02/17/2015
The Case for School "Collabatition". . .
It has been my experience that competition is a good thing. That said, there may be instances when collaborating with a competitor is simply the "right thing". . .(some wise person termed this "Collabatition" - a merger of two words that doesn't require a merger of institutions!).
Some great collabatitions include:
*Articulation Agreements. An agreement that permits courses/credit to transfer between institutions. Institution A “accepts” the courses from Institution B. . .to be applied toward the degree of Institution A (and visa versa).
*Teach-out Agreements. An agreement between two institutions – designed to protect the students. If Institution A is unable to deliver programming to a student, Institution B will work with the student to finish-out (teach out) that student so (s)he gets what (s)he paid for. . .an education and a degree.
*Jointly Pursued Grants/Funding. This may be considered helpful when supporting students in special fields of study (sectors with great need), pioneering technology for distance ed (focused on student “access”), or research in special fields.
*Program/Curriculum-level Collaborations. This can be valuable in the following circumstances:
-Course offerings (complementing vs. competing). This may be a jointly planned curriculum and/or one institution providing another institution with courses/content.
-Sharing faculty.
-Feeder institutions, such as a community college sending those with associate degrees to "partners" for baccalaureate degrees - and offering special incentives.
-Students from other schools get “concentration” by taking courses available at another institution.
-An institution can refer “unqualified” students to other schools – to eventually qualify at the original institution.
-Other school creates “Pre” degree options.
-Offer “bridge” scholarships to encourage completion.
In my opinion, the bottom line should not always be about the bottom-line; it should be about pursuing strategies that reduce student barriers that provides greater access to educational opportunities.
I’d be delighted to hear of your opinions and experiences!
