Capturing the fleeting attention of young minds is a challenge for institutions of higher education. Millennials often are described as a demographic that expects to be catered to, and the market has responded accordingly. People prefer to purchase particular songs rather than buy a whole album, and search engines scour an internet user’s every click, “recommending” other sites or news items based on analyzed data. So too, have colleges begun to tailor their programs to match the taste of each passing generation.
But among all the gimmicks and tactics, it cannot be forgotten that on the flipside of successfully bringing the students in, colleges and universities must successfully get them out by preparing them for the “real world.” So while staying current to connect with today’s youth is imperative, it doesn’t hurt to be a little traditional, as well.
“We have deeply traditional values, and in many respects, they are completely counter to the values that are at large in our society today,” explains president of Stillman College, Dr. Ernest McNealey. “It’s very important for young people who, for the first 18 years of life, have been inundated with media images that a decade ago would not have been allowed. We have rules relative to language and relative to dress, and the idea is that the formative years in college should prepare students for graduation and to be immediately successful in the world of work. We don’t find municipal judges with their pants sagging or using profane language, nor the chief of surgery or the superintendent of the post office.”
McNealey describes Stillman as an historically black college with a Christian ethos. Founded by the Presbyterian Church in 1875, the institution has preserved many of its original values to this day. Its long-held campaign to ready students for careers has been fruitful. Students from its teaching credentials program have a 95 percent rate of immediately finding work at after school. Students in the liberal arts program go on to graduate school at a 35 to 40 percent rate.
With each new president, Stillman College has held steadfast to this goal while progressing into the future to ensure students are equipped to handle life after school. In 1997, when McNealey stepped in as president after holding roles as an arts professor, vice president for academic affairs, associate provost, and undergraduate dean at other institutions, he brought with him a passion for technology integrated into the learning process. That passion has become one of the school’s most successful initiatives. Last year, Stillman was voted one of the top-15 most-wired schools by U.S. News & World Report and was ranked No. 32 out of 309 Baccalaureate colleges in The Washington Monthly College Rankings.
“Back in the ’90s, in particular, there were conversations happening across the country of whether or not technology would democratize society or further stratify it,” McNealey says. “There were many point of views, but I was of the opinion that you could build a superhighway over the digital divide, and that is what we set out to do here because we believed we could achieve that.”
When hiring faculty, Stillman looks for credentialed professionals who value technologically enhanced learning. Using technology in the classroom is part of Stillman’s promotion and tenure process. Because technology is forever evolving, the school adapts its teaching methods when new possibilities present themselves, such as tablet computers.
Stillman is evaluating using tablets for student athletes who sometimes travel three to four days a week. The students could use the devices while on the road to access library materials and coursework. For its biosciences department, the tablet could be used to study human cadavers, as one Stillman professor has found that examining the layers of a human cadaver can be better achieved on an iPad than in real life in certain cases.
This could further enrich Stillman’s biosciences department, which is already a flagship area of study for the school. “In our biological sciences department, we not only have an exceptional faculty, but the students who enroll are exceptionally bright students on test scores and GPA,” McNealey says. “We have a guaranteed pre-med program, which means that if students follow the plan of study we have laid out, we guarantee they will be able to gain admission into medical school. After 10 years of that guarantee, we have not had to refund anyone’s tuition.”
The department also is embarking on a research program to analyze the causes and impacts of chronic illness among poor and minority people. Stillman recently hired three Ph.D. graduates to lead that effort – an effort that is emblematic of another Stillman tradition: community involvement.
Giving back
“We want our students to understand that there is an obligation to facilitate the greater good,” McNealey emphasizes. “We do this in part by the curriculum but more specifically with how our institution does its business and the type of community engagement that the college conducts.”
McNealey explains that Stillman’s expertise in developing community programs may also help bring in additional revenue to sustain the school’s current agendas. As the economy has languished, private colleges and universities have suffered from increased competition for enrollment as families struggle to pay their traditionally higher tuitions. Many opt instead for public schools, not always out of preference, but out of necessity since they are cheaper on average than private schools.
Despite enrollment challenges, which is a significant part of any school’s financial portfolio, Stillman College still has an unwavering commitment to bring students a first-rate education. “As part of our campus ethos, we have been heavily engaged in community activities, and there are opportunities to leverage our expertise to provide community development services and financial services to help develop programs that provide jobs in blighted communities,” McNealey says. “There is a range of programs in the Department of Treasury and elsewhere that could be a natural fit for us.”
By contracting its skills and resources to help develop these programs, Stillman can bring in more revenue to maintain and continuously develop its academic and other initiatives. This is just one more example of Stillman College’s ability to innovate while remaining true to its history. By leveraging its strengths to add value to its present, Stillman College shows that a small school of 1,100 students and 75 faculty members can still accomplish great things.
