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College Background
Located in Cherokee County, Georgia, Reinhardt University has been a trailblazer for education and innovation in its community since 1883. President Mark Roberts and other current campus leaders have continued that legacy despite the headwinds facing higher education today. In Fall of 2020, within one semester, Reinhardt piloted Computer Science in partnership with Rize. Since then, Reinhardt has launched a total of 20 programs powered by Rize in 10 career-focused fields including Digital Marketing, Cybersecurity, Supply Chain Management, and Information Technology.
“The dynamic between the teachers and the students makes Reinhardt one of the best places to be.” – a junior at Reinhardt
Located in Cherokee County, Georgia, Reinhardt University has been a trailblazer for education and innovation in its community since 1883. President Mark Roberts, a proud member of the Reinhardt community for over 10 years and President for the last 3, highlights, “Core to Reinhardt is its intertwined community relationship. Reinhardt is steeped in its community. The small community is just so effective in fostering engagement, relationship building, and a deep understanding of students.”
Dr. Joe Mullins, Dean of McCamish School of Business and Professions, exemplifies these core tenets as a graduate of Reinhardt himself with almost half of the student body currently under his care. He shares, “For me, it's very personal because I went to school here. I was the first person to graduate with one of the degrees. I want to see us do well. I want to see us thrive.” Andrew, a current Reinhardt junior and one of Dr. Mullins’ students, expounds, “The faculty is so interconnected with us and with the community. They are more than willing to help. That kind of dynamic between the professors and the students makes Reinhardt one of the best places to be.”
What I love about being a part of this community: our mission statement isn't just something that looks good on the website. We do seek to educate a whole person. We're not just creating workers. We're looking at whole people who, moving forward, are going to be vibrant parts of their own communities.
"There's a lot to be proud of here. I've never been a part of an organization that is so mission focused and everybody is really on the same team pulling in the same direction to provide quality programs for our students … The feeling in this place of education for undergraduate students is really refreshing and the emphasis on the interaction between faculty and students, among the students themselves … it’s tremendous."
Macy, currently studying Business Administration with a concentration in Digital Marketing and a member of Reinhardt’s women's lacrosse team, states, “I love it here. I've made amazing friends, and I get to be part of a team that's in a national championship. We're ranked number one in the nation, and I'm close to my family. It's really awesome.”
“You can grow your institution by stretching how it imagines itself.” – President Roberts
As a champion for continued advancement at Reinhardt, President Roberts sees innovation as a delicate balance between “remaining authentic to your sense of self while also bending yourself to what other people need.” He finds this balance to be the kind of environment in which you can both grow as a leader and even “grow your institution by stretching how it imagines itself.”
After investing two and a half years toward successfully launching a new Nursing program at Reinhardt, President Roberts had his eyes set on starting a Cybersecurity program. He explains, “I knew that small colleges needed to have ways to offer high market value programs at a low cost. Starting a program like Cybersecurity or Computer Science or Engineering or Supply Chain Management might be extremely challenging, but Reinhardt finds unique solutions.”
"It would be costly to get faculty on campus for the possibility of recruiting a cohort for those programs, which is not realistic"
In addition to unrealistic hurdles for the institution, the students at smaller institutions often don’t believe they can compete in the job market. Dr. Mullins: “Every student, no matter where they are, is most concerned about being able to get a job. And I think, whether it's right or not, students sometimes don't see themselves as being able to compete with somebody who has attended a research university.”
Andrew, a current Reinhardt junior, further describes this mental hurdle as he explains why he switched from Math to Digital Marketing within Reinhardt: “I wanted to switch to a major that was more beneficial for my career path. As a math major, it was great, but in my mind, I was going to have to go to another school later to become an engineer… This was the difficulty I was faced with. I realized that unless I furthered my education, I would need to divert and go somewhere else.”
