BRAC Business School (BBS) of BRAC University arranged a seminar on 10th April, 2022 titled “Trends in Higher Education” conducted by Dr. Mario Hayek, Dean, College of Business, Texas A&M. The Dean of BRAC Business School, Dr Sang H Lee, along with esteemed colleagues of BRAC Business School attended the seminar, along with BRAC University students as Dr Hayek envisioned the future of Higher Education around the world.
In the seminar, Dr. Hayek talked about his career and wealth of experience in the realm of entrepreneurship. With years of entrepreneurial experience, in addition to being an academic in the field of business studies, Dr Hayek highlighted the fast-changing pace of higher education in the world.
Course durations are not strictly bound by the 15–16 week period as held by the norm in the colleges and universities around the world. More and more institutes are adapting to a more “competency-based approach” where students can take on as many courses they prefer and finish within a 7-week period says Dr. Hayek. The underlining rationale here being that everyone learns at a different pace and there is no clear reasoning behind this age-old tradition of fixed course duration.
Dr Hayek also sheds light on the role of higher education on the post pandemic world, with students and teachers getting a glimpse of online teaching, the practicalities of physical classes are brought in to question. With easier access for all, the Dean asks whether physical classes are becoming a redundancy as we move on in to the future.
The seminar ended with a Q&A session with a few very engaging questions from the audience.