Incoming Shenandoah University Provost Cameron McCoy, Ph.D, has been selected as one of 12 higher education leaders to join a national project to examine and discuss ways to make the higher education experience more equitable for all students.
Dr. McCoy will become a Designer in Residence with the Education Design Lab, a national nonprofit that attempts to improve opportunities for historically underserved learners.
As one of the Designers in Residence, McCoy, who was nominated by one of his peers for the role, will work with other members of the design team to evolve the role of higher education institutions as regional change agents to close economic and racial opportunity gaps.
I am deeply honored by this opportunity. I have been genuinely humbled as my focus has turned to exploring equity-first innovation in higher education. I hope that the lens I bring to the group will be beneficial to my peers as we address ways to aid the new generation of learners that have been too often overlooked.”
Cameron McCoy, Ph.D
In 2021, 22% fewer students enrolled in higher education than prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number that increases to 30% for students from low-income high schools, according to Market Insider. Simultaneously, 42% of jobs lost during the pandemic may disappear forever, requiring postsecondary education to reimagine how learners are prepared to enter the workforce.
To help address these disparities, Designers in Residence will leverage their collective expertise to create a framework that centers on the needs of learners within a rapidly evolving economy and will provide the start of a roadmap for other institutions and innovators to learn from.
We hope to emerge from this year with design tools that will position the scores of learner-success partnerships around the country to seize what we all believe is an innovation moment, coming out of the pandemic. Colleges recognize that their roles are evolving along with learner views about degrees and employers’ needs, and with a heightened urgency around what it will take to break down racial and economic barriers to open up liveable-wage futures for all.”
Kathleen DeLaski | CEO of the Education Design Lab
McCoy said he is hopeful that he can bring to Shenandoah what he learns as a Designer in Residence.
This is an extraordinary privilege and an opportunity for me to better serve the Shenandoah community. I’m thankful to do this work with SU and for SU.”
Cameron McCoy, Ph.D
The other members of the Designers in Residence cohort are:
- Michael Baston, president, Rockland Community College
- Bonita Brown, vice president and chief strategy officer, Northern Kentucky University
- Ahmad Ezzeddine, associate vice president of educational outreach and international programs, Wayne State University
- Chanel L. Fort, director of academic innovation and learning strategist, fortified learning solutions, Stillman College
- Rose Rojas, interim director of workforce strategy, Maricopa Community College
- Adrian Haugabrook, executive vice president and managing director, social impact collective, Southern New Hampshire University
- Lisa Larson, president, Eastern Maine Community College
- Nicole McDonald, assistant vice president, University of Houston
- Jairo McMican, Dean of student learning/director of equity and pathways, Central Carolina Community College
- Ian Roark, vice president of workforce development and strategic partnerships, Pima Community College
- Stacy Townsley, vice president of adult strategy and statewide partnerships, Ivy Tech Community College
The group will meet virtually four times throughout the year starting this month. The program is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but views expressed by the program do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the foundation.
