One of the few upshots of not finding a job immediately after graduating last May — and there weren’t many — was that I was able to witness firsthand and take part in the community’s response in Charlottesville to the attempted ouster of University President Teresa Sullivan in June.
As a graduate from the University’s politics and philosophy departments, I was inspired to see the droves of concerned students, faculty, alumni, and proponents of the public higher education system more broadly, who responded not only through powerful editorials and statements on social media and other outlets, but more impressively, through gathering in demonstrations and rallies on Grounds. My heart swelled to see all the homemade signs, hear the howls for transparency and accountability on the steps of the Rotunda, the headlines in national journals. This was a slice of small-d democracy in our own backyard- — or rather, Lawn.
Having eventually landed my first salaried position and having moved away from Charlottesville, I now try to keep relatively mindful tabs on happenings at the University. Like most recent alumni, this means regular email updates, paying special attention to the what is now the occasional article about the University in the papers, and checking in with friends who still have contacts in the area.
So now I ask: What am I missing?
Yesterday’s “U.Va. Today Daily Report” sent to my inbox linked to an article from the Daily Progress, touting the University’s new partnership with the online education company Coursera, through which the University will be offering eight courses for a “statement of accomplishment.”
Online education? Wasn’t that one of the main points of contention during the ouster — one of the (many) reasons the community was so up in arms about Board leaders’ vision for the future of the University? Not even a year later, it seems that professors are practically overjoyed at the prospect; there’s no push-back from the community to suggest they should be anything less.
While I realize a “statement of accomplishment” is not the same thing as a university credit, that generating revenue in a time of reduced public funding is an enormous issue, and that the University has been part of distance-learning initiatives for some time, the philosophy student in me worries about the slippery slope. How will this affect the quality of what is being called “residential” or in-person education? How will this detract the attention and energies of our professors? Will providing our lectures at a lower cost to tens of thousands of students around the globe reduce the “value” of the education most of us labor four years to receive on Grounds?
These questions and others should have been answered by University leaders before embarking into the realm of online education so immodestly. I’m just wondering if I’m the only one who’s asking.
Laura Lattimer
CLAS ‘12
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