Nothing to Offer

It’s easy to criticize colleges and universities in the United States these days. I’ve certainly contributed to that criticism.

But this week I read three articles that each made me recall a question I’ve promised myself I would answer … some day. The question goes like this: “ok, smartypants, it’s easy to critique, but is there anything at all that I could offer colleges and universities that might actually help?” If today and tomorrow appear perilous, it’s far less useful to cast blame than to extend a hand.

In the past, my answer has always been “no, I’ve nothing to offer.” I’m coming from such a different place than the men and women responsible for stewarding higher education institutions. I take as a given that within 20 or 30 years, higher education will appear as disheveled as the music and newsprint industries today. It’s already happening to some degree (eg, think for-profits; but dimly beyond that a more serious threat). Just pay attention.

So no, I don’t really have much to offer. The chasm is too wide.

Nonetheless, I’ve spent nearly my entire life on college campuses. I have many good friends who still work there. And regardless of what I may think about higher education, there is much that is good.

So despite my reluctance, I’ll offer a few thoughts.

What could you do to guide a college into a tomorrow certain only in its uncertainty? Here’s a list:

1. Abandon all hope that yesterday will return. It’s gone. Get over it.
2. Abandon all hope that you or I or anyone else knows what to do. We don’t.
3. Your college or university is most vulnerable at its point of greatest strength. Plan for the severing of that aortic revenue stream.
4. Don’t panic. You’ve got some time. But today is not too early to start.
5. Is your institution in the learning business? If you cannot answer yes, then you and I are not talking about the same problem.
6. Your job is to engage in a Brownian movement that haltingly but only temporarily finds high ground. The churn is constant. Embrace it.
7. Nothing should be sacred and off-the-table.
8. You cannot do it alone. Enlist the help of everyone and anyone who is willing to listen and get involved. Even better if done in concert with those institutions you now consider competitors.
9. Survival of an institutional form is not the goal. Learning is the goal.
10. There’s no shame in exit. Know when to fold. Chalk it up to the voracious gnashing of industrial change.

Like I said, I’ve nothing to offer.