Good morning, everyone, and thanks to my co-convenors, AACC, WGU, and New Mecca Foundation, again, it was a great process pulling things together. When I've written on competency-based education before, and it always strikes me how much in startup mode it actually is, even though it's been around for a long time. And I think that the systems and policy implications are still very fresh and still very new along many dimensions. I was really excited in thinking about the actual practice that's going on in the context of community colleges and having a conversation with some really smart folks about, you know, what they're beginning to see as systemic implications both at the community college system level and at the accreditor level and then at the federal-state policy level. I'll just do a quick introduction of the panelists that are up here with me. And then we'll move into our conversation and definitely some time for audience Q&A and interaction with the group. I'll start right here to my immediate right with Jay Box. Jay is the chancellor of the Kentucky Community and Technical College system. He has, he serves as the president in the Kentucky, in the KCTCS system for almost a decade and then before that in senior leadership roles in community colleges in Texas. Then there's Bel Bielan, who is the president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and has had over 30 years of experience in higher education leadership and in just about every different role faculty member, student services, campus provost, college president, and I believe also an education secretary role. And Amy Layton, deputy director here at New America Foundation of the education program and who prior to this served in the Obama administration as the Department of Education and I believe also on the DPC or no, the White House. And one of the things, I'll just start with Jay, Jay, when your Kentucky is noted as being a leader, a leading state at the systems level, when you see competency-based education and how it's playing out in your system, what are your initial thoughts, what do you think you are, what are the questions that still arise for you and your team in your colleges? Thank you, Lewis. Of course, KCTCS came to this conclusion on developing a competency-based education delivery mode because we believed in our community college mission of providing access to students and we found through some surveys that we still weren't reaching the working adult and most of you that are in community college education know that the working adult is one of the hardest populations to reach. Not only is it difficult for us to find times to schedule classes for them, but it's also difficult for them to persist all the way through a semester due to life issues. And so when we developed our learn-on-demand competency-based model, we addressed it differently in that we said we're going to take all of our 16-week courses and chunk them down into modules that are three to four weeks in length. The purpose of that is that those working adults then could choose to start and if life issues change their agenda, then they could at least leave us in three weeks with a credit, a partial credit of a course that would then roll up into a full course as they took the other modules. Now, we started this just about five years ago now and we've seen tremendous growth in this delivery mode. It has not seen that our students in this delivery mode have finished credentials quicker, but they have been more successful and we have reached our target audience in that 85% of the students enrolled in this delivery are 25 years of age and older and working adults. So that they are exactly what we were going toward and I think that's one thing is as you determine to go toward a competency-based model that you need to make sure you're understanding what your target audience is because it really isn't for every student and we're trying to make sure that we're staying true to our vision. There's one follow on Jay. So the modular system, it's scaled across the whole system at once, the modular approach. Well, what we did is we have 16 colleges and 74 campuses across Kentucky. We're comprehensive community colleges and we have a memorandum of understanding that our creditor has approved that allows for if one college delivers an online course, then another college can accept that course. Of course, SACs accredits programs, they don't accredit courses, but we deliver an associate of arts and associate of science and we deliver business administration, an IT degree, plus the nursing pathways with a certified nursing assistant, LPN and RN program within this curriculum, plus an integrated engineering technology degree that will be coming on later on in the late spring of 2014. All 16 colleges can have students enrolled in this model. Only eight of our colleges are actually delivering within this model. Great. Thank you. Bill, I want to move on to you next and see if I can frame this big enough so that you can take it on all at once. As I've been listening to the conversation, I hear a lot of experimentation going on along every dimension of what it is to deliver a higher education, faculty roles, new programs within institutions, defining competencies in different ways. I add to that initiatives that are emerging from outside institutions, such as the degree qualifications profile. As an accreditor who is doing the hard work of trying to do quality assurance and peer review when all that experimentation is going on, just your experiences in working with member institutions in your area and the challenges you see in opportunities. Contrary to popular opinion, accreditors are not stifling innovation. If I say nothing else that you write today, please write that. We will be the fourth of the seven regional accreditors who have actually come up with a policy for responding to institutions' desires to have competency-based programs. As was mentioned earlier, this is not new. This has been recycled. This is my 40th year in higher education, and it's kind of like pointy-toe shoes. You wait every 25 years. They come back in style. The difference, I think, is that there is a much greater need for us to get people quickly employed. And so to get them the skill sets that they need and to have someone certify that they indeed have those skill sets is what's driving a lot of this, and that's not what drove it before. So that's a big thing. We are taking, so that Broward feels comfortable, we are taking a policy to our board in December that will put the process in place by which institutions would be able to submit their proposals, and then we would be able to approve them. And we're concerned about things, even though the traditional model is still there, and this is going to have to fit that square peg into the round hole, how they do it is what will make the difference. We don't have a definitive way that faculty, their role has to be defined, or the number of hours they have to teach. And so what we're looking for