Academia in 2017

1. Academia in 2017 • The world may be flat • But time is round • So let’s not run around in circles

2. Scene One Some Predictions

3. The World is Flat • Most quoted book of the 21st century? • Used to predict the future of technology and the American economy

4. American Anxiety • While American anxiety once centered on a basketball-sized satellite, today it revolves around … nations whose power on the world stage is still emerging…Once mired in poverty and political stagnation, China and India have become serious players in the global supply chain, helping to “flatten” the world’s playing field. As Friedman sees it, advances in technology and telecommunications, as well as a remaking of the global economy, are forcing the United States and other developed nations to change or fall behind. Inside UVA Online, Feb 17, 2006

5. Who Drives the Economy? V 1.0: The Agricultural Age • Countries Drive the Economy • Production and trade are largely local • Large barriers to trade between nations

6. Who Drives the Economy? V 2.0: The Industrial Age • Companies Drive the Economy • Trade becomes more international • Companies can move around borders more easily • The demise of the nation-state (with substantial backlash)

7. Who Drives the Economy? V.3.0: The Flat Age • Individuals Control the Economy • Barriers between nations essentially gone • Free exchange of ideas and commerce via the internet • The demise of the company? (With substantial backlash)

8. Here’s an Example • v 1.0: Music distribution is mostly controlled by the state -- i.e., by Mozart’s royal patrons • v 2.0: Music distribution is mostly controlled by companies -- who release it as they see fit. State no longer needed to play a role. • v 3.0: Music distribution is mostly controlled by individuals -- file sharing. Company no longer needed to play a role.

9. Other Similar Examples: • Broadcasting • Investment • Publishing • News • Military Operations (esp. terrorism)

10. In a Way, It’s a Reversal of Time • Scale is less important--small operations can act like large ones • More self-reliance, less on government and companies • Rural replacing suburbanization • Education more personalized at K-12 levels It’s All About Individualization

11. …and this has Personal Consequences • We have more choices • Including who we choose to deal with… • And how we choose to deal with them

12. …and Economic Consequences • Everything gets more interactive • “Vanilla” gets outsourced to the cheapest bidder • Advanced economy depends on “adding creative value”

13. The Parable Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running.

14. Scene TwoCounter-Argument

16. Tough Choices—or Bad Arguments • US once led the world in the process of vertical integration • Today, we lead the world in deconstruction of vertical integration • If company is not the leader for each step of the process, it will be outsourced to someone who can do it at lowest cost • Firms that do not do this will be put out of business by those that do. Tough Choices or Tough Times National Center on Education and the Economy

17. Have We Seen This Argument Before? “…by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, [all are drawn], even the most barbarian nations into civilization. The cheap prices of commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all…walls, with which it forces barbarians’ intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners to capitulate. It compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt [that] mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilization into their midst...” Marx and Engels: The Communist Manifesto, 1848

18. Is This the Vision of Education? • To shield its owner from economic adversity? If you are out of a job, is the problem that you failed to plan or are deficient in personal merit? • Is more investment needed in public higher education? If the education system has failed, why should the “virtuous” commit their resources to help? If the public sector is a barrier to progress, why should one support it? • Should education be preparing people for this kind of world? Are people commodities and education a process for creating standardized parts? North Carolina Policy Watch: “The Real Reason to Support Higher Education”

19. The World is Spiky--Citations Location of the 1200 most cited scientists in leading fields, 2002 Richard Florida, Atlantic Monthly, October 2005

20. The World is Spiky--Patents Location where patents are produced, 2002

21. Architecture: 220,000 Engineering: 1,449,000 Eng. Tech: 532,000 Phys. Science: 250,000 Life Science: 232,000 Computer: 3,046,000 Mathematics: 107,000 TOTAL SCI: 6,178,000 Total USA: 145,612,000 Architecture: 258,000 Engineering: 1,644,000 Eng. Tech: 595,000 Phys. Science: 281,000 Life Science: 280,000 Computer: 4,003,000 Mathematics: 117,000 TOTAL SCI: 7,469,000 Total USA: 164,540,000 Math and Science Employment 2014 2004 Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2005

22. Projected Science + Engineering Growth Rates • S+E % increase by 2014: 20.9%, compared to 13.0% for overall economy • S+E increase from 4.2% to 4.5% of overall employment • But, the great majority of non-S+E jobs are still low or average pay

23. Scene ThreeSeizing Our FuturePreparing Our Plan

24. The Future is About Education • Agricultural Age required an elementary education • Industrial Age required a secondary education • Flat World requires a tertiary education--University

25. C.P. Snow’s Argument “The main issue is that the people in the industrialized countries are getting richer, and those in the non-industrialized countries are at best standing still: so that the gap between the industrialized countries and the rest is widening every day. On the world scale this is the gap between the rich and the poor.” --C.P. Snow, “The Two Cultures”, 1959

26. Preparing the Plan:Things We Can Be Sure Of • There will be 100,000 additional university students in Georgia • Funding in the university system will not have kept pace, either per student or for facilities • All academic fields will be more technological

27. Preparing the Plan:Applying the Flat World to Our Thinking • Adoption of common standards • What are the common standards the USG should adopt? • Every application should be able to “talk” to every other application • Elimination of silos—do our courses and programs talk to each other? Do our universities? • Supply chaining • Is our interaction with students vertical or horizontal?

