Working adults need academic programs that deliver clear value while fitting the realities of their time, finances and existing experience. Bringing academic, marketing and enrollment teams together from the start helps institutions build more accessible pathways, preserve academic quality and connect program design to learner and workforce needs. In this interview, Holly Tapper discusses how cross-campus collaboration turns academic ideas into successful programs and how institutions can shorten degree pathways while preserving academic rigor.
The EvoLLLution (Evo): What does it take to move a promising new academic program from a great idea to something that students can discover and in which they can enroll and participate?
Holly Tapper (HT): A promising academic idea is just the starting point. To become real for students, it has to move through several systems simultaneously—academic design, accreditation, operations, marketing, recruitment, finance, student support and the registrar’s office. When we developed Saint Mary’s FastTrack 90™ bachelor’s degrees, we didn’t treat the work like a relay race where everyone completed one step and handed it off. We worked cross-functionally through a task force and started from the student perspective: How do we provide a high-quality bachelor’s degree in less time and at less cost without lowering academic expectations?
We also had to think about what learning belonged in the degree, what employers value and how prospective students would understand the value of something new. A program doesn’t truly exist until students can find it, understand how it fits their goals and lifestyle, and enroll without unnecessary friction. At Saint Mary’s, that work reflects a broader commitment to making high-quality education more accessible, affordable and responsive to adult learners.
Evo: How can institutions preserve academic rigor while becoming a lot more responsive to what learners and employers demand?
HT: Part of it is challenging the assumption that responsiveness and rigor need to be opposites. Responsiveness and rigor can reinforce one another when we focus on what students know and can do when they graduate—not simply how many credits they’ve accumulated or how much seat time they’ve completed.
That was fundamental as we redesigned Saint Mary’s 90-credit degrees. We didn’t ask, “How do we cut back 30 credits?” We asked, “What’s essential for a graduate of this program based on what we’re hearing from students and the marketplace?” That meant identifying the essential discipline knowledge, intellectual formation and professional competencies, while distinguishing them from requirements that did not directly advance program learning outcomes or graduate competencies.
For working adults, responsiveness also means recognizing what they already bring—professional experience, certifications, military learning, college credits and technical knowledge—rather than making them repeat that learning. That approach is especially important at Saint Mary’s because we serve adult learners who often arrive with substantial prior learning and professional experience.
Evo: At what point should market intelligence marketing and recruitment enter the program development process?
HT: Market intelligence needs to be involved at the very beginning, but in the right role. It should inform academic decision-making without dictating the curriculum. Academic experts own the curriculum, but marketing and enrollment bring an important perspective. Through SEO data and conversations with prospective students, they understand what learners want to know: How long will it take? What will it cost? Will previous credits or life experience count? Can I work while I complete it? What kind of job will I get?
Without that intelligence, academic programming and outcomes may not match student demand. Higher education has sometimes spent a year or two building a program and only then handed it to marketing with the expectation that students will be found. At Saint Mary’s, we took a different approach: marketing and enrollment were at the table from the start, sharing what they were hearing from students, employers and the marketplace, while faculty retained ownership of academic integrity.
Evo: How can faculty, academic affairs, governance, marketing, enrollment teams and every stakeholder work together more effectively to move new programs from concept to enrollment, rather than handing it off to marketing?
HT: The first step is recognizing that everyone is solving a different part of the same problem. Faculty are thinking about what students need to learn. Leadership is focused on institutional mission, strategy and the academic portfolio. Accreditation and compliance consider how we can appropriately offer the program. Marketing is asking whether prospective students understand the degree and why it matters, while enrollment is thinking about how to turn interest into actual enrollment.
Students are wondering whether it’s worth their time, money and effort. All of those voices need to be at the table during degree design so we’re coordinating information rather than handing work off and hoping the next team does its best. That cross-functional approach was central to the development of FastTrack 90™ at Saint Mary’s, where academic affairs, accreditation, marketing, enrollment, finance, student support and registrar functions worked together from the outset.
Evo: When everybody is aligned with the academic vision, what becomes possible for the institution and its learners?
HT: That kind of alignment produces something higher education really needs: an academic degree that’s meaningful, financially attainable, understandable to students and valuable in the marketplace. At Saint Mary’s, we want that degree to support not only a career pivot or promotion, but the learner’s broader growth and flourishing.
When we work with adult learners, every additional semester means more tuition, childcare and time spent balancing school, work and family. It can delay a promotion, further education or the student’s ability to complete the degree. Ultimately, that may affect retention as well.
When we reduce unnecessary time in the degree and shape it around learners’ lives, we improve access and completion. For us, reducing unnecessary time to degree is not simply an efficiency strategy; it is an access and student-success strategy. It creates opportunities that may not have existed for those learners before.
Evo: Is there anything you’d like to add?
HT: Providing these kinds of educational pathways can change an institution’s culture. We’ve seen that at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. FastTrack 90™ has encouraged us to think differently about collaboration, adult learners, workforce relevance and how institutional structures can better support student success. We’re no longer asking, “How do universities traditionally handle this?” We’re asking, “What does the learner need, and what structure will best achieve the outcomes we care about?”
That means bringing all those voices to the table and sharing information throughout the process. At Saint Mary’s, academic and marketing leaders worked together from the beginning rather than treating marketing as a handoff. A deep understanding of the curriculum strengthened the messaging, while insights from prospective learners helped us refine how we communicated the program and the student experience. That interplay contributed to a successful launch and helped us exceed our enrollment goals.
Evo: What advice would you have to get all those voices at the table? Where can someone start?
HT: There need to be conversations about why marketing, finance, enrollment and other voices belong at the table. Higher education is changing, and institutions can’t stay agile if everyone works in isolation. Academics still own academic quality, but other groups can inform program design and the student experience in ways that make programs stronger. At Saint Mary’s, that shared-responsibility model has been essential to turning innovation into programs students can actually access and complete.