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I think it would be a good thing to have greater numbers and diversity of students in our HE system. It would mean that we would need to think more carefully about how we work with these students and have greater diversity reflected in the staff and faculty who interface with the students. The direction that we are currently headed in—that a university degree is for the well-off or privileged both economically and socially—is not sustainable and bodes ill for the future competitiveness of our nation. Claudia Ford, director, Office of International Programs, Rhode Island School of Design, March 16, 2009 There was a swell article about this very issue in last Sunday's New York Times. For-profit schools will benefit as they expand their marketing budgets. Online schools will likely be the largest recipient of any government largesse. But in the end, the person who never really considered the future in terms of developing themselves through education and who recognizes the opportunity is the one who will truly benefit and make America a richer, more productive nation. Education is not a one-time thing, but a lifelong journey, and whether people who begin never finish is really a moot point because they will have begun a process of learning that will not stop. A major reason for taking this bold step of encouragement, to partake of learning at a higher level, is that a great deal of the economic and social balance of power is gradually shifting to China and India. We cannot ignore the potential of these great societies in which the educational milieu is far more efficacious than here in America. What a wonderful opportunity for potential students. Educational/vocational institutions will be nurtured to grow and become a truly viable force in America, at last elevating the value of education at all levels: the value added by faculty, advisers, school boards and colleges and all educational leaders who can expand their vision to be ever more inclusive. John McCluney, academic advisor, Kaplan University, March 16, 2009 A sudden mandated influx of new college students will quite possibly have its greatest impact on the community college system because many of these students will have families and be unable to attend four year colleges, stay on their campuses, or spend their valuable time in long-range driving. Quite possibly public transportation will become an issue as well as day care for their children. I can foresee the developmental program, especially in reading, writing, and math exploding, and student orientation becoming a very demanding class with a major revamping for these students. The Middle College should explode with activity, and faculty of regular college classes will possibly need some retraining in basic teaching due to the wide differentiation of students in the classrooms. English as a second language will probably play a major role that is not presently being covered in all colleges. New courses will need to be developed and some programs, possibly certificate programs, will need to provide job rewards without dragging on and on, and many of the students do it now. There will be a need for more cooperation and coordination between the four-year institutions and the community colleges. An effort to make similar classes at the various colleges truly transferrable to other institutions will become a must. No more transferring and losing credits should be allowed. The field of higher education will become an atrocious playground for ill-informed people who had not intended to enroll in higher education, but because of the economy and the presidential mandate have decided that this is the only way to go in order to survive in the U.S. economy. We must be careful not to make workers in positions below higher education feel inferior or unimportant in the overall scenario of our attempt to expand general knowledge in our country. I very much feel that we need emphasis on increasing blue-collar and green-collar positions, not white-collar positions with all the deceit that is infiltrating many of those positions. Beatrice Wallace, assistant professor of Education, Teaching Health & Developmental Reading, Southside Virginia Community College, J. H. Daniel Campus, March 27, 2009 The Mentor is published by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University | All rights reserved | |