28. Assume that we will do the job right the first time Make much more efficient use of the available resources Recruit from the top third of the HS graduates going on to college for the next generation of school teachers Develop standards, assessments, and curriculum that reflect today’s needs and tomorrow’s requirements. Create high performance schools and districts everywhere—how the system should be governed, financed, organized, and managed. Provide high-quality, universal early childhood education Give strong support to the students who need it the most Enable every member of the adult workforce to get the new literacy skills Create personal competitiveness accounts—a GI Bill for our times Create regional competitiveness authorities to make America competitive. Tough Choices or Tough Times National Center on Education and the Economy Preparing the Plan:The Effect on High Schools

29. Preparing the Plan:The Effect on Universities • Greater competition from “for profit” and international universities—for students, funding, faculty and prestige • Higher competition to be accepted at top state universities • Development of more desirable “second tier” • More diverse student body (and faculty!) • More cost conscious and efficiency-minded • More outcomes-focused • Greater portability between universities • Greater expectation for prior performance in K-12

30. Preparing the Plan:The Effect on Programs • More “threads”—individualized to students • Integration of Technology and Liberal Arts with neither as an afterthought • Greater global emphasis • More integration between programs • More interdisciplinary programs

31. Preparing the Plan:The Effect on Faculty • More collegiality and working together • More horizontal decision-making structure • More transparent processes • More accountability • Consistent reinventing of oneself critical; more training opportunities required • Greater expectation of mentorship

32. Preparing the PlanThe Effect on Technology Instruction • More on-line instruction • More student teamwork • More opportunity to translate knowledge into action • More horizontal—students will make more choices • Less focus on content knowledge, more on “how to learn” and developing creativity

33. Friedman’s Recommendationsas applied to SPSU “ When the world goes flat…reach for a shovel and dig inside yourself. Don’t try to build walls.” • Focus on what we do best • preparing students to be able to apply technology to society’s needs • with greater flexibility • with more focus on developing creativity.

34. Friedman’s Recommendationsas applied to SPSU “ …the key to being small and acting big is being quick to take advantage of all the new tools for collaboration to reach farther, faster, wider and deeper.” • Broaden collaborations • with technical and community colleges to meet our state-wide mission. • With K-12 by developing science education major. • with other Polytechnics

35. Friedman’s Recommendationsas applied to SPSU “One way that big companies learn to flourish in the flat world is by learning how to act really small by enabling their customers to act really big.” • Empower our students through: • stronger mentoring and advising • a larger voice on how we deliver services to them • stronger on-line learning support

36. Friedman’s Recommendationsas applied to SPSU “The next layers of value creation … are becoming so complex that no single firm or department is going to be able to master them alone.” • More Collaboration: • Departments must collaborate more • Programs must become more interdisciplinary • Collaboration with other Polytechnics will allow us to offer programs and specialties we otherwise couldn’t

37. Friedman’s Recommendationsas applied to SPSU “…the best companies stay healthy by getting regular chest x-rays and then selling the results to their clients.” • Hold ourselves accountable for: • Meeting our students’ needs • Our students’ retention and graduation rates • Using best practices and technology in the classroom • Measuring ourselves against our competition

38. Scene FourBuilding Creativity Good reference for this section: Lloyd Armstrong: “The Creative University in the Flat World”

39. Building a Creative Center • In some locations, activities are carried out with unusual efficiency and creativity--creative centers. • Universities are key ingredients in forming creative centers • Creative centers require the 3 T’s: Technology, Talent and Tolerance. Concept: Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class

40. Key Point “The amount of creativity in a given field does not depend exclusively on the intelligence or originality of the people in the field. It also depends on the structure of the domain and the field and their openness to new ideas.” Mihaly Csikszenthmihali Creativity: Flow and Psychology of Discovery and Invention

41. Six Attributes of Creativity • Smart/Naïve: Smart enough to have new ideas, but naïve enough to question in an open fashion • Divergent/Convergent: lots of new ideas, but can select those worth pursuing • Extrovert/Introvert: Interacts with others to get new viewpoints, but can work alone to accomplish the goal

42. Six Attributes of Creativity • Judging/Perceiving: Prefers closure, but comfortable with ambiguity • Sensing/Intuitive: Needs hard data, but comfortable with ideas and concepts • Traditional/Rebellious: Masters the traditions of the field, but willing to rebel against them and take chances

43. How SPSU Can Assist Creativity • Hire people with potential • Develop culture of mentorship • Provide enough resources to get started • Support interaction and cross-fertilization • Encourage intelligent risk-taking • Have high expectations for performance • Reward good performance • Encourage interests beyond traditional disciplines

44. The Bottom Line • “This is a world in which a very high level of preparation in reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, science, literature, history and the arts will be an indispensable foundation for everything that comes after for most members of the workforce... • Most of the people who will be in our workforce are already in it… • We have done a very poor job of making it possible for adults who have full-time jobs and family responsibilities to get the continuing education and training they need to survive in the world that is coming.” Tough Choices or Tough Times National Center on Education and the Economy