Ten With Ken (audio)

Despite its significant sticker price, higher education doesn’t often come with a guarantee.  After all, what a student learns, and how they put their skills to work in the world, has more to do with their own effort than anything the institution can do. But in a world of labour market uncertainty and rising career anxiety, students and their parents are often looking for a “sure thing” -- high employment placement rates, impressive starting salaries, or a guaranteed return on investment. For the past 10 years, one university in Canada has been offering students a literal guarantee that they will find career-related employment within six months of graduation: the University of Regina, in Saskatchewan. This week, Ken Steele sits down with president Vianne Timmons to discuss the “UR Guarantee,” a recruitment marketing tool that also drives student retention and career success. Unlike many extended warranties, the UR Guarantee had to be offered free to all undergraduate students, to enhance accessibility rather

This week, Ken Steele chats with Maureen Adamson, president of Fleming College, about how higher ed leaders can sustain a culture of innovation on campus, particularly by investing in our people.   “The most important thing” Maureen says, is to “give the gift of time” to front-line faculty and staff to reflect and innovate.  “It can’t be someone in a back room trying to think something up.” We also need to invest in our people. “We want our faculty to be best in class; that requires investment and professional development.” It’s also important to bring in external perspectives for lectures and workshops, to help campus personnel “think outside the box” and “beyond our navel,” to be exposed to the many innovative ideas out there in higher ed around the world. “There’s a lot of fabulous stuff out there that is mind-blowing,” she observes.   Maureen has publicly committed that, even in times of serious budgetary pressure, “there will be no cuts to professional development at Fleming College.” Ken observes that i

This week, Ken Steele’s conversation continues with Maureen Adamson, president of Fleming College in Peterborough Ontario. Maureen was formerly Ontario’s Deputy Minister responsible for the Status of Women, so this week Ken asks her thoughts on gender equity and increasing diversity in higher education.   When it comes to equity of access and success of women in higher ed, “we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Maureen admits bluntly. We know that high-performing organizations require balanced boards of governors, and yet we still don’t see that in many industries. We need to start teaching young people about being leaders and volunteers in the community, and that leadership needs to start at PSE campuses. In particular, she says, “we need to debunk the theory that women don’t want to go into trades and technology because it’s dirty work. It’s not!” Fleming College will be focusing on cultivating interest in these critical areas for our future economy, at a very young age.   Maureen also emphasizes that the pay gap

This week, Ten with Ken visits Fleming College, in Peterborough Ontario, where Ken Steele and president Maureen Adamson discuss the labour market needs of the fourth industrial revolution, and the need to prepare college students with interdisciplinary programs and the so-called “soft skills” in demand by employers. Some of the biggest challenges facing higher education institutions, aside from budget pressure and demographic shifts, are the rapidly-evolving labour market. Most elementary students today will work in jobs that don’t yet exist. Artificial intelligence and automation are widely projected to impact at least half of all human jobs over the next few decades, and already prototypes have been unveiled of semi-autonomous vehicles, bricklayers, drywallers, news anchors, and even master chefs.  In the past few decades, the jobs that have increased most worldwide are not those that require STEM skills, but those that require people skills, communication and emotional intelligence. Fleming College is help

The distinction between 2-year colleges and 4-year universities is becoming increasingly blurred, with the rise of polytechnics, collaborative and dual enrolment programs, postgrad certificates at university and applied degrees at colleges.  (Sheridan College has not been coy about its ambitions to eventually become a university itself.)  This week, Ken Steele’s conversation with Janet Morrison, president and vice-chancellor of Sheridan, concludes with an exploration of the differences and synergies between university and college.   Janet feels strongly that “this bifurcated lens on PSE in Ontario… really isn’t meeting the needs of learners today,” much less the needs of learners or the workforce of the future. “The system has to evolve” to ensure we are preparing students to be “agile, change-adept, resilient, independent, creative thinkers comfortable in a morphing space.”    Sheridan offers 26 four-year honours baccalaureate degree programs, with exceptional quality and university-equivalent rigor.  All in

