"The challenge of integrating research, instruction, and outreach calls for a change in faculty perception between their roles as scholars and educators, in both the classroom and society."
Scientific research is one of the most important missions of higher education. But, to be valuable, the research findings must be understood and implemented not only by educators, but by society at large. This is both exciting and challenging.
As Dr. Ernest Boyer states in his book, Scholarship Reconsidered - Priorities of the Professoriate, "At no time in our history has the need been greater for connecting the work of the academy to the social and environmental challenges beyond the campus." Where better to find a model for this "mission" than within the College of Human Environmental Sciences (CHES)? The challenge of integrating research, instruction, and outreach calls for a change in faculty perception between their roles as scholars and educators, in both the classroom and society. As Boyer further points out, creativity is needed in the whole research process, cooperation between disciplines, effective application of theory into practice, and effective communication between everyone involved. In this way, the academy meets the daily realities both scholars and society as a whole must face and resolve.
Fortunately, CHES's mission and goals serve as a model for these ideas through creativity, cooperation, application, and communication.
Today's society changes daily and faces many new problems. In response, CHES embraces these challenges through an understanding of this interdependent relationship between research and society, mutually shaping and changing our environments. Furthermore, CHES understands that, through shared knowledge among disciplines and society, positive impacts will be made on the university, society, the nation, and the world. Two examples of these connections by the CHES faculty are the Parenting Research Center and Distance Education.
The PRC makes a difference in the lives of children by identifying and scientifically studying pressing problems in contemporary parenting and child development. The PRC assists government and private agencies by conducting specific research projects. Additionally, the PRC conducts interdisciplinary research on issues related to parenting skills and parent-child interaction.
But only a handful of degrees can be earned at a distance. Costs, logistics, and lack of working partnerships between institutions have been the primary challenges.
To help overcome these obstacles, the College of Human Environmental Sciences is working with a consortium of universities to create distance learning partnerships.
The partnerships began when the deans of the colleges of human sciences at seven universities began discussing ways to share their colleges’ strengths to enhance student learning. This "Consortium" received funding from the USDA for faculty development to encourage them to develop learning modules together for distance education.
Now that the members of the consortium have an understanding of what distance education is, how it can be used effectively, and how they can team with faculty from other universities, the future can begin. Through learning more about distance teaching strategies and working with other institutions to develop models for realistic delivery, the College is helping shape the future of distance learning.