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Mission, Achieving Focus
A-HEC: Does Peirce have an objective to grow enrollments,
and, if so, by how much?
AL: Yes. At Peirce we have three lines of delivery: on-campus (downtown Philadelphia), on-site (at corporations),
and online (referred to as IMDL or Internet Mediated Distance Learning). Over the next four years we have objectives
to grow all three by double digits each year.
A-HEC: Would you recommend organizing and tracking the financial results of various
market-focused initiatives such as Peirce Online and Peirce Corporate College separately, or should they be integrated with
the campus operations in some way?
AL: Although we have objectives for each of our three delivery lines, our approach is highly integrated.
We are very concerned with being able to support what we refer to as the “mosaic learner’, which is a term we
use to describe a student that takes courses in more than one delivery mode. At Peirce we believe that there are “no
second class citizens”, meaning that every student receives the same high quality experience, whether they are taking
courses online, on-campus, or on-site. Each of our delivery lines features the same curriculum, the same course descriptions,
and the same faculty. Our staff and faculty understand that this integration and interchangeability makes our programs
more appealing to students, who have a flexible way to stay with a program even with changes in lifestyle or location.
A-HEC: Peirce has been successful at achieving something that few non-profits have
in that not only were you able to articulate the focus on teaching and learnPeirce has been successful at achieving something
that few non-profits have in that not only were you able to articulate the focus on teaching and learning, but, you implemented
tradeoffs that eliminated resources and activities that did not align with that focus. What would you say were the most
important three or four ingredients to being able to make and implement the tough decisions required to achieve focus?ing,
but, you implemented tradeoffs that eliminated resources and activities that did not align with that focus. What would
you say were the most important three or four ingredients to being able to make and implement the tough decisions required
to achieve focus?
AL: First, we have achieved alignment on the priority that our primary function is higher learning.
This means that instruction drives our decision-making. As a result, for example, we are far more committed to instructional
technology than to bricks and mortar.
Second, student learning is our priority. We believe that employees and their welfare are very important.
But, the fulfillment of student learning takes precedence.
Third, we have an equal commitment to all three-delivery lines in order to meet the needs of our student learners and
insure quality across the board.
So, key to our achieving focus has been to frame our most important priorities and then make operational decisions that
consistently reflect those priorities. In order to achieve quality in our priorities we have focused our resources toward
those ends and away from other none critical areas.
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"At Peirce we believe that there are “no second class citizens”, meaning that every student receives
the same high quality experience, whether they are taking courses online, on-campus, or on-site".
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"First, we have achieved alignment on the priority that our primary function is higher learning. This
means that instruction drives our decision-making. As a result, for example, we are far more committed to instructional
technology than to bricks and mortar."
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"So, key to our achieving focus has been to frame our most important priorities and then make operational
decisions that consistently reflect those priorities. In order to achieve quality in our priorities we have focused
our resources toward those ends and away from other none critical areas."
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