Peering Into the Future of Higher Education
Fourteen Professional Learning Communities Take a Look
President Schott invited interested staff and faculty in January 2017 to participate in one or another of seven Professional Learning Community (PLC) groups. Each member of the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) also participated. Each group was given a research question, or set of questions, to study for one quarter. Their findings, which are posted below, helped provide information on trends, changes and other likely developments affecting the future of higher education. The names of all PLC members are listed.
This work proved to be so successful, the president decided to replicate the process in January 2019, but with seven additional questions for seven new Professional Learning Communities made up of SOU faculty and staff members. The more recent questions and corresponding reports are located below the original seven from 2017.
2017 Professional Learning Communities:
- Campus Learning Spaces
- Economics of Higher Education Trends
- How Humans Best Learn
- How our Learners Arrive
- Learners of Tomorrow
- Preparing Learners for Jobs that Don’t Yet Exist
- Technology and our Future
2019 Professional Learning Communities:
Watch: All Campus PLC Expo – April 2017
Professional Learning Communities Exposition: Part 1
Welcome Speech from President Schott
Who are the learners of the future?
What does current research tell us about how humans best learn?
How are learners being taught before they arrive at SOU?
Professional Learning Communities Exposition: Part 2
How will rapid advances in technology change our pedagogy and our work?
What kinds of spaces or physical facilities will be most appropriate to learning in the future?
Professional Learning Communities Exposition: Part 3
How do we prepare graduates for a life of work when many of our graduates will work in jobs that don’t yet exist? How will employment change in this region and beyond?
What are the economics of higher education in the future? How will it be funded and sustained?
Professional Learning Communities Exposition: Part 4
Concluding Remarks
SWOT Analysis Paragraphs
A SWOT analysis is a standard practice in strategic planning. Our approach involved convening six different groups on campus – including faculty, staff, and students – to identify SOU’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Through an article in the Ashland Daily Tidings, we invited community members to respond to a SWOT survey we posted on our website. The results were then combined, grouped, and analyzed. Members of the Strategic Planning Committee created the summaries below.