Page 32 - BusinessWest September 14 2020

Our Investment Services Team:
Jack Vadnais, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM, and Michael S. Johnson
We’ll Help You Pursue Your Financial Goals
• Investment Strategy and Management
• Estate Planning
• College Savings Plans and Custodial Accounts
• Mutual Funds and Annuities
• Long-Term and Disability Income Insurance
• Life Insurance
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Securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker-dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. Freedom Credit Union and FCU Investment Services are not registered as a broker-dealer or investment advisors. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using FCU Investment Services and may also be employees of Freedom Credit Union. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from, and not affiliates of Freedom Credit Union or FCU Investment Services. Securities and insurance offered through LPL or its affiliates are:
Not Insured by the
NCUA or Any Other Government Agency
Not Credit Union Deposits or Obligations Not Credit Union Guaranteed
May Lose Value
Not Credit Union Guaranteed
a deep dive into the institution, its history, and what it had to offer.” He subsequently took this deep dive, liked what he saw, and, as he
noted, hung in through the lengthy interview process because of the unique opportunity this job — at this moment in time — presented.
Since arriving on campus, he has made a point of meeting as many staff members and faculty as possible, but this, too, is difficult during the COVID-19 era. Indeed, meetings can involve only a few participants, so, therefore, there must be more of them.
“We can’t have any of those big ‘meet the president’ meetings,” he noted. “So I’ve had six, seven, or eight meetings with small groups or facil- ity and staff, and I probably have another 15 or 20 of those scheduled. I’m getting to know people, and they’re getting to know me; I’m doing a lot of listening and learning.”
Overall, it’s a challenging time in many respects, he said, adding quickly that higher education was challenging before COVID, for reasons ranging from demographics — smaller high-school graduating classes, for starters — to economics and the growing need to provide value at a time when many are questioning the high cost of a college education.
“The business model for higher ed was going to change regardless — I think, by 2025, given demographics and a whole host of other things, col- leges and universities were going to have to figure out how to do business differently,” he told BusinessWest. “I think COVID, overnight, expedited that.
“It was a Monday, and seven to nine days later, every college in the country was teaching remotely and working remotely, in ways we never imagined,” he continued. “So the very idea that colleges and universities will go back to 100% of what that old business model was is a non-starter. So the question is, ‘how do we reinvent ourselves?’”
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noted, and it will be part of the equa- tion for every institution, it cannot fully replace in-person learning.
“Some would say that online learn- ing is the way, and the path, of the future,” he noted. “I would say online learning is a tool in terms of modality, but it is not the essence of education.”
“For the student coming from a wealthy family, I think they need socialization, and they need a face-to-face environment,” he explained. “For the first-generation student whose parents did not go to college, I think they need socialization. And for students who come from poor fam- ilies, they need socialization.
“My point being that online learning is not a panacea,” he continued. Some would argue that, if you have online learning, it would help poor kids go to college. I would say that the poor kids, the first-generation kids, are the very ones who need to be on that college campus, to socialize and meet people different from themselves. And the same is true for those kids coming from the upper middle class and wealthy families — they need that socialization.
“In my humble opinion, face-to-face never goes away,” he went on. “But does that mean that one might be living on campus five years from now, taking five classes a semester, with maybe one or two of them being online or hybrid? Absolutely. I think the new model is going to be click and mortar, or mortar and click.”
Expanding on that point while explaining what such a model can
and ultimately must provide to students, he returned to those numbers he mentioned earlier — 17 jobs in five industries, at least a few of which don’t exist in 2020. Johnson told BusinessWest that a college education will likely only prepare a student for perhaps of the first of these jobs. Beyond that, though, it can provide critical thinking skills and other qualities needed to take on the next 16.
“That very first job that a student gets out of college — they’ve been trained for that. But that fifth job ... they
As he commenced answering that question, he started by addressing a question that is being asked in every
corner of the country. While there is
certainly a place for remote learning, he
“Some would say that online learning is the
way, and the path, of the future. I would say online learning is a tool in terms of modality, but it is not the essence of education.”
Elaborating, he said that, for many
students, and classes of students, the
in-person, on-campus model is one
that can not only provide a pathway
to a career but also help an individual
mature, meet people from different
backgrounds, and develop important interpersonal skills.
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have not been trained for that,” he said. “And I think the role of the academy in
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