As time progresses, it is clear that universities need to be more self-sustaining. The changes in federal funding accelerated this demand place research universities in an altered state. Many of us have seen the writing on the wall for a long time now and have known there was going to be a shift in higher ed. There are less students in this country, less public funding at the state, for many, and now at the federal levels as well. There are less colleges and universities as we have watched, sadly, as some have closed their doors. And, irritiatingly, we have a government that seems to have strong opinions and ideas about education resulting in their intervention in an array of ways. This has gotten me thinking in greater detail as to what should we be doing? I have always been able to throw some ideas out there and so far they have been pretty right on. But, I wanted something that was the result of a throrough process and series of analyses to get universities, colleges, and communites thinking about a truly innovative, yet feasible pathways, although we know that most are not quick to respond to such situations.
The product of this effort is resulting into antoher book. I should probabbly have smaller ideas, but I wanted to start sharing pieces of it on my blog as I decide if I am actually going to publish the book. I find the process probably just as exciting as the product, and I think it is a great illustration of AI-assisted strategy development. The goal was to create a sustainable university model. I had previously written the Blended Instititon of the Future report and discussed some key system elements. Now, with the same systems thinking, I present an example of an AI-assisted systems inquiry to build the university of the future.
Strategy
A hybrid university model that integrates corporate partnerships, diversified revenue streams, and municipal synergies to create a self-sustaining institution independent of traditional tuition and government research funding. The model focuses on leveraging industry-driven education, research commercialization, auxiliary services, and real estate development.
Purpose & Mission
To serve as a hub of learning, research, and workforce development, benefiting students, businesses, and communities.
To achieve financial sustainability through a diversified revenue model.
To redefine higher education as a business-driven, research-enabled, and community-integrated institution.
To achive these goals, I used the following systems-based strategic redesign methodology. I’m currently working on better mapping and defining the process, but here is a very brief overview. This methdology was not designed and then implemented. It was more extemporaneous as I now try to reconstruct the methdology in some degree of detail to share with others as well the product – a new unviersity model.
1. Define the system.
What organization/ecosystem are we examining?
2. Map its dependencies.
Where do money, people, knowledge, authority, infrastructure, legitimacy and other critical resources originate?
3. Introduce disruption.
What happens when a major dependency disappears?
4. Identify non-negotiable purposes.
What functions, outcomes and values must survive regardless of the disruption?
5. Challenge organizational assumptions.
Which boundaries exist because they are necessary, and which exist because “that’s how we’ve always organized it”?
6. Expand the system boundary.
What adjacent organizations, communities, industries, governments or infrastructures could instead be understood as components of the same ecosystem?
7. Establish system values before solutions.
In your case: sustainability, growth, connection, collective governance and synergy.
8. Map reciprocal exchanges.
What does each subsystem need, produce, consume and contribute?
9. Redesign structures and governance.
How would authority, decision making, infrastructure, knowledge and accountability operate across the integrated system?
10. Design the economic engine.
Only then identify revenue streams, assets, partnerships, commercialization opportunities, real estate, services, etc.
11. Test the redesigned system.
Does it remain viable if one source of resources disappears? Does it preserve the original non-negotiables? Does it create reinforcing rather than extractive relationships?
12. Synthesize it into a model.
That’s where the UUU Model emerged.
We didn’t start with the solution and use systems thinking to justify it. We progressively altered the problem definition until a different class of solution became possible. More to come.