Page 36 - Campus Technology, April/May 2017

C-Level View
CT: Are colleges and universities in general good places to foster innovations and partnerships that will impact and create change not only for their students and education programs, but also for their regions, their surrounding communities, the professions and the academic disciplines more generally?
Robinson: Yes, definitely. It’s clear that at colleges and universities around
the country today, huge changes are occurring across the board, in education delivery systems and curriculum models, assessment, degree pathways, business practices, student services.... New, innovative programs and processes are everywhere. From a business perspective, innovation, reinvention and transformation are terms that you’ll find at the top of the list of strategic priorities for most institutions. So, they are ready to innovate and to explore partnerships. And higher education has a rich history of innovation.
CT: Is there a special role for community colleges in open innovation?
Robinson: If you look at community colleges today, you find that they are less and less able to take a “business as usual” approach to their operations — they urgently need to rethink how outcomes are delivered and how they are going to continue to serve, given changes in funding. So community colleges in particular are starting to ask themselves the question we asked ourselves: How can we establish partnerships and collaborations that will allow us to keep our enduring goal of offering students the best possible learning experiences — while we innovate and find our place in new models of education? Community colleges do have a role in starting the conversation around that question.
This is the right place for open innovation.
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CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | April/May 2017
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