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Increased External Learning for All Programs

 NWC must continue to establish strong, enduring, and multifaceted relationships with regional businesses and organizations.  These relationships can take many forms such as responding to a local educational or research need; collaborating to reinvigorate civic culture; partnering to create mutually beneficial programs; and developing experiential learning opportunities.  Increasing these relationships will enhance students’ educational experience and offer needed assistance to […]
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Creative Student “Work” Exchange

 Students are seeking a lower cost option for college and parents are facing “sticker-shock” for higher education in private colleges.  Higher education is facing more enrollment challenges due to costs, but if those costs could be lowered through a work exchange program then more students would be able to financially afford NWC.   Furthermore, research has found […]
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Ensuring NWCore Promotes Success in Today’s World

 & Ideas From Other Institutions A liberal arts degree is intended to develop students into well-rounded individuals who can succeed in their personal, professional, and public lives. NWC’s mission discusses preparing students for both a “successful career” and “leading a faithful life.” A number of higher education institutions are updating their general education requirements […]
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Core Structure

 Today’s young people will have ‘episodic careers,’rather than one life-long career. Post-graduation, young people will have an estimated four jobs before they even turn 32, often switching into “entirely different industries”, according to a LinkedIn study. Indranil Roy, the head of the Deloitte-backed Future of Work Centre of Excellence, says,“A generation ago, the half-life of a […]
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Core Marketability

 As noted by NWC’s Strategic Planning Committee, based on a report from The Art & Science Group LLC, the value proposition associated with the term liberal arts has decreased among prospective students. This perception follows students into their collegiate experience; many students see general education courses as a “pointless” nuisance they must endure. However, general education […]
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Learning Outcomes vs Human Skills

 Employers think in terms of “skills,” not “learning objectives.”  This snippet from Burning Glass Technologies, an analytics software company focused on bringing together the spheres of education and the labor market, offers a glimpse into the gap between employers and educational institutions. Burning Glass Technologies delivers job market analytics that empowers employers, workers, and educators to […]
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Non-traditional Student Success Director

 Currently, transfer students into our traditional programs can get lost in the shuffle with getting integrated within the community. Tinto (1993) posited that undergraduate students’ persistence is influenced not only by their own characteristics, goals, and commitments but also by their experiences academically and socially within the institution. Academic experiences include interaction with staff […]
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Skill-based learning

To many people, vocational education has often meant learning a trade, but a more profound and important meaning of the term has been coming back into use. Cunningham, D.S. (2019). What college students need most. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2019/01/07/importance-return-more-profound-meaning-vocational-education-opinion
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Small College Issues

Small-college presidents gathered at annual conference work to adapt to a changing market even as they worry about a range of student issues. Steltzer, R. (2019). Small colleges grapple with ‘culture of insecurity’. Inside Higher Ed.  Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/08/private-college-presidents-seek-adapt-changing-market