In today’s higher education environment there is clear concern over the value of a university degree. Where the value of a university degree was once taken for granted, it is now being subjected to intense scrutiny by government, corporations, parents, students, and taxpayers. What is particularly pronounced is that there are fundamental disagreements about *what* students are expected to gain from a university degree (personal growth, citizenship, or job skills) as well as disagreements about *how* university level skills are currently aligned (or not aligned) with the labour market.
This Strategic Impact group selected the “Role of the University in the 21st century” as their ‘wicked problem’. The group first set out to interview stakeholders in order to clarify their understanding of this ‘problem’ and to gain a better perspective on how it could be simplified and made ‘just a little bit better’.
This presentation will describe the methodologies of how they worked together, what they learned, and where these learnings are taking them. This presentation represents the beginning of their journey on creating a lasting positive impact
Natalie Allan – Assistant Director, Residence Life Services, Department of Housing
Micheline White – Associate Professor, College of the Humanities & Dept. of English
Gilles LeBlanc – Manager, Business Career Management Centre, Sprott
Banu Ormeci – Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Gilles Monast – Manager, Library Administrative Services
Maria McClintock – Editor, Internal Communications, Dept. of University Communications
Amanda Dobbie – Leadership Development Officer, Office of Quality Initiatives