Cornell College seeking to improve traditional approach, not reinvent it

As some residential liberal arts colleges look for growth in non-traditional areas, such as adult education, satellite campuses and online programs, officials at Cornell College have made it their goal to re-imagine the liberal arts experience in part by strengthening what they've historically done well.

As the higher education landscape changes and many schools face financial challenges and intense competition for students, Cornell could have gone down the path other liberal arts colleges are choosing by adding adult education, graduate programs, satellite campuses and online offerings, Cornell President Jonathan Brand said.

But Cornell leaders instead have chosen to protect what is timeless about the residential liberal arts experience, Brand said, while paying attention to what society seeks in college graduates, to ensure a Cornell education remains relevant.

“I think the notion of focusing on the residential, undergraduate liberal arts experience is widely and universally endorsed” by Cornell faculty, alumni and supporters, said Brand, who will mark one year as president July 1. “But that doesn't mean we have to do things the way we've always done them. I'm a huge fan of doing fewer things well rather than many things not so well.”

In his first year at the helm, Brand, 46, led a strategic planning process in which faculty, staff and students restated a commitment to Cornell's traditional mission, but also set a vision to “re-imagine” the liberal arts experience. Part of that process is figuring out what the college can do better for students, Brand said, not just in the classroom experience but in all areas - athletics, residential life, off-campus study, internships.

An annual student satisfaction survey shows the Cornell one-class-at-a-time classroom model gets high marks, Brand said, but students want improvements in residence hall and dining. So renovations on several residence halls will happen this summer and next, with plans for a new dorm in the coming years, he said. And a donor-funded, $17 million renovation just under way will modernize and expand Thomas Commons, the main student dining and gathering area on campus.

The one-course-at-a-time academic schedule means Cornell's 1,200 students are in classes at the same time and have lunch break at the same time each day, so having the facilities' extra capacity is key, he said.

“We don't build things to keep up with the Joneses,” Brand said. “We pursue facilities because we need them and because of what happens inside them.”

That focus on improving the student experience extends to Brand really creating community by being a part of the community, said Kara Beauchamp, professor of physics and chairwoman of the faculty's Administration Committee. Brand is energetic and very visible on campus, she said, often attending student athletic events, art openings and music recitals.

“He's really gotten to know the college and to understand the culture very quickly,” she said. “So I think we're all very enthusiastic about his focus and his energy, and really his enthusiasm for the college.”

There is a perception, or perhaps fear, Brand said, on the part of some in higher education that liberal arts colleges don't prepare students with the practical skills they need for the “real world.” He believes that notion to be false, and he wants Cornell to make a better case for how a liberal arts education can arm students with broad knowledge from different disciplines through very personalized educational experiences. The college also must be more intentional in helping students make that connection themselves, to understand how it fits together from classroom study to application of the knowledge, he said.

“Let's be more intentional and progress in that path, that's what this vision affirms,” he said. “We are not deviating. We are going down this path, but we have to be mindful to the challenges around us.”