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 The state of Ohio is fortunate enough to be home to roughly 245 insurance-related companies, which offer a myriad of career opportunities. When we think of insurance careers, they are usually associated with sales agents, claim managers in call centers, and adjusters. This is primarily because the ads we see feature characters like Jake from State Farm or Flo from Progressive. Secondly, consumers will only have interactions with insurance company employees who fill those positions. One does not put much thought into the backend operations of an insurance company, let alone careers in those sectors. So much more goes on behind the scenes in the world of insurance before any interactions occur between customers and the faces of insurance companies. Numerous jobs that require a wide range of skillsets are integral to the proper functioning of the backbone and infrastructure of the insurance industry. Data from the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) [1], and the Ohio Insurance Institute (Oii) [2], projects that there is and there will continue to be an increase in the need for talent in fields such as computer and information technology, marketing management, accounting, and finance.

 If Charles Scharf’s comments on the summer conference call were reframed as a question, it might have been, “how and where do we find the talent pool we want to recruit from?” His comments were candid, and the delivery was off, but the overall tenor was not wrong. More importantly, Mr. Scharf did not try to walk them back using mealy-mouthed corporate-ese word soup. He, instead, said it was not an excuse for why Wells Fargo did not have enough diversity, but it was reality as he saw it. A follow-up question would have been to ask how do we develop and nurture the talent pool if we think it is currently too shallow. 

 Now the question that remains is: how will donor relations recover from this pandemic? When can gift officers hope to return to some semblance of normalcy, will there be lasting impediments to higher education fundraising that result from this crisis?

There are no definite answers at this point, but some blurry outlines about the future are beginning to emerge.

By Zillah Fluker, Ph.D. and Staci Jones

Sweeping across the globe at a rapid pace, the COVID-19 pandemic has left society scrambling in its wake and has exposed faults and incongruences in many long-standing systems. Particularly hard hit are industries that traditionally emphasize face-to-face interaction—like educational systems.

As a safety measure in the U.S., thousands of higher education institutions ranging from Ivy League bastions, public research institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and more, had to close their physical doors and mandate that students return to their permanent addresses for the remainder of the semester. Given that tuition payments had already been applied, these institutions transitioned to online classes, with this new structure extending as far as summer semesters for many.

As businesses will reassess their approaches (due to forced remote work), what discoveries will take place in Higher Education?  What if institutions and/or students observe the possibilities afforded by the a primarily online structure, and come to learn that they can operate effectively in such a setting? The hard truth for colleges and universities is that COVID-19 will usher in a day of reckoning once these institutions reopen their doors.

With some sources projecting enrollment to decrease prior to COVID-19, others are predicting that enrollment numbers will remain constant, but the geographical and demographic makeup of universities will be the components that see a major shift. What if students returning to education discover that they can get the same core information at home, at a lower overall expense and have the flexibility to maintain regular employment?  What would be the value proposition of the student choosing to spend thousands on tuition at commuter and residential campuses? The best way to hedge against this possible lull is for institutions to work to get ahead of the curve of the students who may prefer the sense of flexibility and asynchronicity afforded by online structures.

Social learning in an online setting more closely reflects responding to a classmates post on a discussion board and maintaining dialogue through that forum. Though missing out on the face-to-face social aspect of higher education may have previously been considered a hindrance in the workplace, that may not be a consideration in a world that has been so materially impacted by COVID-19.

In fact, an online degree may have the possibility of equipping students for the professional landscape that will emerge once the pandemic is over. As employers realize they can significantly cut costs by allowing employees to function remotely, widespread remote work may well become the new norm even after social distancing restrictions have relaxed.

It takes a fair amount of self-reliance and determination to stay focused on the task at hand while studying at home. The same is true for working remotely. Could it be that students enrolled in online education position themselves for the potential of greater success as remote employees?

There is no doubt that COVID-19 will continue to disrupt higher education long after the initial infection has dissipated. The only question that remains is how colleges and universities will handle that disruption? Institutions all over the world have already been forced to modify centuries-old processes, will they continue to evolve in light of these shifting times, or get lost in the transition?

There is something to be said for tradition, but in a world that has already altered dramatically, it may be time that traditional colleges and universities similarly update their approach. Perhaps the silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic is the fact that it will force systems stuck in a stall pattern to reevaluate and modernize. Educational institutions who are able to shift toward online learning options will likely emerge from this crisis stronger than ever. The diverse makeup of traditional and nontraditional students could find comfort and greater productivity and success from the options that present themselves in our new world order.

Note:  The online education system discussed as the alternative to traditional  in-person college is that which has been created with the sudden safety requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than the pre-existing that originated as online education systems such as Univesity of Phoenix.

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