MiamiTHRIVE Symposium to be held Oct. 14-15
Nine foundational strength committees finished work over the summer; symposium will be in Shriver Center
On Monday, Oct. 14, and Tuesday, Oct. 15, the first THRIVE Symposium to introduce the initiatives to the community will be held in the Shriver Center Admissions Auditorium. All sessions will be streamed. The schedule and topics are as follows:
Oct. 14, 3:30-5 p.m.
Oct. 15, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Oct. 15, 3:30-5 p.m.
The campus community continues to receive updates via university senate, faculty assembly, and the MiamiTHRIVE website. Most recently, there were two working dinners with approximately 50 student leaders to gain insights and thoughts on opportunity areas.Over the summer, nine foundational strength committees worked diligently to lay the groundwork for this initiative. The entire body of work produced by these committees is now available on the MiamiTHRIVE website, covering a wide range of key areas, including:
- The teacher-scholar model
- Writing
- Liberal arts
- Campus beauty and sustainability
- Student life
- Excellence in undergraduate education
- Student-athletes
- Inclusive excellence
- Alumni engagement
The Fall Faculty Assembly, held Sept. 5, 2024, featured a preview of the initiatives being developed by the first four opportunity area committees:
Building lifelong skills
This committee’s work focuses on redefining the four pillars of the Miami Plan to align with the eight NACE Career Readiness Competencies: Career and Self-development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity and Inclusion, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork, and Technology. Their work also explores how Miami courses can better integrate these competencies and how the university could prioritize interdisciplinary and cross-divisional curriculum design. A portion of this committee’s work continues under opportunity area committee 7, tackling curriculum and program flexibility.
Expanding experiential learning
This committee is developing initiatives to scale experiential learning across Miami, focusing on a university-wide model that includes certificates and a four-year leadership pathway that allows students to develop their vision, explore and refine their goals, and graduate ready to launch their careers. Much of the committee’s work has been centered on identifying the many ways experiential learning already happens on campus and then asking the question, “How do we help students track these experiences and position them for future career or graduate school opportunities?”
Developing a partnership ecosystem and related urban bridges
Opportunity area committee 3 is developing a model to tier university partnerships, producing collaborative relationships that create transformative opportunities for Miamians while delivering deep value to partner organizations. This includes establishing the structures and systems needed to manage and maintain partnerships across campus. The goal is to enhance the work that is already occurring while allowing divisional liaisons and faculty to continue building and maintaining partnerships relevant to their disciplines, such as teacher education and partnerships with schools.
In addition, this committee is building a playbook to help Miami discover and expand study-away opportunities for our students interested in urban experiences. The goal is to create pathways for students to engage in experiential, real-world experiences while gaining career-specific experience in urban environments. The committee is focusing on creating the foundational plan for Columbus — targeting the financial, health, government, and fashion sectors — and then using this model for Cleveland, Chicago, and beyond. Cincinnati, where we already have significant activity, is another key area for scaling these efforts.
Marketing and communicating our differentiated value proposition
This committee is focusing on innovative ways to push our marketing efforts above the noise of our competition. They seek to craft a bold value proposition, expand marketing channels, and hyper-personalize strategies, including websites, to tailor content and experiences to individual students and families. Personalizing the experience at the academic divisional level is also an important priority.
In addition to the work of these four committees, six other committees have launched and begun their work. The goal is to largely wrap up the work of these committees by the end of the semester.
Any questions, please contact Brent Shock by email at shockb@MiamiOH.edu or by calling 513-529-8710.
