If we had only one sentence to describe our work, it is this: We fix broken systems in higher education, in partnership with postsecondary leaders from states, institutions, and nonprofit organizations.
The key to our work is this systems thinking approach. We compare a system’s desired results with its actual outcomes, and work to align them. As with any system, those who were disproportionately harmed by it will likely benefit more when that system is redesigned, but we do not operate on beliefs about who a system is helping or harming - we follow the data.
And since we follow the data, we cannot do this work effectively without a certain amount of customization and differentiation, which includes the following:
We center learnings from data that are disaggregated, so that leaders understand the impact their systems have on various populations.
We design intentional methods for students to share their experiences and perspectives to help us diagnose why systems are getting different results than intended.
We encourage and support states and institutions to customize their approach, ensuring system reforms work within the context of each partner’s mission, history, and students.
We prioritize support for lower-resourced institutions, including community colleges and minority-serving institutions.
We develop innovative approaches to serving institutions, working to eliminate any barriers to secure the support we provide.
We work within a proven theory of change that embraces higher education reform as a people-centric process: driven by teams of individuals, each of whom has valuable personal and professional experiences and perspectives.
We also think that it is important to be clear about things we do not do. These are things we do not do because they are not part of our operating model:
We do not work on enrollment management systems that determine who gets into college - only the systems that serve students once they are admitted.
We do not assist with human resources operations such as recruiting, hiring, and routine training of faculty or other personnel.
We do not directly work with students to help them prepare for or apply to colleges.
We do not engage in partisan political activities.
And these are things we do not do, because they are inconsistent with our mission and values:
We do not support institutions in any efforts to dilute academic standards or learning outcomes in order to improve success rates.
We do not change systems to benefit faculty or administrators if those changes make things more difficult for students.
We do not make assumptions about the motivations or intentions of the people who created or informed systems in the past.
We look forward to 2025 as a year of new partnerships, continued relationships, and exciting opportunities to continue to fix broken systems and expand our impact, institution by institution, toward a student-ready world.
Comentarios