- What challenges have you experienced developing the feedback report in three different forms?
It took a lot of consideration to determine what level of candor was appropriate for each form, as well as trying to think about what the actual needs / level of appropriate communication are for my CSO vs. what would be best for a class assignment. I am more of a succinct, to-the-point person, so doing three iterations of something was challenging in a way. I really need more experience as well to determine what is best professionally perceived and received.
- What skills do you need to further develop to expedite the process?
I need to learn how to create common themes on the fly to bring people back to the “point” in a more effective way, creating some direction. Also, more experience with what is actual helpful.
- Share lessons learned from the activity (250–400 words).
I learned a lot about higher education and the challenges they are going through:
– For smaller, more expensive liberal arts colleges, their main value proposition (small class sizes, community, networking, pretty and accessible campuses, urban locations, etc.) is all but wiped out with the prospect of online semesters due to COVID-19
– Many students are not paying full price anymore, even if they don’t need a scholarship per se. This is largely due to the supply-demand curve being in favor of the students, who, with an increasingly smaller world and more remote options, have more and more options. Universities outside the elite tier have to compete more for students. In fact, it’s likely that many colleges and universities will not make it through the pandemic or very long into the future, and the balance may reset itself.
– The “get through with a degree” approach has lost its appeal with increased extra-university educational opportunities, self-education, and many young people entering directly into the workforce (or starting their own business) to avoid incurring student debt or to get a head start. Famously, many tech companies are started by dropouts – for example. Many students and institutions still have the “checking boxes and building a resume” mentality, which is very out of sync with the real world and what is needed.
– Universities can be quite political, and there are many competing values and positions jockeying for resources and power. A wrong step can mean the end of an academic career, unfortunately.
