Announcer: Welcome to Business Life360 with Kristie Kaye, where we get to know thought leaders and innovators, trends and impact in the world of business and we see firsthand how business and life have evolved.

(Music) Business Life360 with Kristie Kaye is made possible by Promedica, a locally owned, nationally recognized, not for profit health care network that has a strong commitment to clinical excellence, providing safe, high quality patient care and addressing social issues that impact health.

The John B and Lillian E Neff College of Business and Innovation at the University of Toledo, developing lifelong leaders for the World of business and by KeyBank, also by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Kristi K: Welcome back to Business Life 360.

I'm your host, Kristi K. Having an education matters in life, whether you've chosen a high school, a two year, four year degree, a vocation or trade, a certificate or any other path.

Research shows that having an education combats poverty and leads to a better quality of life, a healthier lifestyle, and more benefits and value.

So on this Businesslive 360 episode, we explore living in this new age of higher education.

It's a paradigm shift, a new model, as it ties to those offering, obtaining and choosing an educational path as examples on this episode, you'll hear how public universities, state level educational departments and students feel about this shift.

And now let's take a closer look at our new age of higher education.

Dr. Postel, it's great to be with you here at the University of Toledo.

Thanks for having us.

Dr. Postel: We're happy to have you here.

Kristi K: Looking forward to a great conversation about some of the issues, the challenges that are facing public universities today, and maybe how we can solve some of those.

Dr. Postel: Anxious to talk about it.

Kristi K: Absolutely.

So this campus has been here 150 years.

You have approximately 17,000 in enrollment here at the university.

What does it take in terms of that enrollment and keeping that going and being successful for 150 years?

Dr. Postel: Well, in some ways, the secret sauce is is the same for any organization that is around for a long, long time.

And that is that you have to continually reinvent yourself so that you remain relevant and appealing to students, faculty and staff, others who may want to come here to study or to work.

Kristi K: Mm hmm.

That's a great point.

Reinventing yourself and really making sure you are relevant.

I know there are many.

For example, here in the state of Ohio public institutions, you have community colleges all competing for funding and for enrollment.

So really, you have to stay on top of all of those competitive advantages and niches, I'm sure.

So as we think about the next generation, something I'm curious about is what does our research show in terms of potential students or prospective students and their their checklist, if you will?

What are they looking for now that maybe they weren't looking for five, ten years ago in a public university.

Dr. Postel: Students are looking for an education that will lead to a job.

Right.

And so not too many people go to college just for the sake of going to college.

They're on a path to get somewhere.

And so I think students like to hear about success stories.

I think students like to understand that the things we're teaching are in sync with what's out there in terms of job opportunities and, you know, emerging areas.

Kristi K: What are some of the main reasons that you see as to why enrollment is dropping and obviously it was dropping prior to the pandemic?

Dr. Postel: Well, it's it's complex.

So part of it has to do with just the number of students coming out of high school.

Mm hmm.

So there have been demographic shifts, and there will continue to be nationwide.

People talk about an enrollment cliff.

And what they're referring to is in an age when there just weren't as many students graduating from high school, which is predicted to be three or four years from now, where there will be a further decline, really number of high school graduates.

Some people are predicting that the enrollment cliff may be getting here a little sooner than what had been predicted because we've seen the number of high school graduates drop.

So that's one part of the equation.

Another part of the equation, I think, is, you know, students are faced with a very wide array of options.

And so getting a four year degree or more is just one of several valid ways to get additional education.

So there are two year degrees in associate degrees.

All kinds of trade schools and other programs.

There are certificate programs and a lot of jobs are available out there that simply don't require a four year education.

It takes a lot of time, money and commitment to go through four years of college, and it's not for everyone.

So I think there's just a lot of competition among young, bright people, and we have to do a better and better job explaining the benefits and why it would make a difference for them to make this choice.

Kristi K: Absolutely.

And also the whole gap year trend, if you will, students coming out of high school and saying, I am going to take a year off and figure out what I want to do and then maybe never coming back to higher education.

