Where Is Higher Ed Headed?

“Independent campus stores are one of the few successful enterprises operating on campus,” featured speaker Richard Keeling told his CAMEX21 Reimagined audience. “You are important parts of the conversation in how colleges begin to operate differently.”

Keeling has his finger on the pulse of higher-ed administration. He was on the faculty of the University of Virginia and University of Wisconsin, and his consulting firm (Keeling & Associates) has worked with some 350 institutions. On top of that, he’s a medical doctor and researcher who understands the impact of the pandemic on education.

In his session, Reimagined Higher Education: How Colleges, Universities, and Students Will Thrive in Our More Connected Future, Keeling outlined some of the things that are on the minds of administrators these days. The pandemic, of course: health and safety of students and employees, trying to maintain excellence in academics and student life, and managing change.

But administrators are also greatly concerned about the sustainability of higher education in general—encompassing not just financial viability but also society’s need for postsecondary coursework—and how their own institution can thrive long-term. The pandemic has been just one disruption to higher ed; Keeling rattled off others that have walloped campuses recently: social and cultural upheaval, economic and employment catastrophe, plummeting enrollment for some schools, changes in the nature and location of work, inequalities in access to education and health care, increasing legislation affecting education, and even climate change in the form of more wildfires, hurricanes, and storms threatening campuses.

Some colleges and universities have nimbly adapted to these challenges, Keeling said. “Some institutions have become flexible only when they were forced to be,” he added, such as when states shut down due to the pandemic.

Certain ideas have been turned on their head—online education, for one. “I had colleges say it was impossible to teach organic chemistry online,” Keeling noted. “Four weeks later, we’re teaching organic chemistry online.” Yet, it turned out some students didn’t have the devices or bandwidth needed to successfully engage in remote learning.

Administrators’ worries over sustainability focus a lot on finances and what Keeling called the “crazy business model in higher ed,” with a reliance on tuition dollars. They’re looking at what costs to cut and how much, how to replace lost revenues, and what to do about tuition. Raise it, freeze it, or lower it?

“There are better questions,” Keeling pointed out. These put the focus on students: what do they expect, what value can institutions offer, how will student demographics change in the next few years, what will graduates need for work in the future, what is the best use of campus resources, and which risks can institutions afford to take?

“It starts with academics, then enrollment, physical infrastructure, culture, community reputation, and financials,” Keeling said. “You don’t become financially sustainable just by cutting costs and managing finances. You become sustainable by doing those other things.”

Institutions will follow one of two paths in pursuing sustainability. The “Save Us” route will aim to preserve the status quo. “They’ll hunker down, wait it out, no time for risk,” Keeling said.

Those that adopt the “Immerse Us” posture, however, “will say, ‘Let’s explore what this might mean’ and go in new directions,” he added. Immersive institutions will seek to restore public confidence in higher education by connecting curriculum, delivery, and the student experience to careers, providing more experiential learning and putting students first.

Keeling said these schools will look to performance outcomes and data to help make decisions and determine the best use of resources. Part of this will involve diversification of revenue sources and creating a closer working relationship between faculty and staff.

“There will not be two sides of the house, just one house,” he said.

“Excellence will mean we adapt nimbly, so we thrive in the future,” Keeling said.