E5 | Scalable Co-Ops, Career Curricula & College as a Gym | Kemi Jona, Vice Provost of UVA
Sep 1
Why do universities map every academic requirement while leaving students to improvise the path from campus to work?
In Episode 5 of The Unpulled Lever, Rod Danan talks with Kemi Jona, Vice Provost of Online Education and Digital Innovation at the University of Virginia, about building career-connected learning that works for students with real constraints.
They discuss why online is not the same as flexible, the hidden operating system behind Northeastern's co-op model, UVA's effort to build a career journey instead of a petting zoo of disconnected platforms, and Kemi's plan to "flood the zone" with employer-connected experiences in classes, capstones, breaks, clubs, and asynchronous programs.
The conversation also covers the data plumbing universities need to see who is being left behind, how AI changes the compact between students and colleges, and why Kemi compares college to a gym membership.
Connect with Kemi and explore the work:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kemijona/
UVA OEDI: https://oedi.provost.virginia.edu/
AI4VA: https://ai4va.org/
UVA Career Academies: https://oedi.provost.virginia.edu/uva-career-academies
Riipen: https://www.riipen.com/
Burning Glass Institute: https://www.burningglassinstitute.org/
The Unpulled Lever is a weekly interview series from Rod Danan, founder of Prentus, on why schools don't act on career outcomes.
