ACADEME GETS LESSONS FROM BIG BUSINESS
J. F. L. MD
PITTSBURGH—Like many other academics, Richard Florida used to stand before his public-policy classes at Carnegie Mellon University here and lecture students who silently copied every word.
But after a weeklong seminar in "Total Quality Management" at Xerox Corp. this past summer, Prof. Florida has a new style: He sits with his legs crossed in the corner of the classroom, listening and doodling. While he draws, the students, whom Prof. Florida considers his "customers," plan the course, design the syllabus, run the classes and even suggest their own grades.
Prof. Florida is practicing a controversial new brand of education. He says he believes that by treating students as customers and allowing them to choose what they want to learn, he is making them better thinkers, superior problem-solvers and more employable graduates.
"We're setting up an educational system here that's totally geared to meeting customer requirements," he says. "We've got to serve these customers if we're going to survive."
