LVAIC Concludes 50th Anniversary by Looking Ahead for Higher Education

December 13, 2019, @ 10:49 AM

In order to commemorate 50 years of collaboration, the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges hosted a year-long learning series regarding the future of higher education. The sixth and final event in this series took place on Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at Lehigh University. The focus of this event was next steps for the future of higher education and featured higher education futurist, consultant, speaker, and educator, Bryan Alexander.

This series has covered a range of topics, including Tomorrow’s Student: Generation Z, Demography in Higher Education, Access and Affordability: Flipping the Conversation, Exploring Campus Economics: What’s My Role?, Community Expectations & Perceptions of Higher Education, and Next Steps for the Future of Higher Education. Each program covered a different aspect of the changing landscape of higher education and offered attendees the opportunity to learn about industry trends, challenges, and opportunities. It also offered several workshops for cross-institutional, cross-functional faculty and staff to brainstorm and explore solutions to better prepare for these changes in the Lehigh Valley and on small private campuses.

These programs hosted nationally-recognized speakers and consultants who offered their expertise to faculty and staff across the LVAIC community. These presenters included:

• Nicole Loyd, Vice President for Student Affairs & Dean of Students, Moravian College
• Nathan Grawe, PhD, Professor of Economics, Carleton College; Author, Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education
• Martin Kurzweil, Director of the Educational Transformation Program, Ithaka S+R
• Carl J. Strikwerda, Professor of History and President, Elizabethtown College
• Robyn Piggott, Chief of Staff, Franklin & Marshall College
• Cornell B. LeSane, Vice President of Enrollment and Dean of Admissions, Allegheny College
• Jacalyn A Askin, Senior Fellow for Finance and Campus Management, National Association of College and University Business Officers
• Allan Chen, Chief Information Officer, Muhlenberg College
• Annette Diorio, EdD, Vice President for Campus Life, Lafayette College
• Audra J. Kahr, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer, Cedar Crest College
• Douglas Mahony, Associate Professor of Management, Lehigh University
• Mark Reed, Vice President for Finance & Administration & Chief Financial Officer, Moravian College
• Amy K. S. Scott, PhD, Associate Professor, DeSales University
• Susan Snyder, Higher Education Writer, Philadelphia Inquirer
• Congresswoman Susan Wild, Representative, Pennsylvania’s 7th District
• Calley Stevens-Taylor, Dean of Student Success, Cedar Crest College
• Bryan Alexander, Futurist, Researcher, Writer, Speaker, Consultant, and Teacher

The last session in this series offered a culmination of these topics, highlighting the ways campuses must adapt to ensure student success based on the needs and dynamics of future students. Alexander shared ways in which every area of campus will be impacted while offering ways in which these departments can change to meet these challenges.

This year-long series hosted nearly 400 unique faculty and staff from across the LVAIC community and offered an opportunity to celebrate fifty years of collaborating as a consortium while exploring ways to collaborate even more effectively in the future. As a continuation of LVAIC’s mission to make its strong and independent member institutions stronger through collaboration. Facing these challenges together will allow the LVAIC community to remain flexible and better meet the needs of the future of higher education. To learn more about the series and LVAIC’s fiftieth anniversary, visit the series website here.

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