I am writing this message from the American Council on Education annual meeting in DC. ACE has long been one of the most influential advocacy groups in American higher education but has also long been focused on universities (especially those classified as “Research 1”). In recent years, the group has been intentionally reaching out to other sectors, including community colleges, as demonstrated by my current service on ACE’s Internationalization Commission. I share all this to provide a context for the discussions that took place at the ACE meeting . . . in many ways, as a community college president, I was overhearing conversations in higher ed in which we typically do not participate. Discussions among chancellors, presidents, provosts, and deans of major research universities, highly selective privates, and state colleges and universities. As such, it was particularly interesting that a consistent thread wove through the meeting, and it can be encapsulated in a single word with lots of implications: “productivity.”
Traditionally, discussions of productivity in higher education have been largely regulated to academic output measures related to tenure and promotion: articles/books published, papers presented, grants won, research sponsored, dissertations chaired, students placed, patents earned, intellectual property commercialized, etc. And, as might be expected within a research university-driven group, this sort of productivity received some discussion.
However, with growing and systemic budget cuts affecting all public institutions and with increasing demands from donors impacting private institutions, session after session addressed productivity in other ways: increased business and information technology efficiencies to assist in cutting costs; increased intellectual achievement related to the completion agenda; increased educational technology effectiveness in transforming and improving teaching and learning environments. As the meeting went on, it became ever clearer that a word that previously mixed with academia as oil with water has become a touchstone for my colleagues in other academic tiers.
It seemed that I was joining this conversation midstream and that the hard work of reconciling two topics that sometimes seem at odds in academia—productivity and quality—had already taken place, and the resolution left most thinking that the two were not mutually exclusive. Perhaps most importantly, the resolution created a space in which other substantive discussions could take place: significant and meaningful conversations about how to advance (and, yes, safeguard) higher education in the new economic landscape. If we want to shepherd our students safely through this environment as well, there were lessons a plenty to learn at the ACE meeting. I’m glad I got to listen in . . . and add to the discussion.
What are your thoughts? Share on the web or email me.
Anne M. Kress
President
03/09/2011 |