CE as the Relationship Hub: Defining the Direction of the Modern (and Future) University

Non-traditional divisions sit in a unique position for today’s colleges and universities. They are the relationship hub that connects students, employers and the institution, ensuring each group is getting what it needs from the other. However, as the commoditization of higher education has continued, main campuses have fallen behind in meeting the needs of learners and employers.

In this new environment, where the expectations of students and employers are rapidly evolving, non-traditional units can play a new role in helping their home institutions evolve and grow to meet the needs of the other key stakeholders in the equation. These articles shed some light on the different facets and areas where CE divisions can play a leading role.

1

The Student/Customer Experience

How Process Streamlining Supports the Student Experience

Back-end efficiency is critical for institutions that want to give their students a modern customer experience.

Student-Centricity and the Amazon Experience: Evolving IT to Meet Students’ Expectations

Today’s students behave more like customers than ever before, and rather than trying to ignore or reverse this trend, institutions that can adapt and create an Amazon-like experience for their learners will improve student satisfaction while at the same time reducing operating costs and staff efficiency.

Student Experience and Efficiency Go Hand-in-Hand

Operational efficiency is central to providing a strong student experience for today’s postsecondary institutions, especially when it comes to serving non-traditional learners.

The “Zero Moment of Truth” and Marketing in the Commoditized Higher Education Marketplace

As students begin to behave more like customers when choosing programs, higher education marketing practices must adapt to capture the market.

2

Establishing and Managing a Brand

Marketing Online Education Today: A Look At Strategy

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Higher education marketers today must be strategic about their efforts, using data to define positive and negative efforts and working to create an experience for students that matches what they have become used to outside the academy.

Brand Is Not Enough: Innovation Critical for Elite Institutions

Brand may bring people to the door, but innovation is what gets students to enroll and ensures that they graduate and succeed in the workforce.

Big Names Don’t Trump Good Service When it Comes to Student Satisfaction

Even at institutions like Berkeley, creating a high-end customer experience has a massive impact on a student’s perception of value.

3

Innovating Credentials

Alternative Credentialing Can Add Value to Degrees

As traditional postsecondary education costs continue to rise, microcredentials and other alternative approaches to higher education are providing affordable and accessible solutions that likely won’t replace, but will complement traditional degrees.

Stackable Credentials Meet the Needs of Students and Society

The number of students earning multiple credentials is already rising—colleges and universities need to do more to formalize the non-conventional pathways students are already taking to earn their degrees.

The Differentiating Power of Alternative Credentials

Institutions can use microcredentials as a platform to stand out from the crowd, but their offerings must be verifiable and of the maximum quality possible in order to serve as an effective differentiator.

Normalizing Certificates and Certifications for Today’s Learners

The focus on improving student outcomes starts with ensuring that institutions are directly meeting the needs and expectations of their students. In many cases, this means moving away from the bread-and-butter degrees towards high-demand non-degree certificate and certification programming.

4

The Spectrum of Access

Honing a Spectrum of Learner Access

Ultimately, creating value for students across the Spectrum of Access requires institutions to demolish silos that exist across the institution.

5

Growing Influence and Role of Alternative Providers

Closing the Skills Gap One MOOC at a Time: How Google is Transforming the Lifelong Learning Environment

Creating opportunities for individuals to gain critical, labor-market relevant skills through a sub-degree credential program is one example of how corporations can make a difference in supporting lifelong learning.

Accrediting the Bootcamp: The Transformational Impact of Career College Status

Achieving career college status does more than broadly legitimize the work of bootcamps—it opens up new educational markets and broadens student access to existing programming while also allowing the bootcamp to bring their concerns about workforce preparedness directly to the government.

Assessing the Long-Term Potential for Bootcamps: How Do They Truly Stack Up?

Though alternative credentials have yet to overtake traditional degrees in value—perceived or otherwise—their focus on short-term benefits and demand responsiveness could lead to a longer-term shift in the powers of each respective credential.

Bootcamps No Longer Outside Scope for Higher Education Institutions

By launching its own bootcamp, Northeastern University is creating a pathway to serve specific employer demands and create accessibility for new demographics while leveraging its existing partnerships and pedagogical excellence.

6

Bringing Data into the Institution

Leveraging Technology to Know and Serve Students Better

Technologies that support and drive student intelligence help institutions serve them better both inside and outside the classroom.

Rallying Behind the Data: Building a Data-Backed Culture

Developing a data-backed culture starts with top-to-bottom belief in the value of data and then connecting that data to results for administrators, staff and faculty across campus.

Student Centricity and the Modern University: Rooting the Student Experience in Data

Leveraging data can help an institution become more student-centric at every level, from guiding the way they interact with students to designing the bureaucracy to fit with student tendencies.

Take the Hint: Shifting from Anecdotes to Analytics

By leveraging power data visualizations, institutions can make data-driven decision making a reality and move away from the anecdotal and tradition-steeped approach to organizational management that has dominated the postsecondary space for decades.

7

Efficiency and the Customer Experience

Driving Student Satisfaction and Institutional Revenue by Investing in the Staff Experience

Investing in and delivering a great staff experience is central to any college or university’s capacity to be truly student-centric.

Foresight and Commitment: What It Takes to Deliver a Leading Student and Staff Experience

When higher education leaders begin thinking of themselves as executives managing organizations that serve thousands of customers, it becomes increasingly clear that investing in the student and staff experience should be immensely high priorities.

Additional
Resources
Customer Lifecycle Management and the Student Experience
A customer lifecycle management system can transform student engagement and the learner experience, both of which directly impact revenue and growth.

The Impact of Staff Efficiency on Institutional Growth
Delivering the Amazon experience is critical in the modern era, but it's only possible if staff time can be focused on the right things.

Attract and Retain Learners with Digital Badges
Digital badges meet students' and employers' desire for new approaches to credentialing while providing additional benefits for the institution.

10 Dashboards You Need to Manage Your Postsecondary Institution
Effectively leveraging data analytics is critical to the success of a modern institution, and this playbook shares the most important dashboards any leader needs to make growth a reality.