The Future of Learning at JMU

Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Learning

The Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Learning team envisions a future of learning at JMU in which students and professors are expected to work together in integrated partnerships across different schools and fields of study. Students will still receive a solid foundational education in their area of study or academic discipline, while JMU has started proactively encouraging and supporting interdisciplinary initiatives and creative problem solving.

Building Bridges

Imagine 2031

Post-undergraduate expectations for collaboration have increased AND disciplinary silos at JMU have stayed the same.

By 2031, JMU has concentrated on the need for subject area expertise while proactively creating opportunities to encourage connections and eliminate barriers between academic departments, faculty, administration, and students to produce a shared-resource environment that benefits everyone.

Students continue to receive a degree in a specific area of study, receiving valuable expertise and knowledge in their major. However, due to post-COVID increases in virtual and hybrid workplaces and ongoing technological advancements, people are expected to collaborate more effectively and efficiently than ever with those from other backgrounds and “workplace” experiences.

In order to support and facilitate the skills necessary for this post-grad collaboration, JMU has implemented numerous cross-disciplinary course options focused on providing microcredentials in collaboration, in which students work across majors and minors to further their ability to communicate about their field of study and create bridges between disciplinary silos.

Also, after achieving R2 status, JMU has sought more research grants to support and further incentivize these interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts. While subject matter is specialized and focused – in silos – JMU realizes the need to help students connect with experts from other subject matters in order to collaborate in their future careers. This includes focusing more on the library system and sharing resources and technologies between programs; interdepartmental teams of faculty who meet regularly to share challenges and best practices; and an increased focus on student services, including organizations and extracurriculars that bring together students from multiple disciplines.

Basically, while the academic structure remains siloed at the required coursework level, faculty, administration, and students are encouraged and supported in making connections outside of classes to develop the key collaboration skills needed in the workplace. Many of these opportunities will be virtual to engage students when and where they are able to be involved.

Assumptions

For this scenario to be realized in ten years, we make the following assumptions (click to learn more):

Disciplinary silos remain and we return, in some ways, to traditional methods of education in collegiate institutions.
Research grants rewarded specifically for interdisciplinary work will become more prevalent, resulting in more ambitious interdisciplinary opportunities in the form of research projects.
Employers continue to pursue remote and hybrid workplaces, and need employees who can work in this environment.
Technology continues to evolve to allow more collaboration opportunities regardless of geography.
Specialization is key to career opportunities. Employers are outsourcing many menial and procedural tasks to AI or overseas and hiring specialists in their field of study while also looking for employees who can work collaboratively across departments, geography, and culture with their teams.
Self-employment continues to grow, as subject matter experts can sell their services across borders due to technological innovations. Most career tracks, including for freelance workers, require adaptability.
Administration is invested in collaboration opportunities and connecting departments for resource-sharing through faculty, administration, and student-led teams and committees.
JMU has expanded its options for minors and specializations that encourage inter-disciplinary collaboration, including microcredentialing.

Implications

In order to ensure the success of each student, JMU must keep in touch with the changing needs of the workplace post-graduation. As workplaces become more collaborative, that shift should be reflected in the course offerings at JMU. This is achievable in part by building upon current offerings such as the Technology Innovation and Economic Development program. In order to cultivate collaboration effectively, outreach for those organizations must increase. Another way to achieve this would be more flexibility within each major’s curriculum in addition to supporting and engaging with online or nontraditional students.

In addition, the university should provide formalized opportunities for collaboration, such as a specific minor or even implementing a micro-credential system. However, majors should still be founded upon a core set of classes with the opportunity to build upon, expand, and individualize that experience. Cross-major, cross-department, and cross-course collaboration is incredibly important in order to strengthen the skills obtainable in each major, building bridges across each department, while still building a strong and specialized foundation of learning.

Key Takeaways for Planning Purposes:

Administrative investment in and support of cross-departmental teams of faculty and administration will help reduce costs across the university as best practices and resources are shared.
JMU should anticipate a continued shift toward demanding transferable soft skills along with a demand for highly specialized, often technical skills.
JMU should encourage faculty-advised student groups that bring together various disciplines to encourage problem-solving, either as special courses, student organizations, or working groups.
JMU should support virtual collaboration opportunities, both in the classroom and extracurricular, to increase accessibility to students regardless of their location or other responsibilities.

Methodology

We envisioned JMU ten years into the future in 2031.
We looked at several key drivers that would change in some way; we chose a scenario where disciplinary silos remain the same and post-graduate employers expect more collaboration.
Our class hosted several JMU faculty guest speakers who shared their unique insight into the future of learning at JMU.
Each group member independently contacted and interviewed 3 potential stakeholders as we defined the problem.
Our group conducted 10 interviews in total with stakeholders, including faculty and staff of JMU and other universities, as well as a Virginia State Senator.
Our group collected secondary research from a variety of academic and news sources to develop our recommendations and support our findings.

Meet the Team

Rachel Buczynski

M.S. in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, B.A. International Studies

Rachel Buczynski is pursuing her Masters in Adult Education and Human Resource Development at JMU. Her career has included program and events management consulting for nonprofits and trade associations, as well as teaching English as a Second Language to adult immigrants. Her passion is helping adult learners achieve their goals.

Morgan Gaylor

B.A. Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communications, Minor in Educational Media

Morgan Gaylor is a junior at JMU majoring in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communications and minoring in Educational Media. Morgan has been involved in Delight, Madison Show Choir, and the Environmental Management clubs at JMU. In her last year at JMU she looks forward to being a Vinyasa Flow Instructor at UREC.

Daniel George

M.A. College Student Personnel Administration, B.S. Psychology

Daniel George is a first-year Master’s student studying College Student Personnel Administration with a focus on counselling at James Madison University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology and a minor in Communication Studies. He is knowledgeable and proficient at critical thinking and careful problem solving and is passionate about people and education.

Maria Liu

B.S. Integrated Science and Technology, Minor in Environmental Science

Maria Liu is a junior ISAT major with a double concentration in Environment and a tailored course in A Global Perspective on Sustainability and Development. She hopes to take advantage of the many unique classes with projects or hands-on learning and maybe take part in another capstone level project before graduation.

Sophie Sons

B.A. Theatre, Minor in Environmental Humanities

Sophie Sons is a junior Theatre major with a concentration in Theatre Studies and a minor in Environmental Humanities. Sophie is passionate about experimental theatre and is a proud employee of JMU’s costume shop. She hopes to facilitate a devised production about climate change before she graduates.