Donald M. Norris is a prolific SCUP author who is the recipient of SCUP's Distinguished Service Award. Linda Bar is a current member of SCUP's Board of Directors and Senior Vice Chancellor, Academic & Student Affairs, Minnesota State Colleges & Universities System Office. Even as we conducted this interview, Linda was preparing to take on a new, national role with the Gates Foundation.

I conducted an email interview about the SCUP-45 workshop they are presenting all day on Saturday, July 10, in Minneapolis, Re-Imagining Higher Education, Post-Recession. Space is still available. Here's the interview, after merging responses and editing:

Terry Calhoun: In May I was pleased to be able attend your Second National Symposium on Action Analytics, which focused on using analytics to improve student access, affordability, and success and to achieve financial sustainability, post-recession.

Is your workshop on reimagining higher education, mostly about analytics and planning?

Don Norris/Linda Baer: Analytics are necessary, but not sufficient, to reimagining higher education, post-recession.  The new generation of action analytics enables institutional leaders to align strategies, actions, outcomes, and responsibilities as never before.  It supports the alignment of the processes of planning, execution of strategy, and capacity building necessary to achieve breakthrough strategies.  

But the real challenges are how to deal with elevated expectations and diminished resources over the next few years. We need to redirect institutional planning processes and change initiatives to go beyond efficiency measures to achieving fresh innovation and enhance academic and administrative productivity.

Calhoun: Why is reimagination and reinvention necessary? Is this recession different than earlier ones?

Norris/Baer: Yes. The data from SHEEO demonstrate that the deficits facing states will be deeper than previous recessions, will last longer, and that there will be no bouncing back to normal like after the recessions of the past 30 years. The new normal will be diminished state appropriates, on average about 20% down over the next three years. This will require institutions not just to muddle through, but to reimagine themselves for the new normal.

Calhoun: How long will this take? Is their real urgency and a short time frame?

Norris/Baer: There is no magic date, but many observors feel that if higher education hasn’t established genuine financial sustainability through reinvention by 2020, we will have missed our chance to shape our future. Others will do it for us.

This is a multi-year campaign not a single quick fix in response to mid-year budget cuts. It begins with establishing the need for establishing a sustainable vision for 2020 – financially, programmatically, organizational, and politically.  We expect that institutions will need to use the 2010-2013 period to launch processes of reimagination and reinvention, then progressively redirect their energies so that by 2020 they have leveraged innovations, achieved greater levels of academic and administrative productivity, fresh revenues, and an appreciation for the value propositions required in the new normal.  This is a tall order, but we cannot escape the implications of the times.

Calhoun: Who's doing this right, right now? Anyone?

Norris/Baer:  On most campuses, leadership understands the dire nature of these challenges, but their import has not penetrated into the faculty and junior staff, many of whom expect the traditional post-recession rebound.  Just this week, Jim Duderstadt was talking at the Woodrow Wilson Institute of International Scholars about the necessary reinvention of research universities in response to these times.

Our workshop will offer up many examples of existing initiatives that can be redirected and accelerated to achieve this ends.  But most institutions have focused on incremental change, achieving efficiencies, and similar measures that were adequate for 2007, but fall way short of today and tomorrow’s needs.  And many institutions have muddled through the past two years, cutting opportunistically, eliminating innovation, hoping for the best, and continuing to increase tuition to close the gap between resources and needs. This is not sustainable.

Calhoun:  SCUP workshops are developed to provide takeaway tools and practices. What will attendees take home from your workshop?

Norris/Baer: The workshop assesses what many leading institutions are doing, and suggests a full set of processes and initiatives that build on those practices and go much farther in exploring academic and learning innovations, administrative innovations, revenues innovations and enhancements, and tools and structures to ensure innovation.  We also offer a working paper developed by Dr. Richard Byyny, Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Colorado and Donald Norris on “Principles for Change in Response to the Financial Crisis in Higher Education.” We give people a new vision set, perspective set, tool set, skill set, process set, and culture set for dealing with these challenges.

Calhoun: Engagement and interaction is also a big feature of SCUP workshop[s. How does yours engage participants?

Norris/Baer: In the workshop we will divide up into breakout groups for R1 public universities, comprehensive public universities, community colleges, and private institutions.  Each group is given a specific scenario requiring reimagination over a three- year period and execution/capacity building over a longer period.  Then we spend two hours working through the processes, initiatives, tools and approaches that would be needed to bring such an approach to the different settings and reporting on results to the group.  We will also discuss the analytics and process support mechanism necessary for these efforts.

Calhoun: I understand from the symposium that you also have a great place on line to continue the conversation?

Norris/Baer:  Yes, the Action Analytics Community of Practice/Public Forum on Action Analytics will have a Wiki dedicated to “Reimagining Higher Education Post Recession”, where resources will be posted and ongoing conversations engaged on regarding these issues. 

Calhoun: The classic question: Who should join you at this workshop?

Norris/Baer:  If you are from an R1 university, comprehensive university, community college or private colleges and university and want to find out how to redirect your existing planning and budgeting processes and academic innovations to deal with the challenge of reimagining your institution for 2020, this is the workshop for you.  

Calhoun: Don, Linda, thank you for your time. I know you are both terribly busy, and that Linda's headed to a new position with national exposure. Best of luck with that, Linda, and I'll see you both in Minneapolis!

Find out more about this workshop and get registered soon before it fills up: Re-Imagining Higher Education, Post-Recession.