The Value Proposition of Higher Education The Future of Learning — Part Two Matt Morava 3.10.2014

Guiding Principles

I believe in the value of higher education.

I love the University of Denver.

The following deck contains my personal observations and recommendations on how to improve the value proposition of higher education and attract and retain the best students.

Forces of Change A report by the University of Denver Strategic Issues Panel on Higher Education was released February 2014; it identified six broad forces shaping the current environment of higher education.

The purpose of this presentation is to focus on a seventh, and critically important force to consider, the student.

The college student of 2020 is going to be radically different than any previous college student out there, not just in terms of demographics, but in terms of identity, desires, and life purpose.

It is my belief that for higher education to capture the imagination of this student, it must radically change its approach to student development.

Six (and added seventh) Broad

Issues of Change from the University

of Denver Strategic Issues

Panel

7. Student

From the Future of Learning Part One

We increasingly face a world where expertise is differentiated from experience in the job market and where expertise is becoming better measured.

We increasingly face a world where reach is outpacing the value of credentials and where credentials are losing potency because of the leveling power of technology.

Education technology is progressing and while it hasn’t kept all of it’s promises, it is increasingly meeting and exceeding the ability to provide effective learning.

As education technology improves not only will knowledge dissemination continue to be a core competency, so will skill development, and more importantly, behavioral and attitude development.

Forces of Change — Technology

Online and Offline are increasingly irrelevant terminology and as technology increases, it’s better to think of our world as being blended with technology. Google Glass is clunky, but so were the first cell phones. In ten years a smooth interface will be taken for granted.

Strategically Positioning Knowledge

If MIT, Coursera, et al are putting out free knowledge, then the University of Denver needs to hop on that and get their knowledge out there for free as well.

It means making a significant investment in instructional design and marketing to position faculty as a valued free resource for the world. In other words… the “Ron Rizzuto’s” of the university become champions of the larger university brand.

A Note on Tenure Tenure only has a societal value if there is a shared commons where ideas, knowledge, and expertise are both recognized and valued. The university was such a commons, but that’s rapidly changing because credentials are being replaced by reach.

Think about it… Institutions are being marginalized. We live in a time when “Global Warming” is considered by many to be a political perspective.

Reach is directly measured by how many people you can directly influence to action.

Competency Based Learning

Competencies are important, but who determines what competencies are relevant is even more important.

The primary challenge with letting the current business environment dictate what are considered core competencies is that approximately 70% of the future jobs/employment that will be available in ten years’ time don’t currently exist.

Jobs of the future — http://io9.com/these-are-the-surprising-jobs-youll-be-doing-by-the-203-1577363367

By the time a knowledge base and skill set have been identified, measured, and codified for a university system much of the business world has moved on.

Experiential Learning Business schools strive to bring the student close to the action through…

Voices of experience and expert talks

Internships

Case studies

International travel

On-site visits and tours

Partnerships with organizations to provide “real-world” experience

This presents three challenges for business schools…

The value of education is increasingly removed from the university/college classroom to “over there”

The pressure to focus on career development versus professional development becomes evident and oppressive

It doesn’t account for innovation and future opportunities

A Note on Career Development

If launching a career is the primary focus of the learning institution, then from the moment a student steps foot on campus the university must have this in mind…

There are students who know what they want to do

There are students who don’t have a clue what they want to do

Recruiting and coaching now become the primary functions of a career center

2022 —Next Gen Students

The Challenges Ahead

Otto Scharmer

A Note on Amenities For all the

amenities and nice things

that students have or want,

students ultimately want

to feel like they’ve

accomplished something

real.

Student Support Systems in 2022

Students will require increased, integrated, and customized support from all departments — counseling, advising, departmental.

Students will come from a diversity of support systems, some better than others, but each student will be looking for the system to provide a unique challenge and path to go forward.

Students will expect a depth of interpersonal relationships and support.

