Introducing The Co-Lab@UDI
The University Design Institute is excited to launch The Co-Lab, a design hub for higher education transformation — a place where bold ideas, institutional expertise, and global perspectives converge to design the future of higher education. Through the Co-Lab, UDI aims to accomplish three key objectives:
Design Innovative Solutions and New Models
Develop a Network of Global Thought Leaders
Deliver Insights on Emerging Trends and Global Forces
To the third objective, we are launching The Co-Lab Brief. This monthly publication will highlight trends in higher education and share UDI and its network’s thought leadership through interviews, reports, and other media. You can also visit The Co-Lab’s new website below, where you can view interviews with global higher education leaders, including ASU President and UDI Chairman Michael Crow.
About The Co-Lab Brief
The Co-Lab Brief is a monthly publication from Arizona State University’s University Design Institute that invites global higher education leaders, scholars, and system-builders into a shared conversation — a dialogue of design.
It’s a space where the kinds of questions that animate hallway conversations, after-hours strategy calls, and cross-continental voice notes are brought into public view, the kinds of questions that linger, unsettle, and demand our attention. More than a newsletter, think of The Co-Lab Brief as your go-to scholarly group chat: a space for the kinds of urgent, generative cross-cutting questions facing global higher education.
The Co-Lab Brief is an invitation to join the dialogue of design and help shape the future of higher education through the questions that matter most.
In this first issue, we are animated by the question facing U.S. higher education institutions...
"How do we design universities that keep pace with AI ... without losing the human pace of education?"
Across the U.S., regional public universities are rapidly redefining their role in workforce preparation. As economic shifts and technological disruptions—particularly artificial intelligence—reshape labor demands, these institutions are deploying innovative strategies to equip learners with relevant, verifiable, and future-proof skills. Recent graduates are facing lower employment rates compared to the national unemployment average, according to a recent report.
From digital credentials and earn-to-learn pathways to systemwide AI integrations, the work happening today is reengineering the traditional degree model and expanding what it means to be "career ready." Below are key developments from recent months that exemplify this evolution—and signal where higher education is headed next.
Artificial Intelligence and Talent Development
Over the past several years, we’ve seen an explosion in the use of artificial intelligence, including here at Arizona State University. AI integration has transformed campuses in teaching, learning, research, and innovation and much more. Here are how some systems and institutions are leveraging AI in their day-to-day operations:
Sir Malcolm Grant, former President and Provost of University College London, on AI in Higher Ed and the Workforce
“We have students coming into our universities…who have never known a world without a smartphone and artificial intelligence.”
Zoom out:
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, recently released a study on ChatGPT adoption by college-aged students. It found a significant split in states with universities and systems that are leveraging AI in their classrooms, and those that are not.
Workforce Development and Talent
Universities are facing unprecedented pressure to identify new and creative ways to advance America’s workforce. Four-year degrees have traditionally been the bedrock of higher education, and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future, but in today’s world, institutions are forced to find new ways to reach new learners and respond to industry demand to effectively and efficiently train the workforce of tomorrow:
West Virginia higher education community convenes to launch Credential VW to prepare workforce-ready students.
Imagine the working adult who can only take a few courses at a time, the recent high school graduate who wants to build a portfolio of skills quickly, or the mid-career worker who needs to reskill for a new job opportunity. With microcredentials, we can give these individuals practical, career-relevant tools they can apply immediately – whether they’re looking to advance in their current roles or pivot to new industries.
Dr. Sarah Armstrong TuckerWest Virginia Chancellor of Higher Education
West Virginia officials met late last year to chart the course for implementing microcredentials across the state in an effort to be more flexible and accessible than traditional degrees. Representatives from key state industries also attended, providing key insights from their field on how to adapt the program. Read more >>
Other Stories:
- Why the University of Texas System is offering microcredentials to students – for free.
- University of Northern Iowa announces streamlined micro-credential programs for professionals seeking certificates or teaching endorsements
- University of Connecticut, University of Rhode Island, and General Dynamics Electric Boat Launch Workforce Development Program
The Next Edition: Alternative Credentials
The Co-Lab Brief is a monthly forum for discussion around cross-cutting design challenges facing global higher education. We want to hear from our global readers about these issues and how you, your institution, and your system are grappling with them. We encourage you to respond and engage by responding to the right. We will highlight responses in upcoming issues.
For our next edition, we'll explore:
How do you build a credentialing ecosystem that serves society, not just institutions? Is regional coordination the missing architecture of global credentialing?