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Dr. Joe Sertich

Iron Range Higher Education Program Design Team April 24, 2009. Dr. Bill Ammentorp. Dr. Joe Sertich. Rural America Matters. We need a shared vision. THE NEW GEOGRAPHY OF MINNESOTA. EMPTY LAND. RANGE. THE COLONIES. SPRAWL LAND. ETHANOL LAND. Regional Strategic Advantage.

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Dr. Joe Sertich

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  1. Iron Range Higher Education Program Design Team April 24, 2009 Dr. Bill Ammentorp Dr. Joe Sertich Sertich Consulting - IRHEC

  2. Sertich Consulting - IRHEC

  3. Rural America Matters We need a shared vision

  4. THE NEW GEOGRAPHY OF MINNESOTA EMPTY LAND RANGE THE COLONIES SPRAWL LAND ETHANOL LAND

  5. Regional Strategic Advantage • Diverse, abundant and accessible natural resources capable of sustaining current and emerging economic activity, including enterprises that add value to raw materials within the region. • Existing and emerging industrial base possessing variety of career opportunities and high paying jobs. • Strong educational and research infrastructural foundation dispersed across the region with coordinating programs and mechanisms connecting the region geographically and vertically through the educational systems. • Leadership willing and capable of effecting desired change • An independent source of financing of a magnitude capable of sustaining that desired change. Sertich Consulting - IRHEC

  6. Why Now?: The Economy • Competition for skilled workers • Increased demand for products and services • Large Scale Projects on the horizon • Emerging economic opportunities • Renewed recognition of regional interdependence • Retirements • Decline in emerging workforce/ aging workforce

  7. Life-long Employment vs Life-long Employability

  8. 1. Vision:Learner-workers will achieve focused, continuously improving higher education outcomes contributing to Northeast Minnesota’s sustainable competitiveness in a global economy. Sertich Consulting - IRHEC

  9. 2. Business and industry needs: • Attention given to applied / hands-on learning using regional work sites and research facilities as classrooms. • Business and industry must be integrated partners in education process. • Itasca’s engineering program is an example of what to do. • Regional industry has educational needs that stretch from preparing high school students for the workplace, two-year degrees, four-year degrees especially in engineering, and ongoing customized training / career ladder programs. • Address emerging industries including • renewable energy. Sertich Consulting - IRHEC

  10. 3. Potential Partners • Consider all potential partners. • Institutions will cooperate. • Utilize existing institutions focused on regionally-oriented niche programming. • Establish focused four-year degree programming in the region. • Assure seamless access for businesses and students. • Build off of the existing Arrowhead University Consortium platform. Sertich Consulting - IRHEC

  11. 4. What would it look like when… • Emphasize programming over bricks and mortar. • Use industry work sites & regional research • facilities (e.g., NRRI, Soudan Mine). • All schools should be portals into the coordinated system. • Programming and delivery must be varied and attractive. • Enhance staffing (e.g., use of adjunct staff from regional industry) and demonstrate physical presence in the region. • Recognize need for solid and independent financing. Neither the University of Minnesota nor MNSCU will fund expansion at the expense of their existing programs. • Assure career ladder sequencing. • Drive design by need, not by educational system. Sertich Consulting - IRHEC

  12. 5. What else? • Global competition for technologically literate and skilled workers. • The traditional cyclical nature of our economy is a disincentive for students to stay within the region when they possess skills in demand across the globe. • But, we have a huge strategic advantage in terms of natural resources, well paying industrial jobs, wide reaching educational infrastructure, and an independent source of financing. • We want our students to be able to secure four-year outcomes within the region, even if many of them eventually leave the region. Give the students a solid base for their lives. And, remember, the people most likely to return to the region will be those with direct connections to it. • Higher education not only supports the region’s • economy, it is a form of economic development . Sertich Consulting - IRHEC

  13. This approach is grounded upon the foundation of existing research, analysis, institutions, and programs.

  14. DEMOGRAPHY & INFRASTRUCTURE COLLEGE & PROGRAM DESIGN COMMUNITY DESIGN NEW GEOGRAPHY

  15. Community Landscape Map

  16. HUMAN AND SOCIAL CAPITAL DIMENSION A LANDSCAPE WHERE COMMUNITIES SEEK TO MAXIMIZE THEIR VITALITY.

  17. Focus of Academic Design ACADEMIC DESIGN RESULTS FROM AN ONGOING CONVERSATION AMONG ALL COLLEGE /UNIVERSITY STAKEHOLDERS. 18

  18. Academic Design • Process – Provides a collaborative process to involve stakeholders in a conversation about academic design. • Product – Delivers a Comprehensive Plan for the region coordinated with higher education planning initiatives. (Programmatic, Institutional, Locational, Marketing, Implementation)

  19. Design Integration

  20. Preliminary Design Attributes • Focus on technological competency in support of emerging regional economic sectors. • Offer full range of skill sets – general work skills, soft skills, core industrial skills, site/business specific skills. • Innovative blend of classroom and unique regional business sites (mills, mines, research facilities, etc.). • Single “portal” / entry point for businesses and students. • Seamless in all facets of operation (accreditation, delivery of courses, transfer, design and delivery flow from secondary to post secondary and customized training, etc.). • Flexibility in terms of course offerings, course content, timing and production of courses, location of courses, method of delivery. • Support and foster career ladder for workers. • Credit OJT and certificate training knowledge towards degrees. • Less about physical presence and more about provision of quality education / learning opportunities. Sertich Consulting - IRHEC

  21. These are uncertain and uncharted economic times, and we must be flexible and comprehensive in our planning, design, and partnerships.

  22. Existing resources and facilities Mesabi Range Community & Technical College

  23. Next Steps… “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Baxter Stephenson Sertich Consulting - IRHEC

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