Do you see a fair amount of that now?

Dr. Postel: There's a lot of that.

So, you know, back when I went to college, people graduated in four years.

It wasn't even really discussed, you know, unless there were some extraordinary circumstances.

Right.

Nationwide, that's not the case anymore.

And as a matter of fact, states and and universities themselves don't even talk about four year graduation rates anymore.

People talk only in terms of six year graduation rates.

Kristi K: I have no idea.

That's the new measurement.

Dr. Postel: It's the new measurement tool.

Everyone talks about six year graduation rates and it's because so many students take gap years or work part time and maybe take a slightly lower load of courses so that they're able to work and go to school at the same time.

And that's fine, but it's just it's a major shift.

And so I think that a concept like a gap year is much more accepted than it was back in the day when I went to school.

If I had told my parents I was taking a gap year, they would have looked at me and laughed and asked what I was going to do right.

But now it's becoming more the norm.

Kristi K: What needs to happen to turn the corner on enrollment?

You mentioned doing a better job of kind of marketing, why this is important and what career tracks look like, what are some of the other things that we can be doing to really change and move that that marker on enrollment.

Dr. Postel: So there are a lot of things we're working on.

So in addition to just focusing on the high school graduates, since we've already said they're going to be fewer in number, we know that that in and of itself would not be a winning strategy.

Right.

So first of all, we're looking at adults in the community who have some college under their belt, but for one reason or another didn't finish.

And reaching out to them and trying to find easy ways for them to come back and complete their degrees, that's one possibility.

Other things we're doing is we have hired regional recruiters and place them in other cities, some in Ohio, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, for example, but also outside of the state.

So we have a recruiter now in Chicago and we have a recruiter in Washington, D.C. and we're placing several others to try to get the brand of the University of Toledo to extend beyond Northwest Ohio.

We also are working with agents in other countries who are familiar with high schools and preparatory academies.

In those countries where students may have an interest in coming to the U.S. to study, and there are many students like that.

So we anticipate a growing international student population, particularly now that some of the travel restrictions are lighting up.

Kristi K: And to that point, how are the numbers internationally speaking, are the international student numbers download sort of trending with the other numbers?

Dr. Postel: They dropped way down during COVID, predictably, and then this year are up and for next year we're suggesting that they might be quite a bit up.

So we're excited about that.

And as a matter of fact, we're having to look at the resources in our international center and, you know, areas where support is provided for students from other countries.

Kristi K: So did anything good come out of the pandemic for universities?

Dr. Postel: It's hard to imagine anything good coming from COVID because it was such a nightmare from a health perspective, I guess just learning to be resilient, learning to help and care about each other more, and learning new tools to allow us to pivot and still get work done.

Kristi K: While when you are on business life 360 guess what we get to do quick Hits and some rapid fire questions.

Our viewers get to know you a little bit better in a casual kind of way in terms of our questioning.

So are you ready for this?

I'm ready.

Okay, let's do this.

What is your favorite sport to watch?

Dr. Postel: Tennis.

Kristi K: Hobby of choice.

Dr. Postel: Playing the piano.

Kristi K: If you could see one band in person, or perhaps a singer live, who would it be?

And it can be past our present right now.

Dr. Postel: I like imagine dragons.

Kristi K: Very nice winter or summer.

Dr. Postel: Summer.

Kristi K: One word your coworkers would use to describe you optimistic.

One word your kids would use to describe you.

Dr. Postel: They call me fun, which I'm happy about, given they're 12 years old.

Kristi K: That's a big moniker.

I like.

I like the I like the adjective.

They're one piece of advice for your students here on campus as they look ahead to careers in this challenging world.

Dr. Postel: Stick with it.

Be persistent.

Greg Postal, thank you so much for your perspective, for your insights and really for giving us a great inside look at public universities today.

Dr. Postel: I enjoyed it.

Kristi K: Think it goes without saying that education matters in a person's life.

Here at Business Life 360, we recognize the power of continual learning, leading and growing in business and in life.

