Provost and Mentor for UIL (University for Integrative Learning)
UIL (http://www.universityforintegrativelearning.org), the University for Integrative Learning, is a “university without walls” that awards students a B.A., M.A. or Ph.D. degree for reflecting and writing about their life-long learning. It offers a short and low-cost degree program ideally tailored to women, writers, all people with a natural gift for self-reflection and writing, who want to harvest their individual life experience in this form and see their commitment rewarded with an official degree.
What makes UIL so special to women?
UIL recognizes and rewards what no other university pays any attention to: life experience, the very thing women tend to have plenty of – whether we learned at school, at the job, at our desk, at home raising kids, volunteering, or taking care of our elders and other people in need. Wherever women live, is the place we learn.
At UIL, students are asked to write in-depth course essays and a final major study or dissertation on one all-encompassing topic: “What have I learned in life?”
My first-hand experience with this unique university, getting a Ph.D. and publishing my dissertation as a book, inspired me to become a provost at UIL. As your provost and mentor I help and guide you along the entire path with once-a-month meetings, supportive e-mail, phone calls, and/or online sessions via Skype.
What is UIL? Origin and Mission
Melvin Suhd ( http://www.loveisthesolution.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48), the acclaimed “father of individualized reading,” founded UIL. He helped design the first Head Start classroom in the US and developed his theory of pluralism in education. In the 1970?s, he co-designed and directed the country’s first external master’s degree program, at Goddard College, then the first University Without Walls. This kind of university (like Antioch, Sarah Lawrence, etc.) lets you do your course work independently, at your own desk, your own computer. Mel never sought accreditation for the universities he founded, precisely because he did not want to perpetuate the male-dominated, white-only canon of academic learning. He wanted to offer a non-traditional, individualized, creative and spiritual approach to education.
UIL’s mission statement sums it up: “The University for Integrative Learning serves a spiritual learning community in ways consistent with humanistic educational philosophy and psychology. UIL places individuals at the center of their own learning processes in relation to all aspects of life. In other words, the University for Integrative Learning (UIL) is devoted to personal wholeness and the educational freedom that comes from honoring each individual’s uniqueness within the context of lifelong learning. “
A unique concept
It’s important to me to make this unusual school known because I am impressed by the brilliance of the concept and have seen it at work from many angles. I chose to become a provost of UIL some time after my graduation — one of many excellent provosts who can guide you along this magical path toward a degree and keep you on track until you hold your diploma in your hands. (One of them is the new director of UIL, Libby Adams, Ph.D., who took over from Mel Suhd. Another is author Kim Chernin, Ph.D. (See Kim Chernin’s “Life’s Long Learning” in Tikkun Magazine: http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/Chernin-Life)
I have been the guide and way companion for a number of students who found the challenge exhilarating. Some of them published their essay work; one published the children’s book that was her major study; one student went in for the pure love of learning; another is finishing a Ph.D. she was not able to complete more than twenty years ago… All the students I accompanied through the progam saw their professional life and career enhanced by their degree. (See Testimonials below.)
What does it take?
An M.A. or a Ph.D. degree takes a minimum of 4 semesters (each semester takes 4 months), but many students who have full-time jobs or are full-time parents take longer and make use of a free-of-charge additional grace semester. A combined M.A.-Ph.D. degree takes a minimum of 5 semesters, always depending on how many official study units you bring with you into the program. Units from other colleges, classes, and workshops apply; books you have already published can be transformed into course essays: for once your life experience truly counts. Students who come with a big bagful of learning accomplishments and are fast writers can accomplish the course essays in 3 semesters and write their major study or dissertation in the fourth.
UIL is one of the less expensive universities around. A semester costs $3,000, the enrollment and graduation fees come to $150. (As this is a small, unfunded university, supported by many volunteers, scholarships are unfortunately NOT available.)
More information
You can read more at the UIL website http://www.universityforintegrativelearning.org/ Read the Founder’s Statement, information about cost and accreditation, newsletters and comments – and if you want to explore your options further, contact me.
Read my Article: “Harvesting Life” about my own experience as a learner and provost of UIL here or at www.aiwp.org/university.asp