Dear Center for Academic Innovation Community,
A core role of higher education has always been helping people prepare for their careers. Increasingly, however, the organizations that employ them are navigating profound change as well. This has led me to a new question: How can universities become better partners to organizations as they prepare their people—and themselves—for the future of work?
Over the past year, our conversations with employers, professional associations, and learning leaders have revealed an important shift. Not long ago, organizations primarily asked what courses we offered. Today, leaders are asking how they can prepare their workforce for rapid technological change, help employees develop enduring human skills alongside technical expertise, and demonstrate the meaningful impact of their investment in learning.
Answering these questions requires a different kind of partnership. It requires more than providing access to courses. It requires understanding an organization’s strategic priorities and connecting them with the breadth of expertise across the University of Michigan.
At the Center for Academic Innovation, we have long believed that the best educational innovations are created with learners, faculty, and campus partners, not simply for them. That same philosophy is shaping the next chapter of Michigan Online as we deepen our work with organizations across industries.
Every organization has its own unique context, challenges, and goals. Yet many are confronting remarkably similar questions. How should teams adapt as artificial intelligence reshapes work? Which capabilities will matter most in the years ahead? How can organizations create learning opportunities that build resilience, curiosity, and continuous growth rather than simply checking the box on a training requirement?
These conversations underscore a core value of higher education, and show how it is uniquely positioned to play a leading role in the future of work. We understand that meaningful learning is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process of exploration, reflection, and adaptation.
Michigan Online enables organizations to engage the breadth of excellence across the University of Michigan. Working in collaboration with schools, colleges, and units across the institution, we help organizations connect their strategic priorities with world-class faculty, educational experiences, and interdisciplinary expertise that reflect the full strength of a Michigan education. Already, we are partnering with municipalities, technology companies, and global entertainment organizations to create learning solutions aligned with their unique strategic priorities. While each organization brings different challenges, they share a common goal: helping their people and their organizations thrive in a rapidly changing world.
This approach reflects the broader mission of the university. By bringing together faculty expertise, educational design, and digital learning technologies, we help organizations create learning experiences that are both scalable and responsive to the people they serve.
These partnerships also strengthen the university itself. By engaging organizations across sectors, we gain insight into emerging workforce needs, identify new opportunities for teaching and scholarship, and create additional pathways for faculty to extend the impact of their work.
The future of lifelong learning will depend on collaboration. Universities, employers, nonprofit organizations, and public institutions each bring distinct strengths to the table. Together, we can create learning ecosystems that help individuals continue to grow throughout their careers while strengthening the organizations and communities they serve.
Every new conversation reinforces our belief that higher education has an important role to play—not only in educating the next generation of students, but also in helping organizations learn, adapt, and thrive in a rapidly changing world. I look forward to sharing more of what we learn together and the opportunities these partnerships create for learners, organizations, and the University of Michigan community alike.
Go blue!
James DeVaney
Associate Vice Provost for Academic Innovation
Founding Executive Director of the Center for Academic Innovation