Ken Burns' new documentary tells the story of the Dust
Bowl blow after body-blow: the brutally unrelenting natural challenges, the
grim perseverance and astonishingly unfailing hope of Depression-era farm
families, and the glimmers of actual relief that are quickly followed by even
worse calamities.
Staring straight at the camera, one stoic survivor states
the prevailing frame of mind with blunt candor. "We figured if we failed,
we didn't try hard enough. We didn't do anything different the next year, we
just tried harder."
When you only know one way – when you can only envision
one way – then failure (or success) must be simply a matter of effort. If innovation is any measure, until recently
much of higher education seemed stuck in Dustbowl Thinking. The good news is that seems to be changing.
In late September, President Raynard Kington wrote
Grinnell College alumni saying “I think everybody realizes that something has
to change or that we'll have to face even tougher choices down the road.”
Swarthmore’s President Rebecca Chopp, in a speech on her
campus last October, acknowledged the changing landscape and the challenges to
liberal arts colleges and suggested fresh approaches to engaging what appears
to be a dwindling audience.
A worry that lingers is whether reframing the liberal arts’
value proposition is dangerous… or insufficient. Adherents long for the
indemnification of the liberal arts but some push back with ambivalent
cynicism, happy to see the effort but skeptical whether deep appreciation and
commitment can be sparked by mere marketing communication campaigns. “Have You
Driven the Classics…lately?” may receive (muffled) applause but will it reverse
troubling trends?
Paying serious attention to change and looking outward
are good starts, but the prevailing consumer culture has shifted over
time. New audiences in new markets
invited to college are pragmatic and hugely practical, and arrive with an
under-appreciation of classical academic values. And the words “liberal arts” probably create
confusion, assuming they receive attention at all.
I haven't polled any but I think it is safe to assume
that few students select a liberal arts college for the liberal arts.
I do know many select college for prestige, perceived
value, cost (tuition freezes and no-loan policies help), and campus facilities.
And I believe most of those who attend liberal arts colleges develop an
appreciation for this education during and especially after their time as
students.
Recently Cappy Hill, Vassar's president and an expert of
the economics of highered, shared her worry that the liberal arts were heading
back to their elite roots. My "back to the future" reply was that,
perhaps, the liberal arts model might become more like European monasteries,
with devotees attending to illuminated manuscripts and deliberately-paced
contemplation inside the drawbridge surrounded by a brutal and chaotic world
outside....
Having had the good fortune to be immersed in the higher education environment for most of my life – I grew up on the Haverford College campus and then did my undergraduate
and graduate studies at Amherst and Harvard – I, well, I think I “get it.”
Also having the great good fortune to spend the past
thirty-five years working in an usually wide range of types of colleges and
universities, and being privileged to counsel families that represent that
diversity, I think Presidents Hill and Chopp are both right. I believe the
liberal arts' shrinkage will continue and I hope its champions will begin to
rethink its value – "compelling narrative" – in a modern context that
takes into account the lack of awareness, understanding, and appreciation in
the market.
It won't do to either dismiss public disinterest or pine
for the recent good old days. The future of the liberal arts and highered is
important and unknown. It will be significantly affected by environmental
factors beyond the control of academe but influenced by leadership from within
academe.
- I know a college that introduced an honors program named the “Renaissance Baccalaureate.” Despite decent promotion, it drew little attention… and lots of misspellings. It was re-launched as the “Discovery Degree” – with the exact same features – and was an immediate hit.
- In response to public concern over price, a number of colleges have adjusted family expense through combinations of freezing top-line price (in some cases even cutting it) and reducing family cost through financial aid discounting.
- Similarly, acknowledging the mounting worry about ROI and jobs, colleges have beefed up career services, alumni networks, and internships.
Proactive, market-sensitive tactics like these have
yielded positive results, making their institutions stronger with no sacrifice
to integrity or dignity. Prosperity and – outside of monasteries – currency are
good brands in highered!
Taking an audience-eye-view is fundamental to successful
communication. Instead of sticking with
words we know and are comfortable with, how about deconstructing the
constituent elements of what makes a liberal arts education so compelling? Let’s see what emerges and use those
discoveries to try and find ways to break down the language and values
divide.
Whether through price, product, or name, a part of our
challenge is to make a fresh case for the liberal arts, in-and-of-themselves
and as a means to a fulfilling end. If
I’m right, and deep appreciation of the liberal arts comes during or after the
partaking, we better define, articulate, and deliver in methods that will be
received and appreciated compelling new “now-reasons” to consider our institutions.
