Laura Skandera Trombley (Southwestern University) on The Liberal Arts Advantage in a Changing World

Speaker A: You. Hi and welcome to Illumination by Modern Campus, your go to podcast for conversations about transformation and innovation across higher education.

Speaker B: I'm your host Shawna Cox and I'm excited to dive into today's conversation. Today I'm speaking with Laura Tremblay, who is president of Southwestern University. We explore how liberal arts institutions can foster lifelong learning and student belonging to while preparing learners for evolving workforce demands. Let's get into it. Laura, welcome to the elimination podcast.

Speaker C: Hi there. It's wonderful to be here.

Speaker B: I am so excited for our conversation around liberal arts institutions really evolving into a lifelong learning hub and cultural engagement hub. So I want to kick off our conversation by first asking what does it look like for a liberal arts institution to. To really evolve from just being a degree granting organization into this lifelong learning hub?

Speaker C: Well, I think if it's just a degree organization, that in no way would describe what we try and accomplish at Southwestern University. So we're a liberal arts and sciences university, but we look at the whole student and that means in addition to the academic program, we provide leadership experiences. We want students to start thinking about what their career path is going to be and we also want them to develop really their personal and social skills while they're here. And, and most importantly, in some ways we want them to meet lifelong friends and to have a time that as they get older, they'll recognize as one of the happiest times of their life.

Speaker B: Mhm, absolutely. And diving into a little bit more, how can liberal arts institutions really strengthen their role as cultural and civic anch in those communities?

Speaker C: I think what we do here is we have what we call, um, hies and that's high impact experiences. And so we have paid internships for our students. We want them to be in the community. We want them working with nonprofits. We also have a very, very exciting study abroad program because we want students to go and to really see some parts of the world that uh, perhaps they would not have access to if they weren't with at university. And our students are actively involved in our governance at the institution. And so they are actually working side by side with trustees to create the university that where they will never be students but that are coming after them will all be participants in that. Uh, and so it really becomes, I think, a holistic experience and one that comes full circle for all of the students who come to be part of the pirate family.

Speaker B: Mhm. I love that and I love the ability for them to be immersed and involved because that idea of student belonging is so important, especially in I Like to say this world where it can. We can easily be disconnected with everything that's around us and things that are going on. So as that student belonging becomes more of a strategic priority, how should institutions really think about fostering that connection through just, you know, not when the student comes in the door, but throughout their whole learner life cycle?

Speaker C: Well, first, I think it is absolutely part of being human that you want to be part of something, and you want to be part of an accepting community, and you want to have people with you that you can confide in, that you can perhaps make plans with, you can share thoughts that you have. So we're very, very intentional about this. So even from the very start, we have what we call pirate adventures. And when we have students who join the university, they have about 30 different experiences from which to choose. Where there is no academic credit, where no one is actually trying to advise them, but we just want them to go and have an experience and to start making friends. And so they choose anything from tubing down the river to, uh, eating. Austin. I will say one of my favorite trips, and that is to give them a sense that they are comfortable here and that this is a community that they are joining, and it is a very welcoming community. One of the other things that we do on campus is every Wednesday, we have what we call the Pirates sweet surprise. And that is when a dessert truck will come on campus, and no one will know what the dessert is. I don't know what the dessert is. But anyone who is on our campus that day, they are welcome to come and have something sweet because we care about people. And every Wednesday, about 600 people come together on our to share, whether it's a donut, one of my favorite food groups, or an ice cream. And it really isn't about the sweet. It's about people coming because they think it's just kind of cool and they want to hang out together. And so I think intentionally, the more of these kinds of experiences that you can build in, all of a sudden, great things come from that, because people will start thinking about how else can we create opportunities for students. And just this year, we celebrated what will become an annual festival. We call it Pirate Palooza. Uh, and that is a weekend where students do crafts, where we have music, where we have a parade, uh, because this is an essential human desire to be part of a community. And it isn't just, uh, as much as I love academics, but frankly, the happier students are, the more they feel that they are connected, they will do better when it comes to their academic program. Mhm.

Speaker B: You guys are so cool. And I also love the fact that you said a donut is a food group. I wholeheartedly agree on that. And so with that, you know, there's the side where you have the student belonging and how important it is to really foster the connection on campus. At the same time, either at the forefront or the back of a student mind is going to be how do

Speaker A: I get a job?

Speaker B: How do I get the ROI of this educational experience? So how can liberal arts institutions balance these timeless educational values with the rapidly changing workforce and learner demands that are happening?

Speaker C: Well, this is now a component that we've built in that frankly, um, I think always should have been part of the college experience. But we have now the number one career services center in, uh, Texas. And so what that means is that our goal is that 100% of our students will start from the very beginning of their first year here thinking about how do I actually create a market for myself. And that means establishing my LinkedIn profile. That means thinking about paid internships. It is m having mentoring experiences with our alumni and with our board of trustees to talk about pathways. So it isn't waiting until they're, it is beginning at the very start. And we're now introducing what we call the pirate plan. And so every single one of our students, all four years that they are students, they're going to have in effect, kind of a, uh, very personalized, almost concierge service where they will be meeting with their advisor who is going to be working with the student, both when it comes to, uh, their academic program, their co curricular life, their leadership skills, as well as planning for their future. And that starts right at the very beginning because we absolutely are experts when it comes to the four years that students will be spending with us. But we want to make sure that the next 20 years will be as successful for students and that planning starts the moment they arrive.

