|
Short-term,
non-credit education should be, and normally is, more readily available
for delivery. Continuing education practitioners are pretty good
at this and over the years have become so skilled in the use of
adult learning theory and practices that they can provide meaningful
and useful learning experiences for adults in a more timely manner.
One question I have is that in our eagerness to be so responsive,
do we have or make time to “think”?
To
think is to give extra careful attention to all the information
available and needed that is relevant to the program activity to
be planned and offered to the client. Once the needs assessment
has been done and the learning objectives have been clearly identified,
the “thinking” educator will analyze the total situation
to determine which instructional design and learning alternative
provides the most reasonable assurance that the client’s learning
objectives will be achieved. By mentally reviewing all aspects of
the activity prior to offering it, the educator can add creative
refinements. The end result will be a much better course or program
and a more satisfied learner.
The
ability to take time/make time to “think” has been the
key factor in the success of many individuals. The educator who
works in continuing education must achieve a balance for thinking
and doing. One without the other will force decisions that may not
be the best for the situation at hand. The circumstances of a given
issue, problem, or situation may not always allow for or result
in the “best” decision, but a process that focuses on
achieving a balance in thinking and doing will usually avoid making
the “worst” decision. Achieving this balance will empower
the individual to be more creative, effective, and efficient as
an educator.
The
Georgia Center will soon be 45 years old. I have served in various
positions in higher education for 45 years, the last 12 at the Georgia
Center, and the last three years and two months as the interim director.
The Center has been extraordinarily successful all of these years
because it is an organization staffed by thinking individuals, at
all levels, who are concerned with the personal and professional
development of all Georgians though continuing education…and
hundreds of thousands have come…and that has taken a lot of
“Thinking” and a lot of “Doing”!
So,
as “I’ve Been Thinking . . .” about “thinking”
these past few weeks, I think it is time to leave the “Thinking”
to the Center’s new leader, Lorilee R. Sandmann, an extraordinary
individual.
But,
from time to time, I will think of you all!
Grover
J. Andrews
In
August 2001, Grover J. Andrews retired as interim director of the
Georgia Center for Continuing Education and as associate vice president
for public service and outreach of the University of Georgia. Andrews
had served in that position since 1998; from 1989 through 1998,
he was the Center’s associate director for instructional services
and an adjunct faculty member with UGA’s College of Education,
holding senior public service associate faculty rank.
His
more than 45 years of experience in higher education included stints
with North Carolina State University from 1979 to 1989 where he
held several positions, including interim vice chancellor for extension
and public service, associate vice chancellor for extension and
public service, director of the Center for Urban Affairs and Community
Services, and professor of adult education. He was also with the
Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools (SACS) from 1972 to 1979 as associate executive secretary.
Andrews has also worked with SACS since, chairing more than 30 university/college
SACS accrediting teams and conducting a project to update criteria
and guidelines on continuing education unit (CEU) usage by member
institutions in 1993.
Active
in other educational organizations, Andrews was a member of the
University Continuing Education Association (UCEA), chairing the
Commission on Good Practice in Continuing Education and the Research
Commission from 1997 to 1999, and of the International Association
for Continuing Education and Training (IACET)/Council on the Continuing
Education Unit (CCEU), for which he served as president from 1992
to 1996. He also directed research and other projects for IACET/CCEU,
including one to develop assessment guidelines and procedures for
non-credit continuing education, one to develop standards of good
practice in continuing education, and one to establish guidelines
for distance education.
His
national and international accolades include receiving the “Julius
M. Nolte Award” in 1995 from UCEA (NUCEA at the time—National
University Continuing Education Association) for unusual and extraordinary
contributions to the cause of continuing education regionally and
nationally; the “Gruman Award” in 1985 from the North
Carolina Adult Education Association, for outstanding service to
the field of adult education in the state; and the “Leadership
Award” in 1984 from the Association for Continuing Higher Education.
In
1997, IACET established The Grover J. Andrews Research Endowment
Fund to support research studies to improve standards of good practice
in continuing education and presented him with “The Pinnacle
Award” the same year for leadership in the field of continuing
education and training. In 1996, he was named a member of the inaugural
class of the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of
Fame.
|
|
The
developments of higher adult and continuing education are no less
startling. My early days in the profession were dominated by the
methodologies of the extension class, independent (then called correspondence)
study, and residential conferences. We even produced serious “Lecture
Series” programs—and had audiences!
I’ve
been thinking...
About
how the profession has grown. How it has faced issues and challenges.
How it has changed from a world of “generalists” to a
world of specialists. How it now seems, in our academic programs,
to focus much more on research than on practice. A focus, it seems
to me, that does disservice to both.
About
the special people I have known, who were (and are) leaders
in our work. Those who believed in the “mission” and sense
of purpose of service and outreach. Those who knew that to serve
the part-time adult student was to contribute to the enrichment
of the individual human resource that ultimately resulted in the
enrichment of the human condition for all of us.
About the great forces in our field who are no longer with us, but
who stamp an indelible legacy on all we do: Cy Houle, Malcom Knowles,
Bill Griffith, Joe Goddard, Nofflet Williams, Bill Turner, Adell
Robertson, Gayle Childs, Bryce Ratchford, Tunis Decker, Armand Hunter,
Roz Loring, Floyd Fisher, and Milt Stern, among others.
