Agenda for the Presidents’ Symposium on The Future of Collegiate Education, held at the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), May 27, 2010. This meeting was jointly organized by APLU and George Mason University with support from the Kauffman Foundation.

1. Presidents’ Symposium on
The Future of
Collegiate Education
Date/Time
May 27, 2010
2:00-8:30 p.m.
Location
2:00-6:10 Leadership Workshop (agenda below)
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
1307 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005
6:30-8:30 Reception and Dinner
The Willard Hotel
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
(Shuttle service will be available from APLU to the Willard.)
With support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

2. Presidents’ Symposium on
The Future of Collegiate Education
Agenda
2:00-2:10 Welcome
Alan Merten, President, George Mason University
Peter McPherson, President, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
2:10-2:40 Panel 1. The Market Landscape—From Budgetary Challenges to New Business
Models
With state budgets likely to remain under strain for some time, public universities around the
country have been seeking ways to reduce costs without reducing educational quality or
availability. The greatest challenges faced in coming years by traditional four-year colleges may
well turn out to come not from budgetary pressures but rather from innovative, low-cost
business models for collegiate education currently under development. Such alternative models
are likely to become increasingly competitive as global business seeks demonstrated competencies
over credentials and students are decreasingly able to finance a traditional four-year college
education. The first panel of the symposium will explore these trends.
Moderator: Philip Auerswald, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason
University
Panelist: Amy Bernstein, VP of Thought Leadership, Manpower Inc.
Panelist: Anya Kamenetz, author DIY U
Commentary: Angel Cabrera, President, Thunderbird School of Global Management
2:40-3:00 Discussion
3:00-3:30 Panel 2. Learning by Design—Technology and the Classroom
For decades, colleges have depended on revenues from a small number of large lecture courses to
offer the large number of low-enrollment electives that represent the full richness of university
education. The structure of large lecture courses has evolved subject to budgetary realities. In the
past decade, new technologies have opened up new instructional possibilities. In some leading
universities self-paced learning, peer-mentoring, and automated assessment combine in low-cost,
highly effective models of instruction for core content. Elsewhere, universities are pioneering
collaborative classrooms and problem-based learning environments that increase the relevance of
educational experiences. This panel will consider the full range of transformations to college
classrooms currently being affected by technological innovation and the near-term actions they
suggest for leaders of public universities.
Moderator: James H. Turner Jr., Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
Panelist: Burck Smith, founder and CEO, Straighterline Inc.
Panelist: Roy Swift, Director, Certificate Accreditation Program, American National
Standards Institute
Commentary: Luis Proenza, President, University of Akron
3:30-3:50 Discussion
3:50-4:10 Break
4:10-4:40 Panel 3. Opensource Education—Course Content, Learning Networks, and
Evaluation
While the impact of technology on pedagogy in the classroom—as discussed in panel 2—is
dramatic, the greatest impacts of technology on collegiate education extend beyond the
classroom and the campus. Open access knowledge and shared databases of instructional

3. Presidents’ Symposium on
The Future of Collegiate Education
materials have already made home-schooling an increasingly plausible alternative for parents of
children in at the K-12 level. Even “do-it-yourself” collegiate education, as described by author
Anya Kamenetz, is a newly conceivable possibility. Other new possibilities are being created by
the connection technology allows among students, between campuses, and across the boundaries
have long separated universities from broader society. This panel will discuss the new possibilities
for course content, learning networks, and evaluation created in the open-source education
st
environment of the 21 century.
Moderator: Elliot Maxwell, author and lecturer
Panelist: Cecilia d'Oliveira, Executive Director, MIT OpenCourseWare
Panelist: Michael Edson, Director of Web and New Media Strategy, The Smithsonian
Institution
Commentary: Michelle Fox, U.S. Department of Energy
4:40-5:00 Discussion
5:00-5:30 Panel 4. Creating Social Value—Entrepreneurship and Societal Engagement
As institutions of higher learning experience the same process of “unbundling” to which other
industries have been subject over recent decades, those forms of instruction least amenable to
automated assessment will be of increasing importance to universities. Among these, the
problem-oriented practice of entrepreneurship may be of particular significance. This is in part
because students entering a rapidly changing world of work will increasingly demand the ability
to be job-makers, not just job seekers. At the same time, universities may find their own success
to be increasingly dependent on effective strategies of engagement with the local communities
and regional ecosystems of innovation within which they are situated. This session will explore
innovations in placing entrepreneurship and societal engagement at the heart of the collegiate
experience.
Moderator: Melissa Carrier, Executive Director, University of Maryland
Panelist: William Green, Vice Provost, University of Miami
Panelist: Erin Krampetz, Business and Program Development Manager, AshokaU
Commentary: George Mehaffy, Vice President for Academic Leadership and Change, AASCU
5:30-5:50 Discussion
5:50-6:10 Closing Discussion Among University Presidents
Moderator: Peter McPherson, President, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
Alan Merten, President, George Mason University
Luis Proenza, President, University of Akron
Angel Cabrera, President, Thunderbird University
6:10-6:30 Break/Change Venue
(Shuttle service will be available from APLU to the Willard.)
6:30-8:30 Reception and Dinner—Willard Hotel
Welcome
Alan Merten, President, George Mason University

4. Presidents’ Symposium on
The Future of Collegiate Education
Introduction of Keynote Speaker
Philip Auerswald, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason
University
Dinner Keynote Address
Thomas Kalil, Deputy Director for Policy for the White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy and Senior Advisor for Science, Technology and
Innovation for the National Economic Council
Concluding Remarks
Peter McPherson, President, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
Note: The number of participants at dinner at is limited. We will allocate
available places as we receive registrations.