Relationships, Romantic and Other

Trend of increased data collection, including relationship data. In the future there will be metrics that measure everything a person does or says in order to extract learning from mistakes and guide the next encounter… (Paraphrased from study conducted by sparks & honey)

The speed of relationships have increased… the next generation of students will have experienced entire relationships occurring “online” and have very little experience going through “differentiation” in a relationship, much less what lies beyond.

They will be overstimulated, ultra-connected, but under experienced with presence.

They will have used drugs (legal, illegal, and proscribed) and technology to enhance most aspects of life.

They will crave anonymity and a chance to explore and build different identities.

The Old Curriculum

Basic Business School Functional Competencies

Accounting Finance Marketing Management Information Technology Operations

The Old Curriculum Basic Business School Practical Competencies

Execution Competence

Ethical and Values Foundation

Basic Presentation, Writing, and IT skills

Effective Communication

The Old Curriculum Basic Business School Leadership Competencies

Personal Leadership

Interpersonal Leadership

Team Leadership

Organizational Leadership

The New Curriculum Intrapersonal Behavioral Focus

Increased Flexibility, Creativity, Versatility, Adaptability, Innovation, Understanding of Values and Gifts, Identifying Passion and Goals, and Presencing

Toggle Focus (internal, external, strategy, transactional, transformational)

Listen to “Higher Self” in Decision Making

Interpersonal Behavioral Focus

Collaborative, Teaming, Problem Solving, Conflict Styles, Negotiation, and Team and Organizational Navigation

Focus on Reach and Expertise versus Credentials and Experience

The New Curriculum Breaking Up, Endings, and Saying Goodbye -- How to end relationships, how to say goodbye to what you've loved, and how to break-up effectively. There's not a direction in life you can take in which your heart won't be broken but that doesn't mean we can’t learn to end things more effectively. !Fight Club -- The five most common styles of conflict: Compromise, Compete, Avoid, Collaborate, and Accommodate. How each serve a purpose. How we have a preference for one or two and a fear of one or two. This includes basic negotiating and contracting skills. When you think about it everything in life is a negotiation. Intimacy is dependent upon effective conflict skills. !Defense Against the Dark Arts -- How to deal with death and loss. How to spot an a**hole (bully) from a thousand yards in high wind and how at the end of the day they're not really worth the time or effort. How to work through depression and anxiety. How to deal with disappointment and rejection. How to identify those (people, places and institutions) that are poisonous to the world and to effectively deal with their hangups (sexism, racism, homophobia, economic tyranny, fundamentalism, inflated ego, etc.) And most importantly... How to say "No" clearly and effectively.

The New Curriculum Basic Visioning Skills -- How to be still for a moment. How to listen to voices that go beyond the ones in your own head and the ones that are the most pervasive in your own culture. Basically, how to hear your authentic self speak. How to deal with the varied competing desires and values you have within you. What inner conflict is all about and how to thrive with it as a partner vs. spending years fighting it. How there are two kinds of fear in this life… and one is lying to you. How to understand and make use of dreams. Most importantly, how to increase your empathy for the world by connecting with nature. !Decision Making -- How to make good decisions and pursue them to the best of your ability. How to deal with setbacks and loss along the path. When do plans need to be abandoned or changed? When to say a full hearted "yes" to things that take you off course? How to build grassroots efforts and coalitions. How to identify and understand the motivations of different stakeholders and build consensus. How to balance long term goals with being in the moment. !The Mind/Body Connection -- How to be present and fully embodied. What diseases tell us about our soul. How to eat properly and what feels naturally good vs. what's a drug and is a buzz. How to have a healthy relationship with drugs. How your body can make it's own drugs and how the mind can heal the body. The importance of movement, dance and play. How to wear clothes, use language and behaviors that express and celebrate a sexual maturity. How to be sexual in safe and soul nourishing ways. How sex can be an expression of love and a way to explore undiscovered characters of your soul. How to work and appreciate sickness, disease, and death.

Bottom Line If knowledge is free and better disseminated by technology and MIT and the best professors in the world make it available to all, then knowledge isn’t a competitive factor.

What is left is competency development and the determination of what those competencies are is critical.

Skill development and behavioral development will drive the value proposition in higher education going forward.