Moving to a Standardized
College Education
-Times Are Changing
This
week Sweet Briar College announced that it would close in August 2015. Sweet Briar’s decision came with
methodical analysis and took my breath away.
I
did not attend Sweet Briar or have any association with the institution;
however, to me, Sweet Briar’s closing is a warning to American higher education
to consider some significant questions such as
o
What is our purpose?
o
Why are we here?
o
Who are we serving?
As
an Assessment Specialist, I often prompt others to think about the question of
purpose so the Sweet Briar announcement elicited a level of emotion for which I
was not prepared.
Why
did this small, private, women’s liberal arts college stir emotion with me who
was far away at a state, regional institution?
The answer,
while complicated, is seated in my work for many years in college student
identity.
While
Sweet Briar played by all the rules, the internal hippie in me balks at the standardization I perceive to be at the
root cause of the school’s closure.
The
media, law (policy) makers, and the general public (of which 20% have a
Bachelor’s degree according to the 2014 census.gov website) desire an ability
to compare certain information across a wide array of institutions.
A
problem with standard metrics, such as the one’s institutions now must submit
to accrediting agencies and for-profit websites in order to “play the game,” is
that they strip the institution of identity (for the sake of easy comparison.)
You
can compare my standard statistics to those of Christie Brinkley:
o
We are both blonde
o
We are both mothers
o
We are both 5’9”
However,
others would argue that our similarities end there! Christie is a long-time vegetarian who models and has been
married four times.
I
am less the supermodel and more the super nerd, eat meat, and married the love
of my life at 19. Few would argue
for the standardization of metrics so they could compare me with Ms. Brinkley.
So why do we
demand such standardization for colleges and universities who are just as
unique?
Websites
such as collegeportraits.org or the StudentAchievementMeasures.org, or even
school sponsored sites such as analytics.tamus.edu request submission of metrics,
which standardize institutions as unique as Christie and I.
How
does one portray “fit” which is a fundamental element of success for a college
student?
How
does an institution describe culture when using numbers and percentages?
Is
this the most appropriate engagement of the public’s time and resources?
Is
this an effort to standardize education similar to that of the European Union
with the Bologna Process?
Regardless of
the intent, we need to slow down and refocus on bigger questions!
Sweet
Briar College served 700 unique, individual students who found Sweet Briar to
fit their unique identities. These
students who we say we serve, may not be a fit for other institutions.
For
a country priding itself on the diversity of its offerings, this move seems to
limit student choice for the future.
After generations have been educated and formed their identity at Sweet
Briar, the likes of the mother of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Janet Bouvier,
Jean Oliver Sarton (artist), and Molly Haskell (feminist film critic).
Are
we, as a collective people, willing to give up on women like them? Are we willing to lose a future Diana
Muldour or Elaine Dundy for the sake of mindless comparison?
Is
it worth is to not have to examine, investigate, and crunch your own numbers?
In
assessment we like to begin with the questions of why are you here? What is your purpose? Thus I inquire of the American higher
educational system—what is your purpose?
·
Have we taken the standardization train as far as we can go?
·
Have we just stepped over the line?
Did we really
just end a 114-year history?
Sometimes
closure is a good thing—but I believe we are at a point for close examination of
costs and benefit…..and purpose.
