Changing Higher Ed ELEVATE program: Achievement Strategies from Illinois Tech
Higher education leaders who want to increase inclusion while maintaining affordability at their campus can emulate the actions of the Illinois Institute of Technology. By following three core principles, Illinois Tech has ranked first in the state for people it has successfully moved from the bottom 20th percentile of household income to the upper 20th percentile.
Illinois Tech is also one of just 88 institutions named an American Talent Initiative ‘High-Flier’ by the Aspen Talent Institute and Bloomberg Philanthropies for ensuring college access and success. Moreover, Illinois Tech’s employment rate is 92% six months after graduation, even when 37% of its students receive Pell Grants.
In this episode of Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with President Raj Echambadi of the Illinois Institute of Technology about the four principles that have allowed Illinois Tech to experience so much success. They include boosting inclusion through experiential learning opportunities, providing more pathways for students, and embracing digital education.
Podcast Highlights
- Illinois Tech pairs technology education with human-centered education by mandating experiential learning opportunities. These include not only students learning from faculty but also students learning from each other and faculty learning from students.
- Because of how the public perceives higher ed, institutions must provide different pathways for students to receive an education. This involves no longer thinking of students as a monolith that can benefit from a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, institutions must think about individual student groups and look at their different needs and motivations to develop more effective value propositions.
- For example, after learning that students were concerned about affordability, Illinois Tech partnered with the local community college system, the City Colleges of Chicago, to create an innovative program. Students can now spend their first year at City Colleges to take post-secondary courses at community college prices while living on the Illinois Tech campus. They can also join student organizations and participate in activities at Illinois Tech. This not only addresses affordability but boosts a sense of belonging for students.
- For its student-centered approach, Illinois Tech has been asked to join REP4 Rapid Education Prototyping, which is an alliance of like-minded institutions that devise strategies by learners for learners. It is a bottom-up orientation, where the learners design and dictate the learning strategy. At the same time, it becomes the job of educational leaders to make sure that those strategies get implemented so their learners remain empowered.
- Illinois Tech embraces a hybrid model due to student demand and to increase accessibility for those who work full-time jobs, for example. Before joining Illinois Tech, Raj developed and launched the first scaled online MBA program in partnership with Coursera at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. That program happens to be the largest online program in the world. Ten percent of all online MBAs in the United States come from the university.
About Our Podcast Guest
Raj Echambadi, the 10th president of Illinois Institute of Technology, is steering the institution towards preeminence by prioritizing economic mobility, accessible education, human-centered technologists, and purposeful citizenship. Collaborating with university leaders, he has launched the groundbreaking ELEVATE program, which offers experiential learning, personalized mentorship, and job readiness, resulting in remarkable enrollment growth and recognition as an ATI High-Flier institution by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Echambadi's previous role as dean of the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University and his involvement in pioneering online education further underscore his transformative vision.
About the Host
Dr. Drumm McNaughton, the host of Changing Higher Ed®, is a consultant to higher ed institutions in governance, accreditation, strategy and change, and mergers. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website: https://changinghighered.com/.
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