December 20, 2011: The Wheels on the Campus Go Round and Round

It's the time of year for predictions.  What will 2012 have in store?  Let's take some time to predict the major innovations within higher education in 2012.  I predict

Nothing.

"Oh, you're so damn cynical, Dave," you say.  I have good reason to believe this.  To higher education's credit, we have had a "new federal committee" to study that future.  However, I am referring to a group put together in 1992.  Yes, 1992.  As when the first Bush was President.  As when we had the Rodney King riots.  As when Hurricane Andrew hit the United States.  

Look at this language from the January 25, 1992, Chronicle of Higher Education article about this "new federal committee:"  

"A top Education Department official, contending that higher education does not have a vision for the future, has established a committee to examine the challenges that colleges, universities, and trade schools will face in the next century." 

That could have been written yesterday.  I bet it was written yesterday.  Someone get Arne Duncan on the phone.

In addition, we read that "in response to a question about whether the Education Department would provide more money for student aid if the committee concluded that such funds were needed, Ms. Reid-Wallace gave no assurances. 'I would be very surprised if there was a student in this country who wanted to go to college who could not find a package of grants and loans that would support not the full cost of college, but a significant portion of that cost,' she said. 'I'd be very, very surprised if we could come up with 10 such students in all of America,' she added.

Hah!  I could come up with 10 such students by walking into any mall.

And finally:  "Ms. Reid-Wallace said many things needed to be done to improve higher education that did not require additional funds, such as finding ways to encourage more female and minority-group students to pursue science and engineering." 

Gee, how's that been working out?  We've seen a slight bump upwards in these areas in the last couple of years, but credit CSI before the DOE.

In March 1994, The Chronicle reports on a higher education summit.  There is no indication in the story if this summit came from the 1992 committee, but does it really matter?  If that 1992 group did follow through on its promise for financial aid, at least one student at this summit must have missed that:

"Kevin Moran, a student organizer of the gathering, said many students complained that the federal government allocates much more money for loans than for grants. He noted that most students were worried about paying off the large debts they will incur at college.

'Students are taking on more jobs," Mr. Moran said, adding that others simply drop out of college because of unbearable costs.'"

It just keeps going, like a continuous loop of "film facts" that drag on before the previews at the movie theater.  In March 2001, we learn that "Governors Kick Off Effort To Improve Higher Education." In February 2006, we learn that "American Colleges Must Change to Compete in the Global Economy, Speakers Tell Panel on Future of Higher Education."  In March 2007 (note to self:  encourage lawmakers to take break in February and March), we are told that "National Summit on Higher Education Concludes With a 25-point Plan."  And simply because I tire of this, I jump forward to last week (December 12) and point out that "At Forum on the Future, Leaders Dissect What Ails Higher Education Today."  (All stories come from the ever-present Chronicle of Higher Education.)

It would be easy to blame our politicians and term limits and other external variables for this on-going, but never advancing, series of public forums, summits and conferences.  The truth of the matter is that the fault still lies entirely within all of us in academia.  As long as we continue to over-value college rankings, tenure, athletics, cutting edge programs, rigid graduation requirements, and the academic marketplace to the detriment of true reform, we will be in this continuous loop.

Please remember to turn off your cell phone when the show starts.