THROUGHOUT his term, Gov. Mark R. Warner has confronted educational policy with an innovative approach that says making a better future for society means creatively rethinking policy and then aiming it at emerging needs. While many governments merely react to the changing world, Warner has recognized that change is actually an opportunity for Virginia and the nation to get ahead of the pack by actively moving policy in a creative, forward-thinking direction. These ideas were the principal engines behind Warner's "Education for a Lifetime" policies.
Indeed, Warner has brought this state a bold and future-oriented worldview that rethinks the forms and purposes of the components of education, unafraid to redefine them to better meet the demands of a future economy and match the abilities of the state. In participating in yesterday's signing of the Commonwealth College Course Collaborative (CCCC) between the state and 61 other institutions of higher learning, the University has signaled its willingness to confront the short-term challenges that immediate reform poses. But as the governor begins a slow redesign of Virginia's education system to prepare students for the future, the University must use the same worldview he uses and apply it to rethinking its own path. Indeed, as the world changes and education changes, the University, as a responsible public institution dedicated to preparing the Commonwealth and the world for future challenges, cannot shy away from rethinking its own role, but must address its own future with the same imaginative energy.
Already, the University is seeing policies that suggest a larger rethinking. The CCCC relates to Warner's"Early College Scholars" program, open to high school seniors, which offers students opportunities to earn a semester's worth of college credits either through the AP Program or dual enrollment. In the CCCC, the Commonwealth and various colleges agreed upon uniform standards for the acceptance of outside credit. Beyond this practical problem the program addressed, Early College Scholars prefigures the demand for an evolving conceptual model for the University.
Early College Scholars gives new significance to the 12th grade, reinforcing the idea that effective education demands that high school flow more smoothly into college. It aims to increase the entire system's efficiency by granting college credits early and reducing the time a student needs to spend on Grounds to receive a diploma. A fundamental idea underlying Education for a Lifetime is that new challenges demand a system without seams and that the "levels" of public education (elementary school, college, etc.) must be treated more like one continuum.
As the roles of high schools change in relation to colleges, challenges to the University's institutional independence arise. As the University depends more on other institutions (including high schools) to determine more of its standards, the University must rethink its identity as an institution with largely self-contained standards. The University's acceptance of the CCCC signals a move in this direction, and hopefully this indicates a future trend.
As Warner weakens the boundaries between the state's K-12 system and its colleges, basic facets of the University's identity will come into question. Not only may the University become more interdependent on other schools' policies if it reforms its acceptance of outside credit, but as the Virginia educational system de-stratifies, more students will attend the University for fewer than eight semesters.
While some may find it hard to imagine changes like these (and, in the future, beyond these), the University community still must embrace the new outlook that suggests them. While the University community's institutions are often based on tradition, as a public school, it has no greater responsibility than to look forward toward future social and economic realities in the same way Warner has. Secondary to the University's role as a highly selective school able to make its own demands, U.Va. primarily serves a public mission to spread the benefits of education throughout Virginia and the world. And while the University's Vision 2020 document lays out a number of ways that the University can improve its public service, it more discusses services the University can perform for the state system rather than how the University integrates with it. In light of these changes and the emergence of a policy approach that demands more, a deeper focus on service must not only question what the University does, but what the University is.
As a public institution that needs chartered autonomy to safeguard its mission, the University must adopt the same bold, future-oriented policy concepts that Warner has applied to Virginia's K-12 schools. The imaginative forces that are remolding education cannot prepare Virginia for future challenges without also shaping its public universities. By accepting the CCCC, the University has wisely accommodated current reform. Now, in order to imagine its future shape and future roles, it must take cues from the governor and adopt the forward-thinking attitude at work behind those reforms. Our long-term commitment to our public mission stands at stake, as well as our dedication to helping society confront tomorrow's challenges. We owe the future our efforts.
Michael Slaven's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at mslaven@cavalierdaily.com.
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