Chancellor Toni Murdock Talks by Video-Conference With Antioch Campuses November 2008

I would like to share with you some of my own observations of my last 11 years at Antioch and why I support our move toward a new model for governing our institution. 

The place we stand today in our historical development is reminiscent of Rainer Rilke's observation, "The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens." It has been over 30 years since the seeds were planted for Antioch to become a multi-campus system and eventually a university. Granted, its creation was chaotic and somewhat unintentional, but not without purpose—economical and educational. Economically it was to provide resources for an unendowed College by taking advantage of the growing adult market and educationally it was to spread the gospel and educational values of Antioch. Although the Antioch system was initiated with little intentional planning, we have unknowingly positioned ourselves to survive and thrive in the 21st century.

In Thomas Friedman's now-famous phrase (and the title of his book) – "the world is flat" – is a fascinating and provocative analysis of the ways that globalization is changing how all of us—nations, institutions and individuals—function. He tellingly subtitles the book, "A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century" and lays out the hallmarks for the way we will live in the next one hundred years.

And, what does that world look like? According to Thomas Friedman, it is a world that requires replacing the notion of "lifetime employment" with the notion of "lifetime employability" because guaranteed lifetime employment is not a reality of the future. It is a world where the "individual worker is going to be more and more responsible for managing his or her own career…and his or her own economic security." A world that requires leadership skills and an educational foundation that encourages risk taking and adaptation. A world that mandates an individual to engage in lifelong learning in order to survive and succeed.

Antioch is positioned to be a player in this new world. How?

First, although there have been many critics of the Antioch University system over the years, particularly from the Antioch College alumni, we follow the trend in higher education toward multi-campus universities. There is a supposition by many educational leaders that the multi-campus system is the model that will survive and thrive in the 21st century. In fact, approximately 80% of the students currently enrolled in 2-and 4-year public colleges and universities (and that comprises 80% of the total national enrollments) attend institutions that are part of multi-campus systems.

Second, we address the need for life-long learning and the trend that students 25 years and older have been increasing at a rate nearly four times as fast as the 18-24 year range. We have the ability to design undergraduate and graduate programs desired and needed by our society. We as an academic institution embody values that will contribute to Friedman's dream of a Great Society that operates on compassionate flatism. Compassionate flatism is based on leadership, education and social activism—all characteristics embedded in Antioch curriculum.

Third, these trends mandate that Antioch University reclaim its platform in the progressive education arena.

"Progressive education" for the 21st century, in fact, varies little from its historical roots as defined in the work of John Dewey and Horace Mann. Our educational process must entail the development of citizen-scholars through the practices of civic and community engagement; advocacy of non-violent social reform; understanding and capitalizing on the outcomes of diversity; pragmatic idealism; pedagogies of constructive engagement; and a focus on student outcomes. Our goal must be to assist in building the "creative class" needed to ensure the future of American democracy. In his Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida identifies the criteria that make a creative city. These same criteria describe a creative university: (1) a talented, skilled, educated population; (2) a tolerant, diverse community outlook; and (3) a technological infrastructure necessary to support an entrepreneurial culture.

Our aim, across the next decade, is to ensure that Antioch University is demonstrably and reputably a creative university, in the vanguard of progressive education.

Therefore, the relevant question here is not whether we should exist as a system—we do—but rather how do we design and structure the system to stimulate, support and sustain an outstanding, highly diverse and responsible higher education organization?  We have the framework to be sustainable yet we have never capitalized on it.

We are positioned but we will never be sustainable unless we are deliberate in how we plan and structure our governance system. Over the last two years, the ULC initially – and then a task force on governance – has been working toward establishing a new governance structure. Members of the task force included trustees, the president of New England, Vice Chancellor for University Academic Affairs and the Chancellor. We were lead by an extremely competent consultant, Tom Ingram, who is president emeritus of the Association of Governing Boards. This work has involved numerous conference calls and face-to-face meetings, with the culmination being the adoption of the new governance structure on Nov. 5, 2008.

The objective was to design a governance structure that promotes the sustainability of each campus. We as distinct campuses and as a system become sustainable when we are seen as a vital member in the communities in which we reside, and a player in the state and regional higher education systems where we are located. Leaders on our campuses must serve on community boards and state and national professional boards. Our students must embrace their responsibility for civic engagement and community service locally as well as internationally. This means that each campus will have its own quasi-governing Board of Trustees that is invested in the educational and resource needs of that particular campus. For the system, it means a Board of Governors that serves as an oversight and coordinating board with its focus on the collective performance of its institutions.

In the words of Tom Ingram, the new governance model provides us with the opportunity to focus more strategically about where this university should be going; to be sure the values and traditions are perpetuated and made real in the work of our campuses; to seize opportunities and capitalize on the synergies among the campuses; and to create boards that will think and act differently for the university and the campuses.

Presidents at the various campuses have already begun the process of identifying and cultivating potential campus trustees. At the February board meeting, the Presidents and the new chairs of their boards will undergo an orientation and training. When each campus determines that it is ready for its board to become official, those boards will also undergo orientation and training. The orientation is a crucial element in ensuring success as we take our first steps toward this new structure. We assume that most campuses will be ready to initiate their boards by July 2009. Meanwhile, the current board of trustees has been identifying and recruiting new members who will compose the Board of Governors and determining what current trustees will move onto the governors board. Also present in this structure is the recognition of the need for academic presence at the national level—you will see official recognition of the Academic Leadership Council and the place for a campus-wide advisory faculty body to the ULC and Chancellor.

Multi-campus systems of the 21st century, public or private, will need to be leaner and more agile, supported by information technology and a willingness to form partnerships. At Antioch, this will require a commitment to collaboration, to inter-connectiveness—among our campuses, and even sometimes, our competitors—and will require the system to change its shape and structure over and over again.

The American higher education system needs Antioch in multiple forms and campuses to preserve and promote the values of an educated citizenry and to encourage progressive social reform. Just as Arthur Morgan dreamed of a college such as never existed, we too can dream of Antioch University becoming a preeminent national nonprofit private university system of the 21st century. We have the opportunity to grow that dream in the 21st Century in ways that make everyone associated with Antioch proud. After all, it is the quality, diversity, value-added and relativism of the education we provide our students who become Arthur Morgan's levers to move the world.

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