is an explanation on what will the role of faculty be. How will you determine that you have enough qualified faculty? What is the curriculum? What are the competencies? We've been in front of student learning outcomes since the 80s, so that's not as big a deal. What is as big a deal to our institutions is how do you assess whether students have actually achieved those competencies and what changes have you made in the institution as a result of those results? That's redundant, but because of what you found. So those are the kinds of things that we will be doing. Jay mentioned we don't accredit programs or courses. We accredit institutions, but we approve programs and the locations thereof. And so we have to be sure that whatever this model is that surfaces provides the same quality instruction and the same way of a same set of expectations or at least a comparable set of expectations for the CBE offered courses as regular courses. There's going to still be that need to ensure the accreditors because we then ensure the general public that the oomph of the CBE programs have the same oomph that traditional programs do. That they're going to have to learn the same stuff perhaps through a different modality, but that the quality of that instruction and the quality of that learning is equal to what we already know out there. Great. Thank you. And Amy, just to round out the conversation, put a bunch of the issues on the table and then go a little bit deeper. I believe the first congressional hearing we had a while back on that we think kicked off higher ed reauthorization really focused on the tripartite nature of the way we do regulation and quality in higher ed, looking at the state, federal, and accreditor roles. And you've been thinking about and writing about competency-based debt for a while. Do you see the beginnings of changes in those roles? Do you see perhaps at the federal state level? I know that in previous consulting work that I've done that one of the questions that continues to arise and it surfaced in the first panel is about, for example, federal financial aid and state financial aid in the context of competency-based debt and making sure that you're not running a foul of state regulatory rules or calling down an audit from the Department of Ed based on the way that you're developing programs. Do you see a beginning of that evolution happening or is it not started yet? So I do think there's a beginning of that conversation and actually Iris Palmer from NGA is here today and I know she's been thinking a lot about this and what competency-based education means at the state level and how you sort of marry that at the federal level and clearly financial aid, the funding of higher education is an important one. So at the federal level we have mostly up until recently been paying for time, time-based credit hour rather than learning and now with direct assessment we're starting to move away from that a little bit and then hopefully with the experimental sites that I believe somebody publicly said a few days ago, well there should be a notice out within the next few weeks that invites colleges to apply for these experimental sites. For those of you who aren't familiar with what experimental sites are, they're basically these sort of small, I'm just going to call them innovation labs where institutions can waive or the federal or the department can waive for institutions, some of the financial aid rules and statutes that might be preventing them from sort of doing some of the policy things that we want to do. So there's a lot wrapped up in federal financial aid that's related to time. So there's the credit hour and measuring things by the credit hour. There's also, as people mentioned earlier, academic year. There's satisfactory academic progress. Like what does all of that look like when you take time out of it? And those are questions we don't have the answer to and we need to start experimenting around and that's great and the feds are starting to do that. But then you know institutions aren't just beholden to the sort of federal oversight but also to the state. So when you have states that have very specific start times, they have very specific census dates, you're having to marry those things up and I think it's starting but nobody's figured it out yet. I think it might, you know, there's going to be a process but I do want to take this opportunity to sort of take a step back and sort of say it's great that we are getting into the weeds now about how this would look. We sort of assume that competency-based education is a good thing. How are we going to make it happen? And there's a lot of really, you know, sort of weedy regulations and I mean there's systems, there's policies, there's somebody mentioned earlier the LMS systems that aren't capable of doing competency-based education. There's all of the specific stuff and we need to figure that out and I think that's great that we are starting to move that way. What I worry about and I know this might sound odd since I'm sort of a big proponent of competency-based education, is I worry at the federal level that now we might be moving a little bit too quickly in our excitement. There's so much interest in competency-based education right now that I think we are taking it for granted that we know it works, we know how it works and we're ready to scale it up and I don't I don't think we are. I mean I, so I say this, you know, getting calls from, you know, congressional staffers all the time, what changes could we make to AGA, right? So I think we need, we need to try to figure out some stuff in order to try to make changes to AGA but I don't think we know yet what those changes would be and again I think we need to sort of step the sort of premise of CVE is really that it's outcomes-based and that it's based on learning and that the learning can be proven and demonstrated and unless and until we get that part right all the other stuff doesn't matter. We can figure out how to deliver, you know, a faster cheaper credential but we also need to make sure that it's good quality and that to me is we have to figure out all the other things and this is not me trying to be reactionary saying no no we don't know enough yet. No, we need to know which is why we need to experiment so that's why I'm excited about the experimental sites and possibly this demonstration program that's coming and I hope it allows us to answer both the really specific questions that you sort of ask about how do we, you know, how do you merge these very specific, you know, different operating systems as it were but also really get at the quality question. We've all been present at, Amy as you're merging as the voice of reason on competency-based education. Jay, I want to come back to you in terms of, you know, talking about the way that, you know, eight colleges delivering programs and one of the things that's interesting especially since you've gone modular is in many ways you're creating entirely new learning resources