Nothing about Us without Us Is for Us

Moses Tuckler
ENC 1102

Typically when something is being marketed, the audience is presented with a problem and then offered the solution thereto. Evidently, in an email to Miami Dade College faculty, it seems the latter is being left up to the receiver to figure out.  When in this email the President of Miami Dade College, Dr. Padron, presented a problem involving a very low percentage of graduation rates, he asserted that the “challenges will not abate, and change, creative and sometimes unsettling, will be a constant for us as we forge deeper into this work” (Padron). Again, a specific resolution was not offered, but by introducing MDC3, Dr. Padron alluded to a vessel through which such creative change may flow. If I were faculty, I’d say the ball is in our court; and now it’s up to us to throw it in the right direction.

College students face tremendous challenge and opposition in their pursuit of higher education.  The duress that one classmate is going through because financial aid is now being denied to her is a prime example. Her prior major was in computer engineering and she informed me that it is increasingly hard to find good job security in that field.  Therefore, she is going back to school an intention on being accepted into the nursing program.  She is extremely gifted and fully capable of realizing her goal, but sadly financial aid took their assistance away from her because they claimed she has too many credits. As a result, she feels penalized for her pursuit of a viable career that her prior education did not provide.

If English happens to be a second, or third, language, the challenges engendered therein can cloud the lucidity of that person’s words. Language barriers are bound to be an issue wherever diversity integrates itself. College students who face this kind of intrinsic opposition have two options: either sink or swim. During an interview, a classmate admitted that she had always found it difficult to develop her thoughts into writing due the fact that she is a native Hispanic (Perez). While I’m sure that many other foreigners have had this same confession, those who’ve resisted deluges of dialects, endless expressions, and inundations of idioms from overwhelming them are true inspirations. Perseverance knows not any prejudice, and immigrant scholars who, rather than forfeit, succeed, leave heroic legacies for those who may aspire in their footsteps.

Some of the first steps to achieving higher rates of academic success would be to eliminate many of the redundant mires along the way. For example, if colleges have been observed behaving like industrialized businesses where profit is the top priority, then would it not make sense to begin conceiving of and establishing a truly student-centered model that would provide a kind of blueprint for future schools to build upon? The National Center for Education Statistics reported that “the failure to complete a college education in the United States is especially marked at four-year private for-profit schools, where 78 percent of attendees fail to get a diploma after six years,” in 2011 (“Why college students stop…”). It seems that these for-profit institutions are less concerned about their students’ success than they are about making money. Due to the nature of the Industrial Age paradigm, the systems therein have a tendency to exploit people with little or no regard to their humanity. Even now, there are many systems still trapped within such obsolete paradigms of the past, so it should come as no surprise to realize that tactics are being used to beguile many of today’s college students into paying exuberant sums of money for their education. Adding insult to injury, once students graduate from some of these expensive degree programs, they are sometimes left with very obscure paths that, for all they know, lead to dead ends.

  One of my all-time favorite and highly seasoned nurses that I know has a son who recently graduated from a program that rewards a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. When she told me, I had never known of anyone with such a degree, nor did I have a clue as to what those degrees are used for in the real world, so I just said something along the lines of “sounds great!”  Without any hesitation, she retorted “sounds unemployed,” with a slight tone of pseudo-cynicism. While filling me in on some details, she had made her point that although she was really happy for him, she felt as if though there was a lack of focus on what to do or where to go next.  This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard tales told where graduates finished the program of their fancy, but were left wondering where the jobs are. Undoubtedly, there are several others who are also caught up in this very conundrum.

In our economy, where time is money, none of us can afford to waste our resources on outcomes which lead to nowhere. Student loan debt, especially at the graduate level, is directly synonymous with obtaining a college degree. Even at the undergraduate level, tuition expenses can be as ravenous as they are insatiable. When interviewed, an out-of-state classmate stressed that the tuition fees for non-residents has been, still is, and will continue to be a great challenge for him and others that are in the same boat.  He went on to explain that due to being a foreign student, he has to pay upwards of three times the normal resident tuition, therefore he must rely heavily on scholarships to stay on aboard (Landes). As he elaborated his personal challenges, he described how it felt being slightly older than the average age of his classmates, as well as how the lack of maturity was evident amongst some of his classmates. In certain scenarios, the overall atmosphere would sometimes become so disruptive that the ambiance would regress into that of a distracting high school classroom, which didn’t quite lend to an environment conducive for higher education. Perhaps MDC3 will set into motion a new standard of expectations where students who truly seek knowledge are granted a haven to do so with one another. If so, MDC3 students won’t be worrying much about paying three times the going rate just to feel like they are back in a high school setting. Instead, they’ll be enjoying the fact that a higher paradigmatic system is in place for them which offers three times the quality of learning.

