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  • 7 Ways College Has Improved Since 91

    By Joshua Kim November 2, 2010 9:45 pm EDT

    We spend so much time worrying about what is wrong with our U.S. higher ed system that it is easy to lose sight of how much the system has improved over the past 20 years. This is a mistake, as if we fail to honor our successes we will forget that change can and does happen, and that our colleagues are working incredibly hard each and every day to improve our institutions.

    My point of reference is admittedly limited and biased -- as I graduated from one elite, private institution in 1991 (Washington University in St. Louis) and work at another (the) top private College today. (Along with stops at Brown for grad school, WVU for my first teaching gig, and Quinnipiac University for my first administrative gig). So if you once graduated and now work at a public institution, well - we'd love to hear your perspective.

    7 Ways College Has Improved Since 1991:

    1. The Courses: The technological revolution in education has been to open a space in which we can examine the course design and delivery process. Learning management systems, blended and online learning, student media projects, lecture capture platforms etc. etc. are valuable mostly because they provide opportunities to re-think and re-engineer teaching and learning. We now have the tools, and the staff (learning designers, librarians, media professionals etc.) to invest inputs into our courses beyond the instructor and the room. The lecture model may be stubbornly holding on, but the active learning revolution has caused many of us to work towards leveraging technology and good course design to bring the benefits of the seminar to the lecture class.

    2. The Faculty: I'd like to see the numbers on this, but my strong sense is that our faculty is much more diverse than 20 years ago. Higher proportions of women and non-whites. Increased diversity means more viewpoints, richer life experiences, and varied perspectives - all of which I think translates into better teaching. We have a ways to go until our faculty mirrors our population, but I think we are much closer than in 1991.

    3. The Staff: The job of educational technologist did not exist 20 years ago. Today, we have lots of educators on campus who work in diverse roles beyond classroom instruction (and many of us staff members also teach - but not as our primary jobs). Some people have decried the "degree inflation" of higher ed employment, worrying that PhD's are going into administrative, technical and library jobs. I tend to see this as a great development, offering non-traditional routes to academic careers and improving the quality of the educational services offered on campus.

    4. The Students: Again, I'd like to see the numbers - but I think our student body is much more diverse (and representative of the larger population) as compared to 1991. A diverse student body is great for all the reasons that a diverse faculty (and staff) are great.

    5. The Support Services: Increased student support (learning support, counseling, medical, advising etc.) has pushed up costs -- but also made college a happier place for many many people. I'd say student support is a great way to spend resources -- one of the best ROI's for the tuition dollar. As a parent, I'm happy that my kids will have a range of support services to help make their college experience as productive as possible. The marginal cost of providing these services is one I'm happy to pay.

    6. The Facilities: Is there any doubt that the campus is a nicer place to be? Upgraded student athletic facilities (and not just for athletes, but for everyone), nicer dorms, upgraded classroom and libraries. Again, the upgrading of facilities has driven up costs - but these upgrades have been investments in the physical environments of our campuses. Would we rather that our buildings be neglected, that private spaces (like malls etc) become more inviting than our campus spaces?

    7. The Food: Better food is a huge deal. I've seen the options for fresh and health food increase dramatically since my time on campus, where everything we seemed to eat was fried, canned and over-cooked. Today's student demands a fully stocked salad bar, and fresh (and often local and/or organic) veggies. Nowadays, we are all disciples of Michael Pollan.

    Can you add to this list?

    Can you round out our improvements to public institutions?

    Where do I get it wrong?

Go to comments (12) »
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Comments on 7 Ways College Has Improved Since 91

  • The expansion of Alumni Association involvement.
  • Posted on November 3, 2010 at 8:15am EDT
  • Over the years the alumni associations have grown more interested in maintaining a relationship with their college through fund raising activities, news journals, online postings, employment networking, chapter meetings, and even cultural and athletic events.
  • The Opportunities
  • Posted on November 3, 2010 at 10:30am EDT
  • The number of co-curricular and experiential opportunities such as study abroad, internships, service learning, undergraduate research, have increased dramatically in 20 years. It seems I graduated just before things started taking off.
  • Posted by e on November 3, 2010 at 10:30am EDT
  • Loose? Stopped reading there.
  • puh-leez!
  • Posted by Joe on November 3, 2010 at 11:45am EDT
  • Dear "e",
    If you fail to see the forest of an interesting and positive post for the tree of a *really* minor typo, I feel sorry for you, and I pity your students. This level of pendantry proves nothing. (Oh, I guess it does show that you are a better proofreader than a word processor. I hope it makes your day.)
  • Proof
  • Posted by Ken on November 3, 2010 at 11:45am EDT
  • I think e's response is a little too drastic, but if you are going to wave a banner announcing that you are employed at "the [top] private College (sic) today," you should at least proofread your piece. And, BTW, "College" should not be capitalized in your sentence.