that aren't being developed across the system but within the system and is the system starting to view itself as almost a learning resource repository that will manage and curate those resources across all the campuses or are you already that? Yes, in our learn on demand delivery mode what we did is that the colleges that applied to develop the courses had to put together teams of faculty and usually from multiple colleges that developed the courses just determine what the learning outcomes would be the competencies would be and grouped them accordingly and then they developed them into a template where no matter what faculty member was delivering it it would be delivered the very same way so that the resources that what the student would get would be the very same with just the difference with the the faculty facilitator that would bring their nuances to it but primarily the course would be exactly the same and and as far as textbooks we went with an e-resources process where we worked where we had the faculty members choose the textbook that they would use and then worked with the different publishers to have that publisher put it into an electronic format and chunk that down the textbook down into only the resources that would be necessary for that module in some cases that was quite a bit of material and other times it was less than that but that that material is always available for the student from the very time that they registered for the course and one of the we were chatting earlier and one of the items that you mentioned was as you began to move to this to the the competency-based modular system that there was a lot more cost on the investment on the front end and can you talk about that a little bit more because i think that's really interesting at a system level right you know that's that's where the majority the cost is is is getting everything right up front the development of the coursework and remember we approached this that this was going to be a student audience that was totally virtual we wanted that working adult never to have to come onto our college campuses so if that was the case what infrastructure did we have to put into place so one of the first things we had to do was develop a 24-7 virtual student services model uh several of our college presidents thought they could just hire people uh and i said locking them in the closet at two in the morning was not acceptable and so we decided to outsource that that piece of the tier one services and and went with proscenium learning a kentucky company at the time and now that's been bought out by blackboard student services and it's been very successful for us we we also had to look at what other kinds of support our students would need in a virtual environment and then we established a couple years ago student success coaches and there's there's cost to those additional resources for the students and those are fairly up front and continuing costs but once we got the infrastructure in place our our delivery cost has actually come down and we're able to at least break even on on our delivery now and at that just one further follow-up on the system level do you feel that the way that the system budgets or the way you're allowed to budget under state law that it gives you the flexibility to do that kind of investment on a repeating basis well we were fortunate enough that the council on post-secondary education gave us a loan kind of innovation loan to develop our first coursework and then what we did as as we started getting into delivery is we set aside some more resources at our state level that could be used for development cost and that fund is always available for the colleges that want to develop new courses or new programs and that's helped immensely to have that kind of fund sitting there for development as you've been going through the process of developing I guess the the programmer process that you're going to bring to your board for approval what have been either the biggest surprises for you in your team or the feedback that you've been getting from the the folks like Jay has participated on that process I gather that you know raised the the most accreditor oriented issues for yourself and are you seeing that based on the process you're putting in place it's actually going to for example pivot the dialogue or in in practice or just in terms of the the public dialogue with for example the Department of Ed about the accreditors roles do you see that emerging and changing through the process we're not stupid so we contacted the DOE up front after Southern New Hampshire's program was approved by the department then we wanted to see exactly what it was the department approved and used some of that as a basis for the program that or the process that we're developing Jay's organization provides challenges for us because we don't accredit systems and so his comment that all of the institutions then had to ensure that their faculty were involved that their support services were involved you know that they have some say into this stuff it's a challenge for them because systems are great they have that money they have that expertise they're able to bring everybody together but the reality is it doesn't matter on one level because the institutions have to own this this new buddy so I'm excited about Kentucky's model and we have we have thought about what they're doing as well in building this model again the thing that surprised us most I guess was the variety of CBE programs out there and how institutions are defining them most of them are hybrid programs you know where part of the program is going to be in regular our traditional classes and the other parts going to be you know CBE and so what do we do with that you know unique model it would be one thing if there was totally CBE and you know we could focus on that but and we have some of those but dealing with that as well as how this fits into the traditional model is providing interesting thought for us and so we're we're taking a more initially anyway until we get enough of these applications to kind of ferret out exactly what we want to do a an overarching philosophical thing that you need to make sure that these are the areas you address and that you adequately explain what it is you're doing and if possible how that relates to you know the the more traditional stuff that's going on in your institution we right now have about five institutional proposals in and I have very personally asked them to back off until I can come up with a proposal and a procedure so that then I don't have to hear well it's taking you forever to do that well yes taking me forever because I don't know how to do this this is brand new for us and they've been willing to do that so we have those first five that are willing to be subjects for this experiment for us and as we get through that then we'll be able to refine the process but as I said we're still interested in you know who's going to teach these what is the role of faculty how are