Futures thinking and passion for education guide Purdue Global leader’s goals

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Maricel Lawrence grew up knowing she would be an educator.

Her father was a high school teacher, so whenever there was an event or activity at the school, she would tag along.

“My family made it clear that education was very important,” Lawrence said.

Because she had many interests, she didn’t know if she would work in an elementary, secondary or higher education setting.

After earning her undergraduate degree in Spanish education, she taught language and culture to children and older adults. Following a promotion to supervisor, she began training language teachers.

The company she worked for began offering its courses online, which allowed her to teach through web platforms.

“From that point, I knew I wanted to work in online education. This seemed like the future of education, and I wanted to be a part of it,” she said. “I completed my graduate program online and saw firsthand the impact of having access to an education, even though it was hundreds of miles away from where I lived.”

Since then, she’s never looked back as she explores ways to expand opportunities for working adult learners.

Becoming a Boilermaker

Lawrence began working at Purdue University in 2015 with the predecessor department to Purdue University Online. Part of her role as online program launch director was coordinating with academic department heads and faculty members to produce online core courses and develop new online degrees.

In 2019, Lawrence became the executive director of online education at the University of Montana. “We began asking the question ‘How do we think about the future of the university differently?’” she said.

Those inquiries opened doors to a whole new world of possibilities and opportunities.

“After those conversations, I knew this is exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life,” she said. “I wanted to know more about that, so I started studying what futures thinking was all about.” Lawrence completed her doctoral research in developing futures capacity in higher education in 2024.

Following time at the University of Montana, Lawrence returned to Indiana, being named Purdue Global’s innovation catalyst in 2021.

As part of building futures capacity at Purdue Global, she launched a strategic foresight team, with support from leadership and faculty.

“I have loved every minute with this team because it allows for more creativity and innovation,” she said.

Lawrence believes her personal comeback of returning to Indiana is about helping Purdue Global succeed.

“I strongly believe that Purdue Global helps with Purdue’s land-grant mission of being able to create access to education for students around the country,” she said. “Coming to Purdue Global is coming back home for me, and I’m still connected to Purdue.”

Future goals in online education

Projects and partnerships related to student success and innovation are the best part of Lawrence’s job. Her expanded role has her working with partners such as Guild, a comprehensive education and skilling solution for employers to build talent, and community colleges in making sure support mechanisms are in place at Purdue Global to improve retention and accessibility.

“We are looking at improving retention, student success and growth,” she said.

The strategic foresight team continues to explore what teaching and learning might look like at Purdue Global in 2035 and beyond.

The team was already exploring artificial intelligence as a driver of change when generative AI burst on the scene in late 2022. At the beginning of 2023, the group launched the AI task force, and among different activities, they created AI sessions to help faculty, students and staff develop AI literacy.

The next steps: developing a more future-oriented curriculum and thinking about what’s next.

“As a society, we have moved into a space in which AI is moving really fast, and jobs are changing fast as well,” Lawrence said. “The questions that we are asking now are ‘What needs to keep changing in the curriculum? How do we develop courses that start moving in the direction of where potential features are taking us when it comes to the workforce?’

“I believe collaborations between institutions, industry, and with federal and state organizations are important,” she said. “Creating relationships and trust with those we’re partnering with is critical so we can address present-day and future challenges together.”

Partnerships are key to student success, especially to help learners earn a degree, increase their earning power and move up in their careers.

“Student success today means one thing, and in the future is going to mean something very different,” she said.

Lawrence believes it comes down to the value of higher education and continued workforce development and upskilling, including certificates and microcredentials.

“Degrees are important, but we are also starting to hear about how students will keep needing to learn new skills quickly for their jobs,” Lawrence said. “Lifelong learning is and will continue to be a critical component of what we do every day.”

About Purdue Global

Purdue Global is Purdue’s online university for working adults who have life experience and often some college credits. It offers flexible paths for students to earn an associate, bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, military service and previous college credits, no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and backed by Purdue University. For more information, visit https://www.purdueglobal.edu.