University of Miami plans to shatter traditional barriers

The University of Miami is looking to build on recent investments in research, patient care and student development as it moves toward what Provost Joel Samuels described as its next phase of excellence.

Mr. Samuels, who recently marked his first year at UM, said the university is in a strong position and has made progress in each of the three areas at the center of its mission: students, research and patients.

“I just celebrated my one-year anniversary here at the U this week, actually, and the university is in a great spot,” he said. “What I would say is the university has really invested in recent years on excellence and is poised and is really driving towards the next phase of excellence as it relates to our students, our research and our patients, which are really the three things that drive our mission.”

One of UM’s main academic priorities for the coming year will be expanding research and academic programs that cross traditional disciplines.

Mr. Samuels said the university wants to build more interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary partnerships across the institution, both in research and in undergraduate and graduate education. The approach, he said, can help students develop adaptability and intellectual flexibility while allowing researchers to tackle problems that cannot be solved within a single discipline.

“When you study not just in a single discipline but across disciplines, you inherently learn skills of adaptability and intellectual flexibility, but it’s also the case that we’re motivated in our research and in the students we prepare, and obviously in our patient care by solving the world’s biggest problems,” he said. “And you can’t do that in a single disciplinary silo.”

Mr. Samuels pointed to protecting coral reefs and finding treatments for diseases as examples of problems that require researchers from different fields to work together. He said Miami’s growth as a center for innovation, entrepreneurship, health care and international engagement creates opportunities for research collaborations and industry partnerships.

Another focus is how universities prepare students for a workforce that could change considerably during their careers. Mr. Samuels said advances in technology, particularly artificial intelligence, are forcing universities to rethink what students need to know when they graduate. Students still need strong communication, critical-thinking and reasoning skills, along with expertise in their chosen fields, he said.

But they also need to be able to adjust as technology changes.

“Our students are all digital natives, and when they graduate from us, they will be AI natives too,” Mr. Samuels said.

The challenge, he said, is not simply teaching students how to use the technology that exists today. They also need to be prepared for whatever comes next.

Mr. Samuels said the ability to adapt has to extend beyond the classroom.

“That adaptability is not just taught in classrooms,” he said. “It’s part of our student life. It’s part of residential life. It’s a part of the entirety of the experience to really build that into the student experience.”

Rather than focusing only on helping students find their first jobs after graduation, the university wants to think about career preparation from the time students are admitted and continue supporting them throughout their lives. That could include internships, fellowships and classroom experiences designed to prepare students for the workforce and help them succeed in their careers and lives.

“We’re rethinking the entire career services ecosystem,” he said, “and thinking about the life cycle of our students from the day they’re admitted, not to the day they graduate but actually throughout their lives.”