they developing these programs you know who's the support that's provided even if there are coaches or mentors what are their qualifications you know for doing this you know who put them in charge of whatever it is what are the support services whether they're virtual or not there I mean some institutions don't have that budget to you know to provide the the 24 7 virtual process but there still has to be support services that are available you know do you see I mentioned the degree qualifications profile and also the tuning USA project do you how does that fit with this Bell or does it not yet are they connected yet or are they not and some of the proposals they are and in full disclosure I'm on Lumina's board so I just I want to put that out there so nobody wonders why I didn't say that I think some of the programs are indeed rooted in the DQP especially you know the idea that here are the areas and these are the things that need to be covered we still have the 25% rule that's got to be addressed that's probably the biggest challenge for us the one that says if you're going to give a degree to somebody you have to ensure that 25% of the coursework is done or the competencies in this case are provided by your institution and that there's a hunk of general education competencies that are covered in there as well because there's a 20% of the program or so is general ed competency so right now we're dealing with equivalencies and how what are those equivalencies thank you Amy I want to come back to you with to your initial hesitation around policy because you know what strikes me again as I'm listening is I hear that we're going to end up with a competency-based system that's not perhaps less diverse than the current system we have with the credit hour as an organizing principle and so I'm wondering do we think that we're going to come up with some we might just come up with learning outcomes as an organizing principle with similar diversity so I don't know that that makes the regulatory challenge or the financial aid challenge it makes it different does it necessarily make it better well so I mean I would hope CBE would make it better because it's all predicated on outcomes will it make it simpler not necessarily I mean I think the reason that the credit hour has stuck around for so long is because it's easy to organize right measuring time is easy measuring learning is not so I don't my hope is that it will be better and I think this I mean it certainly will provide challenges I think the one thing I do want to sort of disagree with lots of people who've spoken today who says who have said that CBE isn't for everyone I guess I disagree and it sort of depends on how you define CBE I think you know there's different modalities and there's the sort of learn at your own pace and there's you know there's any time anywhere and there's there's different ways but I think fundamentally the idea that students students employers schools that students transfer to anyone should be able to like know what students are expected and actually do accomplish I think should apply to all of higher education and I think this is where the DQP and tuning come in I think it's not you know it's not just for these very specific technical skills for those people right but it's for everyone I mean I think that people go to higher education for a variety of reasons but at least one reason is because they're trying to learn something right we are learning education institutions higher learning so let's try to figure out you know how it is that we document that we we report to do that already with grades but there's ramping great inflation there's not a lot of I think trust in the grades right now and the credentials which is why I think we're seeing increased interest in competency based education whether or not it's at institutions on the credit side at institutions on the non-credit side for employers who are like I don't want to deal with all the hassle on the credit side I just want those skills and it's very competency based and it's not for credit and you're starting to see badges and Cisco certifications and you know alternatives to master's degrees like general assembly and dev boot camp I mean you're starting to see all of these all of these sort of alternatives disruptions thank you because I think as Mary Alice I think said the skills aren't visible in what in traditional or in in education sort of writ large and I think we need to make them visible and I think that's where sort of tuning comes in and again you know tuning it can it sort of gets to this idea of external validation right it's not just one professor in his or her own classroom setting his or her own standards and measuring against those standards and assessing against those standards but there's a community there's somebody beyond that one professor it made it may be every faculty member in that discipline in that college in that state I think the I think tuning has done something with the American Historical Association they're basically trying to define competencies I believe Cliff can no doubt will correct us in Q and Q and A that they're trying to define competencies for a bachelor's degree in history I mean there are ways to to engage faculty as the external validators or employers so I think that that to me is where all of this becomes interesting is in trying to figure out different ways to really articulate what it is students no one can and can do and we we don't really do a great job of that yet and we need to figure it out I don't think there's one answer but I do think that it should apply to all of higher education and not just for I think if it just applies to the types of programs that we're talking about that are very technical very specific it runs the risk of becoming other and becoming sort of two-tracked and lesser and that's not what we want I think at least not I don't think that's what anybody wants certainly excuse me not what I want I think the the point of CBE is to raise the bar for everyone Louis I think CBE implementation is going to be easier than then we think it might be because of the focus accreditors have on student learning outcomes every academic program in an institution today has to have identified the expected student learning outcomes and so if you've got that laundry list seems like it would be real simple to make them available you know for students to meet outside of a of an institution and maybe not all but certainly in our region all you know so I think that's going to be a lot easier if I might too one of the earlier panels was talking about arts and science faculty and how our humanities faculty and how you're going to get this when I go talk with faculty I tell them my take on this push we were not ready for the impact technology was going to have on jobs we knew it was going to make some easier we had no clue it was going to wipe out as many as it did or change as many as it did that people had been able to do and make an honest days living for their