Page 4 - Laker Connection Fall 2012

President’sMessage
As I write, I recall that James magazine recently labeled
Clayton State as the best buy in higher education in Georgia. Our fall
enrollments are the highest in the history of the University. So even with challenges, my own framing of the University is quite positive.
We all bring our own framing or perspectives to our understanding about higher education. For some, higher education is only a commodity. Learning is of value only because of the kind of job or promotion that will be achieved upon graduation. As a commodity, the means by which learning is achieved is less important
Dr. Thomas J. “Tim” Hynes, Jr.
than the learning itself. In this context, new developments in the delivery of courses on- line portend the end of traditional higher education forms—that all learners will be on- line, and that the need for traditional universities will be significantly reduced if not eliminated. Those of us involved in higher education must attend to this perspective, even if we believe that such a perspective cannot fully capture the value of higher education. Clayton State’s own involvement in on-line learning—graduate programs in nursing edu- cation and archival studies, and undergraduate completion programs through our Bachelor of Applied Sciences, for example—demonstrate that we have not ignored this framing of higher education. But we believe that alone, such a framework is incomplete.
Another important frame for higher education comes from the belief that higher ed- ucation is either primarily a public good or a private benefit. To frame higher education as most appropriately an important public good is to emphasize larger social benefits from increases in the number of college graduates. Data from the Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education indicates that beyond higher incomes than less educated persons, college graduates have comparably better health, better education for their children, lower
crime rates, and higher levels of tax support over their lifetimes. As a product of publically supported higher education myself, and as the first member of my family to graduate from college, I confess that my own framing acknowledges a private benefit, even as the public good is one which continues to be shared with others.
Our university’s responsibilities as stewards of place allow us to benefit from the framing of our institution as a driver of educational, economic, and community and regional contributions. If Harvard were to close to- morrow, the Harvard faculty would have offers elsewhere by the end of the week, and some other institutions would have already begun asset transfers of the Harvard Corporation’s endowment. If an institution like Clayton State were to end operations, the area around us and our students would likely be forever harmed. There will be no later generations of graduates who, like our alumni and our current students, have used their experiences to realize their ambitions, their accomplishments, and their dreams. There would be no location for our com- munity to convene as they work to find common ground, and safe places for discussions about ways for com- munity ambitions and dreams to be realized. That is the frame through which I view the value of our work.
We are committed to doing more to influence the framing applied to our institution. If there was one consistent message that I received when starting on an interim basis three year ago, it was a plea to tell the rest of Georgia and elsewhere who we really are at Clayton State. We heard our faculty, our alumni, our current students; our community members, say similar things—that Clayton State has a history of bringing many things for our students and our community to reality. For some, dreams have been realized -- access for those without access, or early access for dual enrollment students. For some, it has been economic success realized — or a history of active student learning realized — or a national basketball championship realized -- or a history of support of progress in south metropolitan Atlanta realized. For years, the University has made things real.
I hope that together you will help us tell well how Clayton State University has helped you make your dreams, your ambitions, your faith and your hopes become real.
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THE LAKER CONNECTION