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UNITED STATES at Yale University who also serves as executive director of
New education secretary the Connecticut Center for School Change.

Dr. Cardona also taught for four years at the University
of Connecticut as adjunct professor of educational leader-
ship, and holds five degrees or certificates from Connecti-
cut’s state universities.

Resort-based learning initiative

HE CREATORS OF A HOLIDAY RESORT FOR US
college students studying online during their Covid
Tlockdowns are promising to expand the concept into
a fundamental reimagining of the residential campus ex-
perience.
The idea by three Princeton University graduates — long-
term luxury hotel rentals for students taking remote classes
— has already been blocked in multiple US states over its
virus-spreading potential. Rather than relent, the creators
Cardona: equal opportunity champion of The U Experience say they have 150 students coming to
a Texas vacation resort in January, and have 2,000 more
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN’S CHOICE OF A for- expressing interest in future opportunities.
mer schoolteacher with low-income Puerto Rican The idea has value well beyond the pandemic, says Lane
family roots as US education secretary has been Russell, one of the co-founders of The U Experience, be-
seen as pointing towards a renewed focus on equality in cause it will let students get a residential campus-style ex-
universities. perience while paying fees at online rates. “The idea is to
If confirmed by the US Senate, Miguel Cardona would enable students a way to actually design the community that
become the third Latino to serve in the nation’s top educa- they’re part of,” says Russell. “What we’re looking for in
tion post, after spending barely more than a year as the state resorts is spaces that are conducive to community building,”
education commissioner in Connecticut. In a statement, adds co-founder, Adam Bragg.
President Biden emphasised Dr. Cardona’s two-decade re- As with the original idea of giving hundreds of online stu-
cord of pursuing diversity and equal opportunity in school dents a shared residence in a deadly pandemic, the notion
education, and suggested that he would apply that same of permanently replacing college campuses with beaches,
commitment at the post-secondary level. sunset cruises and poolside bars has generated scepticism
The selection fulfills Biden’s promise to choose some- among academia pundits. “From an education perspective,
one with classroom teaching experience, as Dr. Cardona I think the concept is just awful,” says Thomas Mortenson,
has been a teacher, school principal and assistant super- a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Op-
intendent in his hometown of Meriden. The 45-year-old portunity in Higher Education. “It really takes a very nar-
became Connecticut’s youngest principal in 2003 and the row view of what is the residential college experience,” says
state’s Principal of the Year in 2012. Former colleagues an- Ross Rubenstein, a professor of educational and community
ticipate a deeply personal emphasis on equal treatment of policy at Georgia State University.
students and greater attention to quality and diversity in And despite the widespread refusal of US colleges to
teacher training. lower fees during the pandemic, Russell and Bragg predict
“Much more needs to change in the professional educa- that institutions will increasingly offer their online courses
tion of educators to eliminate the achievement gap,” says at rates cheaper than their in-person versions.
Toni Harp, a former state senator who served alongside Dr. With that expectation, a residential college education
Cardona in 2010 as co-chairs of a statewide task force study- as imagined by The U Experience would cost students less
ing inequalities in student performance. “Dr. Cardona was overall, given the understanding that the $11,000 (Rs.8
very interested in solving this problem during our task force lakh) per semester bill for room and board at a resort hotel
days,” says Ms. Harp, recently mayor of New Haven. is close to what some colleges charge for residential accom-
Richard Lemons, former assistant professor of edu- modation.
cational leadership at the University of Connecticut who Higher education experts, however, dismiss the com-
taught Dr. Cardona in graduate school, says the nominee pany’s claims about the low value that students place on
well understands the direct link between education, eco- in-person teaching and genuine campus experiences. Ac-
nomic security and social mobility. “He is a living example cording to experts, the reality is that few colleges offer sig-
of it,” says Dr. Lemons, now a lecturer in education studies nificant discounts on online classes and integrated residen-

50 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2021