family without an extremely high level of education so that impact was one my own son was in automotive tech for a while and you don't get your car fixed anymore like you did when I was coming up you get circuit breakers replaced that's a very different skill set than being able to turn a wrench the second impact is my generation didn't have as many children as my mother's generation so we don't have as many people going into the workforce I mean they're just not they haven't been born and the third one is the largest percentage of people in the workforce are my age who want to retire sooner than later and so you've got that perfect swirl of all that coming together and now we have these jobs that are high skilled jobs with fewer people to do them but who've got to get out there and do them quickly so we've got to be able to train them somewhere and right now given our system of higher education that's where they learn them in school and arts and humanities faculty feel better about the sudden focus on jobs you know and instead of the education of the individual I mean I was a psychology major I knew I had to get a job my mom wouldn't go let me back home if I didn't get a job but that wasn't why I went to college so much you know that wasn't that in your face why you're but it is today because we need every able body to be able to perform a skill set that will get them employed that's great I want to ask Jay a specific question and then go to one broad question for the group and then move to audience Q&A you know one of the things that's always puzzled me as I as in my own thinking about competency-based ed is that especially competency-based ed that's really occupationally focused where employers play a huge role in identifying competencies is that it assumes a lot about how much employers know and how much they're willing to say sustainably engaged in a conversation with the college for changing needs as talk a little bit if you could talk a little bit about the way that yeah the Kentucky system has been engaging employers and without I'm not asking you to knock employers but just to say do you think that they're up to the task if you wanted to move to you know 40% of your credentials being competency-based do you think employers are up to the task of helping you get there no engagement of employers is important and I'll give you an example of what what we're doing with this integrated engineering technology degree that will be coming online in the spring this is based on the automotive manufacturing technology education collaborative that's almost as bad as tack amtech is this collaborative that is developing the curriculum that all the auto manufacturers can agree upon is the type of curriculum for industrial maintenance technology and again just like the auto technician no longer turns a wrench the auto manufacturer no no longer rivets the parts together it's it's all very technical in nature and with this grant that was to come about several years ago we've been putting together this curriculum and KCTCS is is the lead for this but there are 12 different states that are involved in the amtech curriculum the curriculum is being developed by faculty but being reviewed by the actual manufacturers and the manufacturers give feedback and we tweak it as we go along I will tell you that the manufacturers are very specific in how often they want to review this curriculum and it's it's a change for our faculty because they're used to putting curriculum out there and waiting three years or four years and then reviewing it no the auto manufacturers have said no we're going to be reviewing on a constant basis that feedback has been critical but it's also slowed us down and being able to roll it out for delivery because we can't get them to draw a line in the sand and say it's ready they want to keep tweaking it so that's something that we have to balance as institutions is how often the employer will give us feedback because we have to have time to correct it and we have to try it with students to make sure we're delivering something that is appropriate okay thank you I just want to ask one question of the of the panel and just you know whoever with the panel might want to take it on and then we'll move to audience Q and A one of the questions that has arisen over the years around competency based education and also the use of online net and more recently in in within the beltway policy circles is concerned that you know as we talk about disruptions or new approaches and new pathways like this that you know are we going to end up with systems where we have equity issues where it's you know low-income students or students that haven't been tradition or have been traditionally underserved that they're the ones that are going to be in these all these new models that we're still testing and I'm wondering if folks have had time to think about that is that a major concern is it something that isn't I've seen it you're not experiencing as much a concern we've been tracking our learn-on-demand delivery and the demographics are almost identical with our on-campus delivery with the exception that we have 70 percent females in the in the program which is in our traditional format it's like 5545 females to males so we've seen many more females but as far as diversity is concerned it's almost identical to our on-campus delivery Bell or Amy I think as long as we have options available then the equity issue will be minimized as we've said all morning CBE is not for everybody just like any online program is not for anybody any on-class in-class program is not for everybody so as long as we have the variety and students can find the the style of learning you know that best fits them then I think it'll minimize the equity issues I'll just reiterate what I said before which is I think that if we don't bring transparency in what is expected of and actually achieved by students throughout all of higher education whatever the modalities whatever you know whoever the audience is whoever the students are then I think we I think we already have equity issues I think a lot of them are masked and I think we need to be much more transparent and that all students deserve that unless until we do that we're going to have more we're going to have continuing and maybe even exacerbate these equity issues great I'd like to open it up to the audience for questions do we have a microphone still there's no microphone anymore Alex should be running there he is there he is running in quickly okay we'll get we'll do Cliff first and get that all out in the open right away and there goes the time I'm not going to beat you up Amy you want to read the American Historical Society it has to be a question hang on it has to be a question I have a case cement brain Louie you know that which means concrete examples we haven't heard one concrete competency statement this morning so let me give you one right out of the degree qualifications profile it's the section on identification and use of