Thoughts from Campus Compact
Yesterday I went to a meeting of the Upper Midwest Campus Compacts (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa). It was a rich program. A few of the points that stick in my mind:
* In Minnesota we have three major systems of higher education: the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU), and the private colleges. All are valued members and collaborators in Campus Compact, but they are not-always-friendly competitors for state funding (the privates through Minnesota's generous financial aid program). It's probably a given that the relative shares of the pie will not change much, but mightn't the pie get bigger if the three systems cooperated on a coherent vision for higher education in the state, rather than competing as baldly as they do? The legislators might have more patience with us. MN Campus Compact could be an agent in making this happen.
* We're all concerned about access, but higher education is getting more expensive a lot faster than the the general inflation rate. We've been coping by rapidly raising tuition, to offset state cuts as well as to keep up with increasing costs. But we're not as clear as we should be about why the higher ed inflation rate is as high as it is. We also need to better inform students, particularly those from families with no previous college experience, about how to navigate the system, apply for aid, meet deadlines, and so forth.
* In questions after her keynote address, Judith Ramaley was asked how a small college in a very small town can effectively do service learning, when the number of students would overwhelm the carrying capacity of the town. Ramaley strikingly replied that the college should become "Clerk of the Whole", taking on many of the community administrative functions that a very small town doesn't have the resources for. A very interesting idea, but one that requires a major shift in teaching and course design if the college is not to become just a social service agency. The community service must be connected to rigorous teaching, which means that courses must be aligned to their community functions. For example, focus a chemistry course around water purification, or an economics course around municipal finance and taxation. Sounds like an interesting challenge!