Accelerating change: strategic direction and evolving practices for flexible learning

ABSTRACT

In higher education institutions (HEIs), online course delivery has been steadily increasing over the past couple of decades. However, the COVID-19 pandemic quickly accelerated this trend with some HEIs being better prepared than others. This case study explores how an open admission, regional university in the United States developed a robust infrastructure for flexible learning delivery before the COVID-19 pandemic. This infrastructure enabled the acceleration of flexible learning modalities during the pandemic. Aspects of the framework are examined along with pre- and post-COVID data.

KEYWORDS:

• Flexible learning
• institutional framework
• change management
• higher education
• COVID-19 pandemic

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maureen Snow Andrade

Maureen Snow Andrade is a professor in the Organisational Leadership Department at Utah Valley University. She has an EdD in higher education leadership and holds the distinction of Principal Fellow from the Higher Education Academy in the UK. She is a former associate vice president and associate dean and is currently serving as assistant department chair. Her interests include flexible learning, assessment, global education, and student access and success.