Bay Path Launches Monthly Webinar Series Confronting Change in Higher Education
LONGMEADOW — Bay Path University announced the launch of a monthly webinar series bringing the concept of ‘leading-edge thinking’ to a deep examination of the future of higher education.
The series will open Thursday, Oct. 29 with a presentation titled “The Human Side of Innovation: Finding Joy and Meaning in Everyday Life and Work.” Presented by Elaine Dundon, bestselling author and founder of the Global Meaning Institute, it will explore the search for meaning in the context of widespread change and discuss how innovation can bring us forward as we embark upon a new normal for post-pandemic life.
The webinar series was developed by Bay Path’s Center for Higher Education Leadership and Innovative Practices (CHELIP) to further the discourse and confront the challenges surrounding the upheaval of traditional higher education.
“The higher-education sector is being transformed at a rapid and dramatic pace, creating demand for fresh, creative perspectives that can address the needs and aspirations of modern-day students and the institutions that serve them,” said Melissa Morriss-Olson, founding director of CHELIP and Bay Path’s doctoral program in Higher Education Leadership and Organizational Studies. “Through forums such as this new ‘leading-edge thinking in higher ed’ webinar series, CHELIP will cultivate and explore these new perspectives and serve as a guide for innovation and transformation in higher ed, actions so greatly needed by leaders today and in the future.”
Morriss-Olson imagines the series will best serve higher-education professionals looking for new approaches and models to help confront the sector’s pressing issues and challenges, but she also believes anyone who cares about the future of higher education, including college and university board members, parents, alumni, and donors, would be intrigued by its content.
“There is much to be learned from how the business world has used innovative thinking and entrepreneurial strategies to forge new paths,” she noted. “Given the unique organizational structures and missions at most colleges and universities, the challenge lies in learning and borrowing from other industries and making that learning fit the higher-ed culture. We’ve designed this webinar to not only inspire what might be possible, but also to provide a roadmap for how to actually get it done.”
The series is open to all. Each webinar is an hour long, with future presentations looking at topics such as student-retention challenges, racial injustice, and transforming the learning process. Click here for the full schedule and descriptions.
