Category: Higher Education

Abstract

Concerning the growing issue surrounding the financial stability of college graduates in the United States, the concept of a free higher education system has been examined as a possible solution. By eradicating tuition costs of public and private universities, the citizens of the country will carry less of a burden affording the surging cost of living post-degree. I will contend this position by examining the historical reasoning behind free public education, the issue of educational inequality, and the ability to reduce the debt of college graduates.

The United States is perceived as a powerful first-world country, that supplies opportunity for its citizens to advance freely. America has the undeniable capability of providing its citizens the rights which are granted to them in the U.S Constitution. An essential right that has been excluded from its importance to our society is the absolute right to an education. Free higher education wields the solution to the mass amount of student loan debt, the lack of political knowledge and participation, the need for employees for the professional fields, and the financial gap between the rich and the poor. Many of the setbacks these younger generations are facing on their path to adulthood stems from the accessibility to advanced learning. Moreover, free instruction for citizens seeking a degree will better advance the future of this nation to prosperity.

Higher education also referred to as post-secondary education, which is the “optional final stage of formal learning”. The avenues a young adult can take to advance their learning includes community colleges, public or private universities, and online schools for adult education. These institutions provide adults from various socioeconomic backgrounds the knowledge to pursue a career of their choice. The impact of a costly education affects Americans’ financial stability. To reform our education system would in turn produce a strong workforce with a smaller wealth gap. Based on the educational equality all people are to be afforded, this access to free higher education extends to all colleges and universities for their tuition fees.

Horace Mann was the man who created the American Common Schools in 1838, which became the first form of free public education for children in America. Mann’s ideology of widespread education comprised of an education of equal opportunity that could prevent the major national disputes that arose around the time. As he indicates in his book Lectures on Education, “the mobs, the riots, the burnings, the lynchings, perpetrated by the men of the present day, are perpetuated, because of their vicious or defective education when children”. He concluded that a proper education could prevent civil strife. Historically, the more battles we face as a nation, the more educated civilians we need to generate to combat them. The principles held by Horace Mann for a free public education system parallels the positive change a free higher education can have on this country in the 21st century. Free higher education ought to follow in the footsteps of history, beginning with free elementary public education, to the growth in access to a college degree, and begin transitioning into a free of charge education. The demand of a degree from the economy is steadily rising, along with the demand from the college-ready students. It is time for our government to uphold with the ever-growing standards of education in this country. The same principle of access for a more prepared society upholds itself with each sector of our educational system. In order to uphold a standard of quality education for all students, not only does education need to be prioritized, but the foundation of a market economy abolished. The price of a college education should not reflect a perceived status or value. No longer should there be an undue financial blockade placed upon on the development of our young adults. The better educated our society becomes, the more answers we will have when the time comes to solve the pressing issues, and conjure answers from issues caused by the previous generations.

Free higher education is a democratic concept that has the goal of providing for all people, rather than allowing only those who can afford it to access a college degree. The concept of for-profit universities and the skyrocketing costs of attendance to all others is filtering out capable students and consequently making eligibility less about qualification and more about financial status. Those from the top financial quartile in the United States have completed an average of 4 more years of schooling than those of the lowest quartile. The higher family income group also enters college by age 25 at a nearly 80% increased rate than a 30% rate from the lower income group. People attending college come from homes with a higher annual household incomes than students who are not attending college. This trend of wealth equaling higher education continues throughout the levels of higher education. The top and most prestigious schools attract the wealthier and more privileged students in our country. Access is our biggest combat to the educational inequality that is dominating this country in almost every aspect. By allowing our citizens free access to degree of their choice, we will create the opportunity to have the professionals of our communities coming from our communities. Americans will have more opportunities to become productive members of society, regardless of socioeconomic background. Many oppose the idea of a free higher education due to the concept of value depreciation. It is argued that total access would lessen the value a degree currently holds. Higher education being free of charge would only reflect the normalization of a college education. Free education is a democratic ideal, that values education for all. As a country, it is important that we help our citizens provide a common standard for all people. The subsequent to free higher education would be a more politically informed and active population with less crime and more competitiveness in the professional fields. It is time for the culture of American society to release its ideals of profit and invest in the development of the country from the inside out.

The truth of the matter is, those with a college degree are beginning to suffer as well. Today, there are about 1.4 trillion dollars accrued from student debt in America. This debt came from people in this country who invested money they may not have into an education that is supposed to lead them to success. The cost of living in the United States is on a constant rise, and the extreme expenses of an education is detrimental to the development of young adults’ independent lives. College graduates are becoming less able to buy homes. Research from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth shows that graduates will purposely avoid the additional debts associated with buying a home, or are unable to get a loan for mortgage because of low credit scores from their student loans. Due to the high price of a college education, students are making the decision of whether to attain a higher education based on financial ability. Statistics show those in the lowest percentile of income being more likely to pursue an associates’ degree, while their wealthier counterparts are more likely to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Jobs which require a bachelor’s degree earn more on average earn than jobs that require an associates’. This concludes that the wealth gap at this rate will continue to increase as long as a higher value of educational attainment is available to the same economic class. A college degree is the most promising way to upgrade a financial status. It is known as the ‘great equalizer’. A tendency that we are currently having is that the educational status of grandparents is no different from their children, and the consecutive generations. Free higher education could realistically eradicate this educational and financial trend and give young adults a step forward in advancing into their adult lives. Those who currently have obtained a free higher education are considered advantageous in the forthcoming steps of their lives. If we granted everyone this right, graduate’s struggles to buy a car, buy a home, and pay for the ever-growing expenses of daily life will be much less of a burden. Education ought to expand students’ motivation and effort towards success, rather than the financial worries associated with the high costs of college.