“This is genius.” – Dr. Mullins
In Fall of 2020, within one semester, Reinhardt piloted Computer Science in partnership with Rize. Since then, Reinhardt has launched a total of 20 programs powered by Rize in 10 academic fields including Digital Marketing, Cybersecurity, Supply Chain Management, and Information Technology. When comparing his two and a half year journey of launching the Nursing program at Reinhardt internally to launching these 20 programs over 3 years with Rize, President Roberts emphatically states, “Getting Rize programs off the ground was much easier.“
Dr. Mullins adds, “Once I understood how Rize works, I realized ‘this is genius.’ Rize allows for us to start programs that we could not do on our own. We're proud of our degrees in Business. We're proud of our Gen Ed program, but we could not have done some of these things in the next 30 years.”
Importantly for Reinhardt, launching new programs with Rize did not detract from the core Reinhardt curriculum and the high standard of academic rigor. Program Director Kelley Roberts expounds, “I loved the mentality Rize brought to us, which was: ‘We're going to work within Reinhardt’s model and see if we can bring appropriate courses that mirror what you already have.’ That was when I realized, this is a solution.”
"It‘s not a cookie-cutter model. It was an actual fix that was completely doable and really helped me believe that we were still maintaining the rigor and the diverse knowledge. Rize was able to complement what we already had in place."
“Rize classes contributed to my overall happiness.” – a senior at Reinhardt
On the student experience of these 20 new programs in 10 academic fields, President Roberts remarks, “Overall, our experience with Rize has been really, really good. We can tap into high market value programs much easier than we thought and the quality of our students’ experiences in the courses was more than we expected. Once we received positive feedback from the students, it reinforced the partnership.” Based on student feedback, Dr. Mullins realizes that students are experiencing the best of both the in-person Reinhardt community and rigorous online classes in high-value programs: “Students don't see any difference. It's a Reinhardt program. It seamlessly flows.”
Macy, graduating this December, describes, “I’ve had a great experience with Rize … I think overall, Rize classes contributed to my overall happiness because it's not exhausting to do school. And it's just made me really enjoy going to class, going to school, doing homework, and studying with my friends.”
Andrew, a current Reinhardt junior, also emphasizes,
"I love Rize classes. We earn certifications through Rize. Whenever we are doing Rize classes, the real-world experience you get within them is just mind blowing. We use either real companies or we use applicable email marketing software, like HubSpot. Being able to actually use those and receiving certifications through class makes it so much better for me."
“Students often have a direct path to the industry.” – President Roberts
In addition to positive student experiences in their Rize classes, more importantly, President Roberts shares, “What we appreciate about partnering with the Rize curriculum is students often have a direct path to the industry. For example, students studying Cybersecurity will work in that field.”
Dr. Mullins adds, “If you're a student in Digital Marketing, you're going to earn four or five certificates. That adds a lot of value to a resume and makes the students feel more confident. They can see what they're achieving and that's powerful for students. They can compete with anybody and that's big.”
Both Macy and Andrew describe how the hands-on projects and real-world experience they received through their Digital Marketing courses helped them obtain internships and job offers. When asked about career preparation Macy says, “I feel very prepared. I had my first marketing internship last summer with a textile company. Even though I didn’t know anything about fabrics and leathers, I was able to go in immediately for this company that had no focus on their social media and create a social media plan.” Macy is currently working at a startup and remarks:
"Being able to take actual projects from my Rize classes and apply them to a startup brings it full circle. I’ve really enjoyed my time with Rize and college. I think Rize has definitely made a big impact on doing real-world work and not busy work."
Andrew describes how he received his first potential internship offer: “After I took my email marketing class, I realized they [a local business] can do so much more. I created an entire email marketing campaign and sent it to that local business. They loved it. They wanted me to do an internship with them … that was a major confidence boost.” Because of the passion and confidence he found through his Digital Marketing courses, Andrew started a Business Club to swap ideas with other Reinhardt students also taking classes through Rize. He describes, “We created the business club, and interest in the club exploded. We used those actual marketing techniques through emails and social media to boost the club.”