Colleges and universities are investing more and more resources into student retention and success initiatives, and student mental health has become an escalating crisis on many campuses.  This week, Ken Steele sits down with Janet Morrison, president and vice-chancellor of Sheridan College, to discuss some lessons she has learned over 25 years as a champion of student success, in the university and college sectors. There is a wealth of research into student success, and Janet believes in programming that is “evidence-based and theoretically informed.” Institutions now need to understand their own specific demographics, and pilot-test interventions. Janet emphasizes that “on many levels student success is a commentary on privilege,” and many students at commuter institutions (like York or Sheridan) have very different experiences than the faculty or administrators responsible for their education. Many students are working in excess of 26 hours a week, and commuting an average of 2 hours daily, while attending

Sheridan College, in the suburbs of Toronto, is world renowned for its creative programs, such as top-ranked illustration and animation degrees – and it has built its entire institutional brand on the slogan “Get Creative.”  This week, Ken Steele sits down with Janet Morrison, Sheridan’s president and vice-chancellor, to discuss how higher ed can cultivate creativity, equipping students with crucial skills for the future, and preparing staff and faculty across campus to embrace innovation and change.   Janet begins by explaining that Sheridan’s commitment to creativity goes far beyond the obvious creative programs.  Creativity relates to people, process, product and space. CEOs and thinktanks agree that creative thinking will be an essential skill for graduates in the new economy, and AI experts anticipate that more creative functions will be the last to be automated.  Creativity can a valuable “inoculator” against constant change and disruption, and provides tools to deal with ambiguity and complex problems.

This week, Ken Steele continues his conversation with Larry Rosia, the president and CEO of Saskatchewan Polytechnic, about the fourth industrial revolution, workforce changes, rising interdisciplinarity, and the strengths of polytechnic education – particularly, their close connections to industry. “We like to say we have industry in our DNA,” Larry says.   The fourth industrial revolution, as the World Economic Forum calls it, is being driven by the rapid development and adoption of artificial intelligence, robotics and automation in the workforce. “The topic fascinates me… but it’s one of the topics that keeps me awake at night as well,” Larry observes wryly. “The economy is changing, and the jobs of tomorrow are going to be significantly different than the jobs of today. The trouble is that tomorrow is coming sooner than we think.” Sectors are being disrupted, skill requirements are changing, and as the world of work evolves, higher education has to keep pace. Moreover, education itself is going to be dis

This week, Ken Steele “takes off” to Saskatoon to speak with Larry Rosia, the president and CEO of Saskatchewan Polytechnic, about his institution’s four pillars of internationalization. They sit down in SP’s pilot training flight simulator for a conversation.   Internationalization has been a top priority for many institutions in Canada.  Reports from the World Economic Forum and the Conference Board of Canada emphasize the importance of cultural competency as a workforce skill for the future, and it’s especially important in a globally exporting province like Saskatchewan.  In order to internationalize the whole institution, SP has a four-pillar strategy:   1)  Faculty & Student Exchanges, sending representatives abroad to study, teach and engage in applied research and project work. Not everyone wants to travel abroad, and the institution can’t afford to send everyone abroad, though.   2)  Incoming International Students, recruiting students from priority countries to diversify classrooms in Canada. “H

Ken’s conversation with Mark Frison, president of Assiniboine Community College in Brandon Manitoba, continues this week as they explore ways that higher ed leaders can empower and inspire their people to take ownership and take initiative, to propel innovation on campus.  (If you missed the first part of this interview, about encouraging PSE participation on the prairies, see https://youtu.be/-vksdjuMt2k).   Mark suggests 3 concrete ways to nurture a culture of innovation on campus:   1)  Make Initiative an Explicit Value   ACC has adopted organizational values that encourage all staff and faculty to “Be Passionate. Take Initiative. Deliver Results.” Specifically, the college values urge people to “challenge the status quo and take calculated risks without fear of failure.” Mark believes it is critical to state explicitly to the campus community that risk is inevitable when you innovate.   2)  Invest in Talent through PD   ACC’s talent management action plan, instituted in 2011, has worked to increase its in

