George Washington University President Steven Knapp, Dean of the School of Public Health and Health Services Lynn R. Goldman and GW Board of Trustees Chairman W. Russell Ramsey, B.A. '81, all spoke on panels at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles this week.
The conference, which drew more than 3,000 attendees from the business, finance, policy, education, health, energy and philanthropy worlds, is an annual event focused on bringing together diverse participants to look at global challenges in fresh ways. Speakers included former Vice President Al Gore; House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., B.A. '85; NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., J.D. '64; and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Dr. Knapp spoke on a panel titled “The Future of Higher Education” on Tuesday.
He joined William Bennett, the former U.S. secretary of education and author of the book “Is College Worth It?”; Daphne Koller, cofounder of Coursera Inc., a social entrepreneurship company that partners with universities to make courses available to anyone online for free; Patricia McWade, dean of student financial services at Georgetown University; and Anthony Miller, deputy secretary and chief operating officer at the U.S. Department of Education, to talk about student debt, how colleges prepare—or don’t prepare—students for jobs, and the roles online technologies are playing in the evolution of higher education.
Dr. Knapp explained how GW’s Innovation Task Force has been working to find solutions to cut costs and make university operations more efficient and innovative, and also highlighted GW’s commitment to maintaining a program of fixed tuition, where the amount a student pays will not increase for up to five years of attendance.
He also discussed how the university is always seeking more resources to help support students with financial need so that they can graduate with minimal debt.
“What we worry about is the limiting effect student debt can have on the choices students make about their futures,” Dr. Knapp said. “We attract a lot of students who want to change the world, make a difference, and go into professions that simply aren’t going to be for their own benefit but to benefit others…..but if our students have to pay off loans, it becomes an increasing burden on them.”
Dr. Knapp also said he welcomes the innovation that online pedagogies can offer, calling them “a breath of fresh air coming into institutions.” The online high school GW operates provides an opportunity for faculty and education graduate students to learn about what works and doesn’t work for online pedagogies.
GW will also be launching between five and 10 experimental MOOCs—massive open online courses—in the next year, Dr. Knapp said. And he mentioned GW’s curriculum agreement with Virginia community college nursing programs as an exciting hybrid that takes advantage of online education while maintaining many of the benefits students already receive in a face-to-face education environment.
Dr. Goldman participated in a panel titled “How Leading-Edge Corporate Health Solutions Create a Healthier Bottom Line,” focusing on improving employee health while decreasing costs.
Dr. Goldman mentioned several small changes that she and colleagues at GW have experimented with to improve employee health—including standing workstations and electronic supports that remind people to get up and stretch or help them stick with smoking cessation and weight-loss programs.
She also spoke about health and wellness benefits related to family members that are important to employees—both at George Washington and across the country.
“Employees want places where they can breastfeed, where they can care for their infants…they want childcare nearby and they want safe places where they can go outside and walk,” she said. Some employers Dr. Goldman has worked with have even instituted “walking meetings” instead of meetings in conference rooms.
Mr. Ramsey’s panel, set for Wednesday, was titled The Rise of Social Capital Markets: How Will They Change the World?
The Milken Global Conference program and videos of most sessions are available.