We have had a robust week of “big bets” updates, including at the Wednesday, February 12th faculty meeting and at the Thursday, February 13th staff meeting for the Student and Academic Life (SAL) division. 

The faculty meeting update on “big bets” was led by a group of faculty serving on our Coordinating Group–a big thank you to Carri LeRoy, Karen Gaul, Kevin Francis, and others for putting together a robust discussion and activity centered around all (500+!) ideas received thus far.  I hope to post to the website the presentation they put together as soon as I receive it–stay tuned. (Edit: the first iteration of the data presentation is available here. Enjoy!)

The SAL staff meeting was another great opportunity to engage our community in the “big bets” process.  Co-chairs Jen Drake and Larry Geri offered process updates, we reviewed the website, and we invited attendees into an activity focused on supporting two populations of potential student populations: “career starters” and “career accelerators” (taken from The Differentiated University). Career starters are 18-24 year old students focused on their professional lives who view colleges as a “stepping stone.”  Career accelerators are working adult students who believe college credentials will improve their chances of obtaining higher paying jobs. 

Pictures below are the answers generated by SAL staff participants to the question “what are your BEST ideas for supporting” career starters (orange paper) and career accelerators (green paper).