The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) Institute recently hosted a virtual “Higher Education Leadership Symposium” based on a new white paper — developed by TIAA in collaboration with EY-Parthenon — that spoke to the future of operating models and student success at higher ed institutions, given the financial constraints of COVID-19.
“In every crisis lies opportunity,” stated Stephanie Bell-Rose, senior managing director and head of the TIAA Institute.
And though the world is moving faster because of COVID-19, Dr. Christina Cutlip, senior managing director for the institutional financial services division of TIAA, questioned whether the acceleration would be a “true disrupter” in higher ed.
An array of higher education leaders from liberal arts colleges and flagship public universities at the symposium tried answering that question, sharing how their institutions have continued to adapt to the COVID-19 crisis.
Dr. David Anderson, president of St. Olaf College, explained that when St. Olaf’s campus shut down, some roles had to change in order to fit the needs of the crisis at hand.
For that reason, the university requested that the person who managed campus events — and the person who coordinated alumni travel — “team up.”
“It turns out that the skills you need to be excellent at events and managing travel are the same ones that make you an excellent manager of contact tracing,” said Anderson.