Ultimately, the question of free higher education should be answered with the value of an educated population prioritized. Colleges and universities should be free, so that students in America experience less obstacles towards becoming productive members of society. The future of our country will get to spend their money on their needs, families, and future endeavors. By granting a free higher education to our citizens, we would be arming our young adults with the tools to use against the universal problems that we are supposed to fix on the path to an efficient world and quality life. The world is changing, and education rather than being a selective separation of class, our country will grant the free educational right and privilege that is afforded to every citizen whom wishes and qualifies.

Citation Page

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5. Ruch, R. S. (2001). Higher Ed, inc. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
6. BAUM, S. A. N. D. Y. (2018). Student Debt: rhetoric and realities of higher education financing. Place of publication not identified: PALGRAVE PIVOT. Student Loan Resources: Financial Aid & Loan Debt Management. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.debt.org/students/.

INTRODUCTION

The higher Education of this nation, as somewhere else, has working from its expanding significance for the social orders and economies that it serves. Universities working on various time periods with assorted exercises have not thought that it was anything but difficult to adapt to requests for a specific sort of execution Therefore, the administrations have been slanted to give institutions about cultivation or even to take a stab at it themselves. Subsequently the institutions, sustained by what appeared to be a mind-boggling demonstration of positive support, continued ahead with the reasonable assignments of advancement and development.

Many gatherings have chipped away at vital arrangement and planning of Higher Education in Pakistan. The reports of these gatherings would help us in solidifying our views about the current circumstance of Higher Education and furthermore give us adequate pieces of information in regards to its turn of events and development.

The Working Group on strategy and coordination of education has given the accompanying arrangement outline work for the advancement of Higher Education during point of view plan, during the Seventh Five Year Plan and Eighth Five Year Plan.

DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN

Higher education is an incredible and basic apparatus for building a cutting edge, proficient, refined and tranquil society which can lead the nation towards a brilliant future. It is likewise viewed as one of the most significant and most grounded devices for the improvement of any nation. Following are the points of discussion on the development of Higher Education in Pakistan.

1. HIGHER EDUCATION RIGHT AFTER PARTITION

At the time of Independence, in 1947, the recently conceived Government of Pakistan acquired a conceptualized arrangement of education and regulatory arrangement from the unified Indian Government under the British guideline. However, during that moment in time the educational sketch of the country was tremendously low due to sudden decrease in literacy rate.

Because of this bleak circumstance, endeavors to talk about the whole educational framework up to the necessities and yearnings of the nation began directly after the freedom when All Pakistan Educational Conference was held in Karachi from 27 November to 1 December 1947 under the orders of Quaid-I-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in which Jinnah emphasizes on the development of institutions for Higher Education.

Mr. Jinnah focused on the significance of Higher Education as an instrument of any country’s financial change. The Conference delivered a solid way of thinking of present day education and various eager proposals demonstrating the future objectives of education in Pakistan.

From that point forward, different governments have put forth attempts to reorient the Higher Education framework in orchestrating with national, social, ideological and monetary necessities of the nation. For this reason, arrangement of various Commissions on Education and Policies were planned every once in a while, despite the fact that the execution of these strategies was not coordinated with the numerous noteworthy suggestions.

2. FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

The essential procedure in Higher Education keeps on depending on combination and improvement. A key component in this procedure is faculty advancement. During the 6th plan, preparing centers for the university instructors have been extended. Institutional linkages with foreign universities have been started, Equipment has been expanded. These measures have, be that as it may, to a great extent by-passed the school level. No significant undertaking was propelled in school education.

3. USE OF FOREIGN POLICIES

The honor of B.A. degree following 14 years of education is no more in develpped nations. By and large, it takes 16 years to graduate. As a stage toward that path, the Ministry of Education has started proposition to organize a B.A/B.Sc.(Hons) stream overlaying the current B.A/B.Sc. This would require 3 years after moderate and would be a pre-condition for admission to M.A./M.Sc., which will keep on being a two-year-course.

4. INCREASE IN UNIVERSITIES

Since the 2000s, there has been quick development in these foundations and universities across Pakistan as is clear from the sharp ascent in their numbers from only 32 of every 2001 to 160 at present.

5. EXTENSION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Pakistan was one of the principal nations, in the creating scene, to help the augmentation and progression of higher education. e.g., extension of the indigenous and unfamiliar PhD programs, presentation of another assistance structure for employees (tenure track framework), MPhil, and PhD programs, computerization of universities, and making of the digital library; scholarship program and backing to foundations situated in less-created zones; Research, with the research grant program and Significance with an attention on engineering, science, and technology programs.

SIGNIFICANT ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT:

In the 21st century, various organizations are feeling the squeeze because of global requests and the changing method of nearby customers. For each general public, the job of higher learning organizations is to produce information for the new time and to prepare the people for global market. Presently, with traditional method, it is hard for inclining organization to address the difficulties of the 21st century. Higher learning organizations are striving to confront the difficulties; authoritative advancement is turning out to be fundamental segment of the learning associations. The investigation carried out to explore the means of fundamental for higher learning establishments to get by in the evolving condition. It is discovered that organizational development of higher learning foundations is the need of the time and it is fundamental for the higher learning organizations to dispatch new ways for encouraging its students.

