Dissecting a Virtual Body

What is a virtual cadaver lab? Technically possible because of 21st century IT and the gaming industry, a 'Virtual Reality' lab provides a 3D, anatomical exploration of the human body in real time, with the useful ability to record and playback procedures, practice on multiple "specimens", regenerate features and delete mistakes. As there are over 60K medical students, hundreds of thousands of allied health workers and millions of high school students studying anatomy, and as fewer than 20,000 cadavers become available annually, virtual labs (really a high-tech, touchscreen table) are exceedingly important to medical education at all levels. Additionally, educators are now also using mixed reality VR headsets, like Oculus Rift or HoloLens, especially during Covid's enforced move to online anatomy labs.

Why does a college consoler (intentional spelling!) care about virtual labs? Well, you probably know that the job outlook for the allied health profession is healthy and growing: the demand for medical assistants, who earn $16+/hour with minimal post-secondary education, results in a 19% job growth rate over the next ten years. That said, did you know that the major constraint on most allied health training programs is the lack of clinical placement? This is why virtual training labs are so important. Virtual labs, while not cheap, can extend the number of "placements" thus educating more students. So when I dive deep into a health program’s admission statistics, if the program has 21st century tech, I’m more likely to recommend it to my students.

Online for Fall, too?!?!

Two opposing ideas exist simultaneously in my brain: online will destroy higher ed and online might just save higher ed.

Before Covid, many pundits described distance learning as the great disrupter of higher ed—something that would bring academic flexibility to a broader range of students at a better price. In 2000, only 8% of undergraduates enrolled in any type of online course. By 2018, over 30% of undergrads enrolled in some sort of online program and 16% enrolled online, full-time. 

Flexibility has certainly increased: a student can attend a class on a thousand different topics at any time of day for a price ranging from $0 to $2000+/credit. That said, it’s important to recall that student loan debt in the early 2000s was $49 Billion and, by 2020, student loan debt hovers the $1 trillion mark.

Once the pandemic hit universities in March, it was literally overnight that millions of college students moved into the 100% virtual experience and they now have...opinions. Which means the emerging question for colleges is: What will families pay for an online education now that they know online’s strengths and challenges first hand? While I think transparency is lacking, making an apples-to-apples comparison of online programs needlessly difficult, here’s a small sample of brick and mortar prices vs online only prices for a general business degree obtained from the respective college websites:

• If your student lives in a dorm at Purdue University, the total cost of attendance is $168K for four years. Purdue Global Online: $67K for four years.

• In a dorm at Harvard: $290K for 4 years. Harvard Extension: $59K for 4 years. 

• NAU online only costs $24K for a 4-year degree.  

Keep in mind, however, that regardless of the pathway to a college degree, the cost for boarding, living, and food will remain.

While no one can promise what the immediate future of higher ed looks like, academic deans and chancellors—or anyone on a college’s budget committee—are working 24/7 to plan for any and all contingencies. 

Here are three potential scenarios facing college students for Fall 2020: 

• 100% online only (eg. SDSU)

• 100% on-campus, traditional schedule (many colleges are promising and maybe even delivering)

• Hybrid/Flex: multiple Low density possibilities are being discussed: Limited on-campus presence/partially online (maybe freshmen only on-campus); block scheduling (á la Colorado College); no electives offered/core classes only; face-to-face intensives plus online (like some Master’s and Executive-style programs); iterative ‘waves’ of students on-campus; delayed or late-start of semester; classifying dorms as ‘family units’ which learn, stay, play together for class and residential life; classifying entire colleges as ‘family units’ that stay, play together

 Anyone who has ever been in a classroom, of any age group, knows first hand what a super-spreader event feels like. Example: one kid gets a runny nose and instantly the entire classroom is hacking and coughing.  Thus, it should remain known that for any of the Fall scenarios to be successful, solid testing, tracing, and quarantine plans are absolutely critical. 

Many families are considering a short deferral, or a longer delay to the start of their student’s college adventure (perhaps until a vaccine is available). Others are choosing to entirely opt out of the traditional brick-and-mortar college experience and are considering joining the 16% of students already enrolled in full-time, online options.  Many colleges are being intentional about upgrading/upscaling their online programs to better match employer needs within a robust academic framework. For example, studying poetry while learning Ruby-on-Rails is not only possible but imperative to expanding students’ critical thinking skills and bolstering a foundation of inclusive, historical knowledge. The families I speak with are excited about the savings offered by online programs because, as seen in the above examples, some are super affordable and available right now.

