Riverland Community College officials are sitting pretty when it comes to adapting to the future of higher education in Minnesota.

The new chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system is promising to redesign the 31-campus institution, promoting accessibility, affordability and student empowerment among other general ideals.

Chancellor Steven Rosenstone told the MnSCU trustees on Tuesday that the greatest risk to the system is business as usual.

“If we fail to meet Minnesota’s evolving workforce needs or are forced to close the doors to education, Minnesota will be in great jeopardy,” he said.

In an hour-long speech, Rosenstone said he wants to ensure access to students from all backgrounds, increase job-training partnerships with businesses and deliver a high-quality education at a good price.

To do that, he’s willing to reconsider nearly everything MnSCU does. He said it could mean a single online English 101 class system-wide, for instance, and more cost sharing with the University of Minnesota.

Riverland President Terry Leas said he was proud when he heard Rosenstone’s speech, as many of the concepts Rosenstone spoke about are similar to recent Riverland initiatives, like Riverland’s six-years-old Cycles for Success scholarship program designed to help lower-middle-class students of color transition into college.

“The things that he talked about in his speech are really issues that we’ve been focusing on,” Leas said.

In addition, Leas felt Riverland’s recent shift in student affairs personnel to become more efficient mirror’s Rosenstone’s call for a better run higher education system.

Rosenstone said he plans to come back with more specifics in November. During that time, Leas and other presidents will most likely meet with Chancellor staff to plan out how these changes will happen. Leas said he hadn’t heard of any changes yet but expects to between now and November.

Rosenstone took over Aug. 1 after spending 15 years at the University of Minnesota.