Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1503231
HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JULY 10, 2023 17 We're hiring RNs, APRNs, LCSWs, support staff and more! APPLY TODAY! www.intercommunityct.org 860-569-5900 Primary Care We're Hiring People Who Care. Mental Health Care Addiction Recovery Scan ME to explore job openings the COVID-19 pandemic led to even more students learning virtually. Joan Huwiler, director of univer- sity communications for Post, said once the pandemic hit, the college was able to quickly ramp up its online capabilities to keep instruction going for current students, while also attracting others who wanted to learn while in lockdown. Jeanna Sinn, senior vice pres- ident of operations at Post, said its strategy is to focus on online growth. "As we look at growth, it wouldn't, from our perspective, come from additional brick-and-mortar locations," Sinn said. Post now has students from around the U.S. and about a dozen other countries taking its online courses. Reaching more students who want to learn and be connected, but from the comfort of their own home, is a focus for Post's recruitment strategy, according to Sinn. "It is a big population that is up and coming," Sinn said. Many students coming out of high school are programmed after 12 years of learning to be in front of a teacher, with live interaction, and they often prefer it as they continue on to college, Huwiler said. "But for our adult population, online learning continues to soar for us," she added. Another element of Post's growth strategy has been creating career development partnerships with employers, such as Mohegan Sun and Maricopa County in Arizona, and offering their staff members reduced tuition for online courses. "These partnerships are beneficial not only as a growth strategy for the university, but it is benefitting the organization in terms of retention, maintaining their workforce, and keeping them and their business competitive," Huwiler said. Post officials declined to comment on the revenue impact of the school's online growth strategy. In January, Middletown-based Wesleyan University announced its partnership with edX, a global online learning platform, indicating it would launch a variety of "Massive Open Online Courses" on edX.org in 2023. Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth said the partnership would give the college the ability to grow its online offerings, "bringing creative and diverse programming to more than 46 million learners around the globe." In the future, Sinn sees online learning as becoming less of a niche, and more of a necessity, as colleges and universities try to expand enroll- ment and reach more students. "It is necessary to provide that modality for learning," Sinn said. "As we go through the next decade, it will look like a hybrid, where you can be on campus traditionally, but you also have a ton of online options. There are going to be significant shifts, and there are absolutely going to be some universities that can't keep up." Jeanna Sinn Fairfield University's campus in Fairfield, Conn. (left), and its new campus in Austin, Texas (right). PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED