Education Philosophy
Leading change in higher education requires proven experience, a strong commitment to inclusion and transparency and a fearless enthusiasm for building a better future that lifts students and communities through collaboration and innovation. That’s why I believe in:
Access to Equitable Opportunity
Our economy is not short on talent; it is short on opportunity. As our country and businesses grapple with growing disparities and a widening skills gap, the majority of the new jobs created during the past decade require a college degree. But so many of our future workers and leaders are trapped by circumstance that inhibit their access to higher education.
Higher education is the most important engine for fueling social and economic mobility. That’s why we have a responsibility to create equitable opportunities that will help people of all economic backgrounds reach their full potential through the power of education, especially Black and Brown students and low-income and first-generation students, to help close the skills gap and lift lives for generations. At a time when our society is reexamining its systemic flaws and injustices, inclusive higher education has to be our great equalizer.
Learning Your Way
Everyone can learn, but not all do so in the same way. That means we must keenly focus on evidence-based approaches that match students’ needs with real-world demands – and make sure we invest in the faculty and programs we have asked to lead this change.
Since the pandemic, we’ve seen the growth of national-scale institutions moving to serve more students in ways that help, not hinder, their ability to earn a degree. At Purdue, I led the IMPACT course transformation program to fuel student success by adapting our instruction to learners’ unique needs using technology. While president of the University of Central Florida, I heavily invested in the digital learning enterprise – recognized as one of the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report – and grew partnerships with corporate co-op programs, providing students control over their learning schedules and allowing them to earn a degree while advancing in their careers and incurring less debt.
Not Your Parents’ Higher Ed
People have always learned from people, not machines. But we have a unique opportunity in higher education to leverage technologies in ways previously unimaginable that will help more students succeed.
To scale learning for the past 100 years, we have commoditized it into large classes, common curricula and the best pedagogical approach for the majority. Now, we have the ability for massive individualization through adaptive learning and the capability of courses and instruction to continuously improve through machine learning. While learning is human-to-human, technology will let us scale its impact in ways that best fit each learner.
The most powerful educational experiences create a T-shaped learner who is resilient to the evolution of technology while gaining the depth to be a sought-out expert in their field. The top bar of the “T” is adaptability across disciplines, critical thought, multicultural competency, strong communication and creativity. These transferable skills and attitudes will not soon be replaced by artificial intelligence and are often the products of a broad, challenging (liberal) education. The vertical bar of the “T” is depth in one or more quantitative disciplines, which when coupled with access to a liberal education produces the future talent our knowledge and idea economy demands to thrive.
