Led by its president, the co-founder of Jiffy Lube
With student loans out of control and many college graduates struggling to find their first jobs, it’s clearly time to rethink higher education. Philadelphia University President Stephen Spinelli Jr., Ph.D.,former co-founder of Jiffy Lube and vice provost of Babson College, is disrupting higher education with innovative new initiatives.
Philadelphia University president Dr. Stephen Spinelli speaks with a student innovation team working on a Johnson & Johnson real-world challenge.
Under his leadership, Philadelphia University has created a new model for professional university education. Dr. Spinelli and his team established the unique Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce, underpinned by an innovative curriculum based on transdisciplinary, active and real-world learning infused with the liberal arts.
Dr. Spinelli comes at higher education from a bracingly fresh entrepreneur’s perspective. He co-founded Jiffy Lube International where he helped pioneer the quick lube industry nationwide, turning Jiffy Lube into the nation’s #1 brand in the quick lube market with more than 1,000 service centers and more than 20 million customers per year.
Next, Spinelli moved into academia earning a Ph.D. in economics from The Imperial College, University of London, and holding a variety of leadership positions at Babson College, the first American college to focus on entrepreneurship education. By building Babson’s profile, Spinelli has been key to the new acceptance of entrepreneurship education in institutions of higher learning.
I was eager to hear what Dr. Spinelli was up to at Philadelphia University; especially the results of their strategic plan and his role overseeing the planned integration of Thomas Jefferson University and Philadelphia University. Thomas Jefferson University, with its campus stretched throughout Center City, has been a trailblazer in the health sciences for nearly 200 years and is home to the respected Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Philadelphia University, which was founded in 1884 as the Philadelphia Textile School, sits on a bucolic campus in the East Falls section of Philadelphia. Most of its students specialize in the architecture, business, design, engineering, fashion, health and science fields. “Our combination with Thomas Jefferson University will take what both universities have already accomplished and create a new institution focused on 21st century professional education that intends to “transform higher education and further enhance value for students, graduates and employers,” Spinelli said.
“It’s the start of a revolution in how students are taught, in how we provide greater value in more customized offerings,” Stephen Klasko, M.D., MBA, president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health has said. Klasko told Philadelphia magazine, “We’re looking at it like we’re creating a brand new university. We’re going to have a startup mentality because the value in academics has become overinflated.”
“We want to create a whole new model.” Spinelli added. “The system is broken, and we have to change it. Delivering on a more robust value proposition for students is at the heart of it. We will be an example from which a lot of people can learn. That’s why it’s important we do it right.”
Dr. Stephen Klasko, president & CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, and Philadelphia University president Dr. Stephen Spinelli sign the agreement to combine the two institutions into one comprehensive university in 2017.
I sat down with Dr. Spinelli to understand how he plans to turn Philadelphia University’s grand vision into a reality in a world filled with constant change and uncertainty:.
Steve Mariotti: What is the future of higher education?
Stephen Spinelli: Massive infusions of technology, increased government regulation, heightened legal liability, an evolving delivery system, escalating costs, increased competition and muted demographic trends—is any industry under more pressure than higher education?
The press and the government have focused on the cost of a college education. That’s a real problem, but the more important part of the equation is the benefit. How will the benefit of a college education be different and why? Colleges and universities that aren’t already changing what they teach and the way they teach will find themselves in trouble in the current environment.
Higher education is in a constant state of change and it needs to be. Universities must embrace change as a component of their business model. Even more important, they have to teach students how to recognize the need for change, analyze options to take advantage of a dynamic environment and curate their own education. If we truly want to prepare our students for the future, we must teach both the professions and the humanities in the context of social units--project teams, companies and communities.
SM: How are you preparing Philadelphia University for the future?
SS: The dynamic nature of the world is evolving so rapidly. We recognized the need for an enhanced approach to education nearly a decade ago. We knew that for today’s and tomorrow’s college students to be successful, we had to disrupt the traditional, outmoded ways in which people learn. We have developed a transdisciplinary approach called Nexus Learning. It empowers students to work together across different disciplines, form teams with other students and faculty, engage with companies, help identify real-world problems and come up with innovative solutions that create value. It is one of the reasons our graduates can boast a 95 percent job and graduate school placement rate
The transdisciplinary teams present ways to enhance organizational effectiveness through products, services and even new business models. At Philadelphia University, Nexus Learning also is leveraged through a leading-edge built environment. We have created active learning spaces that look and feel like the world in which people actually work – think studio or lab rather than a classroom. Technology also plays a key role.
SM: What is the future of work?
SS: Higher education is increasingly driven by the changing workplace. Society needs productive citizens who have learned how to change, while being productive as they change. Are students prepared to change jobs every few years? Are they prepared to create their own jobs? Are they prepared to shape their jobs as they evolve? Are they prepared to solve complicated and complex problems? At our university, everything we offer is designed to help our students answer “yes!” to these questions.
SM: How can you prepare students for a working world that is evolving so rapidly?
SS: We have to think of higher education as an eco-system instead of an institution. The intersections of learning, community and professional life are three-dimensional, not linear. It is incumbent on higher education to foster those interactions and create credentialing around them.
SM: If you were 18 years old in 2016 would you be excited or discouraged about the future?
SS: Excited out of my mind. The potential for me to be the lifelong curator of my own learning has never been better. Passion becomes professional for 18-year-olds because they have better control of the experiences that will help them. They must think creatively, act innovatively and work toward outcomes that create value. That is how they will shape their passions into productive and rewarding lives.
Interested in learning more about Philadelphia University’s approach? Watch Dr. Spinelli Describe Below How Philadelphia University Is Tearing Boundaries Down.