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Six Colleges, Universities Launch National Alliance With Students Designing Education's FutureA national alliance of six colleges and universities, together with hundreds of high school and community partners, announced the launch of REP4, an initiative to change the future of education. Unique to the alliance, students will take the lead conducting "Rapid Education Prototyping" to address the urgent challenges of access and completion to fully deliver on higher education's promise of social and economic mobility. The six founder institutions collectively serve more than 100,000 students. Grand Valley State University is the organizer and convener of the REP4 alliance. The five other partners are Amarillo College in Texas; Boise State University in Idaho; Fort Valley State University, an HBCU in Georgia; San José State University in California; and Shippensburg University, in Pennsylvania. The REP4 name underscores how student-led, Rapid Education Prototyping, will engage the voices of learners in designing innovative, actionable solutions for pressing challenges. Learners will co-design education prototypes, and best ideas will be scaled nationwide through the alliance to maximize impact. American Council on Education (ACE) President Ted Mitchell called the alliance's approach unique, exciting and national model. "Flipping the model from learners simply giving feedback to learners being designers of education is a truly innovative idea," Mitchell said. Microsoft (News - Alert) will participate in the REP4 summit to support the alliance in reimagining student-centered experiences, consistent with its recent whitepaper. Microsoft will help shape how technology, particularly data and AI, can empower personalized and inclusive learning experiences. Tackling the crisis in education The REP4 alliance formed as a response to a growing number of challenges facing higher education: low completion rates, lack of access and racial gaps. By allowing learners to design solutions, REP4 will focus on improving outcomes and eliminating these barriers. GVSU held the first prototype last summer; see more here. "We are inspired by young learners with keen perspectives on what their future can be," said Grand Valley State President Philomena V. Mantella. Jaime Casap, former Google (News - Alert) chief education evangelist, echoed the enthusiasm for REP4 and said powerful change will come from leaders and learners harnessing their efforts for transformation. "I am passionate about this bold and extraordinary effort to increase quality in education by focusing on equity as the driving force for change," Casap said. Each of the founding six partners will hold its own regional summit for REP4, with GVSU hosting the national convening August 5. See www.rep4.org for more information. Dropbox (News - Alert) for media with photos, videos, quotations http://gvsu.edu/s/1HB Zoom link for news conference May 13 at 4 p.m. EDT https://gvsu-edu.zoom.us/j/93957803372?pwd=cG5OS3FabWZkOThaQUVDMCtXL0Zhdz09
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