Dear students, alumni, parents, and friends,
In this unprecedented period of disruption for our economy, labor market, and society, it has never been clearer that the value proposition of the Dyer Center – the development/application of initiative, creativity, collaboration, and intelligent risk-taking to create value- is needed at Lafayette and beyond.
While we will miss in-person collaborations with students, we are leaning into our reality of remote instruction and have a robust slate of personal/professional development opportunities for students this semester.
We are excited to welcome alumna Sandra Clavijo ’03 back to teach EGRS Building the High Tech Startup. Sandra will be a wonderful mentor/instructor for our students and I look forward to seeing the array of creative ideas that come out of the class.
This semester we are piloting a number of initiatives designed to help students enhance their digital skillsets including hosting how-to workshops on building software prototypes using both programming and no code platforms, sponsoring a data analytics/visualization boot camp, and providing opportunities to learn and practice digital marketing skills in a team based environment.
Additionally, we are facilitating a community based project for student teams to develop workable solutions to real world problems under the belief that challenging students to confront uncertainty, generate multiple ideas, and testing solutions in an iterative fashion will result in enhanced student motivation, deeper learning outcomes, and better professional preparation.
This semester will present challenges as well as opportunities. My advice to students is to accept the unpredictability of this moment and focus on activities that are within your control to prepare for what lies ahead.
The Dyer Center remains ready to help you navigate this uncertainty and support you in leveraging/developing your competencies, networks, and experiences to expand your value creation capabilities.
I look forward to connecting with many of you this semester.
Yusuf