Will Traditional Institutions Do the Covid-19 Pivot?
Covid-19 is shaking everything up due to the serious nature this pandemic is presenting the world. As a result, the educational snow-globe is being shaken and right now there is a blizzard of thought, strategy, and blinding confusion swirling around the hallowed halls of post-secondary education - well, except for online institutions. Many are operating business as usual.
I have been part of adult higher education for the past 14 years, serving a decade in executive leadership with traditional private universities that adopted adult enrollment as part of their mission and model.
Often when extreme difficulty presents itself, be it famine, war, pandemic etc… the challenges that threaten to destroy everything become the very platform upon which significant innovation and incredible opportunities present themselves to be taken hold of. Covid-19 is no different. However, if traditional institutions want to be successful in 20-21, there are some things they must due in order to successfully pivot.
Ending the Culture War
In many institutions of higher learning there is a culture war between traditional enrollment and non-traditional enrollment. Everywhere I have seen this, it is a distraction.
The truth is that both sides of the house are filled with experts who are dedicated to changing lives through education. On campuses where there are both traditional and non-traditional offerings, both sides actually have a lot more in common than they do differences. If both sides are willing to compromise where there are mutually exclusive differences that must exist, the culture war can quickly end. A house divided cannot stand - especially with Covid-19 knocking at the door. The non-traditional perspective can be a great benefit for the traditional side, because for universities to be successful in 20-21, non-traditional practices and mindsets are going to be required.
Here Comes The Boom
Many traditional institutions, including trade-schools and community colleges, are trying to understand what the Fall of 2020 is going to look like in regards to how they will be allowed to educate the masses. If classroom instruction is off the table, that is going to be a problem.
The workforce is experiencing a recession. There are a lot of individuals who are reeling from losing their job, or are concerned they will. These individuals are deciding right now they are going to earn a bachelor’s degree so they never work an hourly job again, or a graduate degree so they can be the decision makers the next time something like this rolls around. At the same time, many existing students will not drop out simply because they cannot sit in a classroom. Many are incredibly comfortable with technology, online relationships and online learning. They will be looking for online instruction, and it seems likely they will be mandated to by governing authorities.
While many higher education institutions are waiting for data to see what the next semester could look like, a few are taking the initiative to decide for themselves what it will look like, and they have decided that 2020-2021 will focus primarily on online or virtual class delivery. Right now they are preparing to deliver just that. They are removing as many financial and academic barriers to enrolling as possible, and are currently enrolling for the fall. The students they are enrolling now are the early adopters, you can be sure more are to come.
New Resources Provided By Covid-19: Time and Money
There are a lot of institutions that have cancelled the remainder of their Spring courses and have canceled their Summer courses already. They have just availed themselves of two critical resources: time and money. This is a brilliant move only if they know what to do with the time and money they now have on hand.
It takes time and money to transition to a solid online or virtual class delivery system. Now is the time to reallocate funds to invest in marketing, invest in the transition, and invest in the necessary training for faculty, staff and students,to be prepared to handle the online enrollment boom this fall.
If you are a university, college, trade school, or community college struggling to transition to a digital delivery system for the fall, feel free to reach out to me at www.zackkassebaum.com . I can refer you to organizations that specialize in delivering what you need. Making the digital transition is not something you need to, nor should you, do alone.
Covid-19 Is Forcing The Removal of Outdated Practices
One of the most interesting factors Covid-19 is introducing to traditional colleges and universities is a new awareness that they are actually in competition with for-profit, non-traditional higher education institutions. The great divide has been a young student population that lives on campus and instructors that teach face to face in a classroom setting, with adult education often treated like an asterisk in regards to policies and procedures. Covid-19 has completely decimated the playing field and for the first time, Online education may become seen as the more viable methodology for younger learners, while the adult population in the traditional schools are being seen as more necessary than ever. As a result, some of the most antiquated enrollment practices that should have faded away a decade or more ago within the traditional schools now must be addressed for institutional survival. Fifteen years ago forward-thinking, non-traditional institutions enrolling adults dropped application fees, transcript fees, the GMAT, SAT and ACT testing requirements, entrance essays and many other hoops traditional colleges and universities have required for admission. Still today, some institutions require application fees. Many institutions that have been holding fast to SAT and ACT requirements for all students are now waiving them since high school seniors cannot take these tests due to Covid-19. Instead, they are looking to GPA as the most accurate predictor of student success, which has been studied and shown to be true for quite some time now. Many institutions have recently decided to drop the GMAT requirement for graduate enrollment. A lot of institutions have awakened to the fact that making a busy working adult write a 500 word essay to be considered for admission isn’t the best of practices - because the working adult simply enrolls with a different school that has the same degree, same accreditation, but doesn’t require an essay. Many institutions have been adjusting tuition costs and fees so that Title IV could eliminate out of pocket expenses altogether. Covid-19 is forcing these issues to be addressed as the need for enrollments increases every single day, and the marketplace is becoming flooded with stressed out individuals looking for the easiest enrollment experience they can find at a quality school.
The Good News
Covid-19 will pass. Social distancing will not be the norm for the rest of our lives. It is my belief, however, that higher education is going to change significantly as a result of the strain being placed on it right now. There is not time to wait in being decisive in determining what Fall 2020 is going to look like. Institutions that do not decide now to commit to at least one semester of a digital or virtual delivery system will not have time to do so in a matter of just a few weeks. It takes time, money, intentionality and training to successfully make the transition, and now is the time to actively start working on the transition. There is still time, but not much.
If you need direction in transitioning curriculum to an online or virtual delivery service, contact me, I can point you in the right direction. If you need to train your enrollment staff or student services staff in enrolling and retaining students from a distance, I am available to help. If your leadership staff needs help in remote leadership, I have done so as a senior leader and executive leader for the past ten years and can help. If you would like to discuss how to transition to a digital or virtual delivery system from an organizational development perspective, I am here to help. Please visit my website as www.zackkassebaum.com to learn more and to contact me.
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