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I get it. Higher education needs to reform. I've been saying that for years. But to me it's not what you teach, rather how you teach. More accurately, how the system wants you to teach. Instead consider.... How you deliver programs. How you measure competency. How you model the curriculum. How you integrate a 400 year old system into a modern, complex society. How you deliver the product at scale. How you make it affordable and desirable. How you signal achievement. How you make it agile and adaptable to the workforce. How you make it less time consuming. How you leverage technology. How you measure outcomes. You can still offer Humanities programs, but do it better. Do everything better...
Rob, everything you've listed is about making the academic experience student centered AND focusing on students an institution has, not the ones it had or wishes it had. Institutions and faculty who act as gate keepers to culture from the "good old days" are paying the price.
Come on people, we will see much more of this in the next decade because HE resists change. We adopted the European model of the university and the basic differences between it and our institutions today are; electricity and plumbing. The concepts of time, place, and calendar have restricted access to learning and the acquisition of knowledge because they are controlled by the faculty and administration of our institutions. WVU has taken a bold step but it is not BOLD enough because it is “downsizing” the current system not changing it for the better.
Excellent insight here! And one of the primary reasons WVU is in this situation is due to the lack of agility you mention, Rob. It’s also why the for profits are filling in the obvious gaps. If higher ed won’t adapt, others will come sweeping in. Big changes needed or more big cuts coming!
Why don’t you share your ideas with us ?!
100%, Rob. It’s all about the “how”.
Robert. Are you aware of any impact on US college/university enrolment from state governments decisions (2022) to drop the BA requirement for very large numbers of public service jobs? I suspect more time is needed to measure an effect. Maryland Utah Colorado Pennsylvania Alaska North Carolina New Jersey Virginia A 2022 study by Harvard called it the 'degree reset' though it distinguishes between cyclical (labour shortages) and structural resets (skills-based hiring). https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/Documents/research/emerging_degree_reset_020922.pdf "While 70% of US jobs require a bachelor’s degree, less than half of the workforce has one. And the effects of degree inflation are distributed disproportionately: Requiring a degree eliminates 76% of Black workers, 83% of Latinx workers, 81% of rural workers, and almost 70% of veterans from talent pools." https://qz.com/companies-can-drop-degree-requirements-but-they-still-1850741892#:~:text=Since%20last%20year%2C%20companies%20including,than%2060%25%20of%20American%20adults.