Trinity College announced in September an exclusive partnership with Infosys, a global leader in consulting, technology, and next-generation services, to create new educational programs that prepare liberal arts students and Infosys employees for the digital workplace of the future.
This multiyear collaboration will establish the Trinity-Infosys Applied Learning Initiative, which will provide learning opportunities for Trinity students, engage faculty and alumni, and offer training for Infosys employees. The two organizations will team up to develop content, building on Trinity’s core strengths in the liberal arts while developing capacities in technology and innovation that draw on digital content and real-world case studies from Infosys.
The partnership will leverage Trinity’s new space in downtown Hartford, showcasing technology and blending face-to-face personalized learning with Infosys’s virtual learning platform, Infosys LEX. The collaboration also will explore continuous learning opportunities for Infosys employees and Trinity alumni; a potential summer bridge program for liberal arts students from Trinity and elsewhere to acquire in-demand skills in technology-led innovation; and the design and piloting of new digital technologies to advance a liberal arts education.
“We’re excited about this long-term partnership with Trinity College,” said Ravi Kumar, president and deputy COO of Infosys. “Building a new hybrid talent pool, which draws on broad-based liberal arts foundations and promotes cognitive diversity, will add immense value to the technology consulting industry and address an important skills gap for the 21st century. We need people with human-centered skills who can approach problems in entirely new ways, not just solve them, and who will contribute to out-of-the-box thinking in a digital age.”
Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College president and professor of neuroscience, noted, “Our partnership with Infosys will serve as a national model for leveraging the liberal arts in creating the future of work. In a rapidly changing world, we will provide Trinity students with unique advantages, complementing their core liberal arts education with technological skills and applied learning that will position them to thrive in the digital workplace. We’re so pleased that this partnership also will play a key role in fostering innovation and lifelong learning across industries in Hartford and Connecticut.”
Sonia Cardenas, Trinity’s vice president for strategic initiatives and innovation, in September invited interested faculty and staff to participate in an advisory group to help guide the Trinity-Infosys partnership. The group, which will be reporting regularly to key governance bodies, started its meetings in October.