Prologue
Bubblegum
manufacturers included comics/riddles wrapped in their product as an inducement
to purchase. This was followed by the introduction of “cards” of famous sports
players that encouraged individuals to collect select players or cards
representing teams. Eventually, the cards became more important than the gum
and individuals would have stacks of unused gum as they sought select cards.
Finally the manufacturers of gum and others saw the interest rise to the point
where there was a market for packets of cards without the gum. And the tertiary
market for the cards expanded.
Prior
to WWII, a college education/degree had selective market. After the War, the
purpose of college was amended without serious discussion and college became
more important. Additionally, the expansion of courses or areas for
specialization gained attention. This challenged students to seek specific
courses that had differential value in the world of work outside of the
college. Over time certain collections acquired cachet, such as Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, STEM. Other elements added value,
including who issued the validation
Raising
the Issues
One can read the history of intellectual
pursuits and the gradual rise of formal institutions called colleges and
universities. While a significant focus has been the pursuit of knowledge, pure
and simple, other elements have driven the development, from political needs
and the strengthening of religions to the mundane of career preparation through
job skill acquisition. Through whose eyes should one consider the “college”-- society
for education of citizens, practical issues such as skills for the world of
work, faculty for purpose of scholarly/intellectual pursuits, industry for application
of new knowledge, or students to extend skills beyond secondary schools? All
create different lens through which one can explore these issues.
The
rise of the Internet and its ability to deliver selective experiences and knowledge
at low cost across geo/political boundaries unlocks what has normally been
harbored behind the walls of the Ivory Tower and locked between the ears of the
academics, therein. It not only requires that one think about that knowledge
but the envelop which supposedly made knowledge acquisition at a university as more
than the sum of its parts-the larger “academic experience”.
Returning
to the metaphor of the bubble gum, what makes a complete set of sports cards
more valuable than cards collected individually? Does it make a difference if
knowledge is acquired in “units” called courses or credits; does it matter if
the experience is acquired in a structured sequence within a time frame; does
it matter that it is acquired from one institution or a particular sub-domain?
Or does it matter whether that knowledge is acquired outside of a traditional
post secondary institution? Just as
certain sets of cards provided by one manufacturer have cache, the same holds
for academic credits and degrees acquired from particular institutions.
The
function of faculty in providing knowledge presents an interesting set of
issues, particularly in an Internet connected world. As faculty in primary and
secondary schools gain access to basic and new knowledge, often obtaining
advanced “certification” or degrees, it becomes increasingly difficult to
separate the differences in student knowledge gained in programs delivered in
secondary institutions and from a post secondary institution or the faculty
therein. Again, from where one obtains
the certification becomes a differentiating factor.
Today
there is an effort to create alternative certification as individuals acquire
knowledge and skills via alternative paths. “Badges” are awarded in this
emerging scheme. Again, we are faced with not only whether the individual can
demonstrate competencies but also what institution will validate this
acquisition/competency.
Historically,
the students who were bound from secondary schools to post secondary institutions
were to graduate to a new experience. There were/are unspoken expectations for
a transformation over a three-month summer hiatus --almost like a caterpillar
becoming a butterfly. An individual who is college bound is expected to become
independent, self-directing and responsible for their own education and life in
general. In the past, this was far from actuality as the student was handed
from parents to an institution that acted “in loco parentis”. Living conditions
were monitored, classes selected within parameters and new rules provided.
The
return of soldiers to campuses at the end of WWII changed the rules but not the
skills or mature decision capabilities of those who went directly from post
secondary to university programs. The framework that contained the new post
secondary students, a mix of older students and new secondary school graduates
began to disintegrate the fabric. Also, those who went from secondary schools
to the university began to see the difference in the choices of life-style
afforded those who were tossed, unrestricted into the world of work and their
restricted lives in the cloistered halls of academia.
The
Internet became the second “tipping point” as those seeking the knowledge and
certification of a post secondary institution found alternative routes. What
once appeared to be a super highway between secondary and a sinecure in the
workforce, solidified by passing through a traditional post secondary
institution, with the changing economy, now looked like an uncertain path
through a mine field to infinite, but uncertain, possibilities. Rather than
seeing undergraduate institutions as the next step after post secondary graduation,
in an Internet world, for students, these institutions have become a “border
land”, a transition or decompression zone before choosing a life path. For a segment of the population, the post
secondary institution becomes like a trading post where students provision
before setting out. It becomes more like a scavenger hunt on a path in an
adventure game, picking up points along the way.
For
faculty, in the world under the influence of the Internet, particularly at
research driven institutions, the undergraduate programs represent a zone of
schizophrenia, that has only become exacerbated by the ability of institutions
to choose who is able to provide the scholarly experience for students- the
rise of adjuncts with varying qualifications, graduate students and even post
secondary teachers who are certified to offer post secondary courses in their
schools.
Additionally,
when the faculty have a requirement to produce “publishable” research on which
their future position at the institution or another is dependent, then the
choices become increasingly difficult. For faculty, the university has become
almost like a zoological park where animals are free to determine their options
within the confines of each bounded area and now certainty that they are
guaranteed a sinecure within the boundaries.
Once
upon a time, a scholar roamed “free” to pursue knowledge. But they were
dependent on payment from students, income from other sources or funding from a
patron. As these scholars congregated in communities, not only was income for
the scholars required, but also the infrastructure that housed the faculty
needed support. Gradually faculty gave up their freedom, hoping for a sinecure
where the entire Ivory Tower with its various services would support the
faculty as long as they stayed within their defined environments.
