William Hanff Testimony to DC Council on UDC Rightsizing Proposal
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Transcript of William Hanff Testimony to DC Council on UDC Rightsizing Proposal
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7/31/2019 William Hanff Testimony to DC Council on UDC Rightsizing Proposal
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WilliamHanffDCCouncilTestimonyforUDCRight-SizingHearingOctober11th,2012
IdliketoaddressyouasanativeWashingtonianandWard5booster,andasanAssistant
ProfessoratUDCforthepastsixyears.AsaWashingtonian,Iamamazedathowthecityis
growingandevolving,anddisappointedthatUDChasntkeptpace.Asfaculty,IamInstructorin
Communications;aResearcherinMediaTheory;andanOutreachActivistonlineandheretoday.
WithyoursupportandpatienceUDCcancatchupwithDC.
ThereisanotherdebateraginginDC:theTaxiCommissionvs.Uber,thetown-carservice.Itsa
greatmetaphorforafunctionaltaxiservicethatrecentlyupdatedandnowfacesanewwayof
doingthings:mobilephoneapplications.Uberhaschangedthewaywethinkabouttaxiservice
notbychangingcars,butbychanginghowwefindthem.
LiketheDCTaxicommission,UDChasonlyrecentlypulleditselfintothe21stcentury.Weve
launchedaCommunityCollege,beguntorestructureUndergraduatePrograms,begunapart-time
LawProgram,re-envisionedhowweteachagriculturewithCAUSES.Weremovingforward,but
werefacingourownUber.Werefacingfor-profitcolleges,theTAGprogram,andonline
programsatpeerinstitutions.AndtheseareactuallygoodthingsforUDCtoface!Competition
makesusstronger.UDCneedsyourtrusttofollowthroughwithdeepinstitutionalredesignsthat
canleadtobetterservicetothepopulation.
Asfaculty,wedontendoureducationwithourdegrees.Wemustcontinuetoevolve,retrainand
betwostepsahead.WecanmovewithinUDCandcontinuetheevolutiontowardinterdisciplinary
study.Theoldsilosareantiquated:theydontreflectthejobmarket,ourstudentsdontwant
them,manyfacultywantmorefexibility.Whilesomeofmyfacultycolleaguesrespectfully
disagreewithme,IbelievethatmanyatUDCarereadyforthesechanges.
OurstudentsarechangingalongwiththepopulationofDC.Weneedtoengagemultiple
communitiesofthepopulationatmultiplepointsalongtheircareers.Wemustadapttothefact
thatmanyofourundergraduateswanttoearntheirBAinsixyears,whileotherswanttoearnthe
sameinthree.Forthem,UDCmustbecomeapioneerinonlineeducationacrossallprograms,
acrossallWardsofthecity.
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7/31/2019 William Hanff Testimony to DC Council on UDC Rightsizing Proposal
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Someoftheredesignandrightsizingwillnotbeeasy.Butifweputfrontlineeducationfirst
wecancontinuetogrowenrollment.Itwillrequiresmaller,leaneradministration;morenimble
academicdepartments;andaninvestmentinonlineeducationandnewhybridmodelsoflearning.
FlexibleAAprograms,theStep-Upprograms,ProfessionalScienceMastersprograms,MastersofArtsinTeachingprograms,strongliberalartsBAprograms.
Weneedtotakeadvantageofouruniquelocationtooffermorecertificationprogramsandprofessionalseminarswhereourcitycanprovideaworkinglabforourstudents.
UDCisinaprecariouspositionasaninstitution.Itsbeginningtooutliveitsfoundinggeneration.
Forgedintheprogressiveeraofthe60s,myseniorcolleaguesimpartatrueprogressivefireand
excitementforurbaneducation.Dr.MeredithRodeaddressedthecitycouncilfrequentlywhen
UDCwasindirestraights.Shehaspassedawaynowbutwhatshebelievedinhaspassedonto
usfaculty,herstudents,andtoalumniyourconstituents.Shebelievedinchangemeasured
changetobesteducate,inspireandenlargetheunderstandingespeciallyduringchange.
Injustthelastfewdays,someDCcabshavebeguntouseandinstallmobilephoneapplications
thatallowthemtorespondquicklytothelocationofpotentialcustomers.TheDCcabscanexist,
andthrive,sidebysidewithUber.Buttheyneedthetime,support,andthecompetition,toadapt.
WithyourhelpandsupportUDCcanmeetourstudentswheretheyareandtakethemtowhere
theyneedtogoandsometimesplacestheydidntexpect.Dr.MeredithRodetaughtusmany
things:toseebeautyandartinurbanlandscapes;tofightandmakenoiseforwhatyoubelievein;
tobepatientbutcriticalsostudentslearntoimproveandevolve;totrusttheprocessandsupport
otherswhodotoo.
ThesebitsofwisdomIwillbringtoyourconstituentswhentheycometostudyatUDC.Notonly
becauseIamanAssistantProfessor,butbecauseIamaWashingtonian.Ihopeyouwillusethese
bitsofwisdomwhenconsideringyourcontinuedsupportofUDCanditscurrentplanfor
restructuringandredesign.
Thankyouforyourtimeandattention.