Higher education is adapting to a new world co-existing with COVID-19... just like everything else.
Eureka College president Dr. Jamel Wright says in many ways, the pandemic forced them to accelerate initiatives already in the works to attract and retain students.
She talks with Tim Shelley about how Eureka College is pivoting to meet the challenges of the times:
DR. JAMEL WRIGHT: The pandemic has affected us in a lot of ways that have made things more challenging, of course. But I will say that it has definitely expedited some of the changes that were already on the horizon for Eureka College. And I would expect for a lot of institutions of higher education.
So in terms of challenges, of course, the financial challenges that students face have gotten significantly more difficult. A lot of students themselves who work multiple jobs had some issues, their families losing life, a lot of families, to COVID has made things a lot more challenging for our students.
And I think just the worry and concern and anxiety, the mental health issues that have increased significantly. We were in higher education, and Eureka no different, already seeing an uptick in mental health issues, where we were expanding our mental health resources on campus before COVID. COVID has added significantly to the mental health issues.
We had already seen a lot of students who are struggling financially before COVID. And now with COVID, again, that has been further complicated. And I think just having students creating a good path and a good experience for them, we pride ourselves on being able to have that uniquely Eureka experience that is a high quality experience for students giving them a well-rounded experience with expanding their horizon on things, expanding that funnel for them of things they're able to participate in. And that's been very challenging to do, of course, in the midst of COVID. Some of the co-curricular activities, of course, we've had to limit them, or work around that, pretty significantly. And I think that's been a big challenge for students too. Because that's such a big part of their experience. And, of course, in the classroom.
TIM SHELLEY: And going on to the the testing front. I understand Eureka College is not only testing within the campus community, (but) you're doing it for wider Woodford County.
We are, we are. We have been very fortunate. I will tell you Woodford County Health (Department), Carle Eureka - so those are our two closest partners; they have been absolutely amazing.
Throughout this entire pandemic, we've all been kind of building the plane as we're flying it. And they have been amazing. And so that with the help of them, we were able to do some things last year, with a partnership with SHIELD Illinois, we were able to provide some testing also last year. And now we have a new partner called Loop Medical out of the Chicagoland area, who is able to be on campus a couple of days a week. We're able to provide testing for all of our campus community, as you said, and to the broader community. So we're really, really pleased to serve in that way to serve our region in that way. And Loop Medical has been wonderful to work with as well as SHIELD Illinois prior to them. So we will continue to have testing into the spring semester, as well.
And one thing I've talked to President Standifird about here at Bradley quite a bit is this fear in higher education of an "enrollment cliff" coming in a couple years. Is that something you think about Eureka College as well? And what's your strategy for that?
Oh, yes, absolutely. We all knew the cliff initially was set to hit us around 2025. And I think most of us and other experts believe that that cliff will come a little sooner, and that COVID has helped with that. So yes, we at Eureka College, I definitely believe that there is such a cliff coming, for all of the data that we have to support that. And this is where I think COVID, (we) talked about accelerating some you know, possibilities and opportunities and making us be more creative. So we've we were focusing already on being more nimble, have to have that with COVID.
But also, when you think about this cliff that's coming, we've got to be more nimble, we have to be better listeners, because the demographic of students is changing dramatically. And what their needs are has changed dramatically, even in a short period of time. And then COVID on top of that has also led to some changes of what students need. And then we have to be better economic development partners, and making sure that we are look focusing on workforce gaps, and helping to close those gaps not only across the region, but across the state in the case of Eureka College.
So we rolled out several years before COVID, the 10 Essentials curriculum, and we've continued to build upon that 10 Essentials curriculum, because it focuses on transferable skills. It's not the standard traditional gen-ed program that people try and get out of the way quickly so they can focus on what they love. We've created other opportunities for love and passion within the general education curriculum, and at the same time providing those transferable skills that employers need, because we know that there's a half-life of skills right now, and technology is a big part of that.
And so a lot of what's happening with this cliff is not just about demographics in terms of people not having children several years ago, but it's also because of the challenges to higher education and whether or not people want to pursue bachelor's degrees; whether or not they want to pursue college at all.
And there's still all the reason in the world to do that. And we're providing programs, and we're creating degree completion avenues, and we're creating, putting around putting additional wraparound support services in place to ensure that we create those alternatives for students who may not want what once was a traditional four year college experience.
So those are the kinds of things that we're doing, and then being better economic development partners. There's a huge regional workforce effort here, right here in the Peoria area. And all of our institutions are working together to an extent and are at the table, including Illinois Central College, Bradley, Eureka, where we all come together collectively, on several projects.
And Eureka in particular, we are really working with the GPEAK that has grown over the last few years. It aligns very well with our 10 Essentials. We're the pilot, the only bachelor's degree granting institution that's a pilot for that. And that's a reason, because we want to make sure that the focus on outcomes, which is what students want, is what our focus is as well, being able to position them best to leave fulfilling and successful lives, career growth, and those things moving forward as they matriculate toward graduation.
So we are focused on that cliff. And we have some very specific strategies that we think will attract more students, and also help them to get through Eureka College with their bachelor's degree by following whatever path is right for them.