Final thoughts: We are in an incredibly difficult—hopefully innovative not just disruptive—transition. How many colleges will make it to the post-pandemic world? Some say 1/3 are destined to fail. College staff and students and families will need to dig deep and be flexible about, well, everything to do with the college adventure this Fall.

How are you going about your journey today?

Inspiration found on the Internet: 52 y.o Vet Enrolls at Yale

The article below moved me to tears. Reprinted from Medium.com/Apple News and sent to me via the IECA Newsletter.

“In May of 2019, I was accepted to the Eli Whitney student program at Yale University. At 52, I am the oldest freshman in the class of 2023. Before I was accepted, I didn't really know what to expect. I had seen the infamous YouTube video of students screaming at a faculty member. I had seen the news stories regarding the admissions scandal and that Yale was included in that unfortunate business. I had also heard the students at Yale referred to as "snowflakes" in various social media dumpsters and occasionally I'd seen references to Ivy League students as snowflakes in a few news sources.

I should give a bit of background information. I was an unimpressive and difficult student in public schools. I joined the military at 17 and spent close to 26 years in the US Navy. I was assigned for 22 of those years to Naval Special Warfare Commands. I went through SEAL training twice, quit the first time and barely made it the second time. I did multiple deployments and was wounded in combat in 2009 on a mission to rescue an American hostage.

Every single day I went to work with much better humans than myself. I was brought to a higher level of existence because the standards were high and one needed to earn their slot, their membership in the unit. This wasn't a one-time deal. Every time you showed up for work, you needed to prove your worth.

The vetting process is difficult and the percentage of those who try out for special operations units and make it through the screening is very low.

In an odd parallel, I feel, in spite of my short time here, the same about Yale.

After receiving my acceptance email and returning to consciousness, I decided to move to Connecticut and do my best in this new environment. Many people have asked me why I want to attend college at 52, and why at an Ivy League institution like Yale? I could have easily stayed in Virginia and attended a community college close to my home. Well, based on my upbringing in the military, I associated a difficult vetting process with quality and opportunity. I was correct in that guess. More importantly, I simply want to be a better human being. I feel like getting a world-class education at an amazing institution like Yale will help me reach that goal. Are there other places to get a great education? Of course, but I chose Yale.

My first class of the semester was absolutely terrifying. I don't know if it was for the kids in my class, but it damn sure was for me. It was a literature seminar with the amazing Sterling Professor of Comparative Literature, Professor David Quint. He is an amazing human in that he has dedicated his life to literature, and he knows what he is talking about. The discussion was centered around the Iliad. I had read a bit of the Iliad in the middle part of my military career and decidedly didn't get it. Listening to Professor Quint demonstrated exactly how much I didn't "get it." The other students looked like children to me. Hell, they are children, but when they speak, and some of them speak English as their second language, they sound like very well-spoken adults. My Navy issued graduate degree in cussing wasn't going to help me out here. These young students had a good grasp of the literature and although they lacked much experience to bounce it off of, they were certainly "all in" on trying to figure out its underlying meaning.

At one point I said, "Hey, I'm just an old guy sitting here with a bunch of smart people, but I think...." And they all smiled, some of them nervously because I was essentially an alien. I was an old dude with tattoos all over his arms and a Dutch Shepherd service dog, brandishing a subdued American flag patch on her harness, sitting next to me. Professor Quint later approached me and said, "Hey, don't downplay your intelligence. You are smart as well."

I thought, I've got him fooled! Turns out I didn't fool him at all when I turned in my first paper, but that is another story for another time.

After a few classes, I started to get to know some of my classmates. Each of them is a compelling human who, in spite of their youth, are quite serious about getting things done.

One young woman made a very big impact on me. She approached me after class one day and said, "I am really glad I can be here at Yale and be in class with you. My grandfather came to Yale and when WWII started, he left for the Navy and flew planes in the Pacific theater. After he came home, he came back to Yale, but he couldn't finish. He locked himself in his room and drank and eventually had to leave, so I feel like I am helping him finish here at Yale and I'm doing it with a veteran, you."

I was surprised and quite emotional. Exceptionally emotional. She went on: "I can send you a photo of him!" and I told her I would love one. That evening she sent me this photo of her grandfather.

I used to read stories about men like him and they are heroes to me. Clearly her grandfather is a hero to her as well, and she is going to make him quite proud. This connection with a WWII vet through his amazing granddaughter is a gift. One of many I receive on an almost daily basis in this amazing institution. I think it's worth taking a moment here and acknowledging that this thing we now call "PTSD" has always been around. Some of us veterans escape it while others, like me and likely this gent in the airplane, felt the sting of it.

