In the fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Jack sells the family cow for a handful of magic beans. Jack’s mom, rightfully upset, tosses the beans out the window, and Jack goes to bed without dinner. The next morning, a giant beanstalk has appeared, and, after some difficulty with a giant, Jack’s family is saved from their seemingly impossible predicament.
Right now, college and university administrators face a situation of similarly gigantic proportions. Institutions are scrambling to figure out how they can create meaningful pathways and more engaging programs—all while finding ways not just to keep the students who do enroll this fall on campus but also continue to innovate as the landscape rumbles beneath them.
So, without the help of magic beans, how can colleges and universities plan for a new reality that is complicated, unprecedented, and inevitable?
The first step is realizing that, even for schools with sophisticated online capabilities, 2020-21 is going to be an “ad hoc” academic year, with an impact reaching across every part of higher education—from administrators to faculty and students—for years to come. Everybody is trying to figure out how students can safely be allowed on campus. And if they can’t be on campus, how students (and faculty) can stay engaged with a decidedly different learning environment.
What can you do to be ready to put these changes in place? How can you measure and adapt them as resources and enrollments change? What’s the best way to ensure compliance when you do make—often sweeping—changes, so you’ll be on track for funding and accreditation?
You’ll need a partner with the academic experience and know how to help out. One that can offer long-term sustainable solutions that allow you to make the impending, necessary transitions manageable and valuable as you navigate this time of uncertainty and change.
eLumen is that partner. Whether it’s a health check on existing solutions or implementing a completely integrated student pathway platform to incorporate all the feedback from your year of transformation, having a companion to walk step-by-step with you—while always keeping in mind your institution’s unique needs and goals—is precisely why eLumen was founded.
For colleges and universities, this sort of partnership doesn’t require magical thinking. Instead, it’s founded on eLumen’s track record of helping institutions develop and maintain a set of solutions that empower faculty and allow students to make their educational goals a reality.