Folt op-ed: American universities can improve upon successes

U.S. News and World Report recently published the following op-ed from UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol L. Folt. 

American universities have long been the envy of the world. They have given our nation its greatest competitive advantage, and are still the gold standard for how to educate the thinkers and doers who build our economy and society. But we can always do better, and I believe we need to expand on at least three areas: developing the workforce that America will need in the future, re-imagining how we educate, and realizing the full economic potential of university-led research.

First, we must expand access to higher education for students who want a college education and earn admittance – because higher education is how we will unlock the potential of our citizenry and develop a globally competitive workforce.

Part of this is financial. UNC—Chapel Hill remains one of the few American public universities that is both need-blind and meets 100 percent of demonstrated need. This commitment stems from our roots as the nation’s first public university and respect for the investment our state has made in us, and we intend to honor it for decades to come.

Yet developing our future workforce will require more than financial resources. It’s not smarts that are limited in this country; it’s opportunity. And part of the great promise of higher education is ensuring we don’t leave talented and promising people out of that opportunity pipeline. At Carolina, we’ve launched a number of programs designed to empower students from a variety of backgrounds, such as the Chancellor’s Science Scholars program, which supports underrepresented students who aspire to become Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. scientists, and a physician assistant program geared toward veteran medical sergeants. Those are just two examples, but we can do much more.

Second, access to higher education is only meaningful if we can ensure that the education we provide meets the needs and aspirations of students and society. More than a century ago, America’s universities created the liberal arts to increase breadth and depth in education and build critical thinking skills.

Today we’re driving further evolution – moving from “breadth and depth” to “breadth, depth and practice,” with a greater focus on learning by doing. Put another way, our faculty have changed their mindset from “create and teach” to “create, teach and apply.” To that end, we have “flipped” classrooms to focus class time on interaction and problem solving; we are embracing new technology to improve access and learning; and we have provided more resources to help students put what they learn into action, whether that is starting a business, studying and working abroad or entering the workforce.

Overall, we must remain focused on finding new ways to prepare our students for the changing world they are inheriting. We must prepare them with the skills they need to thrive, not just in one discipline or job, but for the jobs and industries that have not yet been created.

Third, we must ensure that university research creates real economic value. Universities must not only be knowledge generators, but centers of knowledge and research in action, entrepreneurship and innovation. For public universities, this is particularly important because we are deeply committed to bolstering the skills and economy of the states that support us. We’re proud that in 2013 alone, Carolina’s research grants supported more than 10,000 jobs in 89 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, but we can do a better job of helping to commercialize our faculty’s outstanding research.

By building in these three areas, we can redefine academic excellence and create even stronger, more relevant institutions of higher education. It is a great privilege to be a member of the higher education community at a time of such opportunity and innovation. I believe we will push forward, as always, to meet the future with new and better ways of educating our students and serving the public good.