Dive Brief
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Overwhelmingly, college provosts and chief academic officers are confident in their institutions' academic health, however, they are concerned about the future of liberal arts education, according to a new survey. Additionally, they believe free speech is respected at their colleges and universities, but many worry about the issue in higher education at large.
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These and many other insights are highlighted in an Inside Higher Education-commissioned Gallup survey of 516 provosts and chief academic officers. The survey, Inside Higher Ed Survey of College and University Chief Academic Officers, follows a tumultuous year of campus activism, fierce debates about free speech, and the purpose of higher education.
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Here are some of the survey highlights: Chief academic officers believe civic engagement and civil discourse on campus are promoted, but think the current political environment makes it challenging. Generally, provosts believe that students welcome diverse political opinions, but were more likely to say that about white and liberal students. In addition, more provosts than in the past see value in competency-based education, but favored it in public higher education rather than at private colleges.
Dive Insight
Rising criticism over colleges' and universities’ handling of campus free-speech issues and doubts about the future of liberal arts education are connected, especially for critics of the current state of traditional higher education. In theory, a liberal arts education exposes students to a variety of fields in support of independent thinking and molding model citizens. But, overtime, opponents have successfully painted institutions, in general, as bastions of a liberal worldview, unfriendly to opposing opinions.
Famously, this flavor of criticism is captured in the 2013 study, What Does Bowdoin Teach? How a Contemporary Liberal Arts College Shapes Students, in which the authors argue that liberal arts college curriculums have failed students with their narrow emphasis on liberal ideologies and identity politics.
Right or wrong, these opinions are gaining traction. Most threatening for higher education advocates is their traction with Republican lawmakers who dominate federal and state governments nationwide. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities made mention of this in the opening of its 2018 policy issues brief. Republicans want college curriculums to focus more work-ready skills and employment pipelines. On social issues, 23 states have introduced bills to restrict public institutions' power to approve or disapprove controversial speakers.
It goes without saying that provosts and chief academic officers sit at the center of these issues. State colleges and universities need positive relationships with lawmakers so their funding needs are met. In part, institution leaders will be responsible for helping reverse this developing narrative and re-imagine the value of a liberal arts education.