Ken Steele visits Assiniboine Community College, in Brandon Manitoba, to talk with president Mark Frison about their beautiful new North Hill Campus, encouraging enrolment in a region with the lowest PSE participation rate in the country, serving Indigenous populations, aligning programs with provincial immigration policy, and growing international enrolment 1,500%!   ACC’s North Hill Campus is taking shape on the pastoral grounds of the former Brandon Mental Health Centre, and is already home to the Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts, the Len Evans Centre for Trades & Technology, and sustainable greenhouses. Over the next few decades, ACC will preserve historic buildings, construct new academic and athletic facilities, and perhaps even build student residences.  It will make ACC unique among Canadian colleges.   Many of the innovations in marketing, programs and services at ACC have been driven by the recognition that much of rural Manitoba is underserved by higher ed institutions, and the province has

From the high tech sector to higher education, one leadership challenge is similar: how do you nurture a culture of innovation in a hierarchical environment? It’s probably tougher in the public sector, and especially in centuries-old academic institutions with bicameral, colleagial decision-making processes. But even entrepreneurial firms like Google or Adobe had to wrestle with similar challenges as they grew into tech giants. This week, Ken Steele continues his conversation with Jason Dewling, the president of LaSalle College Vancouver, who offers 5 ways that campus leaders can help encourage a culture of innovation. 1) Increase Risk Tolerance To have the best ideas, you have to have a lot of ideas, which means some of them won’t work. More innovative higher ed institutions will increase their tolerance for risk, allow people to pioneer ideas, experiment, and accept that some future tweaking will be required. 2) Let the Best Ideas Win Cultivate your people according to their talents and strengths, and allow

In the face of mounting budgetary pressure, colleges and universities are finding new collaborative approaches to achieve efficiency and economies of scale. Public institutions are sharing campuses and facilities, forming regional marketing groups, and even signing agreements to share course sections between different institutions using distance delivery.  Some smaller colleges, particularly in the US, are merging with larger competitors, or finding financial strength in numbers through collaborative purchasing agencies.  Some are joining global networks to provide corporate training to multinational clients, or share administrative infrastructure. One such global network is the LCI Education Network, a global group of 24 institutions from Toronto to Melbourne, Barcelona, Morocco and Instanbul. It grew out of LaSalle College in Montreal, part of the public system in Quebec, and now includes some of the world’s leading fashion and design institutes. This week, Ken Steele chats with the president of LaSalle Col

Faced with tuition caps and declining government grants, public colleges and universities are becoming more entrepreneurial and seeking alternative revenue streams, often by selling off surplus campus lands to developers, or leasing campus space for retail or residential development. Simon Fraser University, built in a conservation area atop Burnaby Mountain just a 30-minute drive from downtown Vancouver, took its unique geographic opportunity and turned it into an exercise in city-building, literally “moving mountains” to establish a complete, walkable and almost self-sufficient town adjacent to its campus. In previous visits to campus, we learned about SFU’s community engagement strategy (https://youtu.be/EGWvfBqJEGs ) and the many ways in which the University uses its campuses in Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby to build communities (https://youtu.be/dujezn6_afg ). This week, Ken Steele talks with SFU president Andrew Petter, and SFU Community Trust CEO Gordon Harris, about “UniverCity,” a development that is

Ken Steele is back with his 4th annual Holiday Special, and this time he’s counting down the top ten higher ed holiday videos from last December, based on a rubric including production quality, acting, music, creativity and emotional impact.   The Holiday Top 10:   #10 – Elon University “Holiday Video”  – A great sing-along video featuring 27 staff and student vocalists. https://youtu.be/0-pIVbnNxVM   #9 – The University of Virginia “Celebrating the Holidays”  - Beautiful video of decking the lawn, baking cookies, and doing good deeds. (Featuring Holley Maher’s “This December.”) https://youtu.be/oS7rkgRjSvA   #8 – University of the Arts “Holiday Card”  - Student musicians perform “Winter Wonderland” as we see artists, videographers and others. https://youtu.be/Q2tKXvdxW7o   #7 – Marquette University “Joy Is”  - Freshman Ariana Madson performs “Joy to the World,” as we see students demonstrating the values of shaing, caring and kindness. https://youtu.be/OWOpJWCJCzI   #6 – University of North Texas “Building M

