The Scenario
You are a graduating senior from a small liberal arts college. You are majoring in computer science and communication. You are stoked to be finishing school and heading out into the ‘real world.’ The college, though, is struggling financially in a huge way. The school’s capital campaign is off its goal by 40%, and the college president has been reluctant to raise tuition for fear of alienating many of the prospective students and their parents.
You are one of 5 students that the school’s president approaches with a proposition:
“This college is at a cross-roads. We need innovation badly. We can no longer compete within a ‘business as usual’ framework with the hundreds of liberal arts colleges across the country. We want to be different. But we don’t know how. We want to be clearly differentiated in the market-place of higher education, and we are asking you for help. We want to explore how this school can be the most unique and differentiated college in the US?”
The Deal
The college president offers you (and your 4 new colleagues) a salary ($27,500) for one year, plus housing, to generate a blueprint for a new direction for the college. He is, essentially, offering you your first job out of college, though on campus. He gives you an office on campus, and a travel budget to visit other schools to conduct comparative research. The college is situated in rurual central Pennsylvania, a 45 minute drive from Pittsburgh, and has 1,400 students. (Your four colleagues are majoring in biology, anthropology, economics, and marketing.)
Education Innovation 101 Blueprint… Enter Here…
The Butcher
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