Accessibility and Affordability in Higher Education

Becky L. Vasquez, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Becky L. Vasquez, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

What strategies have you implemented to enhance the accessibility and affordability of higher education while maintaining or improving its quality?

A commitment to quality and continuous improvement is something most institutions of higher education strive to achieve. At Embry-Riddle, assessment is embedded into our administrative and academic planning. One of our core values within information technology is ‘Make IT better – We remain intensely focused on improvements – easier, faster, and more effective.’ In alignment with technology strategies, we aim to provide access to academic technology from anywhere. These values and goals keep us focused on the critical aspect of accessibility and affordability. Fundamentally, online learning is a significant driver in enhancing the accessibility and affordability of higher education in a quality manner. All our courses have learning outcomes to be achieved, and all are held to the same accreditation standards, regardless of modality. Anytime, anyplace, anywhere learning removes geographical boundaries and provides opportunities to students who might never be able to attend one of our traditional residential campuses.

Another strategy we have implemented is our virtual desktop infrastructure. Previously, residential campus students would need to identify a lab location and find an open computer for various software programs available. By virtualizing our desktop environment, students and faculty have access to numerous software titles from the convenience of their own computers in any location. Minimizing physical limitations to software supports student success. While our virtual desktop offering is relatively new, from a year-over-year perspective, logins have doubled on average, ranging from 2000 to 4000 logins to the virtual desktop environment per month. In the long term, having this in place provides us with flexibility with various learning spaces and the ability to imagine, create, and deploy a classroom of the future environment for residential campus facilities, focusing on a flexible learning environment versus fixed hardware assets.

What are some of the challenges currently facing higher education, and what innovative solutions or approaches do you believe can address them?

The enrollment cliff is a challenge arising as a topic of high priority for institutional leaders around the country. With fewer high school graduates in the pipeline, many institutions anticipate an enrollment decline, which can lead to financial difficulties. The value proposition for any institution will become increasingly important. Differentiating by promoting career potential and perhaps highlighting niche programs may be beneficial. In addition, diverse revenue streams, whether private, public, or community colleges, should be considered. The next decade will be interesting as these challenges can lead to distinct and sometimes disruptive (for good) innovations. New learning models, nontraditional approaches to transfer credits or experience as credit, industry collaborations, and reskilling may be areas for exploration.

What role do emerging technologies, such as AI and virtual reality, play in your vision for e-learning in higher education?

Emerging technologies have always been a consideration for higher education, and this is amplified with artificial intelligence. AI is a game changer. Administratively, it can be an extraordinarily powerful tool when it comes to automation, improved knowledge sharing, and generally creating significant efficiencies for most aspects of university operations. Academically, the use cases are endless. AI can support instructors as a virtual guide on the side by answering course-specific questions, perhaps providing on-the-spot tutoring, and helping students navigate the university system. There are so many technologies that have really made a positive difference in various aspects of education, such as real-time collaboration with web conferencing or supporting the student experience with retention software. In contrast, the aspect of AI that is so intriguing to me, and I’m sure others, is that the application of AI is endless. The agnostic application of AI in higher education to support learning and administrative excellence is thrilling. Of course, there are integrity and security implications to consider. Like any technology, the ability to use AI for harm is a valid concern. AI approaches should include risk evaluation and mitigation, just as most technical advancements should.

"Emerging technologies have always been a consideration for higher education, and this is amplified with artificial intelligence."

Embry-Riddle has embraced virtual reality for years. The ability to replicate a physical space virtually expands the potential of meaningful online learning. When considering new and emerging technologies, we try to look past the hype and ask ourselves a simple question – does this have the ability to be effective? Simply duplicating a physical environment into a virtual environment doesn’t necessarily make it effective. Some translations can and should be done when migrating from a physical to a virtual environment. Chatting with your instructor online via Teams might be more effective than talking with their avatar. It’s not always a one-for-one, and when considering emerging technologies and providing platforms for exploration, collaboration, and execution as appropriate, institutions can navigate the plethora of offerings and identify those that truly bring strategic alignment and value.

Bio

Becky L. Vasquez is the Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Becky has been with the university for over 20 years in various technology leadership positions, including the role of Chief Technology Officer for the Worldwide Campus.

Becky is responsible for the university's technology vision, mission, and strategy. A service-oriented technologist, Becky is a champion for an effortless technical environment. She advocates for information security best practices and raises cybersecurity awareness among the university community. A two-time CIO 100 award winner and recently recognized as a Top 10 Education CIO, Becky is a member of educational software corporation advisory boards and regularly participates in industry-wide activities supporting the advancement of technology in education.