So in the world of higher education, how our decisions made for the betterment of public universities, who makes them?

Why does it matter here with me in business life, 360 is the state of Ohio, chancellor of higher education Randy Gardner.

To break it down for us all, welcome chancellor to business life 366.

Randy Gardner: Thanks for having me today.

Kristi K: Of course.

So as chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, describe your role as chancellor and what some of the viewers may not know in terms of the extent of your role that impacts the world of higher education within not only the state of Ohio, but other states across the country.

Randy Gardner: Well, the chancellor's role in Ohio is not the same as it is in every other state.

We are mostly we we strive to be a partner with colleges, universities and career centers around the state.

We don't have a university system where that we regulate tightly everything that goes on on the campus.

We are not a Columbus knows best top down state.

We have boards of trustees could by law basically set policies and most of the budgets at our local colleges, universities throughout the state.

The chancellor also deals with adult career ed in Ohio, Ohio Technical Centers, community centers, nonprofit, private universities and colleges, and the four year community colleges and four year public universities.

So about 187 campuses.

All told, they come under our jurisdiction, our oversight.

And so it's an exciting, exciting job, very encompassing.

It's about workforce.

It's about our future.

And I'm just honored that Governor DeWine would appoint me to serve in this position.

Kristi K: Give us I know you've kind of given us an understanding of the scope and the big picture in terms of statistics for the number of public universities, etc.. Are there other statistics in terms of size, in terms of scope of your role that we haven't discussed yet?

Randy Gardner: Well, what I would suggest is what I say all the time is Ohio has more universities.

Colleges are training career centers than most states.

Some people see that as a problem.

I see that as an opportunity, as an advantage.

Kristi K: Now, let me ask you this.

Why is that?

Why is Ohio's higher than other states?

Randy Gardner: Actually, Governor, roads all the way back in the 1960s decided to make college as accessible as possible, not just to travel to and live in a dorm or move to another city, but to make it accessible throughout the state.

So we have regional campuses at universities, we have community colleges, we have 14 public four year universities.

So and on the independent side, we have 74 independent nonprofit institutions.

So what I like about that is what I call the diversity of opportunity for students in the state and families.

Kristi K: In your overall aid, financial aid dollars that are given to universities set a new policies, new degrees that are offered are all examples of some of the things that are in your purview.

Tell us more about how that impacts our universities as well as our students.

What many people don't realize is the the actual tuition fees at our public universities in the last 15 years versus inflation has actually gone down.

It's actually more affordable today than it was versus inflation 15 years ago.

And that doesn't even include some additional programs with instructional aid and institutional aid from our universities and other kinds of programs, our community colleges, which provide additional support to students.

The bottom line is there's more work to do there, but our policy is in terms of our tuition policy in the state, Ohio's tuition has gone up third lowest in the country in the last ten years.

We have more to do.

We're not satisfied that we've done all we can do.

The governor has increased need based financial aid in Ohio, but I think our next budget is likely to do even more in that space because we we have we have just more to do to make a college education as accessible as possible.

The other thing we're doing is we're not trying to drive students just to a four year institution or to a certain type of college or a certain type of training.

I believe that the Department of Higher Education should provide as much information about what jobs are in demand, what their costs are to attend certain institutions, colleges, universities, career centers.

And we should give them as much information as possible so that our students and their families can make the best decisions that they can for their future.

Some people say, is college worth it anymore?

And if you look at the statistics, these are just flat out statistics.

These aren't things that I've come up with or anybody is promoting.

But the unemployment rate for those who have a college degree is lower than those without wages are higher, significantly higher than those without.

This is an aggregate.

This is an average.

There are specific occupations where that may not be true.

But again, in the aggregate, health care outcomes for those with a post-secondary degree credential are much better than those without.

If you had to say, okay, top three or four issues facing higher education in Ohio, what would those be?

Randy Gardner: Well first, some first of all, the demographics the demographics in the Midwest are that there are going to be about 10% fewer high school graduates to go to college.

