Sustainability is especially timely
and critically poignant in light of the challenges faced by many professional
and continuing education units today. This according to Amy Heitzman (Southern Methodist University) during her opening
remarks to over 80 attendees at the UCEA South Conference. The conference
theme, “Designing a Sustainable Future”, features over 20 general meetings and
concurrent sessions at the Emory Conference
Center Hotel, October 18 – 20.
Marshall Schott (University of
Houston) followed Heitzman with a town hall discussion on Assuring Long-term
Sustainability. Schott provided context by looking at the dramatic
population changes in the country and how these shifts may impact our future
quality of life.
Given the unique educational needs
of the Latino population, he noted that traditional approaches to delivering
education will not be successful.
Why should you care?
As Schott noted, “If you want your
social security checks to clear, we have to do a better job of educating these
populations.”
Schott invited participants to discuss
a number of questions including:
- What programs at your institution today address the
emerging Latino segment of the population?
- What should you to do to address this emerging market
of the population?
- What can you do over the next 12 months to move the
needle?
- What are you doing at your institution to promote math
and science education?
- What are you doing to promote in-service teaching
excellence among math and science teachers?
- What are you doing to promote greater alignment between
industry and education?
- Are there opportunities in the current recession?
- What programs continue to do well?
- What programs are you developing in anticipation of the
end of the recession?
The challenge for professional and
continuing education units is in balancing the need for revenue versus outreach
programming for greater societal needs. Many units are being asked to generate even
more revenues to offset current and anticipated budget shortfalls. The
needs are in conflict.
Thus, I would add a tenth question
to Marshall’s list:
10. Is outreach education to emerging populations a
part of your institutional or continuing education unit mission and
vision?
There is a larger strategic question that needs to
be addressed: is the continuing education unit operating (or surviving) as an
auxiliary service?, or should it be a sustainable (perhaps free-standing) academic enterprise? I believe that to address the
challenges and opportunities for the future, it must be the latter.