learning resources information resources something we want students to do with the associates level bachelor's masters it reads as follows the student will identify categorize prioritize and evaluate at least two information resources in his or her major field of study that's a gent generic statement what kinds of things are we talking about Wikipedia comes to mind immediately is an example physicians desk reference chemical information system you can name a lot of them at the associates level they're in technical fields you've got a whole bunch of them at the masters level what the DQP does is it asks the masters level student to contribute to the information resource that's out there in other words it's a ratcheting of challenge now now let me go back we had a discussion about how you assess these things concretely we don't use the word assessment we use assignments because something that faculty do every week and if you don't have faculty you're not going to get this thing any competency based whatever you want to call it here's one that we developed in the late 1970s listen carefully see if you can handle this one and this was at William Patterson College in New Jersey which is part of the ASCU institutions that were dealing with this in the degree qualification it's used in the degree qualifications profile as an example of something that deals with integrated knowledge and global learning suppose a new method form of energy was developed that when we turned on the switch would slow the rotation of the earth from 24 to 26 hours a day before we can flip the switch an environmental impact statement must be filed you have a blank piece of paper and 30 minutes and give us the chapter heads and sub chapter heads of that environmental impact statement you want something that's concrete that deals with integrative learning that deals with global issues that deals with differential perspective you just got it and that's the kind of thing that faculty give every week and one of the objectives of the whole degree qualifications when Bell knows this well from discussions on the Lumina Board is to involve faculty more and more to get more precise about the kinds of assignments they give in relation to what you're calling today competency based outcomes and notice the way those competency that competency based statement on information resources was written active verbs no dead end nouns no critical thinking no awareness no appreciation if those are dead end nouns tell us what students do when you write an information resource and I hope you can carry this forward Lewis thank you thank you Cliff amen so I'll I'll I guess I'll put I'll try to pose that as a question to Bell or Jay and to suggest is that what you're seeing emerging I mean you're seeing that that's the kind of work that's happening on the campuses within your purview and in your systems without a doubt yes and within this system we've had several workshops for our faculty who teach in this environment to how they can develop authentic assessments every course starts off with a pre-test that Kaola like this that starts off with a measure of prior learning if the student can show proficiency they can immediately jump to the post test and if they pass the post test they get the credit for the module and can move on as they're moving through a module they might have three or four tests along the way but what we're working on is make sure those assessments are more authentic and can apply the learning more than just a multiple choice type test and it was on that basis that I said that this might be easier than we think it is on many levels since institutions have already identified expected student learning outcomes in every program they offer we have a summer institute that this coming summer will be the 11th one that we will have had that is designed to help faculty one identify a student learning outcome and to write it in an active form and secondly how to assess it and third how to use the results of those assessments in improving the program and we have limited to 700 people every summer this coming summer we'll have a thousand so there is definite interest in it another question from the audience right up here Evelyn Gansglas from CLASP my question is for Dr. Box my understanding of Kentucky system is that for years you've had partial credit or that actually you have even in the workforce arena you don't have non-credit anymore that it's all in smaller chunks of credit and you were really first of all is that true and then how has all of that work really related to what you've been talking about about online instruction the way you were talking about it it sounded like competency-based instruction was equivalent to online when in fact there's this whole body of work that's been going on and trying to connect non-credit and credit education and just could you talk about that a little bit you're absolutely right we've chunked down our curriculum several years ago but the purpose of that was primarily for workforce training and we deliver at least half or if not more of our workforce training in a credit environment and so we had to find a way to do that and that way was to chunk down our curriculum to meet the demands of an employer who wanted us to bring in just a specific training module for those folks so we've been delivering that in a workforce training environment but we weren't delivering it in an on-campus environment to credit students who were there for a traditional semester it was through the online delivery of learn on demand that we were able to find a way to deliver it in these chunks and it makes sense to a student who is going toward a credential okay another question from the audience right back there gentleman with the beard thank you I'm sorry to monopolize with the second question but Cliff and I both come from New York and that happens for Jay box that Brooklyn Cliff for Jay box a question you talk about coordinating with employers AAC and you has done a number of surveys that show a strong commitment on the part of employers to broader kinds of non-technical skills some of us are questioning whether that's lip service or reality in terms of programming and I'm wondering if in your employer feedback you're seeing that kind of commitment to broader liberal arts skills or are they focused on the technical technical primarily although you've heard the comment about the needs for soft skills or whatever you want to call them and that's the major dialogue and you know that gets us into an area about how are we going to accomplish that you you want these you want these students through programs quicker and directly into the to workforce and in Kentucky a student can go into a first level certificate in a technical program and if they're not college ready they've tested developmental ed they can skip the developmental ed sequence completely because it's not required in that first level certificate so we've had to say we can't be turning out these folks even with the first