The following article was inspired by a presentation of Dr. Karl Rodabaugh during a recent meeting of the Association For Continuing Education
By Toccara Toland
It is not often professional colleagues assemble for collective mea culpa or apologies for past wrongs. Still, this unusual route is the path the WSSU Director of Evening Weekend College, Dr. Karl Rodabaugh took at the plenary session of the Regional Meeting for the Association For Continuing Higher Education (ACHE) held in Roanoke, Virginia recently.
In his paper titled “The Seven Deadly Sins Against Post Secondary Adult Learning,” Rodabaugh focused on certain unchallenged myths, assumptions, and beliefs, that negatively affect adult education and erode the quality of education adult learners receive. Rodabaugh and his colleagues in adult education are part of growing community of professors and school administrators who are determined to improve access and the quality of education for adult learners.
Referring to the need for educationists to overcome the growing aversion to Prior Learning Assessment(PLA), accelerated formats, and similar adult centered services, Rodabaugh urged his colleagues to begin to raise the right questions: “Have we learned to live with these sins without enough critical thought?” “How can we dispel all or some of them?” ‘’ Is eternal damnation too strong a punishment?”
Rodabaugh’s proposal, which is the climax of over thirty years of close observation of higher education, is particularly urgent especially at a time of economic downturn when the rate of enrollment of adult learners in US colleges has climbed to as high as 47 percent. Throughout, as Rodabaugh dissected his proposal, his passion for adult education was as evident as his ability to tell the truth with a laugh.
Rodabaugh… points the way ahead for adult education.
A man of many hats, Rodabaugh’s record is a template for service in adult education. Twenty-six out of his 39 years in higher education were as an administrator in adult education. He seems to have a Midas touch to Evening-Weekend programs, all of which have recorded significant growth during his watch. His office at the Evening Weekend College (EWC), WSSU is usually a hub of activities from adult learners who want to earn college degrees while they work. “We have an efficient team and I am proud of our continuing service to this busy population of students,” he beams.
Nor have his accomplishments in the service of adult learners passed unnoticed. Last January, he became the president of the North Carolina Adult Education Association (NCAEA), a body noted for adding value and support to the professional development of adult and continuing educators in North Carolina. At the same time, he is the treasurer for the Commission for Accelerated programs (CAP), a national organization for the promotion of research and dissemination of information on best practices regarding accelerated programs.
He has been a member of the NW Piedmont Workforce development Board since 2006. He is also the current chair of the Board’s Task Force on Education. Rodabaugh’s recent scholarly contributions include 4 essays in the Encyclopedia of African American History, published by Oxford University Press in 2009. For more information about the EWC, please visit us online at www.wssu.edu or call (336)750-2799. EWC can also be reached toll free at (866)778.9778.
