Stop Calling Them Students!

The word “student” comes with a lot of baggage. We envision a particular kind of individual who is not representative of the majority of learners coming through the doors of a university today—and especially not representative of the students who are looking to enroll in non-traditional ways. Unfortunately, that baggage affects the way they’re treated, their likelihood to persist through an academic offering, and ultimately, our ability to deliver effective learning experiences. Amazon doesn’t call its customers “readers”—if it did, they never would have grown into the organization they are today. Similarly, higher education institutions shouldn’t call its customers “students”. It’s limiting, both in terms of how learners are treated and in terms of the evolving role of the postsecondary institution.

The modern learner, in truth, behaves like a customer. It’s essential for colleges and universities broadly—and continuing, professional and workforce education divisions specifically—to evolve and adapt to thinking about and serving their learners like the customers they are.

Without making this fundamental change, it’s possible that students will find new pathways to achieving the educational outcomes they set out for.

How Process Streamlining Supports the Student Experience

Carolyn Young | Director of Continuing Studies, Western University

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

Jack Chen | Chief Information Officer, Adelphi University

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

Marie Cini | President, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning

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

Julie Corwin | Executive Director of College Marketing and Communications, Northeastern University

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

Marketing Online Education Today: A Look At Strategy

Mike King | Chief Marketing Officer of Berklee Online, Berklee College of Music and Emily McInerney | Associate Director of Marketing for Berklee Online, Berklee College of Music

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.

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

Diana Wu | Dean of Extension, UC Berkeley

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

Alternative Credentialing Can Add Value to Degrees

Richard DeMillo | Director of the Center for 21st Century Universities, Georgia Institute of Technology

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

Doug Shapiro | Executive Research Director, National Student Clearinghouse

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

Cathy Sandeen | Chancellor, University of Alaska-Anchorage

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

Monty Sullivan | President, Louisiana Community and Technical College System

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.

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

Natalie Van Kleef Conley | Senior Program Manager of Diversity, Inclusion & Outreach, Corporate Engineering, Google

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

Rachel Greenspan | General Manager, Lighthouse Labs

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?

Richard Garrett | Chief Research Officer, Eduventures

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.

Honing a Spectrum of Learner Access

Dave King | Associate Provost (Retired), Oregon State University

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

Redefining Norms Critical to Sustained Relevance in the Changing Postsecondary Environment

Hunt Lambert | Dean of Continuing Education and Extension, Harvard University

Sticking to the status quo will end in disaster for most postsecondary institutions. To stay relevant, institutions have to rethink all aspects of the higher education product, from programming to student support to organizational models.

Take the Hint: Shifting from Anecdotes to Analytics

Chad Rowe | Director of Technical Product Management, Destiny Solutions

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.

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

Michelle Fach | Director of Open Learning and Educational Support, University of Guelph

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.

Redesigning Higher Ed with the Student at the Center

A. Sasha Thackaberry | Vice Provost for Digital and Continuing Education, Louisiana State University

Institutions that rethink the educational experience by putting the student at the center of their decision-making processes will be better positioned to meet the modern demands of traditional and post-traditional learners.