Wright, Kiley. (2009). Colleges of the Future

Many believe that colleges today are inadequate institutions that can only be improved by a complete and total reformation of the academy as we know it. The first academy ever known was Plato’s Academy. Plato bought the land from Academus and thus named his institution the Academy, in which knowledge was sought after on a daily basis and a thirst for that knowledge was all that was ever required of the students. These basics have not changed much but since Plato nearly all else has. Since the times of Plato, our colleges have come a long way. Those changes have involved much debate, and colleges would never have come this far without it. In retrospect it only makes sense that colleges should constantly be in a state of change.

The argument that colleges should be completely reformed is, in my opinion, a bit extreme; there’s nothing wrong with change but it doesn’t have to happen all at once. One change has been the addition of new majors, a reasonable and to be expected idea that allows colleges to keep up with the times and to teach what needs to be taught rather than the same old topics. New jobs are always being created and because today’s work force continues to adapt to the world’s needs, colleges should do the same. As technology advances, our way of life does as well, colleges must work, no matter how challenging or difficult or time consuming it may be to advance new methods of teaching and students’ ways of learning. Two new majors are Sustainability and Public Health. Sustainability supports the idea that we, as a country, should focus on taking care of our planet. Our Earth may not last much longer at the rate we are going, using up all of our natural resources and destroying the ozone destroys it day be day. Public Health is a big issue in today’s society, and already we are seeing the country attempt some big changes in this area. With the great demand for recruits in health care professions there is no better major to create than Public Health. Both of these majors could tie closely into other existing ones such as biology one of our good old “normal majors;” it should not be abolished, but simply polished.

The ideas we should study today ought to come from current crises rather than what style Shakespeare wrote his plays in. I’m not saying that his plays shouldn’t be studied, but in my opinion, such study should not be a life long commitment. There are other areas in life that could be studied that would be much more useful to society. Take Sustainability for example, the fact that we need to take care of the planet if we’re going to remain on it for any long period of time is no secret. But, what are we truly doing to protect it? All across the nation, communities are going green and its all a part of sustainability. This major can be taken in many different directions, it can be thrown in with the liberal arts or with business; it’s just a matter of what area it fits best.

One other example would be a Public Health major, which better allows you to be prepared to go into any health field area you wish. The idea today is that any major will get you to medical school which isn’t a problem, but many majors won’t properly prepare you for medical school. The problem is that it’s hard to match courseloads for new majors with the prerequisites for admission to medical school. At this point much thought and consideration should be put into the decision to major in a particular subject.

Degrees in majors such as Sustainability and Public Health not only provide jobs that are greatly need but they also keep students from pursuing majors in “underwater basket weaving.” It seems that growth is definitely the only option in higher education; the questions are, however how much growth, what type of growth, and how quickly should this growth occur?