UA Digital Transformation Readiness Assessment: revisioning distance education’s new normal

The University of Alaska is taking the first step toward a seamless student experience by launching the UA Digital Transformation Readiness Assessment. 

UA is investing $100,000 in FY20 to study the university’s readiness to better incorporate cloud-based technology and to use technology to better engage students. Over the next three months, Peak Performance Technologies, Inc. will interview UA leadership and staff about student services and systems. Information from these interviews will establish a roadmap for IT investment based on thoroughly documented analysis of UA’s processes, people, platforms, and politics, both current and future state. 

The UA Digital Transformation goals are to assess the university’s readiness to:

• modernize systems and processes for students with solutions that are easy-to-navigate, user-friendly, modern/mobile, and reliable;
• improve processes that involve students—including admissions, scheduling, registration, etc.;
• use data strategies and analytical capabilities to create new perspectives and insights on improving student and institutional outcomes; and
• identify and investigate opportunities afforded by modern cloud-based approaches.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools worldwide, it disrupted education by forcing universities across the country to move classes online. The University of Alaska’s digital transformation will help it remain competitive by modernizing distance delivery models to accommodate students’ changing needs and desires. Ultimately, UA’s digital transformation will help the university stand out from the thousands of universities across the country who are also offering degrees through distance education.