One day in another lit class, I brought up a book I'd read a long time ago called "Taxi Driver Wisdom" by Risa Mickenberg, Joanne Dugan and Brian Lee Hughes.

After that class a couple of the students approached me and explained that their dads were cabbies when they first came to the United States, and that their fathers had told them that the things they sometimes heard from people in their cabs were amazing.

Think about that for a second. These students are first generation Americans. Their fathers immigrated to this country and started out by being taxi drivers. Now, their children are attending Yale University. I'm a patriotic man and those are the stories that help me understand how, in spite of the seemingly endless stream of negativity surrounding it, the American Dream is still alive and kicking. It makes my heart sing every time I see those kids.

Let me address this "snowflake" thing. According to the Urban Dictionary, a "snowflake" is a "term for someone that thinks they are unique and special, but really are not. It gained popularity after the movie Fight Club from the quote 'You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else.' "

I hear the term occasionally from buddies of mine who I love. They say things like, "How are things up there with the liberal snowflakes?"

Let me assure you, I have not met one kid who fits that description. None of the kids I've met seem to think that they are "special" any more than any other 18–22-year-old. These kids work their assess off. I have asked a couple of them to help me with my writing. One young woman volunteered to help me by proof-reading my "prose" and, for the record, I believe she will be the President someday. I recently listened while one of my closer pals, a kid from Portland, Oregon, talked to me about the beauty of this insane mathematics problem set he is working on. There is a young man in our group who grew up in Alaska working on fishing boats from a young age and who plays the cello. There is an exceptional young woman from Chicago who wrote a piece for the Yale Daily News expressing the importance of public demonstrations in light of a recent police shooting. She and I are polar opposites. I am the "patriarchy" at first glance, and she is a young black woman who is keen on public protests. Not the type of soul I generally find myself in conversation with. We come from different worlds and yet we both read classic works with open hearts and minds.

We recently met with a prominent writer from a think tank who is researching the state of the humanities in the university setting. There were four of us students: two young men, the young woman from Chicago, and me, the old guy. As the younger students started to express their thoughts, the young woman (truly a unicorn of a human) used the word "safe space" and it hit me forcefully. I come from a place where when I hear that term, I roll my eyes into the back of my vacant skull and laugh from the bottom of my potbelly. This time, I was literally in shock. It hit me that what I thought a "safe space" meant, was not accurate. This young woman, the one who used the phrase, isn't scared of anything. She is a life-force of goodness and strength. She doesn't need anyone to provide a comfortable environment for her. What she meant by "safe space" was that she was happy to be in an environment where difficult subjects can be discussed openly, without the risk of disrespect or harsh judgment. This works both ways. What I mean is, this young woman was comfortable, in this university setting, wrestling with things like the Aristotelian idea of some humans being born as "natural slaves." She was quite comfortable in that space. The question was, how comfortable was the 52-year-old white guy in that discussion? Did it make me uncomfortable? Yes. I'm grateful for the discomfort. Thinking about things I don't understand or have, for most of my life, written off, is a good thing.

Being uncomfortable is KEY in this world of ours. Not altogether different from the world of special operations, where the work needs to be done, regardless of weather or personal feelings. The climate in this educational institution is one where most students understand that there HAS to be a place where people can assault ideas openly and discuss them vigorously and respectfully in order to improve the state of humanity. I'll call that a "safe space" and I'm glad those places exist.

Here in the "Directed Studies" program, instead of "tuning in" to our favorite self-confirming "news" source, we are given a timeless text with heavy ideas and then we throw them out on the floor and discuss them with people who have, as I mentioned earlier, made these works and their meaning, their vocation.

In my opinion, the real snowflakes are the people who are afraid of that situation. The poor souls who never take the opportunity to discuss ideas in a group of people who will very likely respectfully disagree with them. I challenge any of you hyper-opinionated zealots out there to actually sit down with a group of people who disagree with you and be open to having your mind changed. I'm not talking about submitting your deeply held beliefs to your twitter/facebook/instagram feeds for agreement from those who "follow" you. That unreal "safe space" where the accountability for one's words is essentially null. I have sure had my mind changed here at Yale. To me there is no dishonor in being wrong and learning. There is dishonor in willful ignorance and there is dishonor in disrespect.

