About Us

The Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities (UERU) World Readiness community of practice brings together research university leaders committed to advancing students’ world readiness, a term coined by author Cathy Davidson, founding director of the Futures Initiative at CUNY. The aim of this community is to collaboratively rethink how higher education prepares all undergraduates for life, work, and citizenship in an era of urgent, global challenges. Together, members will grapple with a critical question posed by the Boyer 2030 Commission: how can research universities deliver deeply transformative learning that equips every student, not only those already privileged, with the skills, habits of mind, and sense of purpose needed for a rapidly changing world? Grounded in the core principles that education for world readiness must be coherent, transparent, and explicit, the group will explore how to design learning experiences that prepare students not only for gainful employment but also for meaningful participation in society.

The community will engage around pressing issues such as the decline of the humanities, redesigning general education, strengthening exploratory studies, and integrating work-based learning into the curriculum to provide students with early introductions to career opportunities.

We are grateful to Podium Education for their support of this UERU community

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Institutions without active UERU memberships, learn more about joining UERU here.

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If your institution is already an active UERU member, request to join community here.

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World Readiness Events

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Member Meetings - 4th Wednesday of each month

Steering Committee

Brad Petitfils

Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education and Student Success

Chapman University

Dr. Brad Petitfils joined Chapman University in fall 2021 after having served as Director of Advising & Student Success at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to his time at Drexel, he was the Senior Director of Advising & Academic Success at the University of North Carolina Asheville, and Senior Director of Student Success and Institutional Research & Effectiveness at Loyola University New Orleans, where he was also the founding director of the Student Success Center and served as the institutional liaison to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. He has held positions in campus planning and assessment, institutional accreditation, curriculum development, and instructional technology.

In addition, Brad has taught interdisciplinary first-year seminar courses for over a decade and was the faculty director of Loyola's summer abroad program in Paris, France for ten years. He earned his doctorate in Curriculum Theory from Louisiana State University, and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Loyola University New Orleans. His writing has appeared in the Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Educational Philosophy and Theory, and Antistasis, and he has presented at academic conferences across the United States and in Canada. He is the author of the book monograph Parallels and Responses to Curricular Innovation: The Possibilities of Posthumanistic Education (Routledge, 2014).

Hillary Procknow

Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education

University of Nevada

Hillary Procknow earned her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Louisiana State University, where she focused on the philosophy of education. She also holds a master’s degree in architectural studies and an undergraduate degree in psychology, both from The University of Texas at Austin. Hillary teaches integrated reading and writing courses and specially paired non-course-based options that help students succeed in their history and writing courses. Her research interests include disparities in developmental education, continental philosophy and critical pedagogy, visual literacy, and non-cognitive factors related to student success.

World Readiness Resources

Leveraging Exploratory Studies to Drive Student Retention, Graduation, and Career Success

Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities (UERU) In partnership with Podium Education By Julia Michaels

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The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux

In The New Education, Cathy N. Davidson reveals that we desperately need a revolution in higher learning if we want our students to succeed in our age of precarious work and technological disruption.

UERU + Strada Town Hall on Work-Based Learning

Watch this special presentation from researchers and subject-matter experts at Strada, who have conducted nationally representative surveys of more than 40,000 seniors at 4-year public colleges and universities.

Watch Recording

Career Readiness in Ohio: A UERU + Podium Town Hall

Watch as our experts take a deep dive into how leading Ohio public and private universities are responding, and learn how UERU Boyer Circle Partner, Podium Education, is helping universities meet this challenge.

Watch Recording