Projects

Supporting Elevating Strengths Initiative

Summary

Elevating Strengths is an exploration led by a working group out of the institution’s provost’s office to evaluate and improve the administrative structure of the three schools within Fort Lewis College: the School of Arts & Sciences, the School of Education, and the Katz School of Business. NCHEMS completed peer analysis and workforce data analysis to support the working group. NCHEMS also collaborated with the provost’s office to create custom artificial intelligence-enabled tools to support the working group’s deliberations.

Topics Approach Impacts

Topics

Workforce needs.
Academic program organization.
AI-enabled institutional analysis.

Approach

NCHEMS worked closely with the institutional working group to understand the current academic program structure, its strengths, and its limitations. To inform alternative options, NCHEMS completed peer institution and workforce data analysis. NCHEMS also collaborated with the provost’s office to leverage AI tools to support the working group.

Impacts

NCHEMS, as an outside partner, added value by leading interviews and group conversations with campus stakeholders. These perspectives, together with peer comparisons, helped shape NCHEMS’ recommendations. NCHEMS also participated with the AI Institute at Fort Lewis College, evaluating how artificial intelligence could complement traditional research and analysis methods. From this collaboration, we reinforced the importance of human-led stakeholder engagement as a fundamental part of institutional change efforts. We also explored the use of AI in peer institution analysis.