Southern Utah University’s project-based Edge program was recently nominated for the National Society of Experiential Education's 2015 outstanding program award, which honors best practices in educational programs that provide students with valuable real-world experience. The honor is well-deserved, and it’s a recognition of SUU’s efforts to establish the school as a leader in project-based higher education.
The Edge program "is unique in the country. It is certainly unique in Utah," said SUU President Scott Wyatt. "Higher ed has not done a great job throughout the whole country at preparing students for the unscripted questions in life.”
Wyatt is exactly right. Those “unscripted questions” are the ones people seek to answer by means of a college degree, only to discover that life after graduation is far different than they had been led to believe. In too many instances, there is a massive disconnect between what students learn in class and what the job market will require of them. That means too many students graduate with plenty of academic accolades but little or no direction on how to use their knowledge to make a living.
Contrast that with the Edge program, which demands that students identify and implement a project that will have a real world impact while they are still in school. Projects are chosen from a wide variety of different fields, and they can include anything from starting a small business to self-publishing a novel to raising bees. The onus is on the students to choose something that captures their interest and will have a positive effect on the world around them. Making Edge a requirement for all undergraduates at SUU ensures students will be making substantive and practical decisions about their future while providing them with experience and insight that they simply can’t get from a book or a classroom.
Kelsie Rutledge, an SUU senior, completed an Edge project with the Iron County Youth Corps, where she coordinated service efforts and engaged in event planning. “College should push you and get you to explore outside your comfort zone,” she said, “and that's what this Edge project really does.” She believes that “helps push you into the real world and get you prepared before you graduate.”
Wyatt goes so far as to say SUU is “reinventing general education” with the Edge requirement. So far, five years into the program, the evidence suggests that he may well be right. Graduates need every advantage they can get in today’s dynamic job environment, and the Edge program is a pragmatic approach to help provide such advantages. SUU is to be applauded for its innovation, and other institutions would do well to follow its lead.