On Veteran's Day, there was a great scene on Cross Campus. A bunch of American flags had been placed there and I stopped on my morning walk to class and took photos of my dog in front of them and sent them to my friends. Later at some point during the day, a young student placed a glove with red paint on it on one of the flags as she wanted to demonstrate her displeasure with something...I'm not quite sure what.

That same afternoon, some of my fellow students from "Directed Studies," after a lecture, gave me this:

It is a card thanking me for my service to our nation. I was humbled and amazed.

These hardworking kids are very kind and thoughtful. A far cry from the picture that is often painted of them.

One of my professors, a Professor of Philosophy, told me once "a good leader is a bridge builder." Professor David Charles is a man who has been teaching bright young people, and some slow and old ones like me, the most difficult subject for me, at Oxford and now Yale. He's been doing this for over 30 years. He is extremely humble and very kind, in addition to being brilliant. I'm motivated by his words and I want to build bridges and lead, in some small way, a new conversation where we stop pointing out the perceived differences in each other, or this group vs that group, and start pointing out similarities. We don't need more condescending friction in humanity. We need less. One step in the direction of less societal friction is to seek commonalities. Another step, and one that is sorely needed, is respect.

Now before you think I'm preaching, please know that I come from a place where I was distinctly the opposite of this ideal. I looked for reasons to disregard the opinions of those I didn't respect. I discounted the ideas of people I felt like hadn't earned the right to share what was in their mind. Particularly when it came to national security issues, I felt that if you hadn't taken a gun into combat, I didn't give a damn what your opinion was.

I'd like to count this as my first brick in attempting to build a bridge between the people here at Yale and those like me before I arrived here. We need everyone who gives a damn about this American experiment to contribute and make it succeed. We humans have much more in common than we have different. Thanks Yale, for helping me to become an aspiring bridge-builder at the age of 52.

In our welcome speech at the beginning of this semester, with all of us Freshman sitting in Woolsey Hall, me sitting next to another veteran, one who'd served in the 82nd Airborne, President Salovey said:

"There is so much we do not know. Let us embrace, together, our humility - our willingness to admit what we have yet to discover. After all, if you knew all the answers, you would not need Yale. And if humanity knew all the answers, the world would not need Yale."

Now back to that bridge. I need to figure out how to actually build one. Good thing I've found a place where I can get help. If this place is peopled by "snowflakes" I'm proudly one of them. I'm a snowflake with a purple heart.

Peace.

Why I Don't Care about the Varsity Blues Scandal

I actually only marginally care that celebrities and wealthy families engaged in fraud to get their students into a handful of well-known colleges and universities. I care that fraudsters exist, certainly, but when I consider the entirety of the mess that is higher ed, I conclude this scandal received way too much front-page press when it should have been relegated to the ‘crime beat’ section. A long-simmering problem that truly deserves more space, above-the-fold, concerns the economics of higher ed. How many colleges can afford to exist in this 21st century? Some have suggested that half of all colleges will be gone within the next few decades. Why? Expenses outpace revenue; a declining student population exists especially in the Midwest and Northeast; online and hybrid learning is disruptive. These factors have already led and will continue to lead to college mergers/consolidations/downsizing/bankruptcies.

Given the precarious state of rural America, I wish Michael Bloomberg had spread out his $1.8 billion higher ed donation to more than just his alma mater (Johns Hopkins). How cool would it have been if he had, instead, sent a $100 million cash infusion to 20 regionally-important but impoverished community colleges or small schools across the country. Small colleges are often the life blood of rural areas across our country. What will happen to the surrounding areas when these institutions disappear? Shouldn’t we care about that?

A few statistics that further inform my world view on higher ed. Around 3.5 million students graduate from high school annually and 40% of those students don’t continue on to higher education. Of the almost 17 million undergraduate students in the US, six million are at 2-yr colleges, seven million attend college part-time (usually b/c they have to work) and…wait for it…only 63,072 TOTAL are enrolled at the eight Ivies. So, yes, I think less emphasis is warranted on fraudsters trying to get their kid to be one of those 63,000 students and a lot more brainpower should be laser-focused on issues of access, jobs and the trillion-dollar debt load of 17 million college students. That it’s not is scandalous.

editor’s addendum: The above article was written two months before anyone had heard of Covid-19. It is abundantly clear that the virus accelerated the pressure on the way colleges budget and operate. Watching the trustees and the administrators respond to the crisis over the past few months has the feel of witnessing a slow motion, multi-car pileup during a winter storm…you want to yell “I told you not to get in the car!” But, you also want to rush in and lend a helping hand. There will be injuries. There will be survivors. Knowing that folks need to learn means that after the accident clears, traffic will cautiously resume to the destination that is higher ed. My hope is that the sudden (overnight!) movement to online forced a reconfiguration which increases access and flexibility and decreases costs and this stultifying focus on rankings.

