Helping Students Design an Education

ABSTRACT

What is most valuable, most enduring, about the higher education we offer to students? In a world where access to information is on devices carried in our pockets and where we worry about students using their cell phones to answer exam questions that purport to demonstrate mastery of the disciplines we teach, what is it that higher education offers, or should offer, that is critical for the next generation to thrive? And, as important, how well does the existing structure common to the degree programs and the curricula at our institutions meet that critical bar?

Accountability is the watchword of the day. Institutions of higher education are now expected to be accountable not just for retaining and graduating the students we admit but for student outcomes beyond graduation. There is an expectation that we measure and show the “added value” of a degree, with an increasing emphasis from students, parents, and legislators on the correlation between a degree in a particular field and employment after graduation. This is understandable in the aftermath of the recent recession and is an expectation that higher education should embrace. We should be preparing our students for life beyond graduation, and there is ample research to demonstrate that the baccalaureate degree is well worth the investment of time and tuition in the increased employability and increased earnings over a lifetime for those who achieve the baccalaureate degree. Embracing the concept of higher education as a foundation for a professional career does not mean that we must abandon our fundamental belief in the benefit of a liberal education and the value of a life of the mind. We can and should prepare our graduates to think creatively and to advance solutions for the new challenges their generation will face, as well as to earn. And we must explain to students and parents, in language meaningful to them, how a broad foundation in traditional disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences is as essential to their future professional success as in-depth training in a technical or professional field. Giving our students the language to tell our story, to articulate the value of the traditional arts, humanities, and sciences in their preparation for success beyond graduation, will do more to undergird the value of a liberal education than any number of research studies on employment and salaries for college graduates.

As an adviser and an advising administrator for more than twenty-five years, I regularly talk with students and parents about the difference between getting a degree and getting an education. Of course, I want all of our students to earn a degree, but, more importantly, I want every one of our students to achieve a rich education that is meaningful to them, as individuals, and that not only prepares them for a job or even a career but prepares them to recognize and grasp a host of opportunities that will come to them over the course of their professional lives. When I consider the ideal higher education, it would train people to question and innovate. It would train our graduates to create opportunities and solutions where none seem to exist and would prepare them to tackle the next generation of seemingly insoluble problems: climate change, social injustice, aging populations in a number of leading economies.

When I speak to new students entering the university, I urge them to prepare for the future not the past, to recognize that careers in high demand today may not be in high demand when they graduate. I ask them to consider how they want to prepare themselves, regardless of their major field of study, to address the big questions that will confront their generation because that approach to their education is most likely to provide them with the best preparation for the long term. I emphasize the value of a multidisciplinary approach to their education, and I emphasize the importance of developing a coherent plan for their education that integrates, in an intentional way, their general education requirements, their major and minor requirements, and enrichment opportunities (e.g., undergraduate research, study abroad, leadership, internships and service). I am gratified that this message continues to resonate with the majority of students and their parents, even while I see more and more students intending to pursue technical and professional fields, sometimes less out of interest than out of fear that majoring in one of the traditional arts, humanities, social sciences, or sciences will mean moving back in with their parents after graduation. The message I take from this interest in developing a comprehensive plan is that our students see the value of breadth in their education even though they may not immediately understand the foundational role general education in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences plays in providing that breadth.

Baccalaureate programs at most of our institutions are structured to provide breadth via general education or core curriculum requirements and depth via the completion of one or more majors. The increased emphasis on preparation for employment after graduation combined with the emphasis on reducing costs by reducing time to degree has, unfortunately and unwisely, led to a devaluing of general education by some students and parents and even by some within the academy. Students look for ways to avoid taking general education courses in disciplines outside their comfort zone. Parents question why their child who is majoring in business is required to take natural science courses or why their child who is majoring in engineering must complete courses in literature or even in writing. Many new students now arrive at our institutions having completed some or all of their general education requirements with Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or other test credit or having completed these requirements via concurrent enrollment in high school. Within the advising profession, these students are often referred to as “froshmores” (new, first-time college students, fresh from high school, who enter with sufficient college credits to have sophomore status or above). Though these students may have the credits to enroll in sophomore- or even junior-level courses, developmentally and experientially these students are no different from any other seventeen- or eighteen-year-old entering college for the first time. Certainly we want to support and encourage students to engage in college-level study while in high school. We know that students who enter with some college credit, whether test credit or concurrent enrollment credit, tend to be retained and to graduate at higher levels than students who enter with no college credit. At the same time, the experience of earning college credit in high school is not the same as earning college credit in a college classroom, and, more importantly, we need to recognize that upon entry to our institutions these students have no better understanding of the nature of a university education, or of the relationship between disciplines, or of how to approach creating a coherent educational plan than any other new, first-time college student.

