timothy freeman cook

[pittsburgh, pa]

intro’d to Timothy & saxifrage here:

Saxifrage is woven into the bustle of three East Pittsburgh neighborhoods. A graphic-design course is taught in a coffee shop. A course on organic agriculture uses the boiler room in an abandoned city pool house for its seed-starting workshop. Other offerings are Computer Programming and Carpentry & Design. The courses are taught by working professionals and craftsmen, and the plan is to hire adjuncts and Ph.D students from traditional colleges to teach humanities classes as they are added.

One big problem for Saxifrage is the need for accreditation, which most prospective students want, said Kevin Carey, director of the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank. Higher education has been largely insulated from innovation, he said, because the accreditation process is controlled by organizations whose members generally require startups to mimic them, by building campuses and libraries, for example. Saxifrage hopes to achieve accreditation and offer degrees in five years, which together could make its students eligible for federal tuition aid.

Judith Eaton, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, said while accreditation is rooted in tradition, “there is within it a fair amount of flexibility with regards to various features of a college.”

 

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Timothy is founder of saxifrage – neighborhood as uni

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find/follow Timothy:

Run higher ed lab @saxifrageschool; farm leader @ballfieldfarm; ed fellow@sproutfund; on Board @growpittsburgh; run http://thepghforum.com

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Timothy on badges:

https://medium.com/the-saxifrage-school/a-badge-wont-make-me-care-4200203c77de

hmm.

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Great insight and constructive feedback on #DML2015 http://t.co/FJBOJmtAlb by @timothyfcook #digitalequity

Original Tweet: https://twitter.com/DMLResearchHub/status/613062778086129664

like the nudges on esp: 1\ structure being loser – more focus on informal connecting.. convening rather than conference ness 2\ making it more affordable by location.. and more real.. by having it be – in the city ness…

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