Giving Compass' Take:

• Colleges that are seeing success are innovating using the "Jobs to Be Done" method which incorporates the thinking that products and services center around an individual's needs. When higher education institutions innovate for student needs, they are able to find success with programs that treat the whole student and fill gaps for them to thrive. 

• What are some of the challenges with this method? How can it be replicated across all higher ed institutions?

• Read about how this same methodology helps to activate teacher motivation. 

In a recent piece, we argued that colleges need to do more to support adult learners and nontraditional students. As a variety of studies have pointed out, the needs of college students aren’t always purely academic; they often include basic needs like food, shelter, childcare, and healthcare.

Innovation theory can help shed light on how colleges can be successful by integrating around student needs. Jobs Theory states that people don’t simply buy products or services; they pull them into their lives to make progress against a particular set of circumstances. We call this progress the “Job” they are trying to get done, and understanding this opens a world of innovation possibilities. Schools that are serious about integrating around students’ Jobs to be Done are better positioned to help students be successful—and to build successful business models themselves.

We sat down with President Dan Phelan of Jackson College, a community college in Michigan with 7,000 students, which has recently undertaken a series of innovative steps to tackle the needs of its students.

Alana: Jackson College has recently taken a number of steps to more holistically meet the needs of students. What kinds of changes have you made, and what new services are you providing?

President Phelan: Our approach follows significant work around cultural change at Jackson College. After substantial research, benchmarking, etc., we adopted Total Commitment to Student Success (TCS2) as our ‘north star.’ What followed from this were a variety of activities that included new hiring and onboarding processes, new union contracts, new performance evaluation methodologies, customer-centric focus, new compensation metrics, and the creation of institutional beliefs.

This fall semester, we opened a Dental Hygiene Lab and degree program. We are working to provide opportunities for students to receive free oral care.

Read the full article about innovation in higher education by Alana Dunagan at Christensen Institute