Though before as a math major he was considering additional post-grad education opportunities, now Andrew is considering the job market concluding, “I use my SEO and SEM experience and can talk more about that [in interviews]. All of the skills that I can draw back to from my Rize classes are because it's something that I've done. It's something that I've made campaigns for. It's something that I have certifications in.”
In addition to impacting current students, these new programs have also attracted prospective students to Reinhardt. President Roberts:
"For example, we're now seeing 118 applications that identified Cybersecurity as their program of interest. Rize programs are not just serving the students that we already have. That's a significant impact for us."
“We need that on-the-ground level integration and Rize actually encouraged that.” – Kelley Roberts
Undeniably, Reinhardt faculty members play an invaluable role in the lives of the Reinhardt students and community. Though the rapid addition of these high-demand programs could be construed as taking away the benefits of in-person instruction with faculty, Dr. Mullins shares,
"We have the best faculty here. They're phenomenal. They're early adopters. Because they understand these new programs are just making it better for our students. And that's what we're supposed to be doing."
Both Dr. Mullins and President Roberts agree that these new programs are attracting prospective students who often switch into existing Reinhardt majors. President Roberts: “When I brought this to the faculty, I assured them that I was not going to replace current programs. These new programs are a way to keep your job, not take your job. Because if we have more attractive programs, students hear the word Cybersecurity and they think, ‘Oh, yeah, that's what I want to do.’ When they get to Reinhardt, they may decide to change majors and become a Sociology major. It happens all the time. You have to create an academic attraction and Rize helps us do that.”
As one of the faculty members overseeing Cybersecurity, IT, and Computer Science at Reinhardt, Kelley shares, “At first, it took me a little bit. I originally thought, ‘If we're going to just adopt Rize courses, then do I even need to be here?’” However, after observing how Rize courses integrate on Reinhardt’s campus she remarks, “Students need somebody that's on the ground as their touch point. We still need on-campus staff and faculty to be there for the students in person because that is what keeps them at Reinhardt. If they could just do online anywhere, why would they be at Reinhardt? It's available all over the place. So, we need that on-the-ground level integration, and Rize actually encouraged that. I am very grateful.”
“It’s cutting edge. It’s the wave of the future.” – Dr. Mullins
When looking to the future for Reinhardt, Dr. Mullins cares deeply about continuing to provide high quality education that prepares students post-graduation: “The number one thing that keeps me up at night more than any other thing is students spending money to come to college and getting out of it what they invested ...
"Rize allows us to do that through really niche learning opportunities that we would not be able to do. We've had Accounting, Marketing, Management, and Sports Studies for a long time. But everything Rize does is cutting edge. It's the wave of the future. That's important for us to be able to provide it."
Dr. Mullins is excited to adopt the newly developed AI (Artificial Intelligence) programs as well as the Career Navigation courses that are embedded into Rize curriculum. On the future of career navigation, Dr. Mullins comments, “I think the old model of career services doesn't work... Career services need to take place inside the curriculum and Rize has answered that.”
He summarizes, “I think this is the key. If you can get the students to an institution, educate them, and prepare them to have a fulfilling and prosperous life, I don't know that you can do any better by a student than that.”
President Roberts: “We set out a new strategic plan last year and one of the things we added to our core statements is an educational ethos that says ‘do the real work, for the good life.’ I talk about the good life as being the ancient notion of human flourishing, which really has everything to do with one’s ability to find purpose in their work and daily engagement with life. However, you can't get there unless you're committed to doing the ‘real work,’ which is persevering through all the challenges to arrive on the other side, to accumulate and to curate knowledge and skill.”
He concludes, “I think that the Rize programs are really honed in on those knowledge needs – the skills and the knowledge that people need to acquire those jobs.
"I think that makes the partnership even more closely aligned. As a college that is grounded in the liberal arts, there‘s 40-50 credit hours of a broad education, which we all value and believe in. But it's those majors, minors and concentrations that are going to accelerate your path to marketing yourself in the world."
Download Reinhardt's story here. If you’re interested in learning more about Reinhardt University's story or how you can partner with Rize, request a call with our Academic Partnerships Team.
