.  GenZ is extremely aware of the student debt risk while expecting most experiences to be digital and preferably mobile first.  The day or reckoning has come for Higher Education.  The Fall Semester will be a critical turning point to see if they can adapt and learn from the lessons of the Spring.  If not, 2021 is going to be a really tough year for the Four-Year Campus Model.