By David Raths, Campus Technology
Technology executives have a key role to play in the future of higher education by helping colleagues use data to craft a story about the value of postsecondary education. And telling a story is important, Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), told attendees at the Campus Technology 2014 annual conference in Boston this week. Noting how many students leave science and technology programs before completion, he said, “We even call first-year classes weed-out courses.” If you ask a dean of sciences how may seats they are planning for the second year, they expect one-third to make it to the next year. Hrabowski is working to change that dynamic by reinventing curriculum and processes at UMBC. “The vets who went to college knew the world of tomorrow did not have to be the same as today. That was innovation.” Today we can improve outcomes, he added, “if we change the way we do business. You have the ability to help campuses use technology to transform the institutions as they transform the lives of students.”
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