level credential if they if they don't have basic math skills reading and and writing and communication skills so what we've been doing as part of the accelerating opportunity grant is that we've been working on contextualizing those reading writing and math skills and and team teaching with a developmental education or adult ed education instructor in the classroom with the technical instructor that is really pleasing the employer because we're having folks come through with with both sides both skill sets however it's it's very expensive and very difficult to do and we're looking for a way to sustain it so if you know of any multi-billionaire that wants to contribute a lot of money for us we'd certainly take it we have time for one last question from the audience great gentleman right there too Hi, Jarrett Cummings with EDUCAUSE I was wondering if you could speak to the importance of sustained dialogue between the institutional academic leadership and institutional technology leadership and making competency-based education not just possible but successful we're looking at you oh okay yes well I will tell you that seven years ago six years ago when we started this initiative I was the vice president over technology and I drove this initiative from the technology side first and we wanted to make sure the technology could do what the academic side of the house really needed and you have to have that clear expectation for both and because I started on that side before coming over to the chancellor's role it it helped me understand the importance for that constant communication back with the all the the technology folks to make sure that we were collaborating and coordinating our efforts the big challenges with any kind of program like this is of course we are a people soft environment we had to get people soft to be able to understand chunked environments chunked and how we're going to start anytime and end different sequences and how you do that and now our our technology folks are so excited about it we're talking about the the new transcript that we're going to start developing in the next year which aligns the competencies with the courses and we'll actually display it and that's something that our technology folks are thrilled about this how we can do this we can do that that's the kind of innovation you really need is is your technology folks working with your academic folks to make this happen that's actually a great way to end I think that the the changing technology in particular technology infrastructure in partnership in tandem with the academic evolution is really where the heart of CBE is is coming it's going to look different in different places but those two together actually is is critical so I want to thank everyone for joining us and if you join me in thanking our our panel thank you very much


I'm Melissa, and I'm Adam, and we're the owners and operators of Urban Roots Farm, and Urban Roots is actually in West Central neighborhood, which is in downtown Springfield, Missouri. And we are right in the middle of a neighborhood. We're about a mile west of our downtown here in Springfield. We have 1.7 acres of ground here. We also have an eight-unit apartment complex on the property. And so we actually have about three-quarters of an acre in actual crop space. We serve a 75-member CSA here in town. We use a lot of season extension equipment. We have three 30-by-50 high tunnels and a greenhouse. And we've also put a couple of caterpillar tunnels in over the last two years. And we use a lot of low tunnels during the fringe months. We got a serigrant in 2015, in the 2015 cycle, in order to evaluate a system that we learned about through JM40A's book, The Market Gardener. And basically what that system entails is a change in the way that we turn beds over. In a farm on our scale, it requires us to turn beds very rapidly. And the way that we were doing that previously required us to remove crop residues, move them to a compost pile, and then ultimately return that matter once it was decomposed back to the space that it more or less came from. In reading The Market Gardener, we became aware of a system in which you can see this black plastic on the ground behind us here. And you cover the ground with an opaque material for a period of time to accelerate the breakdown of crop residues. Prior to covering it, we flail mow it, which is an implement for our walk-behind tractor that basically pulverizes whatever crop residue is left there.  It buys us time too, because a lot of the times whenever you have a crop that you're finished with or maybe it's a crop that went south and didn't do exactly as you had planned, in the past, if we hadn't attended to that immediately and tilled it, then we would just start getting weeds, you know, and we would be irrigating weeds the entire time. And so if we can jump in there now and cover it with this plastic, it's already moving us forward and not wasting any time like before. And we're not contributing to the weed impact and the seed beds. The major takeaways for us on what this system provided for the farm is it had a serious impact on our soil structure. Our soils have much healthier structure. They're much fluffier these days, and they stay that way. One of the principles of this is that it creates an optimal germination area, and what happens is it builds moisture in that upper layer of soil, holds that moisture in there, and warms the soil. And so we can get germination of weed seed at almost any time of the year with these tarps lying on the ground. And ordinarily we wouldn't be looking to germinate weed seeds probably in our beds. But what happens is those weeds come up under the tarp, they find no light, and this is the occultation part, which is the occlusion of light, and they perish, which results in fewer weed seeds in our soil in the long term.  And this grant actually gave us that opportunity because we could see the benefits and we could read the benefits, and we were hearing everybody else, but we tend to get into our routine and we know what works for us, and a lot of times you don't have that money up front to just say, you know what, let's just go for it. Let's try this. And so opportunities that SAIR provides was just night and day because our farming methods after that grant have 100% changed.


And obviously we've got to play Saturday backed by over 3,000 away supporters, that's always a, you know, a bonus, always a positive when you're going away from home, you know, you can rely on that sort of support. Yeah.   And, you know, that's what we're going. Roller sleeves up ready for action and hopefully we can start an important week in style.