HIGHER EDUCATION COMISSION

Higher Education Commission Pakistan (HEC) was set up in 2002 with the point of bringing quality bar up in higher education and for advancing educational innovative work in the nation.

It helps our national universities in giving quality education to their students. It helps in controlling degree approval and is the entryway for observing genuine research culture. Higher Education Commission (HEC) grants diverse merit and need scholarships to competitive students. Higher Education Commission is able to set up or encourage a strong research and development culture in the country. It gives rules to guarantee great administration and the executives of institutions to keep up baffling norms of higher education in the Punjab, also helps in backing up to make linkages among institutions and industry just as national and global associations that help innovative work in the higher education. Get ready, in discussion with the institutions, plans for the improvement of higher education.

Indeed Higher Education commission (HEC) means to direct normalized and straightforward test for the students and experts of various educational back grounds. The point of these tests is to asses and rank the individual information and aptitudes at uniform. it gives a chance to capable students who are monetarily hindered and are unequipped for meeting higher education costs at accomplice organization/universities in all control.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Enthusiasm for Higher Education has enormously expanded all around the globe during the most recent 35 years. Creating nations acknowledge Higher Education as most significant methods for logical, innovative and mechanical advancement which is imperative for removal of neediness and improvement of prosperous social orders. For nations Higher Education is likewise the methods for modernizing their social orders and for creating profoundly instructed pioneers in varying backgrounds.

NATURE AND NEED OF HIGHER EDUCATION:

Higher education is perceived today as a capital venture and is of central significance for monetary and social improvement of the nation.

Institutions of higher education have the essential duty for preparing people with new information and aptitudes necessary for places of duties in government, business, and different professions. Quality higher education is a cause of incredible potential for the financial and social advancement of the country. The country can be changed into an advanced nation through Higher education.

Factors, for example, the particular idea of higher education institutions, worldwide portability of students, and instructors, openness of PC based learning quest for examination and grant, globalization of economy, and rising difficulties of the 21st century have direct affect on the future improvement of higher education.

Higher education is the contributions of higher secondary students to produce the graduates and post graduates and to make them go into the practical world and join the positions of their specialization.

The need for higher education isn’t just to grant information in specific parts of information; it has further significance and goals. The need is multidimensional and might be termed as social, affordable, and social.

The structure of studies is dictated by the reasoning, points and aspirations of its resources, by the objectives of its benefactors, to be specific the general public and the administration, by the requirements of its purchaser, , by its own dormancy or protection from change and by the inward rationale or requirement for consistency in its educational programs and projects.

Institutions resemble green houses where different sorts of students develop into professionals and are conveyed all through the world. Higher Education can’t develop in a general public wherein there is no profound inclination for the essentials of its greatness in Higher Education for the advancement of the general public.

Higher education can be viewed as a basic source of knowledge and information, an organization which makes an incredible commitment to the financial development and advancement through cultivating development and expanding higher abilities. It is looked as an approach to improve the personal satisfaction and address significant social and worldwide difficulties. Higher education is comprehensively characterized as one of key drivers of development execution, flourishing and competitiveness.

Higher Education is additionally intended to empower graduates to address different difficulties in a powerful world and to make in them solid flexibility to an evolving society.

Higher Education can likewise need for civilizing people, and for the best possible assessment of humankind. We ought to have new courses, new educational plans, and new kinds of colleges and produce various sorts of graduates to meet the expanding needs of a differentiated society.

ROLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN PROGRESS OF SOCIETY:

The Higher Education is helpful in the progress of society in many ways which are overviewed in the form of following points:

1. MAKING WORTHY EMPLOYEES

Higher education offers an individual a chance to prevail in the present worldwide economy. Present day colleges furnish their students with different projects planned for setting them up for various economic parts, helping them to remain and advance in the work advertise for long, programs that have any kind of effect for work showcase results and stay up with changes in the worldwide economy and changes in the development procedure. Institutions give long lasting learning; they offer chances to draw in and pull in experts into training and professional development.

2. ACHIEVE GLOBALIZATION

Due to rising advancement in information technology, the development of individuals, merchandise, cash and data has become a lot simpler and the globalization of the economy has been quickened. This additionally adds to the creation of new wealth and administrations. The advancement of data innovation has differentiated the types of higher education, and from one viewpoint is associated with improved quality and extension to a more extensive objective of students.

3. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Growing elevated level of human resources with the essential information and abilities for financial and social improvement has been the most significant job of higher education. In addition, in the current information society where a whole society’s information level is at issue, higher education can’t simply build up few pioneers. It is getting imperative to grow higher education so a wide scope of development can be created and the whole society can flourished.

4. IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY OF LIFE

It is a way to accomplish self-acknowledgment for people. Solidly, individuals can improve their salary and personal satisfaction through expanding information or abilities and afterward develop their own decisions accessible throughout everyday life, including those identified with work life. Likewise, deep rooted education, which continually reestablishes singular information and aptitudes, should be ensured all through the lifetime to react to singular adapting needs. Accordingly, one should ensure open doors for higher education in light of people’s expectations and capacities.

5. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND BETTER COMMUNICATION

Individuals with careers build through Higher Education will in general lead more organized lives and have a more grounded awareness of other’s expectations, qualities that fill in as quality manufacturers in everyday issues.

Most jobs include some type of composed or verbal correspondence. Higher Education plays the most important part in improving in the two regions.

6. DEVELOPMENT OF NEW RESOURCES

In the creation and transmission of knowledge and information in a society, higher education is requested to assume a focal job. Specifically, the capacity to apply information and specialized abilities is critical to financial development. Thus, higher education must not only show new innovation, however should create resources which can assess the requirement for these advancements and apply them.

One of the most common forms of civil litigation, tort laws have so many aspects to consider. Tort law cases range anywhere from a woman burning her legs and suing McDonald’s for not putting a warning on the lid to let her know that the coffee would be hot to someone suing a Costco for slipping on a wet floor that did not have a wet floor sign to let someone know of the danger. Do not let these examples fool you, tort laws are not just one individual sticking it to big companies, anytime that a situation results in the injury of a person that could have been prevented there is an opportunity for tort laws to be applied. If there is a court case and it does not involve drugs, constitutional law, immigration law, motor vehicle code, and zoning/environmental ordinances than it is most likely a tort law case (Johnson, 2015). Due to the expand of possibilities and vast nature of tort laws, this paper will focus on how tort laws affect and apply within post-secondary educational institutions.

Elements to a Tort Case

According to Babcock (2020), there are four elements to every successful tort case: duty, breach of duty, causation, and injury. Duty denotes the responsibilities of the defendant (person being sued). For example, a college professor’s duty is to provide a safe learning environment where students are encouraged to foster relationships with peers and feel free to express their opinions.

Breach of duty would be described as any moment in time where a defendant does not perform the duties for which they are responsible. For example, the college professor fails to provide a safe learning environment where students are not encouraged to foster relationships with peers and are afraid to share their thoughts and opinions in class for fear of persecution or reprimand.

Causation is defined as the relationship between cause and effect (Babcock, 2020). This means that any possible occurrence that caused someone harm or distress occurred because of something that could have been avoided. For example, a student in a college class is doing a lab and is chemically burned because the professor never stressed or strictly taught the required safety precautions needed when working with chemicals. This breach in duty by the professor would be considered causation for the student’s chemical burn. The resulting chemical burn would be legally referred to as injury, which is the fourth element required in a tort case.

The simplest way to understand the four elements is that the roles and duties of an individual being accused must be clearly defined. When the duties are not upheld by an individual, this breach of duty would be seen as a causation for someone’s injury. When these elements are clearly defined and can be proven, a successful tort case can occur.

Three Main Types of Torts

Babcock (2020), explains that there are three main types of torts: intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability. Intentional torts are when an individual or group of people purposely cause injury to someone. Examples of intentional torts include physical attacks, trespassing, defamation, battery, and false imprisonment.

Strict liability refers to cases where someone can be persecuted via tort laws without directly being at fault. This would be an action that occurs that eventually leads to the injury of someone else. At one point or another while watching television there comes a commercial where someone says, “If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma you may be entitled to legal compensation.” This commercial is an example of a law firm looking for victims of a strict liability tort. At some point someone built a home or other structure and unintentionally used carcinogenic materials, causing someone to get mesothelioma. Although this was not their intention, the builder of these structures would be responsible for the injuries caused to anyone that was affected by the carcinogenic materials. Other examples of strict liability include animal attacks and any activity that is abnormally dangerous.

The final and most common type of tort is negligence. Negligence refers to an individual’s breach of duty. The previous example of the professor not teaching proper safety precautions to his students resulting in chemical burns would be a negligence tort case.

Ethical Implications within Higher Education

As mentioned previously, the focus of this paper will be how these tort laws affect higher education. As you continue to read, consider the following questions, how many people do you know in the professional world that purposely do not uphold their duties? Have you met someone that makes mistakes on purpose? Many tort cases involve people who had good intentions, but the reality is that accidents happen all the time and unfortunately people get hurt. This is why tort laws exist, it is up to the plaintiff (person suing) to prove that the defendant was at fault and that not all of the necessary precautions were taken.

Any college/university employee that is hired is literally paid to do their job. When applying, institutions provide a job description that outlines duties and roles for which a hire is responsible. Prior to being hired, candidates must understand the roles and responsibilities of the position for which they are applying as their salary reflects the job that they are expected to do. It is with this understanding that any employee within a higher education institution must uphold their side of the deal. If the school for which an individual is employed does not fulfill their end of the deal and misses a payment to their staff or faculty, many people would be upset and would take immediate notice. Likewise, if an individual is not maintaining the set standards that are required of them, they will be failing not only the school, but the students that they have sworn to serve. There is no excuse for cutting corners and for not going out of one’s way to ensure that all the necessary precautions are taken. It is when these ideals are not upheld that an individual is fully liable for the injuries that occur to others. This is the breach of duty that tort laws will seek to punish.

For higher education institutions to be successful, it requires an entire team of staff and faculty to come together and keep the institution a well-oiled, running machine. If someone is upholding their duties to the highest standards and they see someone not doing the same, it is up to them to bring it up to the attention of the individual at fault as this type of behavior will eventually lead to a negative image of the school in general and the staff/faculty as a whole. If said individual continues to fail to perform their duties, then it is crucial that further steps be taken. These steps can include: reporting the individual to their direct supervisor, placing the employee on a probationary period in which they are given a deadline or final warning to fix the mistake, as well as the dismissal of the individual for not fulfilling their contractual responsibilities.

