Having spent the last four days with a small group of students and two other faculty members, I was reminded, once again, of one of Proctor's core competencies: relation-based experiential learning. While
THIS post from last year's Project Period outlines the benefits of this type of learning, today's post provides a broader discussion to how our educational programs have evolved, and with them, how our core competencies must be evaluated.
Despite the technological revolution occurring in the world of education, Proctor's core competency of building strong relationships between faculty and students through hands-on-learning opportunities will not change. Our off-campus programs (on which 30 students are
currently embarking) are one of a kind and have transformed students' lives over the past forty years. Our
Learning Skills program allows students of all learning styles to challenge themselves with high level academic classes. Our diverse course offerings (139 academic courses offered each year for a population of 360 students) presents unparalleled, individualized opportunities for students to pursue their passions.
In short, we feel comfortable with our core competencies and are confident in the way they allow us to impact students' lives.
With two
Admission Revisit Days approaching on March 29th and April 5th (both of which are expecting to have near record attendance) we are excited not only about the Spring Term ahead of us, but about what next year's new students will bring to the school as well. We are in a very good place as a school, but complacency can lead to inertia.
A
recent article on fastcompany.com quoted Nike CEO Mark Parker as saying, "In the world we live in today, you have to adapt and change. One of my fears is being this big, slow, constipated, bureaucratic company that's happy with its success. That will wind up being your death in the end."
Under Parker's leadership, Nike has gradually left its core competency of making shoes and has established itself as a real player in the technology field through its Nike+ and FuelBand technologies. Does Nike still produce shoes? Absolutely. But it does far more than just that. As Nike's lead engineer noted in the article, "The circle of competency is blurred these days. You can't have a barrier or restriction to that core competency. If we constrain ourselves by a circle of competency, we'll do ourselves a disservice. You need a willingness to punch through it."
While we have an idea of what is to come in terms of further evolution of our programming, Proctor will undoubtedly be bold as we brainstorm what's next for our school, just as Proctor's leaders were in the early 1970s when it held tight to its core competencies (learning support, experiential learning, and diverse academic offerings), but flipped the application of those competencies upside down as the school evolved from a coat and tie, all-boys school to a thriving co-educational school with term-long, off-campus programs around the world.
What is next on the horizon for Proctor? Online classes that expand the ability to offer individualized curriculum? Further development of academic concentrations that allow students in depth study of a specific discipline? New off-campus programs? Integrating classes with Project Period experiences and summer experiential learning trips?
The possibilities for offering a unique, powerful educational experience are endless. As we continue to discuss the future of Proctor with our students, we know we must be willing to evolve what we do and how we do it. While many organizations (like Nike in the above article) need to evolve their core competencies to stay relevant, Proctor is not in that position. Instead, we must continue to ask ourselves how we can deliver our core competencies in an even more effective, dynamic, technologically advanced manner by capitalizing on Proctor's refreshing willingness to be bold.
