Published by Speaking Engagement
Authored by Ryan Catherwood
About the content this week
I’ve been mulling over the idea of an “all-comer” university.
During the Keynote this week, Michael Latsko described Arizona State’s efforts to make it possible for anyone who wants to attend, at any phase of life, to have access. The doors are open.
I very much appreciate the idea of an institution putting access front and center, but I can also see the drawbacks. From the student perspective, and potentially from faculty and staff, having a wide range of capabilities within the student body might make for a disjointed experience.
Two of the three universities where I’ve worked, I’d call elite. Washington and Lee University and the University of Virginia are highly selective. Every student admitted was clearly capable of doing the work. The result was consistent rigor. Classroom dialogue was strong because everyone could contribute at a similar level.
Longwood University was a little different as a regional public university. The admissions team understood the profile of prospective students who, if admitted, are unlikely to make it through college and graduate. But they need to admit everyone else, and sometimes take a chance. The result is a community of students containing a wide range of scholars. I was surprised the few times when I compared the work of two seniors; there was often a significant disparity in their output.
Access is important, but it changes the dynamics. When students are grouped, and there’s a real ability gap, the experience can become uneven and frustrating. Some students carry more of the load. Others struggle to keep up, and that causes a more challenging academic experience for students — all of them.
None of this makes the “all-comer” model wrong. As Michael pointed out, ASU isn’t claiming it’s the best model, just one that meets a real need.
About Speaking Engagement
This week was all about putting to bed the question of whether any higher ed leaders would see the vision behind the business and take a leap. Does Speaking Engagement pass the smell test?
I have friends in our space who are willing to join this next year and help me iterate on the platform and our professional development offerings. Thanks to the teams at UVA, Dartmouth, Bucknell, William & Mary, and Ohio State for saying yes and giving Speaking Engagement at try. Seriously.
On Wednesday, we announced our first Agora coming up on May 26th. This one will be open to all subscribers and paid members. Sydney Bertram from the University of Texas at El Paso is the perfect practitioner to bring to life the concept behind the Agora — share a problem, how it was tackled, and what the results have been in a TED-talk style presentation. From there, we’ll have a round-robin networking session to keep the conversation going. Registration is now open for the Agora at speakingengagement.org.
Thanks again to everyone who has helped us get this idea off the ground.
Onward!
Ryan