An ideal that the author of this paper holds is that anything that you do in life should be done to the best of your ability. An individual should not pick and choose when they will place effort on a matter. If a culture like this is fostered within a higher education institution, then a lot of the tort law claims and injuries that occur would be avoided. This can be avoided not only from the side of the higher education employee but also from the side of those that are potential victims of a tort case. This ideal creates an environment in which everyone can have the peace of mind that everything that could possibly be done to maintain a safe environment has been done. An environment in which there is no liability on anyone because an injury that occurs is not preventable because it was truly accidental in nature. This mentality also fosters a mindset in which someone who is accidentally injured is not looking to impart blame or search for financial compensation.

Tort Laws are State Laws

Besides the four elements of a tort case (duty, breach of duty, causation, and liability) and the three main types of tort cases (intentional, strict liability, and negligence) brought up in the previous sections, there is an important component of tort laws that needs to be considered. According to Johnson (2015), tort law is almost entirely a state law. This is due to the fact that the majority of cases involve contracts, property, and unjust enrichment which are all matters of state law. With this in mind, higher education institutions need to be mindful of decisions within their states and the tendency of direction in which the case decisions are made. It is important to note that tort laws all hold the same basic principles and that the difference in decisions between states may be very minute in nature. However, the biggest factor to play a role in court cases is the minor details so these minute differences between states can make all the difference in one specific case. In the sections to come we will review two cases and the details that directed each case.

Furek v. The University of Delaware

This court case took place in 1991 and was one of the first tort law rulings that began to place a bigger responsibility on higher education institutions for the wellbeing of their students.

In this case, The University of Delaware was aware of the injuries that some of their students were sustaining from fraternity hazing. In response, the dean of students put out a statement that fraternity hazing would not be accepted. This initial statement was not enough to deter the hazing. While the school was in the process of creating an anti-hazing policy, there was another incident. The incident involved Jeffrey Furek who had pledged for a fraternity and was put through the fraternity’s initiation rituals in which one of the fraternity members poured oven cleaner on him while he was blindfolded. This caused Furek chemical burns and severe scarring. Leading him to file a negligence suit against the individual who poured the oven cleaner, the fraternity, and the university. The Supreme Court of Delaware ruled in favor of Furek stating that although the students at the university are adults and are responsible for their safety, the university is also responsible for their safety because of the dense population of young adults that they created at their institution.

At the time, this decision stood apart from other cases where the ruling had been in favor of the universities. In previous cases, there had been a mindset that universities were not babysitters and should not be held responsible for the decisions of the young adults attending their institution.

Coleman v. Soccer Association of Columbia

This case does not directly pertain to a higher education institution but is something to be considered when the athletic staff at a university choose to run athletic camps or host tournaments. The court case took place in Maryland in 2013. The plaintiff James Coleman was a volunteer coach for Soccer Association of Columbia and was leading a practice with a team. Although the association had their own fields, this particular practice took place on a local school field due to all the association’s fields being used at that time. Coleman sustained injuries while retrieving a ball from a goal. On his way to get the ball, he walked under the goal post and decided to hang from the crossbar. The goalpost was not anchored, and he fell backward with the weight of the crossbar falling on his face and causing severe facial fractures that required multiple medical procedures and metal plates to be placed into his face. Coleman filed a lawsuit against the association for their negligence in securing the goal. The association argued that they should not be held responsible because Coleman was negligent by not using the goal for its intended purpose. The association filed that Coleman had committed contributory negligence because his actions risked his own safety.

The final verdict in the case was in favor of the association. Although the jury stated that the association was not free of fault and were negligent for having not ensured the safety of the goals, they also stated that Coleman was at fault for deciding to hang from the top of the goal (contributory negligence). Even though the jury accepted that the association was at fault, the state of Maryland’s tort laws state that someone who is guilty of contributory negligence is solely responsible for any consequences of their actions. Any lawsuit in the state of Maryland that has a slight percentage of contributory negligence will automatically rule in favor of the defendant (Justia, 2020).

Tort Implications on Soccer Coaches

As an employee of a higher education institution I am required to uphold the values and responsibilities that the institution requires of me. Being a soccer coach, I have an added element of responsibility due to the nature of my role within the institution. I not only have a duty to maintain the safety of students within an academic capacity but also through an athletic capacity. With soccer being such a high impact sport, it is up to me to not only maintain a safe environment for student athletes but also ensure that I am properly trained to handle stressful situations in which injury to persons may have occurred. The steps that I take, or lack thereof, are something that will be taken into account if I am ever a defendant in a tort lawsuit. Any precautions that are not taken and lead to the injury of an individual could have severe implications on not only myself, but the school as well.

