Working Session on Shared Academics

Models for Sharing: Envisioning Shared Academics for Small Liberal Arts Colleges

Convened by

Charlie McCormick, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Schreiner University

Because of their small size, many liberal arts colleges struggle to provide sufficient faculty to lead specialized courses in subjects such as foreign languages and environmental sciences. In addition, they aim to help students go beyond classroom walls and engage in global educational experiences, but costs and course requirements can make that difficult. Enter Shared Academics, academic experiences that transcend the borders of a single campus by connecting students, faculty, and staff in pursuit of common academic goals. Such experiences can bring the world to campus and highlight the value of local learning in the context of a global network.

Today, innovative digital pedagogies, including the appropriate use of synchronous and asynchronous technologies, make shared academic experiences possible on a national, and even a global, scale. For small liberal arts colleges, shared academic experiences should reflect a mutual vision of the ideals of liberal education while providing students the opportunity to engage with diverse perspectives and increasing curricular reach. In addition, shared academics offer small colleges a tool to help them compete with large institutions and to connect their students to the networked world. Indeed, in Liberal Arts at the Brink, Victor Ferrall argues that such cooperation offers one strategy for preserving liberal arts colleges. At the same time, collaboration on the academic mission may prove challenging for small colleges that find competitive advantage through their academic distinctiveness. Cross-campus collaboration can be difficult, requiring common understanding of goals, strategies, budgetary approaches, and responsibilities.

Drawing on NITLE’s historical and current expertise in shared academics, participants in this working session will explore models for shared academics, construct a vision for shared academics at small liberal arts colleges, define obstacles to such programs, and brainstorm solutions. In particular, they will discuss the value of shared academics for small liberal arts colleges. Potential outcomes include a commonly-defined vision for shared academics, a white paper on shared academics detailing challenges and strategies, and initial plans for new shared academics projects.

Key Questions

• How does networked learning benefit today’s students, and what is the value of place for small liberal arts colleges?
• How can colleges ensure fair and equitable sharing?
• How can colleges engaging in shared academics maintain their distinctiveness?
• How can colleges marshal faculty, staff, administrator, and student support for shared academics?

About the Session Convener

Charlie McCormick is Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas. His academic background is in folklore and folklife, where he has researched the legends of underground tunnels on college campuses and the performance styles of American women bullfighters in the 1950s. All of this was perfect training for his current interest in extending the depth and breadth of language instruction that small colleges and universities can offer. He is honored to be working with colleagues from across the state of Texas on such a project.