Southern Maine’s TideSmart Radio interviews President Spencer

On Nov. 16, 2013, President Clayton Spencer sat down with Steve “Stevoe” Woods of southern Maine’s TideSmart Talk to discuss Bates and current trends in higher education.

Technology and the rise of online courses were among the trends Woods highlighted in his hour-long conversation with Spencer.

Asked if technology will create a shift away from “bricks and mortar” campuses like Bates, Spencer responded, “I think it’s a question of incorporation, not substitution.”

“It’s an era in which the small scale of Bates,” with its small class sizes and ready access to professors, “combined with the global access to content, is a huge boon for the liberal arts. ”

Likewise, she told Woods, where online courses only address part of the educational project — delivering information, Bates embraces the entire process of “helping human beings grow up to understand who they are, what they want to do, how they can make a contribution to the world.”

Spencer’s comments at various points invoked the college’s three priorities for the coming years:

• the Engaged Liberal Arts, which includes how Bates incorporates technology in the classroom;

• Purposeful Work, to help students explore, understand, and strengthen their relationship to work; and

• Excellence and Opportunity, aimed at increasing resources for financial aid.

Listen to TideSmart Talk’s interview with President Clayton Spencer, Nov. 16, 2013.

Spencer appeared earlier in the semester on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour, a program sponsored in part by Maine Magazine. In the Sept. 8 interview, Spencer discussed the advantages of Bates’ location in Lewiston, the distinctive community among Bates students and how the college is preparing students for the world of work.

Listen to President Spencer’s complete interview on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour, Sept. 8, 2013.