At Dakota Wesleyan University, the men’s and women’s soccer programs hosted a futsal tournament that had 132 teams participate. With over a thousand athletes coming to participate in our tournament it was important to take the proper precautions. Precautions like having athletic trainers at all three sites, ensuring that all equipment was in proper working order, having field marshals that constantly monitored courts, and having designated areas where teams could warm up and a ball was able to be kicked. All these precautions were added to the liability waivers in which participants accepted that DWU would ensure a safe environment but understood that there was still an inherent risk of injury that comes from playing sports. It is important for me to make sure that I am someone that does not cut corners to save money. This futsal tournament is the biggest fundraiser that our program has every year and as much as we could have saved money by having a travelling athletic trainer, unregistered referees, and untrained marshals if something serious had happened and it was proven that we did not take all necessary precautions we would be in serious risk of a tort lawsuit. When it comes to my work within a higher education institution and tort laws it is better to be safe than sorry.

References

1. Babcock Law Firm. (2020). The 3 Different Types of Tort Laws. Retrieved April 18, 2020, from https://www.injurylawcolorado.com/legal-library/tort-law-types.html
2. Johnson, E. E. (2015). Torts: Cases and Contexts (First, Vol. 1). Chicago, IL: eLangdell Press.
3. Justia. (2020). Furek v. University of Delaware. Retrieved March 20, 2020, from https://law.justia.com/cases/delaware/supreme-court/1991/594-a-2d-506-5.html

Abstract

Student-centered education through appropriate methodologies facilitates effective learning as teaching-learning modalities of the higher education institution are considered to be relevant for the learner group. Although it is true that diversity of students in respect of their background, abilities and other personal attributes will influence the pace and extent of learning, learner-centered education calls for appropriate methodologies that can be used by professors’ to provide a variety of learning experiences, including individual and coordinative learning. In this paper, we have analyzed various strategies followed like planning and preparing the teaching- learning – evaluation schedules, support structures and systems available for teachers to develop skills like interactive learning, collaborative learning and independent learning among the students to make learning more student-centric, institutional strategy to nurture critical thinking, creativity and scientific temper among the students to transform them into life-long learners and innovators, the technologies and facilities available and used by the faculty for effective teaching. Opportunities given to the students and professor to advance the level of knowledge and skills, academic, personal and psycho-social support and guidance services provided to students, details of innovative teaching methods adopted by the faculty during the last four years and the efforts made by the institution to encourage the faculty to adopt new and innovative approaches and the impact of such innovative practices on student learning are also discussed.

Introduction

Teaching is one of the main components in educational planning which is a key factor in conducting educational plans. Despite the importance of good teaching, the outcomes are far from ideal. The present qualitative study aimed to investigate effective teaching in higher education. The best teaching approach is the mixed method plus educational planning and previous readiness. But whenever the teachers can teach using this method confront with some barriers and requirements; some of these requirements are prerequisite in professors’ behavior and some of these are prerequisite in professors’ outlook. Also, there are some major barriers, some of which are associated with the professors’ operation and others are related to laws and regulations. Implications of these findings for teachers’ preparation in education are discussed. Rapid changes of modern world have caused the Higher Education System to face a great variety of challenges. Therefore, training more eager, thoughtful individuals in interdisciplinary fields is required.

New teaching methods and barriers

Teachers participating in this study believed that teaching and learning in higher education is a shared process, with responsibilities on both Student and Professor’ to contribute to their success. Within this shared process, higher education must engage the students in questioning their preconceived ideas and their models of how the world works, so that they can reach a higher level of understanding. But students are not always prepared with this challenge, nor are all of them driven by a enthusiasm to understand and apply knowledge, but all too often aspire merely to survive the course, or to learn only procedurally in order to get the highest possible marks before rapidly moving on to the next subject. The best teaching helps the students to question their preconceptions, and motivates them to learn, by putting them in a situation in which their existing model does not work and in which they come to see themselves as authors of answers, as agents of responsibility for change. That means, the students need to be faced with problems which they think are important. Also, they believed that most of the developed countries are attempting to use new teaching methods, such as student-centered active methods, problem-based and project-based approaches in education.

In the study, the professors noted that there are some barriers to effective teaching that are mentioned below:

• The requirements defined curriculum and resources in the teaching, the large number of students in classes, and High volume theoretical principles
• Do not take a problem-based learning and student-centered learning in their evaluation as a bonus for teachers
• Do not use educational assistants
• Lack of interest and motivation among students

Requirements related to faculty outlook in an effective teaching

Having a successful and effective teaching that creates long-term learning on the part of the students will require certain feelings and attitudes of the teachers. These attitudes and emotions strongly influence their behavior and teaching. In this section, the attitudes of successful Professor are discussed.

Alignment with organizational strategies

Co-ordination with the overall organizational strategies will allow the educational system to move toward special opportunities for innovation based on the guidelines ‘If faculty members know themselves as an inseparable part of the university, and proud of their employment in the university and try to promote the aim of training educated people with a high level of scientific expertise of university, it will become their goal, too. Thus, they will try as much as possible to attain this goal”.

Interested in students and trust in their ability

When a person begins to learn, according to the value of hope theory, he must feel this is an important learning and believe that he will succeed. Since the feeling of being successful will encourage individuals to learn, you should know that teachers have an important role in this sense.

Systemic approach in higher education

Master had a holistic and systematic view, determined the position of the teaching subject in a field or in the entire course knows general application of issues and determines them for students, and tries to teach interdisciplinary topics. They should be aware of the fact that these students are the future of the country and in addition to knowledge; they should provide them with the right attitude and vision.

