Higher ed institutions seek student, community input on programs to match evolving workplace needs

Listen to this article

Just as businesses must display an ability to adjust and adapt to changing technologies and consumer demands, so, too, must institutions of higher learning if they are to best prepare students to join the workforce.

That’s why area universities are continually altering curriculum and conferring with employers to ensure class offerings and experiential learning match the needs of the real world.

“We work hard to stay connected to local businesses,” said Laura Falco, dean of the School of Business at Roberts Wesleyan University. “We have a national business council, which has executives from all around the country, but a lot of them are local, and they are passionate about cultivating character-driven leaders.

“And we’re all about partnerships. It’s really what we’re using and leveraging for growth as a small, private school, to be able to offer versatile, flexible and broad programs that meet the needs of the students but also the employers.”

That’s why Roberts Wesleyan intends to introduce eight new majors that cater to student interests and also match workplace needs. The school is currently awaiting approval from New York State to implement the programs.

Rochester Institute of Technology relies on their co-op partners to ensure the next wave of graduates is fully prepared for what businesses need now. For students that were in the workforce spring semester, their employers are now providing feedback.

The goal is to ensure RIT students are ready to be productive the moment they join the workforce.

“We learn in real time what the market looking for, what the market is demanding,” said Maria Richart, director of career services and cooperative education at RIT. “Each of our departments have advisory boards, comprised of employers that are hiring RIT students, and we’re not afraid of changing. If in a certain cluster we start hearing from employers that our students need a specific course or something more, we can pivot and change immediately.”

But it’s very much a two-way street, with students offering their feedback as well following completion of their co-op.

“They might say, ‘Hey, I didn’t have enough courses in this,’ or ‘I used this different software but I didn’t get a course in that.’ Maybe this is something we really need to implement in our curriculum to meet the needs of what the market is asking for,” Richart said.

Nazareth University similarly uses collaboration with its real-world partners when it comes time to change.

“We don’t ever assume the community needs something,” said Maureen Finney, provost at Nazareth. “We ask, ‘What is it that you need and how do you think Naz could help fit that niche?’”

For many schools, altering curriculum means straying from the traditional path. Four years ago, St. John Fisher University shifted to a skills-based, learning outcomes-based curriculum. The belief is that graduates will be better prepared for what will be expected of them.

This spring’s graduating class is the first to complete their education under the new format.

“We call them the Fisher Outcomes,” said Kevin Railey, provost and vice president for academic affairs at St. John Fisher University. “The wide majority of schools have a general education curriculum where you take certain courses in social sciences, the humanities. We still have those, but our curriculum is framed around a skills-based curriculum that’s developmental over four years.

“No matter what their major is, they’re developing the skillsets that the workforce expects of them. Collaboration, inquiry and analysis, diversity, etc.”

Roberts Wesleyan also embraces providing students with a less-rigid course grid.

“It’s finding as much flexibility as you can and re-designing to see if there are ways to reduce some of the traditional credits to allow more space for customization in their majors, maybe adding another minor or some of the target areas that are going to make them more marketable,” said Jason Taylor, dean of the School of Natural & Social Science at Roberts.

Some alterations of student learning experience involve more intangible elements. Yes, the fundamentals of a particular major are critical, but so are life skills.

“Nazareth is really founded in our beloved attention to the liberal arts and the humanities,” Finney said. “Because of how our core is constructed, our students — regardless of major or discipline or passion — really learn what the workforce needs aside from discipline-specific knowledge: empathy, receptive and expressive communication skills, critical thinking, humility, all of those things that make you a valuable member of the workforce.”

It’s a belief shared by many schools. At St. John Fisher, Railey said applied learning, experiential learning and how classwork connects to the outside world is of paramount importance to the parents sending their children to school.

“Families are very concerned about the ROI (return on investment) of education and wondering what jobs their kids are going to do,” Railey said.

Ensuring a well-rounded educational experience — one that goes beyond just what can be learned in a textbook — helps ease the minds of parents.

“Ethical reasoning is something every student should get good at because no matter what field you are in, you’re going to be challenged with situations of ethics that you’re going to need to be able to think through,” Railey said. “Businesses say, ‘These are the kind of employees we want. Can they apply their learning to particular situations, can they make ethically sound decisions, can they work in a diverse workforce?’

“These are things that employers want people to be able to do well, so we’ve shaped a lot of what we do around those outcomes.”

Over the past five years, Fisher has added majors in sustainability, public health, cybersecurity and athletic performance, and starting in the spring of 2025 the first class in Rochester’s only nurse doctoral anesthetist program will begin studies.

“At Fisher we’re constantly looking at how is the world of work changing,” Railey said. “These are things that are emerging in our society, in our economy, that provide really good opportunities for students.”

[email protected]/(585) 653-4020