Authors of “15 Fall Scenarios” to Speak at Graduate and Online Innovation Summit

The authors of the widely read “15 Fall Scenarios” blog published in Inside Higher Education this past spring will be the keynote speakers at RNL’s first annual virtual Graduate and Online Innovation Summit on February 23. Josh Kim of Dartmouth and Eddie Maloney from Georgetown are regular contributors to the Learning Innovation blog in addition to their “day jobs” leading the expansion of online learning at their institutions.

After more than 300,000 downloads of the “15 Fall Scenarios” blog—and as the full extent of the pandemic’s impact on higher education became clearer this summer—Eddie and Josh set about expanding the blog post into a book designed to help institutions plan for the future. The result was The Low–Density University: 15 Scenarios for Higher Education.

One of the unifying themes of the original blog as well as the expanded book is that successful institutions will need to excel at lower density—fewer people on campus, fewer people in lecture halls, fewer people in residence and dining halls—for some time to come. Among the questions discussed in the book (and to be delved into at the Summit) are:

1. How could changing the academic calendar impact student success?
2. How could moving to a hybrid model impact teaching and learning?
3. What opportunities are available to institutions that migrate some coursework permanently to online modality?
4. How can institutions be better prepared for future flair ups or the next “big thing”?
5. How should institutions make good decisions in an ever-shifting environment?

I spoke with Josh and Eddie this summer to discuss the emergence of the low-density university, and that discussion laid the seed for their participation in the Graduate and Online Innovation Summit. The Summit will use RNL’s state-of-the-art virtual meeting platform to allow for real-time questions from attendees, affording the opportunity to pick the brains of two of the greatest minds in institutional innovation.

Panel discussion on diversifying revenue streams

The Summit will open with a panel discussion on themes related to “Diversifying Revenue Streams by Expanding Online, Graduate and Adult Programs.” The panel will include a president, a provost, a CFO, a CMO, and a dean, promising that each issue (or question posed by the audience) will get a 360-degree analysis from these key institutional leaders.

The Summit will also include breakout sessions designed to cater to the specific needs of two important focus audiences:

• marketing/enrollment leaders
• academic leaders

As we plan every session, we ask our speakers to ensure that they leave attendees with tips, tactics, and strategies that can be experimented with as soon as they leave the event. With this in mind, we know that attendees will return to “campus” (or wherever they are doing their work daily) energized and ready to take the next step toward success.

Register now so you can hear more from the authors of “15 Fall Scenarios”

Registrations are open now, and the amount of insights and food for thought from Eddie and Josh alone will be worth the price of admission—not to mention the rest of the presenters, sessions, and content we will share. I hope you will join us in February.