I'll admit it ... I've got a bit of a bro-crush going on with Matthew McConaughey. It started when I saw Mud earlier this year, followed by an amazing 10-minutes in Wolf of Wall Street. And it hit fever pitch with my undying love for True Detective and an amazing performance in Dallas Buyers Club. There's a bit of true weirdo charm that comes out in dear ol Matt as evidenced by his Oscar acceptance speech. Alright, alright, alright.
So, inspired by @Gurbash Chahal's post on "What We Can All Learn from Matthew McConaughey," I thought I'd apply the same to the current state of higher education. McConaughey pointed his credit to three things he needs in every day ... something to look up to, another to look forward to, and someone to chase.
Something to Look Up to
McConnaughey pointed to God as proving that gratitude reciprocates. For higher ed let's point to those god-like faculty. Lord knows a cynical public wants to think they're meandering around campus aimlessly but what they don't understand is that mind-bending breakthrough requires tinkering. Pretty much any study of higher ed quality aligns an institution's reputation with the quality of its faculty. And while students and administrators come and go, faculty remain loyal to institutions (that show the same loyalty) for life, leaving an unmatched mark on those campuses.
Look forward to
While MOOCs may not have proven to be the thing that was finally going to tear down the Ivory Tower, they did leave us with something to look forward to. Between the technology improvements bound to come to college campuses and the boom of TED talks, our greatest thinkers and researchers have realized they are in control, they have a voice and a publishing platform, and people are interested in listening. So maybe we are on the early edges of a new sort of democratization of enlightenment where great ideas are given peer review on a grand scale. If anything MOOCs have confirmed a latent excitement for life-long learning for a lot of people.
Someone to Chase
While the economic collapse that began in late 2008 had devastating outcomes for much of public higher education it has put the focus on three key things that I think are exciting.
Cost. It's clear that the economic gap is growing in our country. And highered continues to be a great equalizer. While our country readies for major demographic changes and resulting concentration of economic wealth, lifting a commitment to keeping higher education affordable will have better outcomes for our society.
Student Service. With rising costs students rightfully pointed out that they were simply not getting the support and service for what they were paying. We're not talking dorms with pools but career services, good advising and, well, time with that amazing faculty.
Brand. When the funding floor bottomed out institutions big and small were left with a critical reminder ... you're only as good as your reputation. And the result has been that colleges and universities are finally focusing on marketing and branding. At wise institutions those efforts are tied to key strategic goals. Smarter, more meaningful higher education brands will be an inevitable outcome.