The Digital Experience Initiative aims to increase recruitment, add value to degrees, and prepare students for digital transformation through cutting-edge tools and certifications. It seeks to enhance the student experience with real-world projects, industry partnerships, and an interdisciplinary approach. This would help connect companies with qualified applicants, boost the university's marketing, and generate revenue through recruitment, industry contracts, and Adobe certifications. The goal is to deliver career-building skills and outcomes through experiential learning opportunities.
2. DIGITAL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE portfolios
recruiting
revenue-producing industry partnerships
interdisciplinary collaborations
research collaboration
brand storytelling platform
digital pubs & apps
public-facing work
enhanced marketing & asset resources
curriculum enhancement
ROI
grant writing platform
critical thinking
certifications
continuing ed
more
MARKETING
ADMINISTRATION
ACADEMIC
3. CHALLENGES
Increase recruitment without shifting budget, staffing, and resources away from education
Add more value to degree by giving students opportunities to test skills on real projects
Prepare students for digital transformation in any industry with cutting-edge tools and certifications
Help companies connect with qualified applicants that have real-world experience
Enhance university marketing resources
8. Education DIVE 2018
EDU TRENDS
1. Blurred lines: nonprofit and for-profit
providers create new business models
2. Student experience is key
3. Re-imagining physical campus space
and “device neutral” learning
4. More unbundling and micro-
credentials
5. +40% students are +24yrs old
9. Alumni
Relations, Career
& Credential
Management
College
Recruitment,
Admissions &
Enrollment
Financial Aid,
Budget & Part-
Time Work
Degree Planning,
Coaching &
Advising
Student &
Residence Life &
Extracurricular
Engagement
Post-graduation
Planning &
Placement
Formal &
Informal
Learning &
Learning Spaces
Personalized
Student
Experience
EDU TRENDSBy 2021 more than 50% of higher
education institutions will be
redesigning their student
experience with the goal of making
it more integrated and personalized
§ Declining overall enrollments but online, non-
traditional and diversity enrollments will grow
§ Funding tied to student success and satisfaction
§ Students rising expectations for personalization
driven by forces outside education
§ Holistic approach to education experiences
become the norm
Gartner 2017: Future of the Student Experience is Personal
14. Large employers like IBM,
IDEO and Cisco are
spearheading initiatives to
hire T-shaped professionals
EAB Research: Creating T-Shaped Professionals: Design
thinking business programs & second bachelor degrees for
career starters (2014)
why experience matters
15. More colleges should expose students to real-world
work while still in the shelter of the college
experience…
Chronicle of Higher Education: Want a College Experience that Matters? Get to Work. (July 2014).
why experience matters
16. ”…for the things we have to learn before we can
do them, we learn by doing them”
-Aristotle
Nicomachean Ethics 350BC
why experience matters
17. “Do not fear mistakes. There are none.”
-Miles Davis
why experience matters
18. Improv: Athletes and artists get “out of their head”
and “in the zone” because they:
• Practice, practice, practice
• Focus on processes, not the outcome
• Allow stress and butterflies to fuel
Forbes (2018) Four Reasons to take Improv Class – Asghar
why experience matters
19. More colleges should expose students to real-world
work while still in the shelter of the college
experience…
Chronicle of Higher Education: Want a College Experience that Matters? Get to Work. (July 2014).
why experience matters
20. Internships/active-learning and employment during
school are the two most important factors to employers
in their hiring decisions
Chronicle of Higher Education, American Public Media’s Marketplace. (December, 2012). The Role of Higher
Education in Career Development: Employer Perceptions.
why experience matters
21. By coupling a field-specific skill set with the soft skills
that form the foundation of a liberal education, liberal
arts graduates can nearly double the number of jobs
available to them
Burning Glass Technologies Whitepaper (2013). The Art of Employment: How Liberal Arts
Graduates Can Improve their Labor Market Prospects
why experience matters
22. By 2020, companies like Accenture estimate
intensified use in digital technologies could add
$1.36 trillion to the global economy
Digital Marketing Institute 2017
employment trends
23. 77% of companies considered missing digital skills as
the key hurdle to digital transformation
Capgemini-MIT Study: The Digital Talent Gap: Developing Skills for Today’s
Digital Organization (2013)
employment trends
24. Only 8% of tested marketers had even
entry level digital marketing skills
Digital Marketing Institute 2017
employment trends
31. Baked in multiple courses
(Creative & Experience Clouds)
Industry Talent
Pipeline
Project-based
collaboration
LEARNING ACTIVATION
Combine classroom and real experiences
32. Media + Communication
Bluegrass & Old Time Country
Medical Professions
Creative Arts Scholarships
LEARNING ACTIVATION
Campus organizations are “labs” providing real project experiences
34. Forrester Research (2016) Invest In The Next-Generation Technology Skills Required For Digital Business
Colleges and universities East Tennessee State
University (ETSU)
Northeastern University
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
Educators can partner with
businesses to apply teachings to a
vertical or with vendors to
provide deep knowledge of a
digital product set.
outcomes
39. DIGITAL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE portfolios
recruiting
revenue-producing industry partnerships
interdisciplinary collaborations
research collaboration
brand storytelling platform
digital pubs & apps
public-facing work
enhanced marketing & asset resources
curriculum enhancement
ROI
grant writing platform
critical thinking
certifications
continuing ed
more
MARKETING
ADMINISTRATION
ACADEMIC