Singing to the Choir?

It is easy to wonder, are we simply “singing to the choir” when we publish and/or read articles like Dr. Glowacki-Dudka’s. As a field, we know we need to not only recognize adult learners’ unique challenges, but also acknowledge and even highlight them in our classrooms and our publications, as Dr. Glowacki-Dudka and colleagues in their program clearly do. Our field has a long proud history of modeling the way when it comes to helping adult learners reach their learning goals.

“We need to not only recognize adult learners’ unique challenges, but also acknowledge and highlight them in classrooms and publications.”

Furthermore, as a field, we know there is still a considerable amount of work required in academia to optimally support adult learners in their learning pursuits. Thus, I would like to share a recent experience, which might give us hope that we truly are not “singing to the choir.” Last year, I had the privilege to participate in the Oklahoma Educators’ Leadership Fellows Academy. This yearlong experience encompassed individuals from multiple academic institutions, both private and public. The goal was to provide future academic leaders with a broad base of academic administrative knowledge, resources, strategies, and networking to fulfill future leadership roles within higher education.

At the end of this learning experience, my institution requested white papers from their participants on the topic “Considering what you have learned this year, what can we improve and how?” Being an adult educator, I wanted to shine the spotlight on our nontraditional (adult) learners. Here are some of the highlights from the white paper I presented to the President’s Cabinet:

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education (2018), in the United States, there are roughly 95 million students possibly missing the opportunity to enter higher education. Currently, in Oklahoma, it is estimated that 17% of adults who started college, never finished and have not earned a professional certificate.

The academic year 2017-2018 enrollment was 17,593, of which 6,376 were adult students enrolled in at least one course either fall, spring, or both semesters. Adult learners represent 36.2%, over one third, of the total population. However, data on subgroups were not readily available. To serve any student population, we must be willing and able to accurately and efficiently identify the population.

Access and flexibility are critical and may mean something different depending on our role; opportunities include the following:

Sections offered after 5 p.m.

Online sections

College credit for prior learning

Degree completion programs

Student service areas, that is, financial aid, admissions, enrollment services offered “after hours” and advising offered “after hours” and by a consistent individual who is not “young enough to be their child,” but closer to their age.

Recommendation: Identify a director of nontraditional students. This individual’s primary responsibilities should focus on advising and collaborating with all departments, academic and student services, to identify and ensure that the needs of adult learners are not only recognized but also optimally met.

The adult educators at Ball State University deserve big “Kudos” on their continued efforts to model best practices for their learners, the institution, and others. Thank you for sharing the work you are doing with us. In addition, take heart in the knowledge that we are NOT only engaging in “singing to the choir” conversations with colleagues has confirmed that my institution is not alone, many higher education institutions are recognizing that the nontraditional (adult) learner is quickly becoming the norm and are trying to implement practices to service this vital population.