Page 190 - Crisis in Higher Education

Building Bridges to Potential Employers • 161

successful careers, thereby creating a dynamic learning process that
links students and employers.
3. Potential employers: They have opportunities to participate at the
beginning, in the middle, and the end of the learning process.
In curricula design, they work with tenured and professional fac-
ulty to offer information about the capabilities and knowledge their
future employees must have. During the instruction phase, they
can offer internship and cooperative education opportunities so
students have hands-on experiences. They can meet with student
groups to discuss working in this business or that industry as well
as offer projects and programs where students and student groups
compete. At graduation, potential employers work closely with uni-
versity placement services to find the “right” employees—matches
that are good for both.
4. Suppliers of learning materials: They contribute knowledge and
experience in designing high-technology, innovative methods for
delivering knowledge across multiple formats. They are key players
in providing a diversified portfolio of learning tools.

Figure 8.1 illustrates these relationships. Tenured and professional fac-
ulty is the hub of the network, interacting directly with all participants,
including suppliers of learning materials. Moving from left to right in
Figure 8.1, applicants, who have expectations about job opportunities and
earnings, become students and follow the curricula designed by tenured

Suppliers of
learning
materials

Tenured and
professional
faculty

Students taking Potential
Applicants Graduates
curricula employers

FIGURE 8.1
Reaching out to potential employers and bringing them into the learning process.