Chris Gray, Ph.D.
Founding President, Erie County Community College of Pennsylvania
Normally, in these blogs, I share stories about our students, updates on college offerings, or celebrations of how this great plan is coming together. I love celebrating our successes, and I know that our community likes to join in. The fact that EC3 consistently outperforms the vast majority of other community college students in course success and student retention is actually an incredible achievement! And the reality that our enrollment continues to grow exponentially, semester after semester, speaks volumes about the need for this community college — a need that it is our mission to fill.
But here is the secret sauce, something we do not often share. It is the rationale and philosophy that guide how we continue to build this college, and that is what truly gets me excited. I have long been a disruptor – it's sort of my trademark as an educator, if truth be told – believing that many of the practices we "always do" in higher education could and should be done better. At EC3, we have built this institution on educational research and best practices. It is truly that simple. Our industry knows how to do a better job, but too often, we get mired in tradition, resistance to change, and endless committee meetings. That stops us from serving students as well as we should.
So let me show my inner nerdiness for a moment and share how data and theory come together to shape the work we do here at EC3. You have heard me talk about the renovations that we have undertaken to establish laboratory facilities for our healthcare training programs, right? Well, I'm pleased to report that this project is coming along as planned, and we look forward to opening the lab this spring. What I may not have shared is how our Center for Health Sciences is designed, and that design is also guided by research.
Time for more nerdiness: Lee Shulman, an education scholar, identified a phenomenon called "signature pedagogies," which explains how different disciplines train their students to prepare for the culture, structure, practices, and customs that they will face when they enter their chosen field. For example, law students are often grilled on the spot by professors just as they might be interrogated by a judge in a courtroom. Medical students perform rounds and various clinical rotations so that they can learn to make quick decisions with limited information. Acting students are exposed to criticism and rejection to prepare them for the tough world of professional auditioning. The idea is to expose students to what their field looks like in advance and help get them ready.
In our Center for Health Sciences, we are using this same "signature pedagogy" to influence our architectural choices. Instead of building separate lecture and lab spaces for each healthcare discipline, we have built a mini hospital with doctor's offices, emergency rooms, and hospital rooms. The old model taught specialists to work in isolation, which just isn't realistic. For example, physical therapy assistants (PTAs) were traditionally confined to insulated rooms with mock patients, and the variables were highly controlled and sterile. But if you have ever cared for someone in declining health, you know that real-world healthcare is chaotic. It changes by the minute, and no two patients present the same way. Patient care techs deliver food trays while a phlebotomist draws blood and a PTA talks to patients about their home situation as residents make their daily rounds, all in tight, fast-paced spaces full of distraction.
Knowing that, why would we not build this new lab to prepare our future caregivers for the real world? They need to know what it will be like now so that they are better prepared to serve those who will later depend on their care and expertise. It is a small but novel idea, and it is one of the guiding principles behind our work. This is just one example of the "whys" behind the "whats." And they matter. Intention matters.
Our community. Your college.
