Inside BUV with Kaitlin Dumont

Inside BU Virtual offers a behind-the-scenes look at the people, ideas, and innovations that make Boston University’s online programs flexible, accessible, and impactful. Through candid Q&A conversations with staff, students, and faculty, this series highlights award-winning faculty who bring academic rigor and creative approaches to online learning, students’ experiences in virtual programs, and the ways these programs prepare learners to succeed in a rapidly evolving workforce. By reaching learners wherever they are and opening doors to new opportunities, BU Virtual, in collaboration with BU’s schools and colleges, helps expand access to transformative learning and drive meaningful impact in careers and communities.

Q: You entered the Online MBA with deep experience in edtech. What strategic capabilities were you looking to develop at that point in your career?

Kaitlin Dumont: When I entered the Online MBA, I had spent much of my career working in and around two prestigious Ivy League business schools, Harvard Business School and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, supporting and developing executive education programs. While I jokingly say I received a “second-hand MBA” from sitting in the back row of those programs, executive education tends to focus on more advanced business topics. As a liberal arts major in undergraduate studies (religion), I felt I was missing some of the foundational business frameworks that a full MBA provides. At the same time, with two young children, leaving the workforce to pursue a full-time residential MBA simply was not realistic. The Online MBA format offered a way to build those foundational skills while continuing to work and support my family. There was also an additional benefit. The program allowed me to “sip my own tea,” which is the phrase I prefer to the common industry expression “eat your own dog food.” In other words, I had the opportunity to experience firsthand what it is like to be a full-time working adult learner for two years. That perspective became incredibly valuable field research for the work I was doing at Kaplan at the time and now in my role supporting colleges and universities as they expand programs for diverse learner populations.

Q: How did the MBA expand—or sharpen—your ability to think at a broader, more strategic level? Were there faculty or peers from other industries who influenced your thinking?

Kaitlin Dumont: Business schools are excellent at teaching strategy frameworks, though sometimes less inclined to apply those frameworks to themselves. Higher education may be nonprofit, but it certainly is not non-revenue. One of the most interesting exercises I did in the program was applying strategy frameworks directly to higher education as an industry. For example, in Module 5 we studied Porter’s Five Forces. I spent time analyzing higher education through that lens, force by force, and shared some of those reflections on LinkedIn along the way. Higher education institutions often frame competition primarily in terms of peers or aspirational institutions, largely influenced by rankings such as U.S. News & World Report. Yet some of the most valuable lessons come from outside the sector. We studied industries such as automotive, which appeared frequently in our early coursework, as well as newer entrants like Amazon, Google, and Meta. Stepping back from the boundaries of a single industry helped me develop a cross-sector perspective that continues to shape how I approach strategy in my work today.

Q: We’re at a time when the need for upskilling is greater than ever. Programs that allow professionals to learn while balancing work and life offer unique opportunities. Do you see this becoming a growing priority for career professionals?

Kaitlin Dumont: Absolutely! Advances in digital technology mean that large-scale online learning is no longer a future-state concept or something happening on the margins of higher education. It is increasingly core to the teaching and learning mission of many institutions. That was certainly true in my own case. With a family to support, the cost of a program was only one factor in the decision. The opportunity cost of leaving my job for a residential program was just as significant. The online format also provided important flexibility. During the program I moved from New Hampshire to Maine to be closer to family, and I was able to continue my studies without interruption. That kind of flexibility is becoming an increasingly important expectation for working professionals.

_______________________________________

Q: Now in your role at Huron, where do you see that strategic perspective most clearly influencing your work?

Kaitlin Dumont: In my current role, I support student and academic strategy for a portfolio of colleges and universities. As I mentioned earlier, higher education has not always been the best at practicing the strategic frameworks it teaches. Historically, institutions have often looked primarily to peer or aspirational institutions when developing strategy. While that perspective is valuable, I believe there is tremendous opportunity in bringing cross-industry insights into the conversation. Lessons from other sectors, including both successes and mistakes, can provide powerful strategic insights. The MBA experience strengthened my ability to think across industries, and that perspective helps me bring fresh ideas and frameworks into the work I do with institutions today.

_______________________________________

Q: You’ve worked in executive education at Harvard Business School and Tuck at Dartmouth, among other institutions. Many universities are navigating enrollment pressures, shifting learner expectations, and financial complexity. How do workforce-oriented online programs fit into a broader institutional transformation strategy?

Kaitlin Dumont: I should note that my work at those institutions focused on specific divisions, and I have learned just as much outside of campus environments at organizations like Kaplan and now Huron. That said, the evidence is clear. Learners, and employers, want programs that lead to strong career outcomes. Gallup research made that point quite clearly several years ago.
This involves more than the content delivered in the classroom. It also includes embedding work-based or work-integrated learning into the student experience and helping students translate their academic experiences into language that employers understand. I often refer to this as the “articulation gap.” Students are gaining valuable skills through both curricular and co-curricular experiences, but they often lack the language or mechanisms to clearly communicate those skills to employers. We are also seeing a shift in who the “buyer” of education is. Individual learners will always matter, but institutions that do not develop a strong employer strategy at scale risk missing a significant opportunity. In addition to the traditional B2C model, institutions increasingly need to think about partnerships with employers as a form of B2B, or more accurately university-to-business, engagement.

