Covid is accelerating digital transformation of education
A conversation with Caroline Levander (Mar 9, 2021)
By John Mitchell and Maxwell Bigman (Decade Ahead Project)
“We just celebrated our one-year anniversary yesterday,” says Caroline Levander, a Professor of English and the Vice President for Global and Digital Strategy at Rice University. “On Sunday March 9, 2020 we sent out an email telling everyone to take a longer spring break. We thought that if we gave an extra long spring break we would figure it out.” Sitting comfortably in her Houston office in March 2021, just weeks after a catastrophic Texas storm knocked out electricity and water for days, Caroline talks about how Rice has changed and how Rice is planning for the future. She says, “We have a story in our minds that come August, we will be back. We know what our script is through August. I imagine that when I walk across campus in the fall, I will see other people.” We all laugh at how surreal it is to see other people wandering freely. “However, the end point of the larger story is not August. Many changes will continue over the next five years, or longer.” What changes in the university has the pandemic set in motion, and where will they lead over the decade ahead?
Levander joined the Rice faculty in 2001. She writes on American culture and teaches undergraduates and graduates in the English department. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Inside Higher Ed, Business Insider, and Forbes; she is currently writing a book entitled Undisciplined: Science and the Power of the Humanities in the 21st Century. In her university leadership role, Prof Levander develops and oversees Rice’s expanding international strategy, program development, and the coordination of international activities across the university. Rice’s expanding scope now reaches Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa, increasingly through strategic use of digital technologies. Rice Online Learning, under her direction, supports new degrees and the transformation of face-to-face courses to online and hybrid modalities.
Caroline highlights a number of key shifts from the past year that are worth keeping when we are able to return to campus. Reflecting on her academic colleagues, Caroline tells us that even after students return to campus, many faculty may want to teach remotely. “My humanities colleagues have been surprised by the pedagogical opportunities of teaching online and actually feel that the classroom experience is a better one online.” For an English class discussing a text, “screen sharing is far more powerful than asking everyone to turn to the same page in their books. Especially if not everyone has the same edition.” The possibilities for remote learning begs a number of interesting questions: “what percentage of our curriculum do we want to deliver online? What is a manageable percentage that does not sacrifice quality? What will students accept or demand?” How might some departments lead the university into greater use of online courses and programs, while others find in-person experiences more central to their experience?
“My humanities colleagues have been surprised by the pedagogical opportunities of teaching online and actually feel that the classroom experience is a better one online.”
The appeal of remote work has reached the point where “we’re addressing questions that are new, such as: will employees have a residency requirement?” Without the need to physically be on campus, Caroline asks, “how do we source workforce?” Where might universities find instructor talent? Thinking beyond faculty, Caroline leads our conversation in the direction of enterprise transformation. For career services, Caroline suggests we are “hampered by a staff that is sourced locally” while it could be better for everyone to have staff strategically placed around the world.
The implications of remote possibilities extend well beyond workforce talent to the nature of campus life: “How do we think about the physical plant, when we have an expensive campus that is underutilized?” Pondering the balance between on-campus and online learning, Caroline provocatively asks, “What do faculty need a campus for, if not a classroom?” We discuss this question and gravitate toward research activities, lab space, collegial interaction and collaboration. In particular, Caroline observes that “our graduate students have really suffered. I feel for MBA students, who come here to meet others on campus.” Speculating for the moment, Caroline suggests that perhaps, ”Brick and mortar could be dedicated to research support for faculty who need it. For those of who don’t, our footprint on campus could be very different.” Stretching our imagination and taking us even farther into the future, Prof Levander asks if we can “imagine a world where universities remake their physical space to focus on research” while pursuing teaching locally, nationally and internationally by combinations of in-person and remote activities. Our conversation turns to long-term questions about the future of universities in general. We hear that Caroline and her colleagues are reflecting on the “question of mission and self-understanding as a high-touch residential education experience.” She pointedly asks, “Are we a local business, a national business or an international business?”
“Are we a local business, a national business or an international business?”
Turning our attention to the student experience, beyond the impact of personal isolation and online learning, we reflect on how the broader societal shifts and trends will mold the future of university life. “What will student culture look like in response to cultural shifts, namely BLM?,” Caroline asks, referring to the strength and vitality of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. Thinking of Rice in particular, she reflects on the University’s efforts to address its segregationist past and asks, “How will the institutional history of Rice and other universities fare in the minds of students?” Continuing her thoughts, she adds, “I see universities as part museum and part startup.” It’s important to ask where different universities fall along that spectrum. For many universities, she sees the history of the institution as a form of “museum [that] often contains an archive that contains a history of racism.” How will that shifting posture influence how students approach universities?
Concluding on an optimistic note, Caroline speaks to the positive effects that emerged from the past year. Perhaps surprisingly, department meetings have become much more polite online. “Now we start faculty meetings with someone sharing their favorite poem. That brings people together.” Beyond the cultural shifts, she sees new opportunities for future students: “We’ve made the SAT optional — do we need to go back?” Indeed, Caroline’s question might hold the key to what changes are on the horizon for higher education. After a year of incredible innovation, agility and creativity, perhaps leaders might shift their focus from what going back will look like to the more poignant question: “do we need to go back?”