So we have to be more more customer friendly, more innovative, more flexible.

The needs of students.

If we want to keep them here, we have to make sure that we're speaking to our Ohio high school graduates to want them to stay in this state so that eventually they become part of our workforce.

So I think, number one, the demographics and meeting the needs, being as flexible as possible to offer education programs here in Ohio, I think that's number one.

But also, it's important to have those opportunities after graduation to stay here.

Kristi K: What are some of the examples of the more recent program requests that you've approved?

And I'm curious to know, have these changed and kind of shifted through the years, year after year, maybe more tech, more health care, more innovative programs?

What does that look like now?

Randy Gardner: Right now, the most prominent example, maybe, maybe two, but with the Intel's announcement that it's coming to Ohio, investing $20 billion, maybe eventually $100 billion in Ohio is going to drive all kinds of new needs in terms of degrees and credential certificates to help our workforce in addition to Intel.

But supplier or companies support of additional companies that will be coming to our state.

So the issues of technology, innovation, of engineering on this Bachelor of Science and engineering technology, what we call reset, is one that's being ramped up throughout the state, but lots of things associated with innovation and technology and the chipset industry.

And Intel's announcement on the value add into our college or university programs in that space is significant.

Another one that's been real challenging and that is in the health care arena and especially nursing, and we've added some additional nursing programs throughout the state at community colleges.

But the overall nursing population is not necessarily going up because we're not able to retain nurses in the in the field like we once did.

Those leaving the field make it more challenging and necessary for us to find ways to keep them as nurses, but also to to educate and hire and train additional nurses.

Kristi K: So it's exciting.

Lots of sort of innovative health care technology, types of degrees coming.

But also I see the challenges that you face every day, whether it is in health care with the nurses or other such programs.

Thanks so much to state of Ohio, chancellor of Higher Education, Randy Gardiner.

Randy Gardner: Great to be with you.

Thank you so much.

Kristi K: I'm Kristie K. here on location.

And as we talk about public universities and the trends in higher education, why not talk with some students about their choices and kind of the decisions they've had to make along the way?

So with me here is Damien.

Hi, Damien.

Hi.

Thanks for being with me today.

Question for you, how did you make the decision on coming to a four year public university?

Damian Gilbert: It was kind of a an instant decision, right?

When I was in high school, I saw myself excelling and I wanted to push myself further.

I always want to be learning new things and coming to a four year university.

It just allows me to do that.

Kristi K: When you were in high school then to do ever consider anything else like trade to year versus before you were you said you kind of always knew.

Damian Gilbert: I definitely understand why people would want to go into like information technology because our school offered in school classes for if you could instantly graduate high school with a certificate.

I always thought being on a college campus and learning new things like that was for me.

We were doing the whole Toledo scholarship at our school, so they wanted everybody at our school wanted to get involved with that.

And so we had nobody was going to pass up the opportunity to have their college paid for.

So.

Kristi K: Did you have some academic challenges as you were thinking about decisions and coming to school?

Damian Gilbert: So I had fairly good grades in high school.

AP classes were something and I think they did a very good job of preparing me for college in AP classes.

How much you have to learn by yourself as opposed to using the professor is just like a way to check your questions.

Kristi K: There will be an employer out there who will be so fortunate to have you working for that particular company.

So good luck to you and thanks for joining us.

Damian Gilbert: Thank you for having me.

Kristi K: So the next person I'm going to be talking with a student here at a four year university is mark to market.

Thanks for being here.

Glad to have you here.

MarQue Rayford: Thank you.

Kristi K: So what made you decide to come here to a four year public university for college?

MarQue Rayford: So my teachers both graduated from here, and they're kind of a major impact on me going to college in general.

So I was like, if they were good, you know, they're good at what they do.

And if I go to the same places they went, I should be good as well as, you know.

Kristi K: Under 4%.

Right.

Exactly.

So there's always a good influence here like that.

And I find that oftentimes with students, it's a teacher or a former teacher who has really helped along the path.

And would you have if you weren't coming here to school, would you have what would have been the other option?

