Belmont University President Greg Jones may have crafted the most authentic initiative for the Tennessee-based liberal arts college after striking a unique partnership with global superstar legend Dolly Parton.
With the country legend poised to premiere her Broadway musical at Belmont’s performing arts center, Jones is helping spearhead “Dolly U,” an interdisciplinary experiential learning program that connects classroom lessons in theatre production with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“Higher education tends to push things into disciplines that separate people from one another,” Jones says. “This is pushing us to bring faculty from multiple disciplines and multiple colleges together in new ways to equip students for the future.”
Interdisciplinary learning and experiential learning are high priorities on campus as technology rapidly changes the modern workforce. However, the timeless power of teaching a liberal arts education isn’t lost on Jones either.
“We can’t anticipate what the jobs of the future 10 or 20 years from now are going to be,” Jones says. “It’s about finding that intersection between creativity, innovation and character. That’s going to be really important to the higher education of the future.”
How “traditioned innovation” guides President Jones
“Traditioned innovation,” Jones’ trademark leadership philosophy, guides him through today’s rapidly changing world.
“The best innovation draws on the best of the past,” he says. “We all know things in the past that didn’t work or were broken or problematic. We want to cast that aside, but sometimes we throw the baby out with the bath water. What we really want is to retrieve the best of the past and preserve that for the sake of the future.”
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Traditioned innovation is driving Belmont University’s new medical school, which welcomed its inaugural class of 50 students this past fall. Built with a 60,000-square-foot simulation lab, school leaders will learn how to incorporate technology into stemming the country’s worsening physician shortage.
“Bringing all that together is really challenging our faculty and our deans to work together in new ways. It’s a tremendous opportunity to discover how the healthcare workforce is already changing and how we can prepare people for it to change into the future.”
Finding the third way with AI
Traditioned innovation is also helping Jones understand AI. While the technology can enhance students’ preparation for the future, it must be combined with human interaction, Jones says.
“When we think about how technology is changing, there’s a lot of polarization: We either don’t want to use any technology or put everything online and use AI completely. Rather than taking a ‘neither/or’ approach, we must take a ‘both/and’ approach and lean into some of the best kinds of education.”
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AI’s most awesome potential lies in satisfying a primal desire in higher ed: One-on-one education.
“You can do a lot of basic learning and conveying of information through AI, which gives you much more personalized and individualized approaches to learning. You end up with a much more innovative approach precisely by retrieving something from the past for the sake of the future.”
Finding the tradition at Belmont
But perhaps Jones’ most vital application of traditioned innovation was how he has approached leading Belmont University. The first-time president quickly learned that his most important task was building a coherent vision for Belmont based on the culture embedded by staff, alumni and the overall community.
“Listening, learning, engaging, trusting, empowering are all postures that I became much better at as president of Belmont than the first time I moved into a leadership role.”