Last week, Ken Steele sat down with Vianne Timmons, president of the University of Regina, to discuss why Indigenization matters to higher ed.  (ICYMI see it at https://youtu.be/iLe1mxiT4rM). This week, we turn from “why” to “how”, and look at dozens of ways that colleges and universities can better accommodate Indigenous students, integrate Indigenous ways of knowing and learning, and introduce all students to Indigenous perspectives.  This episode highlights more than 40 examples of ways in which non-Indigenous faculty, staff and administrators can help to indigenize the campus. The examples are drawn from “100 Ways to Indigenize and Decolonize Academic Programs and Courses,” a checklist developed for the UofR by Dr Shauneen Pete in 2015, when she was the University’s Executive Lead of Indigenization.  You can find the full checklist at: https://www.uregina.ca/president/assets/docs/president-docs/indigenization/indigenize-decolonize-university-courses.pdf or read Dr Pete’s article in Aboriginal Policy Stud

In the wake of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Canada’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission findings, higher ed is realizing just how much work lies ahead if it is to reconcile itself with Indigenous peoples, and indigenize the curriculum. Saskatchewan, where some projections say that 30% of the population will be Indigenous by the year 2045, is in many ways the epicentre of indigenization. This week, Ken Steele talks with Vianne Timmons, President & Vice-Chancellor of the University of Regina, to better understand why Indigenization matters. Vianne grew up in Labrador and is of Mi’kmaq heritage, but Ken is quite conscious of being a white settler of European ancestry. How can non-Indigenous people get over their reticence to talk about a challenging subject? Vianne reassures us that people appreciate genuine interest and a desire to learn, even if they make errors in protocol. The University of Regina has been Indigenizing for 40 years. Vianne has an Executive Lead – Indigen

This week, our conversation continues with Steve Robinson, interim President & Vice-Chancellor at Brandon University in Manitoba. We tackle one of the toughest questions for today’s higher ed leaders: how to encourage a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship on campus. Many academics, Steve explains, regard the drive to innovation with a great deal of suspicion, as part of modern trends to neoliberalization and commercialization of the academy.  But really, innovation means “thinking creatively, and finding solutions to new problems” – which is exactly what academics have always done in their own research. Now, universities and colleges are simply trying to apply some of that same creativity to the way we operate as institutions. Higher ed has the opportunity now to be intentional and strategic, “leading the way” rather than being driven by external forces when we have no choice. Campus leaders need to reassure staff and faculty, dispel anxiety about innovation, and encourage innovators to step forwar

This week, Ken Steele talks with Steve Robinson, interim President & Vice-Chancellor at Brandon University in Manitoba, about one of the most urgent changes facing higher ed in the next decade: indigenization. Every university in Canada, particularly those in Western Canada, is faced with the challenge of accommodating Indigenous peoples and cultures on their campuses, and since institutions and local Indigenous communities vary widely, the solutions and innovations will be unique at each institution. Campus leaders need to ensure they create an environment in which Indigenous people feel welcome, through visual symbols, dedicated spaces, practices and ceremonies that reflect and respect Indigenous cultures. But universities also need to reinvent traditional western decision-making processes and governance mechanisms in order to embrace Indigenous perspectives. Institutions need to bring more Indigenous peoples, elders and knowledge-keepers, to campus in order to participate in institutional governance, p

This week, Ken Steele concludes his conversation with Paula Burns, President & CEO of Lethbridge College.  In part 1, Paula described 3 notable innovations at Lethbridge College, in competency-based learning, stackable modular credentials, and the use of VR technology ( https://youtu.be/9-kxnnMA8nM). In part 2, she outlined 5 ways that institutions can prepare for evolving students and the labour market over the next decade (https://youtu.be/zSKoxZI7b_s). This week, we explore the question of how higher ed leaders can nurture a culture of innovation on campus. Academic environments tend to be cautious and risk-averse, and truly experimenting with programs or pedagogy usually requires curiosity, creativity, collaboration and genuine courage. Paula admits academic innovation can be challenging, but also presents immense opportunity. Campus leaders need to walk a fine line, respecting tradition and preserving the strengths of the past, while reassuring people that it is also safe to try new things. Paula use