To the Editor:
In last week’s Teaching newsletter, Beth McMurtie and Carl Weiman share an email exchange where he accuses college and university leaders of having a “lack of an understanding that there really is expertise on teaching.” That’s just plain wrong.
Are there instances where research is prioritized over teaching? Of course. But it’s not the norm, and to claim so is dangerously misinforming. Colleges and universities — and in particular those that are part of our public systems of higher education — strive every day to meet their mission of preparing America’s students for careers in an ever-evolving workforce.
Through the Power of Systems initiative recently launched by the National Association of System Heads, these leaders that Weiman says aren’t willing to take the lead are doing just that.
Together, we’ve carefully laid out five imperatives to guide the work of our public systems toward advancing prosperity for the nation, and the very first one of those is The Learning Imperative.
Systems are committed to taking best practices and implementing what works at scale. We’ve teamed up with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to leverage the strength of improvement science as we build out our capacity. And we’ll do it alongside partners like the Association of College and University Educators who are trailblazers in advancing college teaching as a professional skillset — even though Weiman believes higher education leaders aren’t willing to go down that path.
So please, don’t focus on trends that may be obvious in the Ivy League or at R1’s. The vast majority of our nation’s colleges and universities know that teaching their students comes first, and we work tirelessly in our pursuit to get it right.
Nancy Zimpher
Director, Power of Systems at the National Association of System Heads
Co-chair of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics
Chancellor Emeritus of The State University of New York