New center unnecessary

If you haven’t heard, our beloved university has some big plans in store for us. It’s called The Center for Holistic Education, or CHE for short.

Of course, fearing change and progress as the old fuddy duddy newspaper that we are, we were curious as to the purpose of this new center. In a nutshell, the idea behind CHE is to dig down deep with student’s souls to help them better understand who they are inside.

It’s an honorable mission for sure – what with the developing of students to become spiritually connected with themselves and the universe all the while advising them on what labels they should classify their little unique selves as while enrolled at Ottawa University.

Yet we can’t help but feel offended by the gimmicky aura of it all. Is it really the college’s business to set up a system that will hold our hands as we learn to develop our personalities? College is a transitional period between school and the “real world” so shouldn’t we be encouraged to figure some things out on our own without an advisor? It’s a time of independence and a break from home, a rely, for once in our lives, on ourselves.

The only conceivable reason we can think for establishing CHE is to appear progressive to outsiders without really being progressive. The concept probably seems fresh and contemporary. But we’d be willing to bet that almost all the students who will be required
to plan out their lives and develop their souls in this program will view the CHE as a last-minute afterthought tacked onto their already busy schedules. It’s like having a parent away from home. Who wants more parents?

Maybe we’re wrong. It could be an amazing experience for students, and who knows, some of them might walk away with a different perspective on life. We’re all optimists at heart, so I guess we can’t really see anything overtly bad with the idea — except that it seems a little short sighted.

But at the same time, we just can’t shake the feeling that there’s a difference between education and hokey nonsense. Students made the decision to come here. And if they are having trouble finding themselves or fitting in, they can make the choice to get help. It shouldn’t be forced upon us.

You can read more about the upcoming center online and decide for yourself.

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1 comments

Karen Ohnesorge

Mon Aug 31 2009 08:45

Dear Editorial Board—

I was very glad to see an editorial pitched to challenge OU to ensure its educational efforts are substantive and meaningful.

However, I believe the Board may be confusing the purposes of the Center for Holistic Education (CHE) with those of the Adawe LifePlan Center (ALPC). To clarify, the CHE will ensure the vitality and rigor of the Liberal Arts University-wide, while also housing two new student support units: Counseling and Professional Services at the Adult and Professional Sites and Online, and the ALPC at the College. The editorial seems to target the ALPC in particular.

Proceeding from that interpretation, I was a bit dismayed to see editors representing the Adawe LifePlan Center purposes as an archaeological digging-up of souls—which seems a bit medieval—or as “gimmicky”—which belittles the considerable research undertaken in designing the Center, where career development, tutoring, mentoring, and advising services will be brought together for better effectiveness. The ALPC Advisors will be engaged in complex and highly individualized relationships with students. Far from “hand-holding,” these relationships are meant to encourage independence, mindfulness, and intentionality. I would be happy to elaborate further if The Campus is interested in the theories and practices that inspire us.

Our commitment to making OU’s educational efforts both more substantive and more meaningful through the ALPC is perhaps best exemplified in our involvement in a self-study process under the direction of the National Policy Center on the First Year of College. Project liaisons are myself, Dr. Barbara Dinneen, and Mr. Tom Taldo. If the Editorial Board wishes, I would be happy to name each of you as members of our task force. Rather than risking making errors by making assumptions, we will be undertaking serious research into students’ experiences at OU, and we need to involve people with critical minds who are ready to roll up their sleeves.

Warm Regards,

Karen Ohnesorge, PhD
Dean of Instruction and Director, Adawe LifePlan Center

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