![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2013\/12\/Spencer-2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>President Clayton Spencer speaks with Steve Woods of TideSmart Talk. Photo courtesy of TideSmart Radio.<\/p><\/div>\n
Technology and the rise of online courses were among the trends Woods highlighted in his hour-long conversation with Spencer.<\/p>\n
Asked if technology will create a shift away from \u201cbricks and mortar\u201d campuses like Bates, Spencer responded, \u201cI think it\u2019s a question of incorporation, not substitution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an era in which the small scale of Bates,\u201d with its small class sizes and ready access to professors, \u201ccombined with the global access to content, is a huge boon for the liberal arts. \u201d<\/p>\n
Likewise, she told Woods, where online courses only address part of the educational project \u2014 delivering information, Bates embraces the entire process of “helping human beings grow up to understand who they are, what they want to do, how they can make a contribution to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spencer\u2019s comments at various points invoked the college\u2019s three priorities for the coming years:<\/p>\n
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- the Engaged Liberal Arts<\/i>, which includes how Bates incorporates technology in the classroom;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Purposeful Work<\/i>, to help students explore, understand, and strengthen their relationship to work; and<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Excellence and Opportunity<\/i>, aimed at increasing resources for financial aid.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Purposeful Work<\/i>, to help students explore, understand, and strengthen their relationship to work; and<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n