Higher education leaders must “invest in curricula and the systems that support and manage them,” if our institutions are to compete successfully in today’s global education marketplace, said plenary speaker Michael Dolence, president of Michael G. Dolence & Associates.

The developments of the 21st century that are already having a significant impact on higher education include the exploding (100 million person) adult learning market, internet connectivity, global communications, technological innovations, and a new generation of learners who “don’t know what a card catalog is and don’t do research in libraries.” These and other basic forces, Dolence maintained, are presenting both challenges and opportunities for higher education.

“Clearly a new age is upon us,” he said. “With 127 million individuals in the learning market today—including 17 million in higher education and 8 million attending college part-time—it’s obvious that people know how important learning is. But the traditional college curriculum is inadequate and is not designed to teach today’s learners.” For example, he said the current three-credit course system is not rational or justifiable. “We made it up. It has served us well because we didn’t have to deal with the forces we face today…. The lines between credit and noncredit coursework…grew fuzzy long ago.”

In addition, new open market rules are driving the need for change in curricula, which now must compete globally, Dolence said. “Educational programs, materials, and processes and how they are valued in the marketplace are changing.... Our nation’s economic vitality is dependent upon learning, and therefore education policy is being challenged, with the focus shifting from the state’s domain to a national and international focus. Curriculum drivers are shifting from the sole purview of the faculty to outcomes demand and market-driven forces….Learners are exposed to a wider array of choices and options. Our networked society means that change can and will spread much faster. Everyone’s connected; is learning going to hold back?”

Commercial learning enterprises are also driving the need for change. Dolence noted that IBM offers a program where learning (not training) is the central focus; the University of Phoenix develops curricula to meet demand and has been hugely successful (annual earnings rose from $769 million in 2003 to $2.2 billion in 2005); and Thompson Publishing now derives 66 percent of its revenues from electronic products, software, and services.

All these factors are leading to “changes in learning behavior and expectations, as well as a fundamental redesign of how learning is designed and delivered,” Dolence said, adding that curricular innovation and transformation will be necessary. He called for a fresh view of academic strategies, built around a formal curriculum architecture, enabled by an integrated learning management system, and supported by a fully aligned assessment strategy. “Significant investments in curriculum and the systems that support and manage them,” are necessary, Dolence said, citing three inexorable realities: “curriculum drives enrollment, enrollment drives revenue, revenue drives everything else.” He concluded, “curriculum that is not in revision is in decline.”