Being interested in the scientific field of study

The faculty members’ passion to teach a lesson as responsible and believed that: ‘If the a Professor is interested in his field, he/she devotes more time to study the scriptures of his field and regularly updates his information; this awareness in his teaching and its influence on students is also very effective’.

Requirements related to the behavior and performance of Professors’ in effective teaching

Professors’ have to focus on mental differences, interest, and sense of belonging, emotional stability, practical experience and scientific level of students in training. Class curriculum planning includes preparation, effective transition of content, and the use of learning and evaluating teaching.

Given the current study subjects’ ideas, the following functional requirements for successful teaching in higher education can be proposed.

Having a course plan, using appropriate educational strategies

The most important role of Professor is planning and controlling the educational process for students to be able to achieve a comprehensive learning.

‘The fact that many Professor’ don’t have a predetermined plan on how to teach, and just collect what they should teach in a meeting is one reason for the lack of creativity in teaching’.

Teaching and learning in education raise some questions and want the Professors’ to ask themselves these questions regularly.

1. How to increase the students’ motivation.
2. How to help students feel confident in solving problems.
3. How to teach students to plan their learning activities.
4. How to help them to carry out self-assessment at the end of each lesson.
5. How to encourage the students to motivate them for future work.
6. How I can give feedback to the students and inform them about their individual learning.

Metacognition training and self-assessment of students during teaching.

Every Professor’ who were interviewed cited the need to explain the lessons in plain language, give feedback to students, and explain the causes and reasons of issues.

‘I always pay attention to my role as a model with regular self-assessment; I’m trying to teach this main issue to my students”.

Using conceptual map and pre-worked plan in training

Improving the quality of learning through the promotion of education, using pre-organizers and conceptual map, emphasizing the student-centered learning and developing the skills needed for employment are the strategies outlined in lifelong learning, particularly in higher education.

Inspiring creativity during teaching the lessons

The belief that creative talent is universal and it will be strengthened with appropriate programs is a piece of evidence to prove that innovative features of the programs should be attended to continually. Certainly, in addition to the enumerated powers, appropriate fields should be provided to design new ideas with confidence and purposeful orientation. Otherwise, in the absence of favorable conditions and lack of proper motivations, it will be difficult to apply new ideas. ‘Professor should always encourage the students to be creative when he teach a topic; for example, after teaching, he should express some vague hints and undiscovered issues and ask them what the second move is to improve that process’.

Developing knowledge on how to resolve the issues in future career through class discussion.

Senior instructors try to engage in self-management and consultation, tracking their usage of classroom management skills and developing action plans to modify their practices based on data. Through consultation, instructors work with their colleagues to collect and implement data to gauge the students’ strengths and weaknesses, and then use protocols to turn the weaknesses into strengths. The most effective teachers monitor progress and assess how their changed practices have impacted the students’ outcomes.

‘It is important that what is taught be relevant to the students’ career; however, in the future with the same information they have learned in university, they want to work in the industry of their country’.

Documenting experiences

Skills in documenting the results of the process of teaching-learning cannot only facilitate management in terms of studying the records, but also provides easier access to up to date information ‘ Professor should have a notebook in his office that he usually refer to after each class. Then, he has to write down every successful strategy that was highly regarded by students that day’.

Developing a satisfactory interaction with students

To connect with students and impact their lives personally and professionally, teachers must be student-centered and demonstrate respect for their background, ideologies, beliefs, and learning styles. The best instructors use differentiated instruction, display cultural sensitivity, accentuate open communication, offer positive feedback on the students’ academic performance, and foster student growth by allowing them to resubmit assignments prior to assigning a grade.

Conclusion

It was illustrated that a good teaching method helps the students to question their preconceptions, and motivates them to learn, by putting them in a situation in which they come to see themselves as the authors of answers, as the agents of responsibility for change. But training through this method has some barriers and requirements. To have an effective teaching; the faculty members of the universities should be awarded of these barriers and requirements as a way to improve teaching quality. The nationally and locally recognized professors are good leaders in providing ideas, insight, and the best strategies to educators who are passionate for effective teaching in the higher education. Finally, it is supposed that there is an important role for nationally and locally recognized professors in higher education to become more involved in the regulation of teaching rules.

References

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While the content of the individual phases of the strategic planning process is essential to creating the plan itself, it is no more important to a successful outcome than is the process by which that plan is developed. The need for the process to consider the perspectives of students and other key stakeholders, to draw on comparisons with peer organization and leaders within and outside the institution, and to focus attention on relevant environmental and economic factors. There is no doubt that the multiplicity of stakeholders and traditions of shared governance in higher education present leadership challenges and opportunities.

DISCUSSION

Discussion of a Creating Strategic Plan

Higher education is characterized by considerable breadth and variability within the industry. Institutions vary in terms of their history, size, populations served, and a variety of other factors. The following points are important for leading strategic planning initiatives in the higher education sector:

• Planning should not be undertaken as a reaction to a change.
• Heading a planning process requires both leadership (the vision) and management (the details: implementation).
• The planning process and its stages should be clear to all from the external environment.
• Meaningful engagement of faculty and staff is essential to commitment and follow-through.
• Plans should be designed for internal use, but should also take account of external audiences for whom they will be important.
• Multiple opportunities for input and iteration are necessary, but the process should also proceed in an efficient, logical, and time-sensitive manner.