Like, would you have gone to another university for your school?

Probably.

Yeah.

MarQue Rayford: My dream school was a it was for sale university.

Yeah, I was in Florida and that was my dream school.

But once again, like my teachers didn't, like I said, they, they influenced me so, so much.

I was like, I'm gonna go to the same place.

Mm hmm.

Kristi K: So did you have any friends in high school that decided to maybe take a gap year or do a two year school or maybe a trade or anything of that nature?

You feel like that was a pretty good option when you were in high school looking ahead?

MarQue Rayford: I never really considered going to a trader or or two years just because I knew I wanted more, you know, not just more college experience, but more seeing.

Different things like Toledo is a small city, so even if it's a city away, city to cities away, I still wanted to experience something new.

And that's what I got here.

Mm hmm.

Kristi K: Are you excited for your future?

You feel like you're going to be well prepared when you get out?

MarQue Rayford: Yes.

They already preparing me, honestly.

So right now it's just me practicing and honing my skills.

Kristi K: Mm hmm.

Well, Mark, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you.

I know the world is in great hands with you coming through the university system.

MarQue Rayford: Thank you.

Kristi K: We've heard now from students who've opted for a four year public university degree.

And now let's talk with someone who has opted for a two year community college degree.

Jerry, welcome to Business Life 360.

So, Jerry, you're here at a community college getting a two year degree.

Yes.

So what was it that helped you kind of make that determination that this is the place for you?

Jerrie Connor: Just because the photography program I heard it was really great.

And I just I always love taking pictures, so I just thought it would be great for me by me being a, you know, because I'm older and I have kids and it was just something that I can do and still work and maintain my household.

Kristi K: I mean, that's a lot.

You're balancing a lot and now you have a couple of kids and they're also in college.

I understand.

So you are here for two year community college.

Tell us about the girls that you have and what decisions they made and why.

Jerrie Connor: Okay.

So I have my oldest girl.

She's here with me.

She's good at drawing and she loves cartoons.

So she took the animation program and she's doing really good.

I'm proud of her.

You know, it's you know, having your daughter there is you know, it's little labs for the.

Kristi K: Little you know, for sure.

Jerrie Connor: Yeah, it has its bittersweet moments, but we're doing good together, taking classes because we got a class together.

Kristi K: So that's.

That's fine.

Yeah.

Yes.

Jerrie Connor: Yes.

And then my older daughter, she has a three year old, so I'm really proud of her.

She's in Michigan and her daughter lives for her.

They have a little apartment and she's doing real well.

Kristi K: And is she in a two year, four.

Jerrie Connor: Years in.

Kristi K: The four year?

A four year program so she have for that?

And was that because of her major or.

Jerrie Connor: She wanted to do social work Kristi K: And it seems like each of you has made a decision based on what your career choices are, what your area of expertize will be as you kind of select that career going forward.

Yeah, sounds like you're doing great.

Your daughters are doing just great and it's so wonderful to have you in business life.

I'm 60.

Jerrie Connor: All right.

Thank you.

Kristi K: Thank you.

So great to get perspective from our students, how we recognize and address unique educational needs, challenges and opportunities will be indicative of the success of higher education in the future.

And there's always more room to learn, lead and grow.

That's a wrap on this episode of Business Life 360.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Kristi K and I'll see you on the next Business Life 360.

Announcer: Connect with Kristi Kay on LinkedIn at Kristi Kay Hoffman and here the Business Life 360 conversation on FM 91 on Thursday mornings to watch previous episodes and more, visit our website at WG T Dawgs B 360 and join Kristy for her new podcast Business Life After Hours.

Business Life 360 with Kristi Kay is made possible by Promedica, a locally owned, nationally recognized, not for profit health care network that has a strong commitment to clinical excellence, providing safe, high quality patient care and addressing social issues that impact health.

The John B and Lillian E Neff College of Business and Innovation at the University of Toledo, developing lifelong leaders for the World of business and by KeyBank, also by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(Music)