Seven deadly sins of higher education and what we can do now

The provocative title may sound trite but the substance of Steven Mintz' commentary "Higher Education's Seven Deadly Sins" is worth pondering. Fortunately, Mintz counters the sins with seven strategies that could help reverse the damage. The seven recommended directions are closely aligned with what student development educators value and strive to fulfill. Read the article for more detail but the seven corrections include: 1) broaden the professorial role, 2) educate the whole student, 3) address why students are in college, 4) ensure courses are learning/learner centered, 5) go beyond the subject matter, 6) stand for equity, and 7) be transparent about student outcomes.

A complementary essay by Jon Valiant of the Brookings Institute on how schools have built an economy but not a modern democracy offers a perspective that incorporates elements of the response to the seven deadline sins. Valiant recommends that educators need to focus on questions such as:

• How do we act with civility in a digital environment?
• How do we distinguish fact from fiction?

Only by doing so will our educational institutions, including higher education, contribute to cultivating a democracy stored through disciplines of media literacy, digital citizenship and empathy, and intellectual humility.