A new company is picking up a practice which until now was solely the domain of alumni associations: faculty speakers delivering educational talks to alumni.
One Day University has launched a series of multi-speaker events in the eastern US. Steven Schragis, the company's founder, knows a thing or
two about adult education: he was National Director of The Learning
Annex. And the description of One Day University sounds like it could have come from any alumni association's web site or direct mail piece (although they might want to hire an English Composition prof to eliminate those pesky typos):
Our program allows students-for-a-day to rediscover the joy of education by journeying back into beloved subjects and exploring new ones. Remember those classes you were fascinated by — but never signed up for? Maybe you wish you had taken a psychology class, or political science, or ethics, or even astrophysics. Or remember that class you wanted to take with a renowned professor — but it always filled up to [sic] quickly?
Back in November, One Day U was featured on a blog called Unusual Business Ideas That Work. As of that writing, two One Day U programs were complete and three more were scheduled:
Each one has sold out, and they have grossed close to half a million dollars since September, said Mr. Schragis, who hopes to expand to 12 cities by the end of 2006.
The private sector has every right to move into this line of business, which alumni associations have traditionally claimed for themselves. But several questions leap to mind:
- Is there anything objectionable about One Day U or its potential competitors taking a page out of the universities' books?
- Does the prospect of these programs making a profit raise your hackles?
- Will you have a harder time convincing professors to go on the road as "service to the institution," when they can do the same thing for One Day University and get paid for it?
- Finally, how does the format, content and value of these programs compare to what alumni associations offer?