    As for the improvements, I basically agree though I find "Facilities" and "Food" troubling. Today, it seems as though students feel they are entitled to these amenities. The students believe this is what the IHE is expected to provide. Sure, things are improved, but does this increase retention and success? I'm not sure.

    We did not have a state-of-the-art recreation and wellness center, but we got our exercise, whether it was a pick-up game or a jog around a public park. I swear we had "paralyzed" (parsleyed) potatoes every night at my alma mater. I did not look forward to that but I still had a top-notch and successful learning experience at a (state) school.
  • sorry - fixed the typo
  • Posted by Joshua Kim , Director of Learning and Technology at Dartmouth College on November 3, 2010 at 1:00pm EDT
  • e - Sorry about the typo. Won't be the last. I honestly wish my grammar skills were better - anyone know of a good online self-paced grammar training course?

    Appreciate you pointing it out. Thanks to everyone for the their thoughts. Fun to read about where you think improvements have come since you graduated, and where you think we are going backwards (or at least adding unnecessary expenses).
  • student group work
  • Posted by Assessment Director , Assessment Director at St. Cloud State University on November 3, 2010 at 1:00pm EDT
  • In the late 70s/early 80s, the academic part of college was a solitary experience in the sense that students worked independently and competed for grades. Several of my professors stressed the fact that they normalized ("curved") their grade distributions--emphasizing relative achievement rather than mastery. There is now more widespread use of course goals/learning objectives and a recognition that good grades come with mastering the outcomes, even if that means giving many As and Bs.

    I also don't recall that any professor encouraged students to study together, and *not once* was I ever involved in an assigned group project. In the real world (including academia, group work is the norm. It makes me glad to walk through our library every morning and to see that the majority of students are either studying or working on a project together.
  • Costs
  • Posted by Frank on November 3, 2010 at 4:45pm EDT
  • While these are great developments, the rapidly rising cost of a university education is the most pressing issue in higher ed today. My parents' generation could work their way through college. I graduated with low interest rate loans that totaled half my starting salary at my first job after college (engineering) and it was relatively easy to pay off over 10 years. The way it looks now, my son will graduate with loans totaling 3-4x his expected first year's starting pay. This is a tremendous burden to him and is entirely unsustainable.
  • Courses, part II
  • Posted by sibyl on November 3, 2010 at 6:00pm EDT
  • Another way that courses have improved since 1991 is that they cover more stuff. The sciences are the obvious location for this -- consider the ways our understanding of neuroscience and astrophysics have changed in 20 years -- but the humanities are there too; non-Western authors are par for the course in most "English" courses, and the voices of many others must be considered even if the literature is not actively studied.

    Too often we consider "productivity" to be expressible only in terms of number of students served. But there are productivity gains in terms of student learning, and we need to find ways to talk about those.
  • Technology in the classroom: Are students prepared?
  • Posted by morgan , Academic Advisor at Walden University on November 8, 2010 at 11:15am EST
  • I am interested in your take on the preparedness of nontraditional students for the ever-increasing technology-laden course work. I find that many nontraditional students lack the basic computer literacy and struggle especially during their first semester. Have you had the same experiences?
  • Posted by Amy on November 8, 2010 at 4:30pm EST
  • Please remember that "dorms" is an outdated term in much of the US. Residence Hall is more appropriate.
  • Rounding out students, services, and...
  • Posted by J_Connally , Syllabus Geek & Student at Intellidemia & School of Life on November 12, 2010 at 2:30pm EST
  • Students since '91: Although there is still a large pop. of students that go for the lowest hanging fruit, e.g., afternoon classes, many are becoming informed consumers of education and it's starting in high school. Choosing courses has become a more in-depth selection process that is as natural as looking at calories and ingredients on the back of the box. There seems to be a shift from what are the requirements to what are the requirements and what will best compliment my learning, application, and marketability? Technology and economy are contributors.

    Student Services since '91: Simply put, there is no longer a stigma or negative connotation associated with SS; it's a tool used to succeed and beat the competition. A student learning strategies director told me that the students utilizing these services are no longer in the mandated majority, it's now split with 3.5 GPA students.

    In my opinion, and I won't go on (and on), but let me add the interdisciplinary research movement to your list. COLLABORATION that helps us move beyond the limitations of a single discipline, e.g., biology/Comp Sci/digital art http://bit.ly/RPIedu

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