In Transforming Campus Culture: The Path to Online Innovation at Regional Universities, Jeff Selingo addresses how regional universities can cultivate an organizational culture that embraces online innovation, even in an industry where change is oftentimes difficult to adopt. This paper is the second of a three-part series exploring online learning at regional universities.
The first paper, Strategies for Building Online Learning at Regional Universities, explored how regional universities can leverage their strengths as economic and social drivers for their communities to launch online programs. Jeff Selingo’s latest resource is an insightful analysis of why online learning can be challenging to implement in colleges and universities. Beyond unpacking barriers to innovation at these institutions, Selingo provides two models that universities can leverage as a starting point to shifting culture and embracing organizational change.
Team culture can drive institutional success with online learning
Selingo provides mini case studies featuring universities that have implemented aspects of the proposed models as part of their adoption of online learning. These examples include two Risepoint partners – William Paterson University and Aurora University.
William Paterson University has the largest online nursing and MBA programs in New Jersey. Richard J. Helldobler, President of William Paterson, reflects on the university’s success with online programming in the Foreword of Selingo’s paper.
“The real challenge [of online education] is ensuring that there is an institutional culture where faculty and staff are prepared to take risks and are committed to change… We launched WP Online with a primary focus on two programs, nursing and the MBA, where we knew there was both market demand and faculty open to innovating… And while online education provides the potential to educate students anywhere, regional universities are best positioned to leverage strengths that larger online providers do not – a familiar, trusted brand and industry connections, which can ensure that program offerings align with regional market needs.”
Richard J. Helldobler, President, William Paterson University
Visit Jeff Selingo’s website to download the full white paper.
