Chris Gray, Ph.D.
Founding President, Erie County Community College of Pennsylvania
In my last blog, I talked about the difference it can make to students’ educational experiences when they visit college campuses in person. I firmly believe that the best way to get to know a place is to be IN that place. It’s not uncommon to find a pretty sharp contrast between what we thought a place would be like and walking in that space in real-time. Sometimes, you need to be there.
When we were getting ready to open our doors, EC3 had to make decisions about what kind of institution we would be. Who was our target demographic, and how could we best serve these prospective students? Would we offer full semesters or shorter, condensed courses? Would we offer strictly in-person courses? Or would we be fully online? Or how about a combination of the two? Ultimately, we decided that we would not choose. Recognizing the importance of diverse course modalities, we provided flexibility for our students in choosing this third option.
I’m familiar with institutions that force students to choose one track: either in-person or online. Once students commit under this model, they are then stuck in the track that they choose. I have just one question: why?
Why would an institution of higher learning impose such restrictions on students’ ability to pursue their educational goals? It makes no sense to me. Sure, people have preferred styles of learning. I would choose an in-person class over an asynchronous online class because I value interpersonal exchange and the sense of community and collaboration that organically develops through face-to-face interaction. But I know plenty of people who prefer to work and process things at their own pace and at their own time, and for folks like these, asynchronous online classes are their preferred choice. Both have their advantages and disadvantages; this is where offering a variety of course modalities becomes essential.
Again, though, why should students have to choose one or the other? Why not both? There are times in our lives when our schedules have more margin, and there are times when we barely have enough hours in the day. In my view, a student who chooses an in-person class one semester should not be forestalled from taking an online class in a different semester. I see this as an equity issue: we should not set up barriers that force our students out of our institution just because life happens, and plans change. That’s what life is, and it’s our job to make success possible.
The point is that our students should make that choice, not us. We owe them as many options as possible to pursue the education and career path of their dreams.
I want our students to take EC3 classes in the way that best suits their needs in this season of life, and I know full well that circumstances can change in a moment. Our students are free to choose the class delivery mode that fits their lives, not ours, and they are free to choose this each time they go to register. This is not a lifelong commitment, in other words. Whether enrolling in as few as one class or as many as five, our job is to give our students the tools to incorporate EC3 into their lives in the ways that make sense at that moment. Flexibility in that endeavor is indispensable – always.
Our community: your college.