MProve

Yesterday, Tom and I presented a new initiative that can bring the University into its tercentenary called MProve. Personally, when defining this initiative, I was attempting to respond to the popularity of entrepreneurship in today’s society. Many of the world’s most successful, inspirational, and influential people got their status with an idea, persistence, and creativity—not a college degree. It makes you think, what is the value of higher education?

Neither Zuckerberg, Jobs, or Gates graduated from college.

Source: http://dailypicksandflicks.com

Think of all of the times you have crammed for a test, pulled an all-nighter to finish an essay before a deadline, and sat through class scrolling through Facebook. Have you ever thought to yourself: What am I doing? What is the importance of this test, paper, or class? Why am I in school? MProve (although fictional) would like to individualize and revitalize the UM education system to encourage exploration and promote more intuitive, involved learning. Isn’t that what we’re here for anyway?

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If you have forgotten or weren’t paying attention in class, the following were the main provisions of MProve:

The New Classroom

     Anything: All UM students could sign up for any University class regardless of college, and could even create their own if a professor or GSI were willing to teach the subject

     Anytime: All lectures would be available online through video streaming. Students would still have the option to attend in-person

     Anywhere: Discussion and Section would be based on participation through social media to integrate academia with everyday activities, two entities that are typically viewed as distinct institutions

Evaluation

      Grades and GPA’s would be substituted with Performance Reports, offering a more qualitative analysis of a students participation, mastery, and effort

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These ideas took a lot of thought, and we considered many counterarguments. For example...

Q: How would the new evaluation system set back UM students comparatively to other universities when applying for jobs and admission into grad schools?

My response: The officials of the university would make a statement insisting that the evaluation system is actually more significant than GPA. This could further define The Michigan Difference.

After the questions in class, though, I continued to think about the ideas involved with MProve and how they could be altered. Would there still be an Honors program? Should students be able to have a major?

My first instincts: No (after reconsidering what I said in class) and Yes. The point of the new system would be to allow students’ interests and passions to speak for their character and abilities. An Honors system would reinstate the same competitive nature of a GPA, and majors, to some, are important in self-conceptualization. However, I do not think students should have to apply to these majors (Business, Organizational Studies, Public Policy, etc.). Students should study what they want, and the UM admissions office should strive to accept students that can maintain the prestige involved with each major.

What do you think about the ideas involved with MProve, and are they possible or even feasible?