Finding a Good College Fit: Religion

Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Atheist and ‘Nones’ (the fastest growing segment of the US population according to Pew). These are the religious affiliations of my client base this past application season.  What I learned from my students this year is this: 

Asking the question, 'What makes a college a good fit’ vis a vis a student's religious background is really not that different from taking into account their artistic, academic or athletic interests. Just as I wouldn't advise a non-reader to apply to St John's College in New Mexico, an ardent follower of Christopher Hitchens probably should not have Ohio's Cedarville University on their college list. Fortunately, the parameters are easy enough to ascertain. 

George Fox University, Newburg, Oregon

Campus Culture: 

If you can't tour a college, a visit to a school's homepage will tell you most of what you need to know about the religious landscape. The Words ‘Christ Centered’ or ‘Faith-based' obviously indicate a high level of religiosity.   What does this mean in practice? At schools like George Fox, Pepperdine and Whitworth, attending chapel is required--and monitored. Alcohol is banned. Professors are vetted for faith and often lead prayers before exams. Students who have done their research won't be surprised that the application for admission to faith-based schools includes questions related to bible verses or about an applicant's own history with faith and belief. 

California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA

There are also church-affiliated colleges. On their websites, you will find words like ‘Collaboration, Tolerance and Intercultural Communication’ or 'Competence, Conscience and Compassion' demonstrating a religiously-informed education within an inclusive atmosphere. Chapman University, for example, with historic ties to the Disciples of Christ, encourages the spiritual health of its students through its All Faiths Chapel--which in just one month hosted Langar (Sikh), Ecumenical Good Friday, and Mindfulness events. The Campus Ministry at Georgetown, the oldest Jesuit college in the US, supports a wide variety of chaplaincies and affiliations from Muslim to Hindu to Humanist/None/Unaffiliated. Soka University, founded on the Buddhist principles of peace, human rights and the sanctity of life, is actually non-sectarian and does not have a place of worship on campus. 

Soka University, Aliso Viejo, CA

Students need to understand the ethos and values of their potential colleges, whether written down in the website or not. Ask questions! Are dorms co-ed by building, floor or suite? What are the taboos on smoking, drinking, partying, revealing clothing, shopping on Sunday. Is evangelism required? Is there an honor code and what are the consequences for breaking it? Check out the events page and what merchandise is sold at the bookstore. Look up the faculty: Are they experts in their field?

Academic Fit:

The requirements for any major are roughly equivalent whether at a religious or secular school. The devil, of course, is in the details. Future accountants at Biola, for example, will struggle with the same calculus and finance courses as accounting majors at public universities across the country. But Biola also requires 30 hours of Bible and related courses which is, essentially, minoring in religion. At Cedarville, minoring in bible studies is actually mandatory for all students. Other religiously-affiliated colleges have looser requirements. At Notre Dame or USD, the 9 hours of required religion courses could be taken on The Bible but also could be HIV/AIDS and Christian Ethics or Rich, Poor and War or Religious Peacebuilding.

For students interested in expanding upon their faith, the large number of required religion courses at Christian colleges won't be an issue. For others, the 'creationist approach to scientific research' could present something of a dilemma. 

University of San Francisco

Religious background aside, analyzing any college's core requirements along with the depth and breadth and worldview of available courses is critical to finding a good academic fit. One thought experiment is this: if you are majoring in accounting, and you devote 30 units (almost 2 semesters) to religion, what accounting courses aren’t you taking that you might need for employment or grad school. The cost of college is high. Bible study groups can be found at a meetup, your neighbor’s house or your local church--for free. But, how easily accessible is Accounting for Non-Profits or International Financial Reporting or a Fraud Examination class? How you spend your class time over four years matters. A lot. 

One final thought. There was no discernible pattern to developing a college list for my religiously diverse clients. 

The Hindu was entirely unconcerned about applying to a Catholic university. The requirement to attend chapel and religion classes was a deal breaker for one Christian.  The atheist drew the line at colleges with a bell tower.  And, one of the many ‘Nones’ in my applicant pool was okay with a dry campus.  Exploring and analyzing the choices available to my clients was an absolute blast. But then, it always is...Good luck to the high school Class of 2017!