Left to right: UMUC President Javier Miyares, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Marie A. Cini, and University System of Maryland Chancellor William E. “Brit” Kirwan.
erates, UMUC must continue to lead, studying how people learn so that it can continue to provide a quality education to 21st-century students. How this will happen was the focus of a discussion among Kirwan, UMUC President Javier Miyares, and UMUC Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Marie A. Cini, who sat down with writer Gil Klein to talk about the future of higher education. “We have the benefit of being ahead of the game,” Miyares said, citing UMUC’s 20 years of experience in online education. “Our challenge is to continue to always be ahead of the game.” Higher education is no longer an entitlement of the few,
Cini said. In the past, students were on their own. If they succeeded in completing their education, that was great. If not, it was mostly their own concern. The world has changed, Cini said. The nation needs more college-educated people than ever before, but that increase in the number of graduates cannot come at the expense of a watered down college curriculum. “We know a lot more about learning, and it’s more about access and success,” said Cini. “At UMUC, we’re figuring out ways that students can learn better. Instead of saying, ‘You all come and you can sink or swim; we don’t care,’ we’re going to teach them to swim.”
FOUNDER BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
THE HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES A timeline of highlights spanning nearly 400 years. 1636 Harvard College, the first in the British North American colonies, is founded to train Puritan ministers.
1756 The Academy and College of Philadelphia develops a “scheme of liberal education” to accommodate all who seek the learned professions and the mechanical arts.
1779 University of Pennsylvania becomes the first institution of higher education in America to be called a university.
1795 University of North Carolina becomes the first state-supported university to admit students and the only public institution to grant degrees in the 18th century.
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ACHIEVER | 10 | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
1807 The School of Medicine is founded in Baltimore, forerunner of University of Maryland, Baltimore.
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