College Presidents Call Campus Creativity Key To Boosting Quality

EDMOND, Okla. (AP) — Those in higher education must take the lead in encouraging creativity on their campuses and producing graduates capable of competing in a 21st-century society, Oklahoma college presidents said at an education summit.

Presidents from Tulsa Community College, Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha, Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City and the University of Central Oklahoma participated in a wide-ranging panel discussion at the Central Oklahoma campus.

On one issue all agreed: What has been the status quo in a college setting for decades won’t necessarily be effective now. Students are demanding new methods of delivery of academic material, Central Oklahoma President Roger Webb said.

“We are delivering education in a mode and in a model that is antiquated,” Webb said. ``The new learner is modeled differently. We run them off. We run them out of our doors by boredom and with our traditional methods. . . .We try to reprogram and retool, but a lot of old dogs like myself, it’s hard to do that.”

But it is possible, he said, noting innovative programs like Central Oklahoma’s so-called School of Rock, which this semester started offering two-year degrees to students wanting to enter the music industry. Webb said the program — formally known as the Academy of Contemporary Music at UCO — developed from the Oklahoma Creativity Project, an initiative coordinated by Creative Oklahoma, Inc., the same nonprofit group that helped organize Wednesday’s forum.

“Higher education folks ought to be leading the creativity parade in Oklahoma,” Webb said. “We should be leading the parade but we’re not. . . It’s coming from private sources and leaders who say we need to be a more creative state. They’re just pulling us along for the ride too many times.”

Northeastern State President Don Betz said a university’s administrative structure often stifles innovation, even though universities — in theory — should be beacons of creativity.

Betz suggested that encouraging interdisciplinary work among faculty and students could help create a better atmosphere for learning. OSU President Burns Hargis seconded that idea, saying he thinks students of all academic disciplines should work toward a minor in entrepreneurship and learn how to take an idea with value into the marketplace.

Last week, OSU dedicated its Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at the Spears School of Business.

“You ought to know how to start a business,” said Hargis, who worked in the private sector before becoming OSU’s president. “That’s the business of America. . . .Most of us are entrepreneurs but we don’t have the confidence to go take on the risk. This would give you the ability to go out and be more confident.”

Oklahoma Christian President Michael O’Neal said students also need to know they’re competing not only within the U.S., but the world. That involves not only encouraging students to study abroad, but bringing international students to U.S. campuses. He said Oklahoma Christian has developed a relationship with Rwanda that has helped bring 57 students from the African nation to the university.

“They are transforming our campus,” he said. “They are motivated. They know this is their ticket to the future and they are competing with our students.”

The creativity forum was connected with what has been called the “Imagination Conversation,” an effort led by the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education to try to build awareness of imagination as a key skill in work and life. Oklahoma hosted the first “Imagination Conversation” and plans call for similar events to be held in all 50 states over the next two years.

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