How to build resilient learning strategies for Higher Education

Institutions need to be nimble, flexible, and proactive to respond to times of crisis and disruption. You need to keep staff connected, build trust in online learning tools, promote remote collaboration, and create a culture that embraces online learning—especially as more and more people demand flexible and remote work options.

With the right online learning solutions in place, institutions can build new competencies around remote collaboration and online learning that can make their employees more effective and impactful in everything they do. Even better, these solutions can help faculty and staff proactively take control of their own learning and development like never before.

Cornerstone’s learning solutions have helped these two institutions respond quickly to ever-changing circumstances by positioning faculty and staff to serve their broader communities and stakeholders more effectively:

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to unfold, Pima Community College (PCC) worked hard to create a sense of normalcy for its employees. They encouraged employees to shift their focus to training and development by tapping into the new EmployeeConnect digital learning hub, which was built, designed, and deployed in less than 48 hours using Cornerstone’s Learning and Connect solutions.

EmployeeConnect quickly became critical for keeping PCC’s employees informed and engaged at all times. It offers up-to-date information on the latest campus developments, guidelines for safe work practices, and also provides a way for employees to stay in touch via forums, instant messages, and Q&A message boards. This created a space for employees to get answers to questions about payroll and benefits just as much as they could get real-time updates on the college’s evolving crisis management plan.

During the pandemic, EmployeeConnect became a catalyst for improved adaptability, resilience, and flexibility among the college’s employees. It allowed PCC employees to not only deliver great experiences to its stakeholders, but also to take the time to focus on their own learning needs. As a result, PCC saw a huge uptick in compliance training, with 468 (of over 2,300) or roughly 20% of employees completing this training between March and May 2020. For these reasons alone, the college plans to make EmployeeConnect a central part of the day-to-day employee experience, well after life begins to return to ‘normal.’

Your institution’s existing culture is one of your biggest assets year-round—and can be your greatest resource for overcoming an unexpected crisis. For Arizona State University (ASU), it was crucial to maintain and enhance its culture of inclusive learning and community leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s why ASU harnessed the power of its CareerEdge learning platform to help employees stay connected with each other and remain focused on driving its distinct culture of learning forward.

Aside from simply offering online learning tools to its now predominantly remote employees, ASU also leveraged CareerEdge to provide relevant and timely well-being resources, including a new remote tele-therapy service. This made it possible for ASU to keep spirits high by offering courses on topics like stress management and successful remote working. By encouraging people to take charge of their own learning and development, ASU helped its employees become more resilient in the face of disruption.

Deploying CareerEdge during the COVID-19 pandemic also taught ASU that implementing new technology doesn’t have to take months or even years. Instead, responding quickly to changing circumstances enables institutions like ASU to provide its staff with the tools they need to overcome challenges and disruptions in real-time.

Finally, CareerEdge helped ASU sustain and strengthen its key priorities around continued communication, collaboration, and compassion by delivering courses on diversity, empathy, and bias recognition. These courses aren’t just a way to bring ASU’s distinct culture to life; in light of the social justice and equality movements growing around the world, the skills and competencies taught in this coursework are proving to be more important and timely than ever before.

All in all, higher education institutions must stay nimble, responsive, and resilient in the face of change. Online learning is not just the future of learning; it’s in the ‘here and now.’ It’s the perfect time to embrace the many advantages that go hand-in-hand with online learning. With the right strategies, tools, and solutions in place, you can give your faculty and staff a more effective and personalized way to succeed , even under the most challenging of circumstances.