Colleges and universities no longer seek to exist in an ivory tower. Technology, a diverse population and the needs of the community at large impact today’s campuses. According to John Keating, chancellor of University of Wisconsin-Parkside, those are the main forces behind current trends in education.
"One of the newer trends is service learning, or civic engagement," he explains. "This is where students are out in the community in a variety of ways, not just working with social service agencies, but also in businesses and through internships."
The idea is to ensure the principles students are being taught in the classroom are relevant to the "real world." Service learning allows students to bring their classroom experiences to the community and then back to their classrooms where they can reflect on those experiences, guided by faculty.
"The businesses and organizations which will hire our graduates gain, too," Keating says. "It’s a sharing of knowledge, information and needs, a real partnership. The experiences serve as a reality check on classroom information and bring new ideas to the community. Students also learn firsthand about what the "outside" world expects, such as managing their time, what constitutes customer service in various settings and the importance of being on time with reports, etc."
Where students see job markets developing also impacts education. Technology is one popular area, as well as criminal justice and the fields of physical fitness and health, according to Keating. Whatever course of study students select, educators want to help them develop a wise use of information and technology.
"Information on about anything you can imagine is very accessible to students today," he notes. "The key is to help students develop critical thinking skills so they can winnow through the information and develop the kinds of insights they need to solve problems and make decisions. As opposed to only training students on certain machines or in skill sets that match a current occupation, universities these days emphasize critical thinking skills. We want our students to be flexible in an environment that’s changing very quickly. If we help them critically assess situations, we’re doing our jobs."
Technology has changed life on campus. But it has to pass a critical test. "If technology enhances the learning experience for students, we at Parkside invest in it — everything from wiring the entire campus and using wireless technology to encouraging students to use search engines to acquire information," Keating says. "In the classroom we try to use state-of-the-art presentation technology, but it is expensive. It can’t be an expense without a payoff; we don’t adopt everything. While it’s true many for-profits capitalize on technology to deliver their programs, we use it in a controlled and careful environment. We want students to have access to all resources they need, including labs and libraries."
A diverse population in Wisconsin is reflected on campuses today. "The future staff of any business is the current student population, and it’s no longer only white males, about 22 years old," Keating emphasizes. "Diversity is one of the things we at Parkside pride ourselves on. This campus and UW-Milwaukee are the most diverse in the UW system. Another trend is more than half the undergraduate degree students are older than 24 years old. We used to call them nontraditional students, but there are so many today, we call them returning students."
The trend is to utilize the diversity to benefit graduates. "What we hear from our business advisory council is that diversity is a plus," Keating says. "Students who routinely collaborate, work and study with others from diverse backgrounds and those who appreciate different cultures do better in the workforce. That’s why service learning with a variety of people is so good. The future workforce is being prepared academically and socially to take its place in a diverse population. Any business that doesn’t embrace the diversity and have a welcoming attitude will offend minorities. And most people who have gone to school in such settings will wonder what’s wrong with this business."
Schools learn from business
Several years ago benchmarking another company’s best practices was a hot topic in business. The desire to look at successful businesses and learn from them continues today.
Chancellor John Keating, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, which primarily serves Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties, says that sharing best practices in education has a new push in Wisconsin and around the United States.
"The State of Wisconsin has formed a campus compact," he explains. "We’re one of the 28 US states with such a compact. It entails using the best practices uncovered through national grants and instilling them throughout the state colleges, universities and technical schools."
Currently, about 12 UW campuses and the Extension program plus another dozen private colleges and four of the technical colleges are part of the compact. "We work together under one coordinating office that attempts to distribute best practices," Keating says. "You might think that sociology or certain clinical practices were the ripe field for this, but we’re finding from hard sciences (biology, physics) to accounting – all fields have room for this in the curriculum. It does take a certain sensitivity, so that’s why there’s a state coordinating office."
Jan. 10, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
