Delmarva College and University Leaders on the State of Higher Education
Salisbury, Md. — University and college presidents from across Delmarva gathered at in Salisbury Thursday to share their insights on the state of higher education.
Leaders from several higher education institutes participated in a panel discussion, hitting topics like affordability, preparing students for the workforce, community outreach and budgets.
Salisbury University president Dr. Lyn Lepre says universities in the region are working on solutions to similar challenges their students are facing.
“We’re all concerned about access. We’re all concerned about affordability. We’re all concerned about making sure that when our students leave our institutions, that they are getting a true return on investment for the time, not just the money, but the time that they’ve spent towards this degree, because it’s not nothing,” Lepre said.
Lepre added that one of the goals the universities are working on is finding ways to keep students who study on the Eastern Shore in the area after they graduate.
“This is something we are thinking about every single day, because obviously we want to serve not only the state of Maryland as a public institution, but the region in which we live,” Lepre said.
Dr. Brit Kirwin, chancellor emeritus of the University System of Maryland, says higher educational institutions continues to be a vital piece of the communities they inhabit.
“Our colleges and university, yeah, they’re challenged right now, but they they’re just as important, maybe even more important than they’ve ever been before,” Kirwin said.
Kirwin says the region offers residents good opportunity to set up their futures, given the importance of skilled workers in today’s world.
“Delmarva is well positioned in this, knowledge economy to, succeed because of the great schools we have here,” Kirwin said.
Lepre says the opportunity for institutions like SU to share their insights on higher education with community stakeholders is a gift and it would be quote, “almost negligent” to not discuss education with talented people locally.
“Today may have been just one day, but we’re constantly having these conversations with, local business owners and entrepreneurs and community leaders. Our local senator was here. We’re very, very lucky. We’re very, very lucky to have that,” Lepre said.
Lepre added that this is an important time for higher educational institutions to reflect.
“This is higher education’s moment to think about how the world is changing around us. But to really think about what students are going to want from the education that we know we can deliver to them,” Lepre said.