About those who are still with us and still influence us:
Thurman White, Alex Charters, Ben Massey, Sally Johnstone, Huey
Long, Ed Boone, John Buskey, Sharan Merriam, Bill Maehl, Jim Pappas,
Bob Boyd, Ed Simpson, and Grover Andrews. There are hundreds of
others in this modern day who are already viewed as great leaders
and will increase even more in stature in the years to come. I have
had the joy of knowing and working with these leaders and many others
I should have named, and their contributions will be felt as our
profession moves into the new century. I take this opportunity to
express appreciation to them for their inspiration and kindness
to me over the years.
About
the thousands of “learners” I have known—from the
elderly lady on the Navajo Reservation who, after hearing me speak,
asked if I would spit in her mouth so that she could have the “gift”
of public speaking, to the young woman who confided that her participation
in one of the liberal study activities had “saved her life”
by restoring her confidence and sense of self-worth. There are many
stories of those learners that challenge us to keep ourselves centered
in our commitment and dedication to preserve and enhance the linkage
between the educational resources we represent and the educational
needs the learners present.
About
the true unsung heroes of the profession, people like Cathy Gleaton
here at the Georgia Center and members of all the support staffs
in Continuing and Distance Education; the secretaries, the conference
coordinators, the registrars, the marketing staffs, the computer
programmers, the media specialists, the meeting service staffs,
the physical plant staffs, those in food and lodging and housekeeping
at the great conference centers who are the “wheels” on
which the enterprise runs. Their support of the processes and enhancement
of the affective environment for our work provides a heuristic context
within which we can do our jobs more successfully in behalf of the
adult learner we serve.
About
the great and dedicated faculty members I have known, women
and men who had a commitment to share their knowledge with anyone,
anywhere who needed it, who would fly to locations halfway around
the world to teach for a full week, all day, every day, and return
to their regular classes back on campus exhausted but invigorated
by their interaction with mature audiences with rich experiences
that tested the theory being presented in ways far different from
the traditional-age student.
About
how many times I have fallen short of goals, expectations, and
potentials. The “unrealized potential” haunts us all,
but it is good that it does, for that realization spurs us to continue
and, hopefully, to pursue greater efforts.
About
those times when things worked, when efforts made a real difference
in lives, when potential and realization came together—perhaps
in small ways—to make a big change for the better. Those times
when the enrichment of the individual human resource resulted in
a change agent dividend that moved events in a different and better
direction for us all. Most of those times, it seems, came when ordinary
people did ordinary things extraordinarily well.
About
those few, special moments of celebration that sometimes occur in
our profession. When we deliberately step back and reflect on how
far we have come and on what we have done and rejoice in it. The
profession needs more of that, for it has much to celebrate.
About
the future of our work. Faced as we are with increased costs,
declining resources, new competitors, fewer “controls”
on the body of information the academy previously could ration on
its own terms, we must find new ways to make our work meaningful,
affordable, accessible, and relevant to those we would serve. This
is a considerable challenge and will call for new approaches, new
partnerships, and new methods that may strain considerably our previous
“comfortable and familiar” practices.
About
how I can keep in touch with this work and its people, how I can
continue to learn and to share, to challenge, to stimulate, to mentor,
and to maintain some way of contributing to the “great enterprise.”
I hear frequently that those of us “over the hill” need
to get out of the way for the fresher, smarter, stronger cadre of
new professionals. I don’t entirely disagree. But, suppose
there was a way that those of us who care to could band together
to form a pool of experience, reflection (for which there never
seems to be sufficient time when fully engaged in the practice),
and observation that might benefit the profession by providing reaction
or challenge to issues and problems or simply to mentor young professionals
who feel they need assistance. That might provide a new meaning
for the term “recycle.”
About
the wonderful folks who have made the experience here at the Georgia
Center so special for the past 10 years. They will be forever in
my mind with appreciation, affection, and respect.
Finally, “I’ve Been Thinking . . .” about you, those
who may read this piece, and how I hope you may fully realize your
role in the great enterprise that is higher adult, continuing, and
distance education. A great tradition is entrusted to your care,
and the benefits your faithful response will yield for you and those
you serve are immeasurable.
Many
Blessings!
Jerry
L. Hargis
In
July 2001, Jerry L. Hargis retired from the Georgia Center for Continuing
Education as director of educational programs, a post he had held
since 1998; he was associate director for communication services
from 1991 through 1998, holding senior public service faculty rank.
His
“almost 40 years” in adult and continuing education mentioned
above also included service with the University of Oklahoma, 1981
to 1991, as assistant vice provost for continuing education, responsible
for the educational program and service areas including management
of the Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education; he worked with
the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, 1972 to 1981, as
director of the Division of Televised Instruction and Community
Service. Hargis also worked with Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University (with the Donaldson Brown Center for Continuing
Education) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
He
was active in several leading educational organizations as a member
of various committees or boards, including the University Continuing
Education Association (UCEA), the United States Distance Learning
Association (USDLA), the National University Teleconference Network
(NUTN), and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant
Colleges (NASULGC).
His
contributions to the field of adult and continuing education were
recognized through many awards, including: the “2001 Nofflet
Williams Service Award” and the “1994–1995 J.O. Grantham
Leadership Award” from NUTN; the “1999 Leadership Award
in Educational Telecommunications” from UCEA; and the “1988
Distinguished Service Award” from the Oklahoma State Regents
for Higher Education.
|
