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An Agenda for the First Decade of LAU’s Second Centennial
This academic year is LAU’s Centennial. It marks a century of growth, expansion, and proliferation from an infant two-year college to a modern comprehensive university. Our institution started its centennial year with seven schools, 8,700 students, 700+ faculty members, an equal number of staff members, and scores of physicians. Add to this, three campuses (Beirut, Byblos, and New York), two medical centers, and increasing presence in the MENA region. What LAU has witnessed comes very close to the dictionary definition of “phenomenal growth.” In keeping with dominant academic norms, however, this phenomenal growth has been linear. Its driving dynamics were within a generally accepted classical paradigm in higher education that worked through introducing more programs in new areas along the same pattern known and practiced in older programs. This applied to the way a new program was structured, its curriculum design philosophy, course design, delivery modalities, assessment methods, etc. Furthermore, new programs required the accumulation of a certain number of credit hours, led to degrees, and produced output presumably suitable to fill a niche in the labor market. Such was, and in a major way still is, the modus operandi of LAU and every other major university. At this point in time, however, experts have started noticing serious cracks in the dominant higher education paradigm. Three main reasons were considered in trying to explain these cracks: Increasing evidence of the inability of the dominant paradigm to meet the requirement of market readiness and relevance to emerging workplace needs that were heretofore unknown. The dominant paradigm tendency to encapsulate specialized information for the student to learn. The challenge, however, is that such information has a very short life span and needs to be renewed through self-learning. This was one skill the classical paradigm did not stress enough. The classical paradigm is based on the premise of content exclusivity with respect to what is being offered to students. This meant that the curriculum was the main source of specialized information and enrollment was the only way to access this information. This is obviously no longer true in the age of open AI and its varied applications that students can easily access on their own. This fact carries with it major implications for delivery, for the learning process, and for the structural adjustments required of a university.
Although the emerging higher education paradigm is yet to take final shape, some of its key features are already apparent. Such features include:
Emphasis on experiential learning for the transformative effect of education to have its full impact. A non-siloed approach to content within an interdisciplinary framework where students are exposed to a confluence of multiple disciplinary inputs blended in pursuit of solutions. Emphasis on mental programming based on critical thinking and the skill of asking the right questions and mastering the roadmap that could lead to new answers prompted by, and relevant to, rapidly evolving needs and conditions. Student awareness of and commitment to reinventing themselves periodically by renewing their knowledge base through lifelong self-learning. Structuring content through shorter modules (compared to, say, three-credit courses) and augmenting that through simultaneously pursuing new certificates and diplomas concurrent to specialization. Such certificates could be part of a “stackable” qualifications philosophy, including by way of example: learning skills, critical thinking skills, soft skills, digital skills, and community engagement skills. A much more invasive role for industry in the educational process through joint platforms for inputting curriculum content, guest speakers, actual case studies, and “critical incidents.”
LAU in the Next Decade
The first decade of LAU’s next century is bound to witness a clear and steady move toward the emerging new paradigm in higher education. Some evidence of this is already visible and it will only get clearer in time. Some of the early signs are: Certificate and diploma programs of the stackable kind are already in place, and more are being planned to find their way into the curriculum soon. Experiential learning is already a major academic endeavor on campus and an integral part of many of our programs. New research centers based on interdisciplinary approaches are either already in place or in process. Examples include the Pharmaceutical and Medical Research Center (PMRC) and the Industrial Hub. (IH). New digital diplomas and degrees of the same kind are also now in place. LAU has already turned global with the transformation of the New York City academic center into a degree-granting micro-campus. This is unique to LAU and is to be found at no other university in the Middle East. As such, we can only be at the heart of best practices and global trends. This will reinforce and accelerate our adoption of the new paradigm. Closely related to the point above is the fact that LAU already leads the Lebanese higher education community in terms of online graduate degrees and diplomas. These new products can only be offered in a learner-centered interactive way which is both experiential and relevant to the practical challenges facing participants.
A Decade of Accelerating Change
During the next ten years, LAU will continue at an accelerating pace its metamorphosis toward fully embracing the new norms of higher education and embodying more and more precepts of the emerging paradigm. This will translate into five distinct developments: More “educational supplements” as stackable certificates and diplomas More inter-disciplinary, inter-school degrees with further blurring of departmental boundaries Stronger presence of industry in our classrooms and in a variety of ways A significantly high number of online qualifications at the degree and sub-degree levels Continuously accelerating emphasis on self-learning and self-renewal skills
It is often said that the future starts now. In the case of LAU, it has already started. For LAU, our centennial year carries with it a distinct sense of before and after. The future is upon us in full bloom. .
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