_______________________________________

Q: Edtech and industry partners are increasingly embedded in the higher education landscape. What role should they play in building a resilient, innovative learning ecosystem—while preserving institutional identity and academic quality? What value does this bring to students?

Kaitlin Dumont: Institutions need an intentional employer partnership strategy. Too often, this responsibility is narrowly assigned to a single role focused on career fairs or employer outreach. At the other extreme, institutions sometimes attempt to create a single unified strategy spanning alumni relations, athletics, research partnerships, and employer engagement. While that vision is appealing, it can quickly become so complex that progress stalls. A practical starting point is focusing on three core areas:

• First, work-based learning at scale. Institutions should explore partnerships with a core group of employers to ensure that every student has access to meaningful work-based learning experiences, ideally paired with preparation beforehand and structured reflection afterward.
• Second, talent pipelines. Beyond career fairs or job boards, institutions can curate deeper relationships that connect students directly to employers through structured hiring pipelines. Some institutions are also exploring placement-based revenue models tied to successful hiring outcomes.
• Third, enrollment pipelines through upskilling and reskilling programs for employees. Employer-sponsored education programs can provide an important pathway for adult learners while also aligning with existing tax advantages such as employer tuition assistance benefits.

Together, these approaches strengthen institutional identity while significantly expanding the value delivered to students.

_______________________________________

Q: As AI accelerates change across industries—including higher education itself—how should universities prepare leaders who can navigate both technological disruption and institutional complexity? How are you thinking about this today?

Kaitlin Dumont: I recently heard a university leader describe their strategy as thinking about AI “with” and “for” education. “With AI” means examining how artificial intelligence can transform institutional operations. This includes student-facing areas such as recruitment and retention as well as operational processes like financial aid or transcript evaluation. “For AI” means preparing students to succeed in a workforce increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. In my view, this should not take the form of a single course. Instead, AI literacy should run horizontally across the learning experience and be integrated into disciplines and applied learning opportunities. At Huron, I have been leading a team mapping the AI-enabled edtech landscape across the student lifecycle and speaking with university leaders about how they are approaching technology decisions. One trend we are seeing is that the pace of innovation will likely accelerate partnership models in higher education. Few institutions will be able to build everything internally. Instead, they will need to think strategically about the capabilities they prioritize and the constellation of partners that support them.

_______________________________________

Q: What mindset shifts are essential for working professionals to translate their MBA experience into effective strategic leadership?

Kaitlin Dumont: It is easy to fall into the mindset of being a “good student,” focusing primarily on grades or completing assignments perfectly. For many working professionals balancing jobs and families, that standard is not always realistic. More importantly, focusing only on grades can diminish the real value of the MBA experience. The greatest impact comes from applying concepts directly to your own role, organization, and industry. During the program, I frequently asked myself how each framework might apply to the work I was doing. Sometimes that meant testing ideas in real time. At one point I even asked our CFO for feedback on a data modeling assignment. Not every student is comfortable doing that, but those kinds of applications are where the learning really comes alive.

_______________________________________

Q: What are your top tips for balancing the demands of work, study, family and career growth while pursuing an online MBA?

Kaitlin Dumont: First, accept that balance will shift over time. There will be weeks when work demands more attention and others when coursework takes priority. My son also attended quite a few live sessions with me sitting on my lap while boycotting bedtime. By the time he was six, he probably had a second-hand MBA of his own. One practical strategy that helped me was taking advantage of the flexibility of online learning. I initially thought I would work from nine to five and study from five to nine. In reality, the schedule became much more fluid. If I had an hour between meetings during the day, I might complete coursework then. At other times, work priorities required me to return to email later in the evening. One very tactical tip also helped. The program provided weekly Excel checklists outlining everything that needed to be completed. Every Sunday I downloaded the file, added a column for the day I planned to complete each task, and used it as my personal project plan for the week.

About Kaitlin Dumont

Kaitlin Dumont works at the intersection of higher education and workforce learning, advising universities and organizations on strategy, innovation, and partnerships. In her role at Huron, she focuses on student and academic strategy, with recent work exploring how artificial intelligence is reshaping decision-making, student experiences, and the future of higher education. Previously, she led workforce learning innovation at Kaplan and helped shape executive education programs at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and Harvard Business School. Her insights have appeared in Inside Higher Ed and Education Technology Insights, and she has contributed to StartEd’s EdTech Week in New York City. Kaitlin holds an MBA from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University.