The University’s strategic plans have a lot of things along the lines of “Imagine the {person} of 2012”, I suspect with the notion of dragging departments kicking and screaming into the 21st century whether they want to come or not. Here’s the one from the Strategic Plan Overview (actually quite a good read) on what the student of 2012 should be like:
I already know the people in my apartment. The University connected us through Facebook and a few of us went out for the night before we even enrolled.
I had my timetable, accommodation, Students’ Union Guide and University Handbook all emailed to me – I even enrolled online.
I knew the competition for places was tough because of the University of Lincoln’s reputation. The facilities are fantastic, award-winning buildings right in the heart of the city.
People here think outside the box. We’ve already had lectures in some cool places. All the buildings seem to have really sociable spaces, comfy chairs, places to meet and interact. It is a 24-7 place, totally wi-fi and networked.
Our lecturer has been doing joint research at a partner university in India. She is at the forefront of her subject and she’s teaching me!
Next week we have got workplace practitioners coming to talk to us and I have even had the careers people asking me about my ‘mobile portfolio of skills’ and how I might develop them. I have got an idea for a business so I am going to talk to the people at Sparkhouse, the University’s enterprise incubator.
All this in the first few weeks.
Cool, awesome, great… you’ve invented the student of 2010 two years late!