In Their Shoes
We need to understand the obstacles that face the student population we seek to serve. It could be that the proposed solutions are not effective because they do not remove the challenges affecting students or do not do enough to meet students where they are. By gaining an understanding of students and the community in which they live, we have an opportunity to search for creative answers designed to support student success.
Worth the Wait
The point of success is not in making your consumer base wait, but in the ability to consistently exceed their expectations so that the wait is worthwhile because in the end the consumer will not be disappointed. Tribes create loyalty and a unique user experience builds the tribe.
Bad Luck Number and Hope
The next time we take a look at offering new degree programs or refining our processes, we need to remember the students we serve. Our focus should be on making the journey a little easier by clearing a few more obstacles and providing support so every student knows the victory of finishing.
Institutional Sustainability: A Balancing Act
The driving force behind processes and procedures should not be grounded solely in state licensing or accreditation requirements. Institutions need to understand their mission and vision in order to develop the policies and procedures that best support their mission and meet the needs of their student populations.
For the Student in All of Us
Some have argued that the future of higher education involves the phasing out of current methodologies, but that is not entirely true. The future of higher education is the ability to provide more educational options while delivering the same level of value we have come to expect from the U.S. higher education system.
The Fault In Our Expectations
The funny thing about expectations is that they are not just arbitrarily imposed. Sure, they may be set higher than they should be, but the foundation for expectations always begins with a description of what one institution, organization, or even a restaurant says sets them apart.