Host Carl Van Horn, who serves as the Director of the John J. Heldrich Center at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, kicked off the 26 minute podcast by asking ICUNJ President Steve Reynolds to outline the “top two or three challenges” facing the independent college sector and higher education, in general. Reynolds cited three issues – – referring to them as “1A, 1B, and 1C” – – and indicated that they are difficult to rank because they are equally important. The three discussed included (1A) the value proposition of going to college, (1B) student mental health, and (1C) AI preparedness. Over the course of the podcast, Dr. Van Horn and Reynolds explored these top issues and several other challenges impacting higher education. They also discussed other related topics impacting New Jersey, including business priorities in the state and the overall impact of attending college. Listen to the full podcast or read the transcript.
Reynolds began by addressing the key consideration of the ‘return on investment’, or ROI, for students and parents when making their choice to attend college, a college in New Jersey and, more specifically, an independent college. College choice is driven by multiple considerations, including whether a degree will enhance the opportunity for students to move on to successful careers in their chosen filed or profession. Reynolds emphasized that while college may not be the right choice for all students after high school, for those students who recognize the indisputable long-term earning opportunities that a college degree offers there is a growing need for colleges to both ensure and market that value proposition in order to counter what he believes is a misleading and counter-productive media and politically-driven narrative that questions whether college is worth the time and cost.
The second key issue discussed, student mental health, was a driving factor for Reynolds in deciding to take the ICUNJ President’s role in 2021. He noted the tragedies involving students at several New Jersey colleges before, during and after Covid, as well as the increasing number of students who have left school due to mental health challenges before obtaining their degrees and emphasized the need for schools and lawmakers to prioritize investment in student well-being and success. Reynolds was pleased to note that the ICUNJ institutions were the first group of schools in the nation to organize and host a statewide cohort conference – – the New Jersey Higher Education Student Mental Health Summit, now in its 4th year with an average of over 400 attendees annually from all 54 colleges and universities in the state.
The third critical issue that Dr. Van Horn and Reynolds addressed during the podcast was the need for our schools to focus on AI preparedness, due to its certain impact on workforce readiness. Reynolds stressed the need for colleges and universities to immediately assess and adapt their ciriccula and teaching methods in order to ensure that they are effectively preparing students for the ‘real world’ in the AI economy. He indicated that how each institution is able to adapt to this ‘game-changing’ AI dependent environment will determine whether they are properly addressing issue 1(A) – – i.e., the value proposition.
Additional topics were addressed through the prompting of Dr. Van Horn based on other topics in the news and relating to New Jersey’s business priorities.
ICUNJ expresses its gratitude to Rutgers University’s John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development and Dr. Van Horn for the opportunity to provide these perspectives on the continued value of higher education and the independent college sector.
