Public Engagement

Yesterday I wrote about the transformation of the University of Minnesota's General College into a new Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning in the College of Education and Human Development. In the final issue of Access, the GC magazine, Interim Dean Terry Collins has some thoughtful reflections about the meaning of the change and its potential consequences for diversity and access.

We are well on the way toward realizing the major structural changes to emerge from the University’s Strategic Positioning process. The academic heart of General College will be reconfigured on July 1 as the new Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning. Our advising and student support services will re-emerge in the Student and Professional Services department. We look forward to another year of intense program building in the new College of Education and Human Development.

Amid these changes, we worry about the central values of access and diversity in the University of Minnesota. Many friends of General College wonder whether the strategic positioning initiative signals a retreat from these core values.

So far, half of the answer is clear. As you may already know, President Bruininks has announced new scholarship support under the Founders Opportunity Scholarship Program. This ambitious program provides full tuition and fees for students (both new freshman admits and transfer students) from economically challenged families. This is a very exciting program, among the most meaningful steps on access I’ve seen during my three decades in GC. It goes a long way toward insuring that the University will remain economically accessible to all Minnesotans, even as tuition and related costs continue to increase.

While the news is indeed good on access as measured by affordability, other dimensions of access and diversity will be determined during the coming year as key decisions are made about recruiting and admissions. The freshman-admitting colleges at the University will be challenged to build diverse student profiles. Both President Bruininks and Provost Sullivan have spoken their commitment to maintain diversity in the University. How these assurances translate into practice will be clearer as we move ahead.

We in GC hope to contribute constructively to future decisions on a range of topics, among them how the University engages middle-school and high-school students on matters of preparation; the proper role of high-stakes ACT test scores in admissions; and the obligations of all of the undergraduate colleges to act responsively in shaping their classes consistent with the institution’s public statements on diversity and access.

As we end this first transitional year, the seriousness with which University leaders have addressed issues of affordability and access convinces me that we are moving in directions consistent with the values held deeply in General College. But there is a lot of work to do. For the University to have created GC in 1932, during our nation’s Great Depression, was wonderfully optimistic and visionary. That optimism is our legacy. The University of Minnesota is a treasured public asset whose leaders will be stronger if they hear from us in the future on matters we hold dear.