Higher education may have been forever changed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 A Pearson Global Learner Survey (2020) found that of three, out of every four, global learners believe that “education will fundamentally change as a result of the pandemic” (p. 5) and colleges and universities will fundamentally change. Most think that online learning will be part of the university student experience post-pandemic. And, interestingly, trust in education is rising as education systems receive higher marks than ever for quality, despite all the disruption resulting from the pandemic.

One educational consultant, Marguerite Dennis (2021), commented recently that the pandemic experience has highlighted a number of issues of concern. Some of these include rigid enrolment procedures, poor retention rates, lack of alignment between academic credentials and employable skills, mental health needs of students, space utilization, and relationships with students before and after graduation. Dennis believes it is time for higher education to create the “reimagined university.” Reimagined universities would be led by chief executives who have both the vision and ability to champion new ways of leading their institutions and can lead their institutions to embrace life-long learning.

The University of Windsor has begun to embrace this challenge. Dr. Robert Gordon, president and vice-chancellor at the University of Windsor recently commented,

It’s going to be a different world when we go back to some of the ‘new normal.’ There are going to be different and heightened expectations of how people interact with one another, but I think its going to be appropriate for us to make sure that we’ve learned from this and that we can adopt new approaches to how we support our institution through those lessons learned.

Mighton, 2021, p, 23

One pathway to consider comes from the world of strategic enrolment management (SEM), which has helped institutions face the challenges that have come our way previously. We have seen natural disasters, economic recessions, and changing demographics. By applying SEM principles, we have successfully led our post-secondary institutions toward enrolment health and student success.

The core SEM purposes include:

• Creating a data-rich environment to inform decisions and evaluate strategies that support strategic dexterity and identification of scenarios;
• Establishing clear goals for the number and types of students needed to fulfill the institutional mission and building options and scenarios;
• Promoting students’ academic success by improving access, transition, persistence, and graduation;
• Promoting student and institutional success by assuring effective academic program planning and assessing options to match need and demand;
• Improving process, organizational and financial efficiency and outcomes; and
• Increasing communication and collaboration among departments across the campus to support healthy enrolment and a healthy institution.

Smith and Kerlin (2020) suggest pursuing these purposes by using six SEM tools to manage our way through these changeful times. They include systems thinking, link-integrate-extend, strategic dexterity, building scenarios, collaboration, and change management.

The key to unleashing SEM to help our institutions confront the significant challenges that lie before us is to engage in collaborative dialogue across the campus to ensure that each of us can find effective ways to support the development of our re-imagined universities.

-Clayton Smith

References:

Dennis, M. (2021). Imagination and innovation in higher education, bulletin 46. Naples, FL: MJDennis Consultants.

Mighton, D. (2021). The life of a wartime president: Robert Gordon discusses the effects of the pandemic on University of Windsor students. The Drive, 34, 22-23.

Pearson (2020). The global learner survey. London: Pearson. https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/news/gls/Pearson_Global-Learners-Survey_2020_FINAL.pdf

Smith, C. & Kerlin, C. (2020). SEM Institute. Presented at the 2020 virtual AACRAO Strategic Enrollment Management Conference. Washington, DC: American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.