UDC’s Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Lawrence Potter Jr. gave a back-to-college interview recently on digital transformation at the historically black college and university (HBCU) in Washington, D. C. According to the Microsoft Education Team, the University of the District of Columbia’s effort to narrow the digital divide has included working with Microsoft to distribute Microsoft Surface Pro devices and provide access to Microsoft Teams, a digital education platform.

A pilot program has distributed 700 Microsoft Surface Pro 7 devices. “So many of our faculty and administrators have Surface Pro devices that the students’ choice did not surprise us,” Dr. Potter told Microsoft.

“Microsoft Teams is an important piece of how we’re planning on the academic side. We are using Teams to host faculty professional development days that will allow us to do everything that we would ordinarily in person, in a virtual space,” he said.

Dr. Carl Moore, assistant chief academic officer, at UDC, said the key is to create an environment where faculty, “play, fail, and then learn from their mistakes.”

As part of the Equity Imperative, the University of the District of Columbia worked with Microsoft to provide education technology for its 4,700 students and 700 faculty members.  The Equity Imperative is a Strategic Plan designed to regenerate the University of the District of Columbia as a Public Higher Education Model of Urban Student Success

The combination of Microsoft Teams for the faculty and the innovative Surface devices for students challenges the inequities of the digital divide while empowering students to do and imagine more, Dr. Potter added.