Description
Book SynopsisMuch of higher education was originally designed to meet the needs of full time 18-22 year-old students who enter directly from high school. However, the New Majority of our students are older, likely to swirl among institutions, and have significant adult responsibilities outside of the classroom. Academic Transformation: A Design Approach for the New Majority is a call to transform colleges and universities to meet the academic and student experience needs of New Majority students and for adult educators to become advocates, allies, and resources for needed reforms. Book contributors, including faculty, staff and administrators at public, private and community colleges, provide insights for this transformation. Taking a personalized approach based on a wide range of experiences, the contributors provide a framework for cross-campus conversations and collaborations to help stakeholders across the institution to understand New Majority learners' strengths, needs and challenges with
Trade ReviewMalm and Weber's new book provides a much-needed focus on the "New Majority" of students in our colleges and Universities. The authors include in the New Majority both adult students and the 18-22 year old with significant life responsibilities. If you are a University administrator, faculty member or staff member, read this book and give it to your teams to read and discuss. It will help you adapt to the new reality of the students we serve. -- Marie Cini, Senior Research Fellow and former Provost of the University of Maryland, University College
The adult learner is a significant part of our undergraduate populations today, and it is critical that colleges and universities recognize them and their distinct needs. This book provides some helpful perspectives on how colleges need to think about their programs to make sure that they are meeting the needs of a student population that is not coming to college right out of high school. -- Becky Klein-Collins, associate vice president of research and policy development, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)
This two-book series is a major step forward in addressing the demographic changes affecting post-secondary education. The series offers an innovative framework for rethinking who the traditional student is, as well as strategies to create institutional changes to establish effective learning environments for the “new majority” of adult learners. Drs. Malm and Weber have used their extensive experience in higher education to create this timely and important series. I strongly believe that faculty and administrators from across the university community will find this an invaluable resource for creating more inclusive environments for today’s diverse student body. -- Christy M. Rhodes, AAACE 2017 conference chair and assistant professor, interdisciplinary professions, East Carolina University
In their new books Academic Transformation: A Design Approach For The New Majority and Serving the New Majority Student: Working from Within to Transform the Institution Malm, Weber, and colleagues make a compelling case for colleges and universities to pay increased attention to (and to redistribute resources toward) the students they characterize as the “new majority.” It shows how creative instructional design strategies can be adapted to meet the needs and take advantage of the strengths of new majority learners. As a faculty developer at a public university that serves a large number of new majority students, these books have challenged and extended my thinking about the nature of the professional enrichment opportunities we offer. I plan to integrate elements of Academic Transformation into my work with new faculty. -- Bill Reynolds, director, Lucas Center for Faculty Development, Florida Gulf Coast University
The New Majority could not be more timely or necessary. The contributors to this visionary book propose strategies for meeting the learning needs of this changing population head-on. They emphasize the fact that solely catering to the needs of the traditional 18-22 year old, will leave behind our growing majority students of color, adult students, new citizens, and displaced workers, creating real concerns about how we will be able to meet the labor needs of the economy, while maintaining a workforce that reflects our society as a whole. This book proposes a new social contract and gives us a glimpse of exactly what it would take to prepare a more diverse people for working and maintaining the nation’s economic competitiveness. -- Nicole Smith, research professor and chief economist, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Chapter 1- An Introduction to the New Majority- Eric Malm Chapter 2- The Pragmatic Mindset of New Majority Students- Ayisha Sereni Chapter 3- Providing Student-Centered Support for Adult Students- Pat Griffin Chapter 4- Fit/Fear/Focus: Developing Learners’ Sense of Belonging, Security, and Hope- Marguerite Weber Chapter 5- Technology: Higher Education Disruption and New Majority Learner Access- Paul Walsh Chapter 6- Program and Course Design for the New Majority- Bill Egan Chapter 7- The Financial Dimension: Institutional Readiness for New Majority Learners- Marguerite Weber and Eric Malm Chapter 8- Learning with Others: Working with Others to Build the New Majority Institution- Marguerite Weber, Eric Malm, and Beverley Schneller References About the Editors About the Contributors
