Models of Academic Excellence:Is a “Third Way” Emerging?

Scholars in Action: 2011 UNI Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

University of Northern Iowa (UNI)Cedar Falls, Iowa

R. Eugene RiceSenior Scholar

Association of American Colleges and UniversitiesWashington, DC USA

rice@aacu.edu

The Dominant Modes of Academic Excellence

1. Liberal Arts—Faculty as Teacher Scholar

2. Research University—Specialist on the Cutting Edge of a Field (Expert)

—TRANSITIONS (OR TRANSFORMATIONAL) PERIOD

3. Emergence of a “Third Way”

- Integrated - Engaged

- Collaborative - Networked

- Inclusive

The Assumptive World of the Academic Professional

• RESEARCH is the central professional endeavor & the focus of academic life.

• Quality is preserved through PEER REVIEW and the maintenance of PROFESSIONAL AUTONOMY.

• The pursuit of knowledge is best organized according to DISCIPLINE.

• REPUTATIONS are established through NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

• Professional rewards and mobility accrue to those who persistently ACCENTUATE their SPECIALIZATION.

• The distinctive task of the academic profession is the pursuit of COGNITIVE TRUTH.

Changing Faculty Role From Focus On: To:

Faculty Learning Student Development &

Community Engagement

(who faculty are, (faculty are (big question)

and what we know) beginning to see this)

Changes in What We are Learning About Learning

Pedagogical Revolution: (3 central thrusts)

1. Active, experienced-based learning - service learning

- undergraduate research

2. Power of relational learning- peer learning

- learning communities

3. Technologically enhanced learning - web-based social networks - distance learning

High Impact Educational Practices

• First year seminars• Common intellectual experiences• Learning Communities• Writing intensive courses• Collaborative assignments• Undergraduate research• Diversity—global learning• Service learning, community-based learning• Internships• Capstone courses

George D. Kuh, AAC&U Project

The Overflowing Plate

• RESEARCH

• PROFESSSIONAL AUTONOMY

• PEER REVIEW

• FOCUS ON DISCIPLINE

• PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• SPECIALIZATION

• COGNITIVE RATIONALITY

• TEACHING• PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT

• PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY

• STUDENT EVALUATION• ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING

• CROSSING KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS

• LOCAL NEEDS• Institution building• Broader community

• INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE• Bridging theory and practice

• DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO KNOWING

Scholarshipof

Engagement

Scholarshipof

Teaching&

Learning

Scholarshipof

Integration

Scholarshipof

Discovery

A Broader, More Integrated Understanding of Scholarly Work

CONCRETE, CONNECTED KNOWING

ACTIVE REFLECTIVE PRACTICE OBSERVATION

ABSTRACT ANALYTIC KNOWING

Epistemological Shift

- A different relationship with students - Focus on student learning and development - Attend to the making of meaning

- A different kind of research- Community-based research- Two-way street- Honoring local as well as cosmopolitan knowledge

- A different relationship with community - Not “application of knowledge” - Collaborative practices - Honoring wisdom of practice

- “Stewardship of place” (AASCU)

W. B. Yeats

- On the power of the relationship of intellectual development and active practice:

“The human soul is always moving outward into the external world and inward into itself, and this movement is double because the human soul would not be conscious were it not suspended between contraries. The greater the contrast, the more intense the consciousness.”

Other Challenges

(From Focus On) (To Focus On)

1. Complete scholar Unbundling of Networks for learning & (congruence) faculty role new forms of integration

2. Culture of unexamined Culture of evidence assumptions (evidence-based practice)

3. Career dependence Resilient, interconnected careers

4. Diminished public support & increased demand for access

5. “My work” “Our work”

6. Collegial culture Managerial culture

Collaborative Culture• Learning Organization

• Bi-cultural• Building on Both Cultures

• Alternative to the Two Economies• Systemically-oriented

• Learning Centered

Collegial Culture Liberal Arts (Athens) Research University (Berlin) Faculty-oriented Peer Review Peer Leadership Community of Scholars - Tenure - Academic Freedom Shared Governance Qualitative Judgments Substantive Knowledge Merit

Managerial Culture Corporate Sector Bottom Line Accountability Efficiency Productivity Technical Leadership Managerial Professionals Quantitative Instrumental Knowledge Hierarchical Customer-oriented Worth

The Emergence of a “Third Way”? Is higher education facing a Copernican moment?

Characteristics:

1.Integrative/ Beyond Differentiation

2.Collaborative/ Beyond Hierarchy & Competitiveness

3.Inclusive/ Beyond Diversity

4.Engaged/ Beyond Walls & Silos

5.Toward a Network Culture