Will Online Courses at the Labor College

Develop a Student’s Leadership Skills?

By Harry Kelber
Third in a Series

The fundamental mission of the National Labor College is to “make higher education available to workers; to prepare union members, leaders and staff for the challenges of a changing global environment, and to serve as a center for progressive thought and union learning.”

For more than three decades, the college, then known as the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, had been providing a venue for week-long conferences and leadership training for AFL-CIO’s affiliates at the Federation’s 47-acre suburban plot in Silver Spring, Maryland. But in 1999, the Center was transformed into the National Labor College (NLC) and by 2004, it had become fully accredited with the Middle States Accredited Association as an independent, undergraduate college.

The Labor College had every reason to expect a large and steady enrollment from those millions of AFL-CIO members who lacked a college education. NLC made its invitation especially appealing to prospective students—and members of their families—by saying they could work for a college degree without leaving their job, their home and their community.

Moreover, students could earn as many as 30 college credits, based on their “life experience” activities and careers. And they could earn another 30 credits by transfer of credits for completed courses from other colleges.

Many in the AFL-CIO leadership expected that NLC would become a major source for producing thousands of -well-trained, broadly educated and articulate new leaders to revitalize the labor movement. It could become a training center for young workers to acquire leadership skills.

Why Only 272 Degree Students?

However, there was no upsurge of enrollment from the 11.6 million AFL-CIO members. After years of recruiting efforts, the Labor College today has only 272 students in its two degree programs. Meanwhile, NLC continues to function with an administrative staff of at least 20 people, some 15 full-time instructors, a hotel, a cafeteria and classrooms, with an annual budget of $28 million. Why have unions refused to help increase NLC’s enrollment? Why haven’t union members taken advantage of NLC’s friendly environment and its dozens of labor courses they can’t get at other colleges?

Finally, on June 14, 2010, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, as chairman of NLC’s Board of Trustees, announced new initiatives to rebuild the college. There would be a partnership with Princeton Review, a successful, for-profit company, specializing in academic testing and services. Also announced was that most, if not all, classes in the 4-year degree programs would be conducted by online instruction., and that the requirement for all students to spend a week each semester at the Silver Spring campus would be continued.

Online Instruction Is a Poor Model for Union Leadership Training

While online instruction may have its merits, it has at least two serious drawbacks for unionists who are training to be leaders. It’s an undisputed fact that a large part of a union leader's time is spent in talking to workers, individually or in meetings. In online instruction, students are not trained to be better speakers. In fact, online students have no live contact at all with their instructor or classmates.

Furthermore, students can “talk” to their instructors and other students only through a special software. NLC uses “Blackboard” for receiving assignments and answering in the same manner. It can become frustratingly difficult if an instructor fails to explain errors in grammar, sentence structure and meaning, that require several exchanges. Critics of online instruction believe that the lack of contact with human beings in a “classroom” has a negative effect on student performance.

A Week on the College Campus Is Costly and Difficult to Arrange

Students find it very expensive and inconvenient to fulfill the requirement of spending an entire week each semester at the Silver Spring campus. In addition to the NLC charge of $199 a day for room and board, there is the cost of traveling to and from the college and the loss of a week’s pay. That is a financial burden that few students can readily afford. There is also the vexing problem of setting a date that will be convenient for all students in the class.

What is most troublesome is that the NLC has a dropout rate of more than 50 percent a year, with an enrollment that is puny by college standards. How does Trumka and his board of trustees hope to help the college fulfill its mission? And how do they expect the partnership with Princeton Review to assure NLC’s future?