3 Ways to Future-Proof Your University

• 01/28/21

While four in five students report accelerating or sustaining their job search priority due to the pandemic, only two in five students feel confident they will find a job or internship by summer 2021. As more jobs require digital skills, we expect students and employers will increasingly look to universities to prepare students for this new competitive labor market. Future jobs are expected to be highly digital, so universities must build curricula that teach skills across cybersecurity, data science and cloud computing. Universities can also supplement degree programs with courses taught by leading industry educators like Google, Amazon and Facebook, whose tools are often used on-the-job.

In North Carolina, Johnson C. Smith University built a Data Science program to enhance students' job-ready technology skills with online courses from Google, IBM, and John Hopkins University. Other universities have integrated corporate apprenticeship programs to give students experience solving real-world problems.

Hands-on projects are emerging as an impactful form of vocational training, meant for the digital world. These assignments, which help students apply skills in short-form, real-world scenarios, can drive higher rates of skill development, in addition to gains in satisfaction and career outcomes.

3) Collaborate with Peer Instructors and Institutions

One of the most inspiring practices we've seen during the pandemic is a collaboration among instructors and institutions. Professors and university leaders worldwide are readily sharing tips and resources to help each other teach more effectively and even upskill amid an unprecedented crisis.

At the innovative University of Szeged in Hungary, for example, faculty members and senior-level students reported using online courses taught by international experts to build their expertise and grow their research, whether by accessing a new library, providing new study materials to students, or authoring their own digital content. Meanwhile, Doctoral students are leveraging research and teaching-centric online courses to future-proof their skillsets.

Renowned institutions and long-time online educators like Duke University, Imperial College of London, and University of Michigan offer strategies on designing engaging online courses, delivering labs remotely, and fostering inclusive and equitable online learning environments. Continued knowledge-sharing, be it teaching strategies or cutting-edge course content, will be vital to building resilient university teaching models at scale, now and for years to come.

The university experience is no longer limited to the walls of the campus. Around the world, faculty are teaching and students are learning virtually everywhere — bedrooms, dining tables, backyards, you name it. We expect that while the move off campus won't be permanent, the pandemic's impact on higher education will be. To stay competitive now and in the long-term, universities will likely need to adapt and pave the way for a new normal.