Within the next 20 years, expect college—and high school—as we know it in Louisiana to look significantly different.
As Business Report details in a new story on Louisiana Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed’s plans to update the Board of Regents Master Plan, the way in which students move from high school to a postsecondary institution will be more intentional, emphasizing the student’s talent development.
Reed recently sat down with Business Report to give an early preview of the Board of Regents’ 2019 Master Plan, which she also outlined today at the Baton Rouge Press Club.
The board—which last year elected Reed to spearhead and execute a statewide vision for higher education—will address hot-button issues like LSU’s holistic admissions process and equity gaps in education, but every issue will be studied through the lens of talent—rather than strictly academic—development. That require a paradigm shift in the way the state views the purpose of higher education, Reed says.
“We have to think about blurring the lines between K-12, higher education and the workforce, particularly in a state that has as much poverty as Louisiana does,” Reed says. “If we think about the K-12 system as a partner in our work, and not as a handoff to us, then we would say, ‘We don’t want more kids to go to college; we want more college to come to kids.’’’
At its core, the plan, still in its preliminary stages, aims to answer a lingering problem that isn’t necessarily unique to Louisiana: a workforce skills gap that seems to only grow wider. Read the full story. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com
