June 24--Officials at Waubonsee Community College are interested in new technology, exploring the credentials awarded to students and other innovations as they work to create a plan for the next 35 years.
They gathered with community members at the college's Sugar Grove campus Tuesday morning to discuss their "Vision 2050" plan, which, when finished, will outline goals and priorities for the college over the coming decades. A variety of speakers outlined how industry, technology and the environment could change by 2050, and discussed customizing education to each student.
"The way in which we recognize students and the way in which we connect with them is different," Nick Webb, an author and speaker on the future, told those gathered.
Education, in the future, will be highly personalized and decentralized, Webb said. Students now going to college are part of a "maker movement" -- rather than studying a curriculum about robotics, they want to tear apart toasters and turn them into robots, he said.
Technology and digital communities, Webb said, will allow students and colleges to collaborate and move forward.
The vision -- which is expected to be created by the end of 2015 -- comes on the heels of the college's 2020 plan, which ended in March with the opening of a new field house at the Sugar Grove campus. That plan focused on expanding the college's facilities, and included $129.5 million in major projects, according to the college.
Now, Waubonsee President Christine Sobek said the 2050 plan will likely focus on ensuring the community college stays relevant in the future. She is interested in exploring technology and keeping students and staff connected.
The plan also could address the types of credentials the college awards students, she said. Officials could look into whether current degrees offered to students are effective, or consider offering certificates or badges that reflect the skills students have learned.
Though the 2020 plan ended only recently, Sobek said it is important to continue moving forward.
"Our community doesn't stand still," she said. "Our students don't stand still. People want to know, 'Ok, what's the next thing.'"
The college has worked with students and faculty to discuss goals and priorities for the 2050 plan, and has accepted input through an online "idea lab." Tuesday's event was designed to gather community input, because the college should reflect the changes and growth of the community it serves, Sobek said.
At the event Tuesday, community and business members in the audience met in small groups to discuss areas of focus for the college. Those discussions focused on ensuring the college's responsibility to be sustainable and how to personalize learning, said Liz Murphy, the CEO of CampusWorks higher education consultants, which is helping with the plan.
Murphy said the groups brought up that the school's physical space is important, but so is the ability to provide services to students wherever they are.
"We don't want to be passive," Murphy summarized. "We have got to be proactive."
Sobek said she expects to have a vision completed by the end of 2015. The college will celebrate its 50th anniversary in August 2016, and, at that time, Sobek wants to celebrate not only the past, she said, but also what the college could become.
sfreishtat@tribpub.com