Obviously many people or departments may be needed to implement a specific action. However, if a group is designated as accountable, each person in the group will believe someone else in the group is taking charge. The implementation plan needs to be directive, clear, and documented. The implementation of a strategic plan depends on the institution’s ability to turn strategic thoughts into operational action. For this reason it is necessary:

• to document who is responsible for implementing an action
• a date by which the action is expected to be completed
• what measures will be used to assess completion of the action
• to ensure the person assigned responsibility for the action has authority to make it happen
• also wise to identify one and only one person to be the agent accountable for overseeing completion of the action.

Communication is an essential condition between organizations. Communication takes place in many different contexts including interpersonal, group, organizational, and community contexts. It may be accidental or intentional, planned or unplanned. Communication is so natural and fundamental. Figure 2. depicts the relationship aspect of communication in an institution.

Across any number of higher education contexts, communication problems can be costly for the individual, group, and organization, leading to one or more of the following outcomes:

• Confusion and misunderstanding
• Blame and defensiveness
• Errors
• Personal conflicts
• Mismatched expectations
• Loss of confidence in colleagues and leaders
• Wasted time and resources
• Dissatisfaction of those who use the service or program
• Low morale
• Adverse consequences for culture and climate
• Disengagement

Higher Education institutions bring together a collection of bright, highly educated, and independent thinkers, who come with interests and expertise in a wide variety of fields and professional affiliations. The success of institution and fulfilment are multiple constituencies requires individuals not only to work both independently and collaboratively but also to forge strong campus. These are to maintain strong connections to their technical or disciplinary fields of training, and interdisciplinary linkage in order to work effectively with faculty, staff, students, and outside stakeholders.

Analysis

Any strategy model for institutions should be consider three levels namely, Strategic Level, Operational Level and Tactical Level in action. A strategic plan for any individual institution should focus on whatever is necessary to help the institution reach its vision. If that vision is dominated by changes or improvements in academic activities then, it is the tool for that plan. Institutional planning leaders need to understand that the purpose of the strategic plan is to focus on how resources will be allocated for a specific period of time to achieve the vision.

A strategic plan is focused on academic planning. A planning process must be successful in taking a strategic view of the organization and weighing the relative demands for resources against the vision of the institution. To implement a strategic plan at functional levels within the institution the key is transform an institution’s vision, using operational and tactical planning.

The advantage for the institution using its strategic plan to allocate resources is everyone knows ahead of time which activities have priority and which will be receiving the resources in any given year. Operational level is planning that takes place at the departmental level of an organization. In institutions where planning is not integrated, operational planning usually means the departments develop their own visions and, their own list of critical resource needs. Tactical planning involves the guiding principles and academic activities and services necessary for effective management, planning, budgeting, and assessing. The operational guiding principles and academic activities and services of offices and departments across campus are the unwritten legacies of institutional tradition and can be inconsistently applied or changed by anyone at any time, given cause.

Both the requirements and drawbacks of Higher Education make impact on the future employment of the students who have already accomplished the respective degree from the Higher Education institutions. There is a need to analyse and changed is that the assessment system which need to assured the international standard. Moreover, higher education policies need to be set up by focusing on the current issues and evidences.

Higher education has achieved an unusually high place on the public agenda in recent times. The data presented in Figure 3. track this rise by reporting the number of articles indexed as “university” or “college” in The New York Times over the last 50 years. One cause and effect of this increased media attention is an expansion in the scope of stake holders, industry partners in higher education and its mission [1].

The number of Higher Education institutions are increased 32 to 163 from 1988 to 2012. Before 1988, the curriculum across is not routinely revised and updated, and is not well informed by international content, models and standards. But the concept has transformed gradually after 2016 to develop curriculum frameworks that promote active learning by requiring problem-solving skills and the integration of workplace-based learning with the more conceptually-based learning of the university classroom. This practice has widely adopted in higher education systems is to arrange for undergraduates to obtain professional experience in the workplace as a component part of their training programs.

CONCLUSION

A well designed and implemented strategic planning process can provide an institution with a forum for campus-wide conversations about important decisions. The process can also be organized to make assessment, resource allocation, and accreditation easier, and be a source of information about progress and achievement with very real meaning to those associated with the institution.

Higher education can be reinventing itself to prepare students for societal challenges in both traditional well- proven ways as well as in new technology driven ways integrating expertise from multiple disciplines by developing a strategic plan in an institution. So, the institution will require to display greater responsibility and higher commitment to all the stakeholders continuously after becoming autonomous.

Strategic planning is important for success of higher education institutions since it allows an institution to analyse the present condition and forecast the future. It has significant implications toward shaping the institutional culture in higher education intuitions. Good strategic planning process at higher education institutions requires adequate time of leaders, faculty members, and other stakeholders. Evidently, institutions should determine their ability and be prepared to provide the proper amount of time in the strategic planning process.

The success of a strategic plan can be judged not only on the quality of the document and specific of the formal plan but also on the inclusivity of the process. The sense of engagement and ownership of the goals, plans, implementation, and outcomes that result from the effort are also required to analyse.

REFERENCES

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3. K E. Hinton, Bowman, M., Debray, S. K., and Peterson, L. L. 1993. “A Practical Guide to Strategic Planning in Higher Education”, 2012 by the Society for College and University Planning, ISBN 978-1-937724-13-9.
4. Arlington, “Developing a Strategic Institutional Plan”, American Alliance of Museums, 2018.
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