On March 21, 2023, Inside HigherEd and Logitech facilitated a “IT Leadership Panel: Exploring 5 Key Trends in Higher Education” webcast, livestreamed on Zoom with over 240 attendees.
The key area of focus for the webcast centered around the Higher Education Trend Watch 2023 report by EDUCAUSE.
Specifically, the webcast included a panel discussion on how the world of higher education is rapidly evolving with new macro trends emerging along three primary areas of institutional shifts in higher education: workforce, culture, and technology. Such that, to stay competitive, IT leaders need the right approach and technologies to support flexible learning models and the growing demand for remote/hybrid work.
The panelists included in this webcast were from: The University of Texas System, Utah State University, Vanguard University, and Eric Kunnen, Senior Director, IT Innovation and Research at Grand Valley State University.
The webcast targeted the following discussion topics:
- Hybrid and remote work impact on IT priorities
- What is needed to support flexible staffing needs
- Supporting digital transformation across functional areas
- Creating equitable and engaging online experiences
- Applying lessons learned in 2023 and beyond
Throughout the webcast, Eric had the opportunity to share a few of the highlights during the webcast through GVSU’s lens:
#1 Expansion of Digital Transformation of Higher Education
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- Eric shared some of the areas of focus for GVSU’s IT Innovation and Research team.
- From an innovation standpoint, as we lived it… the pandemic created uncertainty and also at the same time shed a spotlight on IT like never before. As we came out of our slumber and perhaps campus complacency around technology, GVSU emerged with our first ever Digital Transformation DX Strategy and Roadmap, with 3 main pillars (service excellence, modernization of enterprise solutions, innovation prompting transformation).
- The keywords of the pandemic seemed to be: PIVOT and FLEXIBILITY.
- As a recent EDUCAUSE adapting to change and disruption quick poll indicates, we are continuing to experience change and disruption across higher education. In fact,
- 69% indicate a current climate of great change – and that we need to tend to keyword FLEXIBILITY in the workforce and in teaching and learning to rapidly adapt to the new normal.
- Top areas of change from the EDUCUASE report included: staffing (26%), operations (24%), work location (23%), technology (21%), course planning (20%), and enrollment (18%).
- This has increased technology demands and services, and the increase in remote and hybrid courses and work environments.
- Also, institutions are being impacted by staffing issues, as well as course planning and meeting a myriad of student needs.
- Student-centered digital transformation efforts are strategic opportunities, such as with being intentional with the digital student experience as well as the adoption of university-based portals.
- All of this leads us to be hyper focused through our digital transformation work on the student-experience and as Gartner research suggests, it’s about the complete “digital employee (or student) experience”.
- The ultimate goal in leveraging technology is to be as effective and efficient as possible.
#2 Continuation and Normalization of Hybrid & Online Learning
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- Eric shared conversations around hybrid, hyflex, and blended models as needs for FLEXABILITY around student expectations.
- Active learning experimental classrooms at GVSU are intended to engage the remote learner, where power follows the user, and where we flip the script from lecture to collaboration first.
- As far as online/hybrid courses go, GVSU had about 20% of students enrolled in online/hybrid courses before pandemic, now the university is seeing enrollment in distance education at around 40% with approximately 12,000 students participating in at least one online or hybrid course.
#3 Continued Adoption & Normalization of Hybrid & Remote Work
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- Eric shared that GVSU has standardized with Logitech primarily within conference room spaces, supplanted also with Neat Bars and Neat Bar Pros. Further, GVSU is evaluating mobile zoom products with interactive displays such as the DTEN D7 and Neat Board.
- GVSU also has 6 active learning classroom experimental spaces with the goal to prepare for FLEXIBILITY and increasing needs around technology deployments to support digital teaching and learning.
- With a growing campus downtown, the university is also keying in on what Gartner talks about regarding the digital employee experience and the evolving digital workplace – intentionally addressing the hybrid/remote employee and the culture, unity for teams, talent management (flexibility), as well as digital skills/fluency.
- Finally, with Zoom and products such as the Logitech Rally Bar and Neat Bar, staff no longer have to travel 20 minutes to attend meetings that are held at the other campus, saving time and resources.
#4 Resignation/Migration of Leaders & Staff from Higher Ed Institutions
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- The panelists shared that in some instances there have been a lot of turnover with staffing. And the number 1 reason seems to be in that in many IT organizations staff are required to be on campus at least 1 day per week, and on occasion, 1 day is deal breaker for the modern workplace. Additionally, the workforce continues to center around flexibility from a hybrid perspective, engaging with talent opportunities that are no longer time and place bound.
#5 Rising Costs of Higher Ed & Leveraging Technology to Support Curricula
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- Eric shared GVSU’s work in accelerated degrees with LEADS, the Laker Accelerated Talent Link, and credentials such as: business fundamentals, project management, applied data analytics, leadership, intercultural communications that are offered at the university as opportunity to expand enrollment pathways.
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