The general education curriculum is, for most students, their entrée into understanding the disciplinary structure of the institution and to understanding the relationship between disciplines. Such an understanding is fundamental to helping students develop a coherent plan for their overall education. When I talk with “froshmores” I do find that they are well-prepared students, and, in most instances, I also find that neither they nor their parents are seeking to use the college credits earned in high school to shorten the time to their degree; instead, they view these credits as providing better preparation for college and offering the students more flexibility in the courses they can choose and more room to incorporate a range of enrichment opportunities into what they still plan as a four-year experience. For a number of years, I have conducted open forums with the parents of our entering students during new student orientation. Not long ago at one of these forums the parent of one entering froshmore, who was intending a major in management, said to me: “We want the whole package. She wants to take philosophy courses. She wants studio arts—maybe even a minor in studio art. She wants to study abroad, and she has already talked with the Business School about an internship.” Another father, whose son was entering with more than thirty Advanced Placement credits and was declaring pre-med, expressed concern that in addition to his major in biochemistry, his son, who was entering with advanced standing in Spanish language, wanted to continue advanced study in Spanish. The father worried that if his son continued his study of Spanish, it would detract from his preparation for medical school—as the father put it, “it would water down his transcript” and make his son less desirable to medical schools. The father did not view the study of Spanish as a valuable and marketable skill and as enhancing his son's preparation for medicine but, rather, as a diversion, something separate from the courses required for medical school that would make his son appear less focused and less prepared. Once I pointed out to him that fluency in another language is a tremendous asset for a physician and that contrary to making his son less competitive for medical school, advanced study in Spanish could make him stand out from other applicants, the father wholeheartedly encouraged his son to continue his Spanish and supported his participation in study abroad.

Our students and their parents are attracted to the breadth of disciplines offered at our institutions, and some will choose to broaden their education, like the management major I mention above, out of interest. Most, however, embrace the incorporation of diverse disciplines into their educational plan when advisers and faculty members help them understand the added value of these courses in achieving their unique goals and how adding breadth can enhance their education and preparation. Individual advising is key to students gaining this perspective on their education. While most, if not all, institutions define and publish the rationale and learning outcomes for each of their general education requirements, these generic statements are not sufficient. They offer useful perspective on how the institution defines general education, but such statements do not provide individual students with the perspective to make informed selections of general education courses that enable a student to tailor her or his overall program of study to provide the best preparation to achieve her or his individual, long-term goals. A personal, individual rationale for the courses they take and the cocurricular opportunities they pursue resonates with students and parents.

Both academic advisers and faculty members need to be prepared to explain how specific courses, particularly general education courses, contribute to each student's individual goals, not just to institutional goals. If the first reason or the only reason a student can state for enrolling in a particular course is that it meets the institution's “humanities requirement” or “globalization requirement” or “natural science requirement,” then we have failed that student in a number of fundamental ways. Two of the most important questions advisers should prompt students to ask and should help students to answer as they select courses are “Why would I choose this course over other courses approved to meet this requirement?” and “How will this course contribute to my preparation to achieve my long-term personal and professional goals?” If a student cannot answer those questions in a thoughtful way, then we have failed to help that student understand the purpose of a university education, we have failed to help that student develop a coherent program of study, and we have failed to provide that student with the highest-quality education he or she is capable of achieving. Students may obtain a degree, but they will not attain the superb education we want for every student. Even students who, initially, would prefer to avoid certain general education requirements are open to enrolling in courses outside their comfort zone when they understand the specific contributions a course will make to achieving their long-term goals.

General education is also the means by which most students explore the breadth of disciplines offered at our institutions. The majority of our students are, upon entry to university, if not “undecided,” at least uninformed, not only about the diverse disciplines taught at our institutions but about the nature of a university education. Initially most new students lack the context to recognize the panoply of opportunities a university education offers and lack the perspective to conceptualize a coherent plan that informs their choice of majors, minors, courses, enrichment opportunities, and preprofessional preparation. “Exploratory,” “undeclared,” “open major”—whatever we label the students who enter our institutions without a specific major in mind, they tend to be among the largest groups, if not the largest, of new first-year students, and of those students who enter with a declared major, we commonly find that 50 percent or more will change their major before graduation. We should bear in mind that traditional-age students entering a university are high school students. They come to us with a view of their education that is based on the limited options they experienced in high school, and that limited view is often the basis for the major they declare at the time they apply for admission. General education is the entrée for new students to explore and sample many new and unfamiliar fields of study and is frequently the avenue by which students find the major that is the best fit for them or discover an interest in completing a double major or in adding a minor to their plan of study. General education can enrich our students' understanding of the advantages of both breadth and depth in their educational plan, but only if advisers teach students the importance of making intentional choices of courses to meet general education requirements. If we approach general education as a checklist of requirements to be fulfilled, then we should not be surprised when our students, and their parents, view general education as simply a list of requirements mandated by the institution that has little meaning or value to them as individuals.

