Speaker 1: Hello everyone, I want to thank you for taking a few moments to listen to this important presentation. Over the next few minutes, I'll be discussing how, as an institution, we begin to address the challenge of a changing student demographic. In particular, I'll be presenting a framework on how we provide the best possible education that meets the needs of Generation Z and a growing minority student population. I hope that you find it useful. I want to remind everyone here of our mission. The mission of the University States is that we offer career-oriented undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees and programs for people seeking personal and professional growth. The University promotes academic excellence, personal responsibility, and a commitment to service. Distinctive curricula in an international, culturally diverse, supportive learning environment prepares graduates for life and leadership in an increasingly interconnected world. The University is independent and non-secretarian. I feel that it's important that we keep this in mind as we begin this work. Our mission shows that our current curriculum model embraces the idea of curriculum as a product or the result of a curriculum delivery is based on learners being able to complete tasks. A curriculum theory that looks at how students will be able to function in a specific career environment I do believe is an appropriate model. However, is it the best for our changing student body? We need to embrace a curriculum model where learning is done through interaction between student and teacher, a model that is student and teacher-centric, gives students a stronger voice in the classroom, is flexible, and allows faculty to address teaching and learning depending on the situation. I would like to provide you with a background of the issues to better inform our upcoming work. As a new generation of students enter college, faculty and staff will have to change our approach when it comes to the work of educating students for the future. There are several reasons that I feel that these issues are substantial. To begin with, Generation Z has recently begun their post-secondary careers and they're entering our institution already. They are digital natives who have grown up in a digital world. An increasing number of students are coming from a range of minority and socioeconomic backgrounds, and by 2055 it is projected that non-white Americans will make up a majority of this country, with many minority students being the first in their families to attend higher education institutions. There are hundreds of similar statistics that show that these student changes must be addressed. This graph, which is based off information from the Pew Research Center, shows the projected U.S. population by 2055. 54% of the population will most likely not identify as white. I would like to now provide ways in which we may begin to prepare the university to be able to provide our programs to all students. These issues touch all stakeholders within our institution and will mean a shift in the operations of our organization. I would first like to address how we may support Generation Z students who are already taking classes with us. There are many ideas that could be utilized, however there are several that I feel we should immediately begin to put together. In particular, we need to invest in more technology and multimedia education. We need to help students integrate and strengthen ties to the professional world. We need to invest in faculty development, create an educational environment and curriculum framework that is student-centered. We must incorporate group work, flipped classroom approaches, segmented education delivery, and technology tools. We must prepare the faculty to teach a new generation of students and create scholarship funds and tenure structures that encourage faculty to implement changes to biological models. Beyond preparing to meet the needs of a new generation of students, we also must work to ensure that all of our students, no matter their background, are provided with the best possible education and services. Based on a recent Delphi study of higher education experts and other important literature, I suggest we work to create supportive classrooms for marginalized students, update teaching methodology to incorporate cultural diversity, promote a sense of belonging for students, create transition programs, and add access and visibility to financial aid options. We must provide meaningful work, study positions, and train faculty and staff in incorporating multiculturalism and diversity. While we have several years of work ahead of us to prepare for a changing student graphic, I feel that these tactics are a good place to start. And now I would like to provide an overarching framework that will allow us to organize and complete this important work. The framework I envision organizes institution leaders into two tracks, one that I call the vision group, that is researching current and future needs of students, and the other, which I call the implementation group, that works to determine the best ways to implement the pedagogical infrastructure changes that meet the requirements defined by the vision group. This two-track planning structure works by ensuring the institution is keeping an eye toward the future with our feet on the ground. The vision group is made up of the president, provost, dean of students, program deans, board of trustee members, faculty chairs, and two to three student representatives. This group is in charge of scanning the environment, gathering information from experts, surveys, and academic research. The group membership will vary both between permanent and rotating members. The president, provost, dean of students, and program deans will be permanent, while the student, board of trustees, and faculty rotate at the end of winter and summer quarters. The purpose of this group is to provide an overarching vision for the institution that addresses a changing student body. Any significant vision statement or guidance from the vision group will be done by a vote of the entire group. All meeting minutes will be publicly accessible, and the vision group will meet at least twice a quarter. The implementation group is charged with implementing the new direction of the university. The members of the implementation group will consist of program managers, assistant and associate deans, faculty and student support staff, academic advisors, and faculty and student representation. In consultation with the vision group, they will be charged with determining how to change policies and procedures to ensure the vision of supporting a changing student demographic is fully realized. They will conduct surveys, retool policies and procedures, provide feedback and guidance to the vision group. Additionally, they will update academic plans, marketing material, and catalogs. The vision and implementation group will be working over a two-year time frame, with the first year dedicated to the research and creation of the overall plan, and the second year will be focused on implementation and refinement. I think it's important that I suggest a model of leadership for this work. The work we have ahead of us is significant, but if we do it well, we will be a better institution for it. All of us here are leaders of our organization, and it's up to us to ensure we are able to continue to meet our mission and teach our students. To that end, I would like to propose an overarching ethos, if you will. I suggest we utilize a combination of transformational and servant leadership. Both will be necessary. Servant leadership requires individuals who can listen, empathize, be persuasive, maintain awareness, and have a commitment to growth and community. Servant leadership has the ability to transform relationships between student, faculty, and staff. Servant leadership helps inspire individuals to put the needs of the organization in front of their efforts, and is necessary to bring individuals together. While the transformational leader focuses on the organization's needs, the servant leader focuses on the needs of the people of the organization. We must hold both of these models in our hands to accomplish our work. The recent Delphi study provided a few key ideas on how we can employ these leadership models. We will need to address gaps in cultural awareness, create tools like internal climate surveys, and incorporate these ideas into a multi-year change process. Assessment is a critical component of any institution. We must ensure that we are assessing our own efforts to address our changing student body. Within the assessment structure, the implementation group and support staff will be charged with creating and maintaining assessment tools, distributing surveys to students, faculty, and staff that are designed to capture key changes and create climate support structures. The implementation group and consultation with the vision group will create key performance indicators designed to assess how faculty and staff are meeting their goals. At the end of the year, the two groups will come together to discuss results and start planning for the following year. These are some of the references I used in creation of this presentation. My entire notes are available for review. Thank you.