Like
Morpheus and Neo in the movie, The Matrix, some have awakened, while others
like Cypher, though realizing the situation, still have chosen to remain within
The Matrix. For faculty, today, the universities are like Tolkien’s Middle Earth
or Camelot as the era comes to an end.
Inside
the Nature Preserve
Universities,
like nature preserves, are influenced by many forces. There are donors who
contribute to the acquisitions and operations, others pay to enter and engage
with the environment and then there are the occupants. Plants, animals and those who maintain the
preserve are one set; while the administrators, faculty, and support staff are
the equivalent in the case of the university. The nature preserves are often
divided into regions, plains, aquatic centers, and forests, for example. And
those who manage the preserve are able to maintain these eco-systems.
Universities,
today, are more like Jurassic Park where the inhabitants sense that their
ecological niches have been rearranged and the resultant populations and
environments are undergoing change that may be beyond their control. More
importantly, that lack of control is due, in large part, because the faculty
exchanged their direct involvement in controlling change for academic and
fiscal security. Unfortunately that was a Faustian bargain the full effects of
which have yet to be realized.
Visitors
to the natural preserves often have a prescribed experience. This is dependent,
in part, on the current environmental conditions and the lives of the
inhabitants. The academic preserve receives many visitors, in particular,
students and those who help underwrite the student experience. At one time the
experience, like a visit to the ecological preserve, was fairly well defined.
We are at a pregnant moment. Administrators, dealing with a set of problematic
issues around faculty governance and programs are now faced with new issues. Those
standing at the entrance to the gates know that the previously packaged
programs are not what they need and yet they have no clear alternatives to that
which is offered by the University. There is cacophony inside and at the gates.
There
is a fundamental difference between the “preserve” and the “university” in
today’s world. The preserve is bounded and static, though not without an
interpenetrating relationship with the world outside. Today’s academic
institutions have evolved from the cloistered world of the scholar in the 17th
century. Today, the walls of the Ivory Tower have been breached and, unlike
Jurassic Park, there is no island containment either separating the inhabitants
or the community outside. Knowledge is fungible and transferable across
geo-political boundaries.
Unlike
natural preserves around the world, the universities are increasingly connected
not only with each other but also with the world at large. Open access, the
Internet and social media act like knowledge viruses, allowing other to glean
core knowledge or provide services previously existing only inside the
“tower”. Increasingly administrations,
directly or indirectly, are changing both the internal ecosystem or building
new linkages, including radical relationships such as with emergent
organizations like Coursera.
Unlike
natural preserves, which are loosely connected, the ecology of post-secondary
institutions is highly connected across geo-political boundaries. Research and
scholarly exchanges are increasingly accessible particularly with the move to
open access across the World Wide Web.
The
erosion of the difference between the faculty in grades 11/12 and 13/14 along
with the rise of a plethora of alternatives for the subject matter basically
comingles intellectual DNA raising problems with attempting to protect the
breach in the walls of the Ivory Tower. Additionally, sharing of faculty,
particularly in clusters around major metropolitan areas, the rise of
cosponsoring of courses such as exemplified by EdX and similar emerging
programs and the rise of for-profits is rapidly clearing away the rubble
resulting from the crumbling walls of The Academy.
As
with agricultural crops, where genetic information crosses farm fields with the
wind, knowledge rides the waves of the Internet, eroding intellectual purity.
In Europe, the Bologna Accords are supposed to be the path to allow students to
move seamlessly across country and institutional borders obtaining equivalent
“credits” from each university.
Where
to?
We
are now in “real time”, Middle Earth is gone and the sun has set in Camelot.
The pass from secondary school, through the “university” to the land beyond is
no more. Getting a Ph.D. does not lead to a tenure track appointment and, with
only a few exceptions, does a bachelor or masters degree lead to a sinecure in
the world of work. Except in special circumstances are there clear paths to
careers for those passing through the university.
One
can look through the lens of the Internet and see the numbers of post secondary
graduates who are without work, look at the United States to see the graduates
working at jobs which don’t require a degree, and visit the projections into
the future by the US government’s bureau of labor statistics. Separate from
apprentice and vocational training program for current needs and separate from
clearly definable skills such as STEM, what can the post secondary institution
offer. Or, what can a visitor to a preserve demand. Or what can a purchaser of
a pack of trading cards anticipate. Cypher knows the same as Dorothy when she
pulled back the curtain to reveal the false Wizard of Oz, the responsibility
rests on the shoulders of the seeker, be s/he a scholar seeking knowledge or a
person building an armamentarium to take on a journey into the future.
There
are two fundamental changes emerging. The first for “visitors” to the Ivory
Towers, the “collector” path is rapidly changing. Unlike acquiring stamps for
time/site visits, competencies are now becoming essential. Individuals will
need to demonstrate mastery of the material via applications of knowledge.
Additionally, a physical presence may be optional, particularly for
foundational materials. How or where such knowledge is acquired will become
less essential as the ability to demonstrate mastery.
For
those who inhabit the Ivory Tower there is growing a distinction between
“research” and teaching, though for many, this will overlap. And with the
recognition that the growing sophistication of the Internet, the number of
faculty needed to provide basic knowledge will diminish. Individuals will have
a choice not only on what they acquire but how. Some will want the more
traditional “hand-crafted” experience on campus in small, personalized
environments. Others will opt for the expedient, lower cost path for knowledge
acquisition and competency demonstrations.
As
T.S. Eliot wrote in the Four Quartets:
We shall not cease from exploration
And
in the end of all our exploring
Will
be to arrive where we started
And
know the place for the first time.
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