Trellis 360 Discussion Series: Innovative Leadership for the Modern Learner – Dr. Michael Baston

Editor’s note: The following is an edited webpage transcript based on the discussion material currently available. It is organized by topic for readability and should not be treated as a verified word-for-word transcription of the video.

Introduction: Innovative Leadership for the Modern Learner

Welcome to the Trellis Strategies 360 Discussion Series: Innovative Leadership for the Modern Learner.

This series focuses on leadership and the ways higher education institutions are adapting to meet the needs of today’s students.

Our conversation explores what community colleges can do to create meaningful pathways for students while responding to changing workforce and community needs.

Modern learners are navigating higher education differently than generations before them.

Many are working.

Many are supporting families.

Some are returning to education after spending years in the workforce.

Others are trying to determine how education can help them reach the next stage of their careers.

Community colleges have an important role to play in serving all of those learners.

Understanding the Community College Mission

Community colleges have always been about access and opportunity.

The question today is how we continue delivering on that promise in an environment that is changing quickly.

Our students are changing.

The workforce is changing.

Technology is changing.

Employer expectations are changing.

But the fundamental mission remains.

We want to create opportunities for people to transform their lives through education.

The challenge for leaders is determining how our institutions need to evolve so that mission remains relevant to the people and communities we serve.

Defining the Modern Learner

We sometimes talk about the modern learner as though we’re describing one particular type of student.

The reality is much more complex.

Our students come to us at different stages of their lives.

Some come directly from high school.

Some are working adults.

Some already have college credits.

Some are parents.

Some are changing careers.

Some need a credential very quickly because they need to improve their economic circumstances.

The institution has to be prepared to meet those learners at different points along their journey.

Connecting Education and Opportunity

Students are asking an important question: What is this education going to do for me?

That’s a fair question.

Higher education represents a significant investment of time, money, and effort.

We need to help students understand what they’re working toward.

That means being clear about the connection between programs and careers.

It means helping students understand the competencies they’ll develop.

It means helping them see where those competencies can take them in the labor market.

Education has intrinsic value, but students also need to understand its practical value.

Building Pathways to Economic Mobility

Economic mobility is about more than getting a job.

It’s about creating opportunities for people to improve their circumstances over time.

A credential may help someone enter a career.

Additional education may help that person advance.

New skills may allow them to move into another role as technology changes.

The pathway doesn’t necessarily end with one credential.

We should be helping learners understand how education can continue creating opportunities throughout their careers.

Responding to Employer Needs

Community colleges need strong relationships with employers.

Those employers can tell us what’s happening in the workforce.

They can tell us where they’re struggling to find talent.

They can tell us how occupations are changing.

They can help us understand what skills students will need.

But the relationship has to work for students too.

We don’t simply want to prepare someone for one particular opening.

We want students to develop skills that have value and create options.

Creating Relevant Credentials

Credentials have to connect with opportunity.

That requires institutions to continuously examine their programs.

Are students completing them?

Are graduates finding employment?

Are employers hiring people with those skills?

Are wages sufficient to create meaningful economic mobility?

Can students continue their education afterward?

Those are important questions.

If we want students to invest their time and resources in education, institutions have a responsibility to make sure those pathways have value.

Short-Term Credentials and Stackability

For some learners, a traditional degree may not be the right starting point.

They may need a shorter credential.

They may need to develop a particular skill quickly so they can enter the workforce or qualify for advancement.

Short-term credentials can help.

But we should also think about what happens next.

Can that credential stack into another credential?

Can the student return later and continue making progress?

Can prior learning count?

We want to create pathways rather than dead ends.

Serving Working Students

A significant number of community college students are working.

For some, employment is not secondary to college.

Employment is what makes college possible.

Institutions need to understand that reality.

If a student is working during the day, when are courses available?

When can that student meet with an advisor?

When can they access tutoring?

Are services available online?

Flexibility cannot apply only to the classroom.

The entire institution has to consider how modern learners interact with it.

Recognizing Students’ Financial Challenges

Financial pressure can derail a student’s education even when that student is academically successful.

A student may be doing well in class and still leave because of a transportation problem.

They may lose childcare.

Their work schedule may change.

They may face a housing problem.

That’s why understanding the whole student is important.

Academic success doesn’t happen separately from the rest of a student’s life.

Institutions need systems that recognize those connections.

Providing Comprehensive Student Support

Students need to know where they can go when something happens.

Sometimes the greatest barrier isn’t that a resource doesn’t exist.

It’s that the student doesn’t know the resource exists.

Colleges can become more proactive.

Rather than waiting for students to find their way to the right office, we can think about how information reaches them and how faculty and staff identify students who may need assistance.

Support should be integrated into the student experience.

Using Data for Student Success

Data helps us understand what’s happening.

We can look at enrollment.

We can look at persistence.

We can look at completion.

We can disaggregate that information and determine whether different populations are experiencing different outcomes.

But then we have to ask why.

That’s where listening becomes important.

The numbers may tell us that students are leaving.

Students can help us understand the reasons.

Both perspectives matter.

From Enrollment to Completion

Enrollment is important, but enrollment isn’t the finish line.

We need students to complete credentials that have value.

That requires thinking beyond recruitment.

What happens after the student arrives?

Does the student understand their pathway?

Do they know which courses they need?

Do they understand how long completion will take?

Do they know where to go when something goes wrong?

Enrollment strategies and student-success strategies have to work together.

Creating a Student-Centered Culture

Student success has to become part of the culture.

It can’t belong to one department.

Everybody who interacts with students influences their experience.

The person answering the telephone matters.

The advisor matters.

The faculty member matters.

The financial aid professional matters.

The career services professional matters.

Students don’t experience our organizational chart.

They experience the institution as a whole.

Community Colleges as Economic Engines

Community colleges have a tremendous role in regional economic development.

We’re connected to employers.

We’re connected to students.

We’re connected to school districts.

We’re connected to universities.

We’re connected to community organizations.

That gives us an opportunity to bring people together around common challenges.

If a region needs more workers in a particular industry, education is part of the solution.

If residents need better access to economic opportunity, education is part of the solution.

Building Stronger Partnerships

Partnership is essential because colleges cannot solve every problem alone.

We need employers.

We need K–12 partners.

We need universities.

We need workforce organizations.

We need community-based organizations.

Different partners bring different resources and perspectives.

When we coordinate those efforts, we can create pathways that are easier for students to navigate.

Preparing Learners for Continued Change

The jobs our students enter today will continue changing.

Technology will change them.

Artificial intelligence will change them.

New industries will emerge.

Others will evolve.

We therefore need to prepare students not just for their first job but for continued learning.

The ability to adapt will become increasingly important.

Community colleges can help learners develop that mindset while providing opportunities to return and acquire new skills throughout their careers.

Maintaining the Mission While Innovating

Innovation is sometimes described as doing something completely new.

But innovation can also mean finding a better way to accomplish something we’ve always believed in.

Community colleges have always believed in access.

We’ve always believed in opportunity.

We’ve always believed education can transform lives.

Those commitments don’t have to change.

What changes is how we fulfill them.

We have to be willing to examine our practices and ask whether they still work for today’s students.

Closing: Creating Opportunity for Modern Learners

The modern learner needs institutions that understand the realities of modern life.

Students need flexibility.

They need clear pathways.

They need support.

They need credentials connected with opportunity.

And they need institutions willing to work with employers and communities to create those opportunities.

The community college mission remains powerful because it is ultimately about people.

It’s about helping individuals move forward.

It’s about strengthening families.

It’s about creating stronger communities.

Innovative leadership means protecting that mission while continually finding better ways to deliver on it.