{"684452":{"#nid":"684452","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The College of Lifetime Learning: A New College for a Learning Society","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy William Gaudelli, Ed.D., Dean of the College of Lifetime Learning\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe public perception of higher education has taken a lot of hits in recent years, some self-inflicted and others systemic features of a misfitted system. Student debt, demographic shifts, perceptions that studies do not support public needs, and a sharp decline in public trust for pretty much all large institutions\u2026it\u2019s a mountain of problems and a heap of trouble.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYet at Georgia Tech we are not lamenting bygone days. We are ideating and \u003Cem\u003Eacting\u003C\/em\u003E to create a new future, a new college\u2014the College of Lifetime Learning\u2014that will inspire and inform new ways of learning that will respond to these challenges.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Institute is \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/president.gatech.edu\/institute-address\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Edelivering the best value education of any public university in the nation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, conducting more groundbreaking research, and making more impact in our city, state, and the world. We will expand that even further.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe spring from the mantra of \u003Cem\u003Elimitless learning for everyone\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Eas a way to reorient the mental model of what people think constitutes a university. We are actively building partnerships with a range of institutions\u2014from major corporations to the U.S. military to small startups fired by entrepreneurial spirit to individuals who just want to participate in the learning revolution that is underway. A revolution that will expand access, unbind geographic barriers, ease navigation, and be more responsive to societal needs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday as we celebrate the first anniversary of the\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7338601439650357252\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Efounding of the College of Lifetime Learning\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, I am reminded of reading about its establishment in \u003Cem\u003EInside Higher Education.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003EI shared it with colleagues with a message: \u201cAll universities should be doing this! This is the future!\u201d Little did I know what the future held for me! But that\u2019s often true in life, and as often the result of learning.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA lot has happened already in that first year\u2014our first students, our first philanthropic gift, building out the leadership team, the establishment of a robust External Advisory Board, recruitment of courtesy and joint-appointment faculty, and the governance to facilitate operation. Like a lot of foundational work, it is not always visible but is absolutely necessary to a successful future.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll of this progress has come in the context of ongoing \u003Cem\u003Eservice\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Eby the teams brought together to form our College. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ceismc.gatech.edu\/rural-cs-initiative\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Rural CS Initiative\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, a collaboration between CEISMC and GTRI, has grown to more than 10,000 Georgia students in 40 districts. The Center for 21st Century Universities launched the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7361776623181783040\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBill Kent AI in Higher Education Faculty Fellowship\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. We\u2019ve seen 109,000 enrollments across our Professional Education programs. And Georgia Tech Savannah continues to fuel innovation and leadership in the vital coastal regions and beyond. Together, we serve learners at all stages in life every day.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn yesterday\u2019s 2025 Institute Address, Georgia Tech President \u00c1ngel Cabrera celebrated the Institute\u2019s progress on its strategic plan. \u201cWe are serving more and more students,\u201d he noted. \u201cWe are number one in return on investment. Increased outcomes, increased graduation rates, increased value, and a true effort every year to make room for more students.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EServing learners is what our College is all about, and this increased access to more impactful learning we believe will answer many of the challenges higher education faces. Access, applied research, and optimized learning will create new opportunities for learning to endure a lifetime, leading to clearer purpose and mastery in learning for all. We envision the move from a \u003Cem\u003Elearned\u003C\/em\u003E society to a \u003Cem\u003Elearning\u003C\/em\u003E society, where knowledge acquisition is abundant, not scarce, where knowledge dissemination is accessible, not firewalled.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe are supercharged for a bright, new future where every person\u2014regardless of their background or starting point, has the ability to grow, develop and flourish through learning. We can do ALL of that!\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s new College of Lifetime Learning addresses deep-rooted challenges in higher education by emphasizing access, lifelong learning, and societal relevance. In its first year, it launched innovative programs, formed key partnerships, and built essential infrastructure to support a more inclusive, flexible, and impactful model of education for all learners.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In its first year, Georgia Tech\u2019s College of Lifetime Learning laid the foundation for a transformative model of education that spans lifetimes, careers, and communities."}],"uid":"36756","created_gmt":"2025-09-05 16:42:58","changed_gmt":"2025-09-05 17:31:01","author":"jalderman3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677919":{"id":"677919","type":"image","title":"College-one-year.png","body":"\u003Cp\u003ELearning for every stage of life\u2014and every generation to come.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1757090593","gmt_created":"2025-09-05 16:43:13","changed":"1757100342","gmt_changed":"2025-09-05 19:25:42","alt":"Photo of a recent graduate and a young child celebrating commencement.","file":{"fid":"261875","name":"College-one-year.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/09\/05\/College-one-year.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/09\/05\/College-one-year.png","mime":"image\/png","size":3900202,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/09\/05\/College-one-year.png?itok=kYA2p2z2"}}},"media_ids":["677919"],"groups":[{"id":"660375","name":"Lifetime Learning"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"194612","name":"Workforce Development"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["john.alderman@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}