Task Force on the Future of Education
President Andy Armacost and Interim Provost Debbie Storrs, in consultation with the Deans of the University, appointed John Shabb and Jeff VanLooy to serve as co-chairs for a task force on the future of education at UND with work to be completed by April 2021.
Task Force Charge
The task force has been charged to:
- Create a framework for developing short and long-term strategies to shape an academically and fiscally robust environment that satisfies the educational needs of the next generation of UND students.
- Educate the University community about big issues facing higher education today and what the future might hold for education at UND.
Past Seminars
Eye of the Hawk Lecture: How colleges can keep American Dream alive
Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom, a sociologist, writer, and public scholar, discusses the future of education. McMillan Cottom works across multiple platforms, ranging from academic scholarship to essays and social media engagement, to combine analytical insights and personal experiences in a frank, accessible style of communication that resonates with broad audiences within and outside of academia.
UND as a "servant University"
North Dakota Representative Mark Sanford and North Dakota Senator Ray Holmberg talk about “UND as a ‘servant university’”
- Prior to the seminar, feel free to read the following “Higher Education and Engagement in Economic Development: Foundations for Strategy and Practice” Association of Public & Land Grant Universities, North Dakota WICHE Fact Sheet, and Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates December 2020. Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. Plus, “Land Grand Universities for the Future,” by Stephen M. Gavazzi and E. Gordon Gee. Chapter 2, particularly the section on “Institutionalizing Community Engagement” and Chapter 6, “Our Students: Vanguard in the Community.”
Ensuring Educational Opportunities at UND Continue Into the Future
This seminar will focus on the critically important issue of ensuring that our educational opportunities at UND continue to serve our communities and our students into the future.
- Prior to this session, feel free to read the following article The Future of College Looks Like the Future of Retail, plus, chapters 8 and 10 in “The Agile College” by Nathan D. Grawe and Chapter 7 in “Land-Grant Universities for the Future” by Stephen M. Gavazzi and E. Gordon Gee.
The Future of General Education in a post-COVID World
UND Essential Studies Executive Committee and UND Strategic Plan Goal #1 Captains give a brief overview of our current Essential Studies program and discuss the future of general education in a post-COVID world.
- Prior to this seminar, feel free to read the following Higher ed needs to redesign gen ed for the real world (opinion) and Recognition of Prior Learning in the 21st Century. Plus, chapter three of Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Joseph E. Auon.
Reaching Underserved Populations
North Dakota Tribal College Presidents discuss Reaching underserved populations: How must UND educational and support systems change in the next five to 10 years to more effectively serve American Indian Students?
- Prior to this seminar, feel free to read the following American Indian Voice: A National Perspective and Transformation in the U.S. Higher Education System: Implications for Racial Equity.
Human Vitality in the Age of Digital Machines
Dr. Mark Hagerott, NDUS Chancellor, expert address on “Human Vitality in the Age of Digital Machines”.
- Prior to this session, feel free to read Chancellor Hagerott’s article The Pandemic is Accelerating Digital Transformation: What Could be the Downside for Humanity? And What to Do? and Human Vitality in the Age of Digital Machines Presentation Slides