President's Blog

Owens is Ready to Respond to The Great Upheaval

As we prepare to start the 2022-2023 academic year, I am reminded of the vision that guides our direction and decision-making: as the premier two-year college in northwest Ohio, Owens Community College will be the first choice for students seeking career credentials and university transfer, and will be recognized as an indispensable partner for businesses, educational institutions, and community organizations.

A critical component of how we will remain the premier two-year college and the first choice for students in the future will be how we provide learner-centered instruction in a way that ensures educational equity and meets the demands of a knowledge-based economy.

At Owens, we strive to meet the needs of each student where they are. In doing so we must look at both our current context and look to the future to provide an education that is meaningful, efficient, outcome-based, and even time-independent, consider individualized programming, as well as a host of certifications, credentials and micro-credentials, that best serve our students and our region.

Our leadership team thought a great deal about these opportunities after reading The Great Upheaval: Higher Education’s Past, Present, and Uncertain Future by Arthur Levine and Scott J. Van Pelt. A description on Google Books says the book aims to answer the question: How will America’s colleges and universities adapt to remarkable technological, economic, and demographic change?

The book summarizes, as the description states, how “the intersecting forces of technological innovation, globalization, and demographic change create vast new challenges, opportunities, and uncertainties.” Ultimately, Levine and Van Pelt explore how higher education has become what it is today and how it might adapt as we face an uncertain and evolving future.

The ideas in the book present us with an opportunity to reflect on how the pandemic has accelerated the transformation in higher education and determine how to apply this learning here at Owens as we work together to create our new strategic plan this academic year.

Higher education remains the most reliable means to socio-economic mobility.  We need to actualize results from our evaluation of how to meet the needs of current and prospective students.  What are the emerging needs and how do we become poised to meet those needs in order to remain true to our vision to be the educator of choice.

Although there are many questions that still need to be answered, Owens already has many advantages. We offer certificates and workforce micro-credentials and have the ability to pivot quickly. In addition, we are investing in infrastructure, implementing a new Enterprise Resource Platform to move ahead in the IT and “Big Data” areas that will put us in a favorable position to facilitate data-informed decision-making even more.

The Great Upheaval discusses how higher education is more important than ever. The book facilitated meaningful dialogue on how Owens – and higher education as a whole – has operated in the past and what the future can hold. I can’t think of a better way to spend some time in the summer, especially leading up to strategic planning this fall.  Together we can continue to build a bright future for our students and our region.

Dione D. Somerville, Ed.D.
President