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In his keynote address at the College Board Colloquium, Joseph E. Aoun, the President of North-eastern University said that higher education institutions in our country have a major role to play in meeting new challenges and in shaping our future.

This is because we are at crossroads and at a significant turning point in history where the opportunity is great and stakes are high, he said. He was addressing an audience of 240 administrators and educators from various universities and colleges from around the nation in California. This was attended by West Coast school district superintendents too.

This is an annual event that is held to discuss various critical issues field of higher education faces. Education leaders come together to interact and hold spirited dialogue after serious thinking. This year’s event covered the theme – Embracing the ‘New Normal’.

Educators were challenged by Aoun to identify progressive models from across the world with a global perspective and to question higher education’s historical perspectives. Some of the most important challenges our institutions face today include increased federal regulation, heightened global completion and reduced government funding.

Aoun pointed out that our country is at the center of ‘knowledge explosion’. This in turn has led to shifting needs of students and generation of new industries and businesses. This changing landscape has to be effectively addressed and towards this end, a network of regional campuses has been established across our country by North-eastern.

Demands of the economy of each region have been aligned with strengths of North-eastern. “Hybrid” master’s degree programs are offered by the campuses. These flexible programs integrate classroom learning with online education, customizable curriculum and global view.

According to Aoun, our system of higher education is established strongly based on a meritocratic, open, risk-taking and innovative model. Students are educated by all our universities in such a manner that they are adept at improving society through avenues such as research.

This compact however has to be revisited, he said, due to shifting challenges of the twenty-first century. Colleges today have to transcend traditional boundaries and must effectively engage public and private partners in order to achieve their goals.

He said that in order to thrive and survive, our higher education must move forward along these lines. Experiential learning is the hallmark of North-eastern’s education model. Incorporation of this model is very important for students as it adds to the valuable, real-world experience.

According to Aoun, expansion of overseas campus by American institutions is usually driven by the “gold-rush mentality”. He mentioned this as he spoke about increasing demand and globalization of higher education. Quoting an Indian Prime Minister’s advisor, he said that higher education model in America is not sustainable, not affordable, not scalable and not adaptable.

He was also a part of discussions on some of the major trends that significantly affect higher education direction and various challenges that require to be faced by individual institutions. Those who took part in the discussions include presidents of Columbus State Community College, Spellman College, University of California and vice president of higher education relationship development of College Board.