College Degrees, Designed by the Numbers – Technology – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Should a university use data-mining techniques to shape courses?

College Degrees, Designed by the Numbers – Technology – The Chronicle of Higher Education

College administrators, especially those in charge of taxpayer-supported state universities, must consider enrollment data when approving course offerings. When data suggest enrollment trends, those do need to be monitored, as well.

Faculty resist change. They decry the “corporatism” of higher education. The goal of a university should not be profit, but it should also not be irrelevance. If a college or university ignores what students (and their parents) want, it eventually becomes an irrelevant institution. 

No, we should not cater to every whim and trend, but we should also pay close attention to public opinion. 

When a degree program has fewer than a dozen students, it’s destined for elimination. However, if we can address enrollment trends early, we can avoid those trends becoming destinies for departments and programs. 

Many professors of Classics decried the end of Latin requirements. But, the reality was that Latin had lost relevance in our culture. Maybe there was a case to be made that learning Latin was valuable — I could envision such an argument. However, students made their choice, and Latin requirements faded into history… like the Romans themselves. 

Universities should resist change, operating conservatively to preserve the liberal arts and educational traditions. Higher education does not need to adopt the tech industry model of rapid creative destruction. We should evolve slowly and cautiously. Yet, we must evolve.

Data might inform the evolution of higher education, but they should not dictate that evolution.