Speaker B: I love that and I love the focus on the next 20 years because I was speaking with someone from a liberal arts institution just the other day and we're talking about the stigma that liberal arts institutions have about, you know, the workforce and how they can't handle the demands for it, or they're never really aligned and they're just providing all these fun courses and degrees and stuff. And I'm sure you are used to seeing that type of stigma, but I like to smash that because that is not completely true. So diving into that a little bit more, what unique role can liberal arts institutions play? In driving the regional vitality, workforce development and community engagement.

Speaker C: Well, I, uh, you have to look at it from a couple of perspectives. So, uh, first, a liberal arts education is both broadly based and it is very specific, particularly when it comes to majors and our students. Now what has become, I think, more and more popular, uh, don't just have one major, they have two. While you're at Southwestern, you can pick up some certificates, you can also have a minor. And so it's really coming out with a portfolio of skills. You also have a general education requirement. And as someone who is a double major, when I was in college, uh, both humanities and English, you know, ed courses that I took, um, at the time, one of them was, uh, geology. I actually use that class constantly. Whenever we're thinking about new buildings, whenever we're thinking about doing a development of acreage that we, that comes back to me. So it's trying to create something that uh, is wide ranging for students and it's also for a place where students can really expand, I think, their portfolios. Because even though I think in some instances there's this sense that there has to be this kind of linear line, uh, in terms of what your major is and what your job is going to be, uh, or your career. And I am always quick to inform my students because I teach every year that I'm an English major. And that is exactly why I've been successful for 23 years as a university president. I would not be as successful if I wasn't that English major who learned how to really speak, how to critically think, how to do research, and also how to analyze new information that is constantly coming my way. And so we are not training students for one career, we're training students for multiple careers. And we empower them to have the skill set so that they can be successful.

Speaker B: Absolutely. And I love that you brought up the geology course because it's so important, but it really does provide that whole holistic experience for the student that they can take in many different ways. And not only just, you know, the education provides them a pathway to a career, but just being a good human being, quite honestly, I think it really just shapes them as a person. And so one of my last questions for you is just around sustainability. So how can colleges move beyond teaching sustainability to really using their campuses as living laboratories for these community centered innovations?

Speaker C: Well, I think it's a way of looking at the institution really as a, uh, place of constant education. And so one of the things that we're doing now on the Southwestern campus is we're establishing more and more native gardens, uh, because I want students to understand the importance of both promoting native plantings as well as, uh, its link to sustainability. Also, when you're building buildings, right, uh, involving students from the very start, as, as we did, and we just completed three new buildings on our campus. And those are all gold lead rated buildings. And so these are healthy buildings, but these are also buildings that have been informed by students. When it comes to the content of those buildings, then you have to think about the curriculum. In what ways are we not just teaching, but also are we practicing? So how much are we actually using when we create a new course? How are we thinking about how to attain sustainable goals? Just in the way in which we prepare that course and the manner in which it is taught. So everything on campus, from the moment you step on the campus, you should be thinking about sustainability and seeing how it affects all of our practices. And I don't even want to get into the composting right now because you can never have enough. I have been informed by students over the years, you know, a little is never enough compost.

Speaker B: I love that you learn something new every day. Even, you know, 23 years being a president M. Who would have thought you would learn about compost?

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker B: Ah. And those are all the questions I have for you. But is there anything else you would like to add in terms of the work you guys are doing or liberal arts institutions kind of not surviving, but thriving in this new era of higher education and where you guys are kind of going?

Speaker C: The way that I look at education, uh, is really the kind of joy that you see very young children experiencing where everything is new and everything is exciting and they're trying to make sense out of all of this amazing, incredible chaos in which they're encountering. And that is the kind of experience that I want our students to have that when they come on board, the most exciting, the greatest satisfaction will be in learning and to really make them understand that a lot of the things that you think, think are cool right now, over time that's probably going to dull with age. But learning things, figuring things out, putting things together, Life is a mosaic as so is your intellectual life. That is where we really excel. And that means that students can go and do all kinds of things. It isn't. I have been trained to do one thing. You are trained to be able to figure out everything. And in order to have really a well led life, that is absolutely a skill that you have to have.

Speaker B: Amazing. Laura. Those are the formal questions I have. And now I'm going to move into what might be your favorite section of the podcast episode, teaching lit. So there is a book recommendation that you would give somebody. It can be higher ed related or not. What are you going to recommend?

Speaker C: One of my favorite books to read is House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, uh, because I'm a 19th century fan, uh, I also am, uh, a Mark Twain scholar. And, uh, so probably the smartest, most extraordinary and most influential work of American ficture is Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Because in order to understand Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, you need to know everything about the 19th century. And the more that you know about the Civil War, the more that you know about Reconstruction and the failure of it, the more you know about the economy, politics, the literature, the zeitgeist of the time, the more you will understand, uh, that novel. And it is an absolute work of brilliance. And in fact, James, uh, uh, that was recently, um, awarded the Pulitzer Prize, uh, really plays against Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. And it is still as important a work as it was when it was published, uh, in 1885.

Speaker B: Amazing. A timeless recommendation. I love it. Laura, thank you so much for the recommendation and for the conversation. It was really great chatting with you.

Speaker C: Thank you. A pleasure.

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