[Snap Poll Results] Outsourcing and PCO Units
As the U.S. economy shows signs of emerging from the pandemic, colleges and universities are making decisions about the fall. Professional, continuing and online (PCO) education units also need to make decisions about new programs they were planning to launch pre-pandemic, systems they had budgeted for upgrade, and staffing that they may have postponed. It was clear that PCO units were invaluable to their institutions during the pandemic as can be seen in UPCEA’s February 2021 snap poll where 70% of units surveyed said that they were viewed as much more valuable or more valuable to their institutions. This, coupled with the support provided by strategic outsource partners, was critical.
April’s snap poll showed that almost two-thirds of those surveyed had an outsource partner of any function and of this group, many were using them for marketing, instructional design or enrollment management. One-in-six said they were using them more often as a result of the pandemic, while 81% said there was no change (which suggests a more long-term view beyond the pandemic). Forty-two percent of those outsourcing also said that their corporate partnership was more valuable as a result of the pandemic. The big takeaway is that PCO units were essential for their institutions to ride out the pandemic and outsource relationships helped many institutions to survive, thrive, or maintain a sense of normalcy regarding offering educational opportunities.
With the dust settling and the future become a little more predictable, PCO units now need to reflect on:
- How do they continue to leverage the relationships they created centrally and university/college-wide,
- Can they build bridges between PCO programs and traditional or centralized programs,
- What elements of the PCO portfolio are stronger or weaker for a new economy,
- What programs or changes to existing programs need to happen for a new economy (new credentials, badges, etc.?), and
- Given the race to online and proliferation of online degrees, what does the institution and the PCO unit need to do differently (i.e. more educational on-ramps or off-ramps, pathways, marketing, etc.)?
See the full results of the snap poll here.
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