“Bricks and Mortar in a Digital Age: The Uncertain Future of Higher Education” capped a yearlong celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act, which created land grant universities. Faculty, administrators, students and professionals discussed the challenges and opportunities facing higher education such as financial support and rising costs, as well as the lure of an online education compared to the human element at a bricks-and-mortar university campus.
Join the conversation by reading what the speakers had to say:
Moving into the future
Perhaps less blind devotion to the previous standards… a healthy skepticism will help strengthen us in the end. The future of higher education lays in the hands of faculty, staff, political leaders, community leaders and students. You will decide the next step in higher education.” — Bernie Machen, UF president
I think the future is quite bright for a certain number of colleges and universities who grab the opportunities available to them as they go through massive change.” — Jeff Selingo, Chronicle of Higher Education editor-at-large
We’re not going to flip a switch and see universities change overnight. Everyone is looking for the silver bullet solution. There is not one answer to the future of higher education. We don’t have a one-size-fits all student body anymore. Colleges and universities need to provide more and different pathways to and through their institution.” — Selingo
Looking toward the future, it’s all about change. We need leaders who can be agents of change, are adaptable to change and resilient to that change.” — Hann
ah Carter, UF/IFAS faculty and director of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute.
Faculty members don’t need to leave the past to get into the future.
They just need to be cognizant of what makes online courses effective.” — Kara Dawson, UF College of Education faculty
The solutions to these challenges lie within the walls, laboratories and classrooms of land-grant institutions. We need great leadership with great vision and courage to pay it forward.” — Jack Payne, UF senior vice president for agriculture and
natural resources
Cost of higher education
Students and parents are capped out. As parents pay more out of pocket and tuition takes up more and more of their income, they’re asking questions of the real value of what they’re buying.” — Selingo
As a result of the crowded marketplace, universities are being forced to prove its value like never before.” — Selingo
Value of failure
I think failure is really refreshing. If you’re not used to failing, you’re not going to enjoy your time as a graduate student or employee at a company. Employers want a successful person, but failure is a more educating event.” — Danny Chang, UF Reitz Scholar
If the faculty are serious about what they’re doing, there’s latitude to explore and take risks and stick your neck out. They don’t have to be right or popular.” —
Machen
Purpose of higher education
The only necessary people in education are the professors and the students. For everyone in between, there are risks and opportunities.” —Selingo
Society is long overdue for a discussion of what constitutes an educated person.” — Kate English, lawyer and UF alumna
We should be receptive to that notion that learning occurs not just on university campuses.” — Machen
Colleges clearly don’t need to work to recruit students. It’s our obligation to bring in students that accurately reflect our state, our country and our world. We never want to settle to be mediocre, but we cannot ignore our core mission of practical and esoteric arts, mechanical arts, fine arts, liberal arts, engineering arts and military arts.” — Adam Putnam, commissioner of agriculture, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Student interaction
This is a group that wants to do well and want to engage, but they have a desperate need to be listened to. They want to be relevant on their first day out of the box.” — English
When you take all of this in, you cannot replicate the once-in-a-lifetime experiences of human interactions in an unairconditioned room in Murphree Hall. You cannot replicate that understanding that comes from putting together people from all walks of life.” — Putnam
