The Campus of the Future: A Meeting of the Minds, Honolulu, Hawaii, July 2006: A Summary
| Published date | 01 September 2006 |
| Pages | 22-27 |
| Date | 01 September 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050610713682 |
| Author | Morell Boone |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
The Campus of the Future: A Meeting of the
Minds, Honolulu, Hawaii, July 2006:
A Summary
Morell Boone
22 LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 8 2006, pp. 22-26, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050610713682
The opening and closing sessions
In mid-July, I attended this joint
conference sponsored by the
Association of Higher Education
Facilities Officers, the National
Association of College and University
Business Officers, and the Society for
College and University Planning. Over
3,500 participants came from around
the world to contemplate the future of
higher education from three different
perspectives ± business, facilities and
academic planning. The tropical venue
facilitated all the presentations,
discussions, exhibits and networking.
Also, the organizers introduced the
concept of a ``green conference''
(carbon neutral) by prohibiting hand-
outs and with their plan to issue, in
about a month, the entire proceedings
oil CD. Old-timers like me, being so
used to hand-outs, had some trouble
adjusting to this; moreover, if the
``green'' approach is to become
standard, future organizers might
consider posting presentations on the
web in advance.
Whether it was diversity of
perspectives or the idyllic setting, the
organizers should receive highest marks
for offering such a well-run, unique and
informative ``meeting of the minds'' on
a question that should be paramount in
all our minds: what does the future have
in store for higher education and what
do we need to do now to prepare for it?
Sunday morning's opening session
was organized into two pails: first, the
``Futures panel'' and then ``Designing
for the future: interactive scenario
building''. The Kalakaua Ballroom was
packed with participants there to hear
from the five panelists: James Dator the
moderator, director of the Hawaii
Research Center for Futures Studies
and professor of political science at the
University of Hawaii-Manoa; Melinda
Davis, CEO of The Next Group;
Richard Katz, vice president of
EDUCAUSE; Michael Strauss, chief
economist and CEO at Commonfund;
and James Zull, director Emeritus of the
University Center for Innovation in
Teaching and Education and Professor
of Biology at Case Western Reserve
University.
Although there is too much
information to cover about what
transpired over this two-hour marathon
session; it can be summarized in the
EDUCAUSE video presentation
concerning the possible state of higher
education in 20 years. The video argues
that, with the exception of a few elite
institutions or those who can afford
them, the educational landscape will
become more homogenized with
standardized curricula focused on
technology-based delivery systems for
the masses provided by for-profit
enterprises. Many of our institutions as
we know them will have disappeared
due primarily to continued
inefficiencies and soaring costs placing
traditional higher education out of the
average student's reach. The video
complemented its powerful message
with strong production values and left
the audience speechless; unfortunately
its accessibility is currently unknown.
The marathon session concluded with
the moderator admonishing the
assembled educational leaders to work
toward obviating this grim prediction.
Following the session Steve Steele, a
sociologist and director of the Institute
for the Future at Anne Arundel
Community College, had the
participants engage in small-group
scenario-building about the future of
higher education. Participants went to
break-out rooms according to their type
of institution. There they and six or
seven colleagues would go through a
formal interactive scenario-building
process. My group was comprised of
seven business and facility
administrators-one from Australia, one
from the UK and the remainder from
the USA.
Being the only academic
administrator I thought that it would
impossible for seven administrators
from such diverse backgrounds and
responsibilities to agree on the top two
``driving forces'' (the major future
shapers) from a list of 21 possible
forces. My thinking, however, turned
out to be completely wrong. It didn't
take long for all seven us to agree that
the top two driving forces for
comprehensive institutions were
changing student expectations and
knowledge systems information
technology. After reaching agreement
on the top two driving forces we spent
the rest of the time developing four
different scenarios that were recorded
and reported back to Steve Steele and
his group.
The results of the ``Designing for the
future: interactive scenario building''
session were reported at Tuesday's
Final Plenary Session. Three future
themes across the groups were
identified: Merging of Institutions,
Branding, and The Technology Fit with
Services.
The four most selected ``drivers''
were: Technological Change; Increased
Competition; Population Change; and
Rising Student Expectations.
The scenario trends selected by each
of the four composite groups were:
Comprehensive-Increased Competition
and Technological Change, Research-
Changing Student Expectations and
External Mandates, Small College-
Rising Student Expectations and
Increased Government Regulations,
and Community College-Increased
Competition and Technological
Change.
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