When I introduce new students and their parents to our degree structure, I focus on the relationship between the components of the degree, and in discussing general education, I emphasize the importance of making informed and intentional course selections that either complement the student's major(s) and provide additional skills and background pertinent to their goals beyond graduation or allow the student to explore his or her interests and to consider the options for a multidisciplinary degree. Many students equate their major with preparation for a specific career or professional program. Their area of specialization seems to them all-important in determining the opportunities they will have beyond graduation. I encourage them to think about their education more holistically, to engage in integrated academic and career planning, and to view general education requirements as offering the flexibility to design a more individualized program of study tailored to their plans and aspirations. This approach to planning does require the student to invest time and effort in the planning process and requires individual attention from well-trained advisers, but it can be the difference between a merely adequate education and a superb education.

At my institution we are implementing programs and services to engage students in integrated academic and career planning throughout their program of study. Last spring I was invited to attend a symposium in which some of our scholarship students were presenting their individual electronic portfolios to us in small groups. The students are taught, from the beginning of their time at the institution, to use the electronic portfolio to outline and summarize their personal history: where they are from, their academic accomplishments, their service and volunteer work, jobs they have held, leadership positions, and so on. The students are then trained to present themselves to others and are given opportunities, such as the symposium to which I was invited, to practice their presentation. The presenters ranged from first-year students to seniors, and the accomplishments of these young women and men were remarkable. One student had done an internship at a health clinic in Africa, another was working for a community hotline, and yet another had spearheaded a food and clothing drive for the needy. As impressive as their undergraduate research projects, service projects, and academic accomplishments were, what I remember most vividly about these student presentations is that every student, without prompting, spoke about specific courses they had taken and described in personal terms how those courses had shaped their perspective on their future goals and had contributed to their preparation. Some of the courses they chose to highlight were major courses, but in every instance at least one course was from outside their major. If we teach students to be intentional in developing their plan of study, if we help them design a plan that has individual meaning and coherence for them, they become our greatest advocates and spokespeople for the value of higher education and of general education. They tell our story to their friends, to employers, to legislators, and, eventually, to their children.

Our students and our external constituents (parents, legislators, business leaders, and policy makers) readily accept the value of in-depth study in the major. This is the student's chosen area of specialization, in which the student is expecting to be educated and prepared. They may find it more difficult to see the immediate pertinence of general education courses to their individual goals, but, for the most part, they recognize the purpose of general education. Most, however, do not immediately grasp that the thoughtful integration of the whole, of major requirements with general education requirements and cocurricular opportunities, results in a far richer and more robust education than approaching the degree as the completion of the separate, individual parts. We need to communicate the importance of developing a coherent and intentional educational plan to our students. Faculty should approach every course description and every syllabus as an opportunity to explain to students and the public not just the topics or content the course will cover but the professional skills and competencies students will gain.

Recently representatives from our Department of History met with advisers to discuss revisions to their general education course offerings. In response to advisers' questions, they were eloquent in describing how the courses would provide skills in writing, argumentation, analysis, and original source research and in articulating the applicability of these skills to a range of professional fields. The advisers urged the department to include this information in the course descriptions, which advisers use to educate students about options and course selection, and to have faculty reinforce these anticipated learning outcomes in presenting the course to students. Advisers rely on the faculty in each specialization to provide the context necessary to help students make informed decisions.

Individual advising is essential to the success of our students and their preparation to address the metachallenges of their generation. Advisers who are trained to help students explore options and analyze their interests, who teach students to be intentional in selecting courses and enrichment opportunities, who help students integrate and balance the breadth provided by general education with the depth and specialization of the major, and who guide students in creating a coherent plan individually tailored to prepare them to achieve their long-term goals are fundamental to delivering a high-quality education. Training students to think critically, to analyze objectively, to research and investigate, to communicate effectively, and to be tolerant, innovative, and creative is an enduring benefit higher education can provide. The breadth and depth provided by the current structure of the baccalaureate degree serves our students well, but only when we help them approach the degree as a flexible structure that must be intentionally shaped to prepare them to achieve long-term goals—goals that should go far beyond an initial job or career aspiration.