The key insights, findings, and questions included herein stemmed from conversations that took place during SCUP’s Pacific Region Fall 2020 Series.
Higher education within the United States is in the midst of an evolutionary change. But colleges and universities were having their moment of reckoning long before COVID-19 disrupted life and accelerated change. SCUP’s Pacific Region held five sessions over eight weeks to explore the core topics shaping higher education as colleges and universities adapted in response to the pandemic. The series explored many of the challenges facing higher education that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 health crisis, including funding and revenues, curricular changes, student, faculty, and staff physical and mental wellbeing, systemic racism, and diversity and inclusion. While colleges and universities address the crisis at hand, they must simultaneously plan for the long term. The sessions revealed five ways to advance higher education for future viability.
Five Ways to Advance Higher Education for Future Viability
Racial Equity: Affect Real Change
Wellbeing + Student Services: Be Proactive and Engaged
Curriculum Redesign: Optimize Student Centric Hybrid Learning
Policy + Planning: Shift from Reaction to Strategic, Integrated Planning
Funding: Define Value and Innovate
This white paper summarizes key lessons within each of these five topics and how they can help institutions deliver on core promises of education: to help students develop what they need to both engage in rewarding careers and become discerning citizens of an equitable and democratic civil society.