It is said that the progression of technology has accelerated faster in the past one hundred or so years than in all of history.  Even some professors readily admit that college is harder for students now than it was for them back in their school days.  Naturally, it will benefit our workforce to constantly keep up with the tremendous speed of knowledge while it is moving with such celerity.  However, when the Lumina Foundation conducted a study projecting future requirements, it was no surprise that they reported how at the current rate of graduation in Florida, we will have produced inadequate degree holders required for jobs by 2018 (O’Connor, John).  As we transition from an age of information and technology into an age of wisdom, I see no point in arguing whether or not the future will require us to be collectively more educated, for it certainly will.  Thus, those systems that are still lingering in the obsolescence of our old paradigms will impact negatively upon everyone who is a part of them. At this point in time, graduation rates are abysmal and the numbers subsist to reflect our dire need for change. Ensuring that future students have the ability to gain the knowledge, skills, and training necessary for their desired fields is the issue at hand.

  

Nothing is without polarity. On one hand there are degree holders who can’t seem to find employment, and on the other hand there are employed persons who can’t seem to achieve a college degree. Taking into consideration the need for a more highly educated workforce, we have to account for the various trades out there that are already providing a livelihood to lots of people. In Ohio, for instance, thousands of individuals have matriculated in federal programs which grant registered apprenticeships. They’re provided a curriculum of on-site training blended with traditional classroom learning where they can begin earning paychecks immediately. On this end of the spectrum, these apprentices had long desired college degrees, yet hadn’t the means to do so. Currently, though, the U.S Departments of Labor and Education are beginning to establish a national college network which bridges apprenticeship skills with higher education. An online article quotes a project coordinator at the Ohio Association of Community Colleges, R. Michael Snider, as having said “what we are trying to achieve here in Ohio is what we need across the nation” (González, Jennifer). I couldn’t agree more. If building bridges such as this has helped these tradesmen obtain their degrees, get promotions, and receive salary increases as a result of their efforts then we can help Floridians do the same as well. With the right savvy, similar models could be built upon and enacted through MDC3 to provide new bridges for those who are already in the workforce, but want to further their education and obtain a degree along the way.

As with many of today’s modern school systems, Miami Dade College could also use some remodeling to a more student-centered focus. In class, we played around with an idea of “nothing about us without us is for us,” to draw feedback as to what that notion embodied, and how we are all ultimately affected by decisions that we sometimes are not a part of. An interesting issue was that of irrelevant courses being mandatory credit requirements. Some asked why, for example, political science majors should be required to take courses in, say, biology for their degrees. While there are certainly improvements that can be made to bring credit requirements into alignment with one’s major, the vast possibilities of interconnected disciplines from different fields must be accounted for as well. Issues such as these are all valid and must be addressed for the conception of a model inspired by a focus on students.

While there are many students who feel tremendous gratitude towards MDC and what it has been doing to provide an open door policy for all who come knocking, some feel that Miami Dade is nothing more than a jumping board with which to launch themselves into greener pastures. Their main objective is pretty much to get in and get out. Fortunately, this mindset does not have to continue being the popular opinion. Imagine what it would be like never having to go through the hassle of transferring to a much more expensive university to take the courses related to one’s major. Entertain the thought of a meticulously conceived MDC3 model as having given birth to a Miami Dade University, furnished with all of the most highly desired Master’s and Doctorate programs for students with eclectic fields of interests. Students would then regard Miami Dade with great amounts of endearment.

Before any change can become manifest, it must first be visualized. While at times it may seem like we are swimming against the currents, we look up to those entrusted with positions of power and influence to help us from being swept away. With the proper focus, we all truly have the capacity to help embody the solutions for these issues at hand. Dr. Padron can present MDC3 with doors wide open, but it is ultimately up to us to cross that threshold and bring those thought-forms into reality.

Works Cited

González, Jennifer. "National Network will Help Apprentices Earn a College Degree." The Chronicle of  Higher Education. The Chronicle, 27 May 2012. Web. 03 June 2012. <http://chronicle.com.db16.linccweb.org/article/National-Network-Will-Help/131982/>.

Landes, Tal. "What Challenges Have You Faced While in College?" Personal interview. 22   May 2012.

O'Connor, John. "Florida Not Producing Enough College Graduates To Meet Job Market Demand."  StateImpact. Local Public Media and NPR, 28 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2012/03/28/florida-not-producing-enough-college-graduates-to-meet-job-market-demand/>.

Padron, Eduardo. "To Make a Difference." 7 May 2012. E-mail.

Perez, Elizabeth. "What Challenges Have You Faced While in College?" Personal interview. 22 May 2012.

"Why college students stop short of a degree." Reuters. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 27 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 May 2012.