Education and the Workforce Committee Vice Chair Burgess Owens (R-UT) participated in a recent hearing focused on innovation to reduce college costs and improve student outcomes. The session, titled “The Future of College: Harnessing Innovation to Improve Outcomes and Lower Costs,” brought together education leaders to discuss new approaches for higher education.
Rep. Owens began by pointing out the shortcomings of the current system and emphasized the committee’s efforts to find solutions that benefit students. He stated, “I was reminded by my team yesterday that this week, coming off the shutdown, the Education and Workforce Committee will be the most active with hearings of any committee. Over the last year, it’s passed more legislation than any of the last 20-plus years. There’s something I learned years and years ago: you cannot control the score board, but you can control the hustle. This committee is hustling.”
During the hearing, Rep. Owens questioned Dr. Jeffrey Docking, President of Adrian College, about a platform called RISE that uses shared courses to cut costs while maintaining campus life. Dr. Docking said, “I’d be surprised if 10 years from now just about every school in the country isn’t sharing classes in some form or fashion. The beauty of this model is that it really preserves what’s best about traditional college education. We didn’t want to put together a model where a student had dinner with their parents and then just went up into their bedroom to take a class or two from their home. We love that uniquely American experience of going away to college and building a loft, and mom and dad have tears at the door, and you’re meeting new friends and going to class and participating in student government and chapel and eating in the dining hall. All of that is wonderful. We want to preserve that, but we have to figure out a way to control costs. And the way to do that is through technology and sharing.”
Rep. Owens also spoke with Dr. Kollin Napier, Director of the Mississippi Artificial Intelligence Network, about integrating artificial intelligence into colleges for affordability and workforce readiness improvements. Dr. Napier responded: “I think the challenge still remains making AI important for individual usage, whether that’s students or faculty or administration. So if I’m an English instructor, how can I best apply AI to my practice? If I’m teaching an advanced manufacturing course, again, how can I best apply? I think as we continue to see more of the adoption in these specific areas and fields, we’re going to see building of trust and comfort, and that’s going to in turn go back to our students in the way that they can engage with it. Our instructors are trusting what we are doing — what we call ‘educate the educator’ — and turning around and providing that for our students. And the things that are working, of course, are communication amongst the faculty and the students, the administration and the faculty, but more so the employers, the workforce, and them turning around and telling academia what they truly need in this current time.”
The hearing also featured Mr. Tade Oyerinde, Chancellor of Campus.edu., who discussed his experience purchasing a two-year college at age 28 or 29 when asked by Rep. Owens.
Burgess Owens has represented Utah’s 4th congressional district since 2021 after replacing Ben McAdams https://owens.house.gov/about. He was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1951; he is currently 71 years old https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/O000174.
Owens graduated from University of Miami with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1974.
