Small colleges and universities understand both the value, and often the necessity, of collaboration in order to advance their own unique and individual institutions. Many operate with modest resources yet are expected by their constituencies to deliver the same level of quality education as any other college or university, regardless of their wealth or stature in the marketplace. Such is the nature of accreditation reviews which has a way of leveling the playing field in the academy, as we are all expected to meet the minimum requirements of the accrediting bodies that review and sanction our work.
It has been my own experience, in five different colleges and universities, that the small school sector may exhibit a bit more enthusiasm for reaching out to sister institutions to leverage relationships through partnership programs and collaborative enterprises. As a current president of a small, independent, university I can say that on one level it is purely an economic decision. It just makes good sense, at times, to collaborate with other colleges and universities in order to expand my own resource base.
This idea of collaboration seems to reinforce why the recently formed Yes We Must Coalition has met with such favor by over 30 colleges and universities, including my own. As a founding director of the coalition and active member, along with my key senior administrators, it has been one of the most beneficial investments of time and energy that we could make at Thomas University.
It all began with an informal meeting of only a handful of schools over three years ago, assembled to discuss our mutual interest in reaching the underserved population of low-income students. The meeting, organized and led by Dr. Gloria Nemerowicz, the then President of Pine Manor College, resulted in the formalization of the coalition.
Since its modest beginning, the coalition has not only organized into a formal organization with a mission focus on college access and completion for underserved students, it has been recognized by organizations such as the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Council of Independent Colleges and the Department of Education. In March of 2014, the coalition will host its first Annual Meeting. Details of this event can be found on the organization's website.
In a recent interview, Dr. Nemerowicz, who now serves as the president of the coalition, said that, "The organization was formed to increase awareness of and to support the powerful work carried out by small, independent, colleges and universities. Our members are not new to this work. The Yes We Must Coalition has forged trust and energy among our members. We have much more to learn from each other and much to share outside of the coalition. Our potential is great as we continue to explore ways to collaborate and to advocate for the inclusion and success of all who wish to pursue higher education.
Among other work to date, the coalition has recently begun to compile a resource data base that will share best practices in a variety of challenging tasks most colleges an universities face, regardless of size or their sector, including centralization of academic support services; tutoring; approaches to developmental learning; early alert systems for advising; experiential learning; first year experiences; on line advising and tutoring; and mentoring programs, just to name a few.
Dr. Vinton Thompson, President of Metropolitan College of New York, and another Founding Director, shared his reasons for supporting the work of the coalition. "Small independent colleges like ours, with a mission-based commitment to serving economically disadvantaged students, play a critical role in our communities, but also face tremendous challenges. By banding together we can advocate for the interests of our students more effectively and share the tremendous collective expertise we have developed to help at risk students navigate the road to college success, personal advancement and service to society. The Yes We Must Coalition makes it possible to project our advocacy and expertise to a larger audience of educators and policy makers and to have a real effect on advancing the national agenda for college access and completion."