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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 10/3/07 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
September 8, 1998 UWGB focuses on new ideas School attempts shift from "industrial age" educational approach to "knowledge age" By Nathan Orme
The 5,500 students - which includes 530 from the Fox Cities - will find the university reemphasizing its effort to move away from traditional academic structure while trying to provide what Perkins called an "integrated education" in which students learn not just information but how to deal with information that is now available in mass quantities through the Internet and other modern technology.
"Students are developmentally more mature than I was at their age, simply through the media, if nothing else," Perkins said during a meeting with The Post-Crescent editorial board. "Expectations of college are changing today."
To meet those expectations, Perkins says the university attempts to move away from a teaching style that he calls "industrial age organization" which is hierarchical, specialized and focused on a single perspective. Perkins say we have now entered the "knowledge age" and education must be team-oriented, cover a wide scope of subject areas and be taught from multiple perspectives.
Chris Sampson, associate director of marketing and university communications at UWGB, used the example of a psychology major. The student would focus on studying psychology, but would then also be required to take an interdisciplinary, more broad-based minor, such as human development.
"They get the depth in psychology, but human development brings together psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists," Sampson said. This approach to education has been around since the 1970s, he said, but is becoming more recognized now across the nation and, with the UW regents visiting soon, administrators at Green Bay felt the time was right to re-focus on this philosophy.
The idea is not just a notion dreamed up by administrators, Sampson said.
"In the '70s, we were selling a new product," he said. "In the '90s, schools are moving toward it, students are pushing for it and employers, while they still require some specialized training, appreciate those with a broader background."
Getting en entry-level job in today's world, Perkins said, requires graduates to have more than book learning in school. They must have unique experiences that will teach them the thought processes and analysis involved in tackling the challenges they will face on the job.
Students might have to expect to pay more than the current $2,916 per year in tuition cost.
"If we're going to be in the technology age we're going to need resources and those resources are going to cost money," Perkins said.
As long as the money is going to improve the quality of education, Perkins says students have always been amenable to increases in tuition costs. He said the state has a record of being among the lowest in the nation in dollars invested in higher education, which could have a negative effect on a UW System that has maintained a good reputation despite fewer funds.
"What I am concerned about is UW-Madison," Perkins said. "It is a world-renowned university and I am afraid I will be saying it was a renowned university."
Lack of resources has also made it difficult to attract and retain quality faculty, he said. The educational marketplace is highly competitive in the higher echelons of the profession, he said.
"I'm challenged to recruit people to our community," Perkins said. "People say it is the weather, but it is really what we can provide and offer." He said his campus is getting in the process of constructing a new academic facility, but by comparison the facilities and other resources, including employee benefits, fall short of what other universities have.
Public demands on education are the final gauge, Perkins said, but that can be hard to read.
"Some say graduation rate is important, some say access is important, some say retention is important," Perkins said. "People want all of these things, but the question is how do you get all of these things and how does it affect education?"
Perkins said he can give people access or a high graduation rate or a cheap education, but under current resource restraints, something usually has to give.
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