Where is the for-profit-university-system headed... anyway? A few leaders met with us last week ... to share serious fears for higher education…. These leaders built a good case for all of us who love higher education ... to take another look at where learning's headed for our grandchildren. Nobody in this group had anything to gain from telling us what they shared ... since they all do well in their fields and 
could retire wealthy people at any time.... What they told us is cause for reflection about where higher education in our country is headed.
One leader … well known in science circles … was sent an email to give all A or A minus grades. Another mature leader was told to remove everything he'd added to the curriculum because the university wanted a common set of lectures they could own …. A third scholar told us that he’d been asked to simply correct papers and do all the steps that the campus orchestrated for each online class. He was to add their welcome note to students – not his. He was told to use their feedback forms – not his and he was given a checklist of what to post from their lists and when. Other tales told of marks changed often and at will -- by staff Online to please more students.
Another female head of department with a popular Online university ... told how her students were complaining in droves ... because too many were crammed lately into classes. Students disliked "similar formulas in every single university class" they took. She felt caught between a rock and hard place when her campus reminded her often that they were silently observing all faculty classes to ensure that campus routines were followed daily – as detailed by “instructional specialists.” How can students learn and apply new ideas at deep college levels ... when for-profit organizations demand mundane rituals and remove any influence of their faculty?
Can it be happening? Has the business model for higher education removed learning from the higher education equation?
According to this small circle of well-respected leaders in learning and assessment … for profit higher education has come to mean ....
-- factory-like facilitation …
-- bigger classes run by robotic approaches
-- one size fits all content with A grades to keep students
-- standard lower level thinking… writing … and assessment
-- corporately owned materials mandated for all classes
-- similar step by step procedures for all courses
-- moving mass groups of students through ranks for pay
My question is … How can students learn to be great problem solvers if for-profit classes have sunk to learning levels these professors described? Who is watching the outcomes to ensure for-profit universities are not simply selling A’s? How can we balance the desire for big profit by a campus and the need for a deep and life-changing learning environment for students and faculty? Can these two targets co-exist? What do you think?
When we asked these leaders why they did not present their case to their campus one replied: “It’s a business! Any complaint means a loss of work when the next term comes.” Interestingly they all agreed that the campus started with learning in mind ... slipped over slopes for more money ... and let go of learning in the end.... What do you think?
What would you have advised this fine team? What advice do you have for higher education leaders in general?
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