Now, as gunshots echo across the windswept snow-covered reaches of the wild northwest, Quaker Puff Wheat and Quaker Puff Rice, the breakfast cereal shot from guns, present the challenge of the Yukon. It's Yukon King, swiftest and strongest lead dog of the northwest, placing the trail for Sergeant Preston of the northwest mounted police in his relentless pursuit of lawbreakers. On King Kondoski! Gold, gold discovered in the Yukon, a stampede to the Klondike in the wild race for riches. Back to the days of the Gold Rush, with Quaker Puff Wheat and Quaker Puff Rice bringing you the adventures of Sergeant Preston and his wonder dog Yukon King as they meet the challenge of the Yukon. There's the kickoff and the game is on! Whether it's football you like to play or any other sport, you need a hearty breakfast. So start tomorrow to enjoy a breakfast of delicious Quaker Puff Wheat or Quaker Puff Rice with milk or cream and fruit. Quaker Puff Wheat and Quaker Puff Rice furnish extra health benefits of restored natural grain amounts of vitamin B1, niacin and iron and they're shot from guns to make them crisp and tender. They're shot through and through with swell nut-like flavor too. Don't wait, it's the hearty breakfast you like to eat. Quaker Puff Rice or Quaker Puff Wheat. Old Timer had been one of the best sled dogs in the Yukon during his day but he was growing very old now and even during the summer months he found it hard to find food. That was why King dropped into the habit of bringing him to the northwest mounted barracks for his meals. Sergeant Preston took one look at Old Timer's teeth and prepared some soft food for him. When it was placed before the old husky King sniffed at it and looked up at his master. He seemed to be asking, is this the way we treat a guest? There's caribou steak for you King but you just watch Old Timer, I think he'll like this stew better. And Old Timer did. In fact he liked his rations at the barracks so well that he returned there day after day. And today Old Timer, the Northwest Mounted is happy to serve you Buia Base. English translation, fish chowder. Then the freeze-up came and the sergeant readied his dog team for the first of the winter patrols. Just before he left on it, he asked Corporal Downey to make sure that Old Timer had enough to eat. You can depend on it Sergeant. I'll fix his food so he can eat it. Good. Get away from there Old Timer. What's the matter? Why is he nipping at your wheel dog? He wants to take his place. Still can't believe that he's too old to hit the trail. Is he though? Looks to be in pretty good condition to me. He is but during the winter frozen fish is just about the only food we can carry for the dogs and he can't eat it anymore. A little extra effort and the man can prepare something special for him.  Once you're on the trail, every dog must be treated alike or there's trouble. You mean to say that King doesn't get an extra little tit bit every now and then? Not on the trail. Line him up boy. No whether Old Timer likes it or not, the trail's no place for him. I'll see you in about two weeks, Jim. Have a good trip. Here Old Timer, you stay here boy. All right, honking, honking. The sergeant returned from his trip on schedule. And as he was feeding the team once more in the run behind the barracks, he noticed that King didn't seem to be interested in his food. He seemed to be looking for someone. And then the sergeant realized. It's feeding time and Old Timer isn't here. That's who you miss, boy. Jim, come here a second. What is it? Where's Old Timer? I don't know. He hasn't been around for the last three days. I wonder if something's happened to him. Search me. I haven't seen him around town either. Well, you go ahead and eat, King. We'll see if we can find Old Timer tonight. The sergeant asked for news of Old Timer all over town that evening. And finally, at the Monte Carlo. Thanks, you remember the dog I mean? Silver Gray Husky, Harry Weskin's wheel dog. Sure, I remember it. Good dog, too. I saw him the day before yesterday. Where? Here in town. He was working with a team and how he loved it. Oh, I don't think we're talking about the same dog. Well, I'm talking about Old Timer. Well, he's still old to work with a team. You wouldn't say that if you'd seen him leaning into those traces. Well, he's strong enough. As long as whoever it is that has him doesn't take him out on the trail. Well, that's where he was heading. You're sure, Tex? Positive. What's wrong with his hitting the trail? Well, he can't eat trail rations. This food isn't specially prepared for him, it's starved. Oh, too bad. You'd think a man would realize would have enough sense to... Well, a man who are using them are cheap charcoals, green as they come. The dogs are dog to him. What are their names? Brent and Lyndon. At least that's what they call themselves. Why do you say that? Well, no reason. Just personal prejudice. I'd call them a couple of rats, except I got too much respect for rats. You don't think they'll give Old Timer any special treatment? Maybe a good beating if he doesn't pull his weight. Well, they won't get away with it. You know where they were heading? Up the Klondike toward Grand Ledge. Grand Ledge? You have to make a patrol up there. There's no reason why I shouldn't start right away. If I'd only known that Old Timer... That's all right, Tex. We'll make sure he isn't mistreated. Brent and Lyndon have no real claim to him. Come on, King. We're going to find Old Timer. The following morning in the town of Grand Ledge, Nancy Croydon slipped into a park along before it was light, and walked down the main street in Trading Company's store. She met Herbert Gridley, the local manager, as he was just about to open the front door. I don't think the door's locked, Mr. Gridley. What's that? Is Bill here already? Well, you knew he was working late last night, and he must have fallen asleep. He didn't come home. Well, let's see. Oh, he locked the door anyway. Maybe he went to sleep on the cot out in the storeroom. Come in, come in, Mrs. Croydon. We'll wake him up and send him home with you for some breakfast. You understand, Mr. Gridley. I don't mind he's working late, but will this sting here without letting me know? I woke up a little after midnight. Wait. Good heavens. What's the matter? The safe's open. Now, that's carelessness. With Bill here and the door locked? Mrs. Croydon, all the miner's gold is gone. Bill! Wake up! Wait. Why isn't he here? The cot hasn't been slept on. He's gone. Gone. Your husband's gone, Mrs. Croydon. Oh, he couldn't be. He must be somewhere around the town if he isn't here. Don't you realize what he's done? I don't know what you're talking about. He's stolen all the gold that I've been keeping for the miners in my safe. Well, that isn't true. The facts speak for themselves. He's gone and so is the gold. Oh, my husband's not a thief. I suppose it was because of Davy, he did it.  He wanted Davy to have that operation on his foot so he could run and play like the other boys. I don't really blame him for feeling the way he did. Mr. Gridley. There's something he wanted so much he didn't care what he did to get the money. You've got to stop taking it for granted. The bill's a thief. He couldn't do such a thing. Not even for Davy. Naturally, this is a shock to you. But how can I ever explain to the miners? To their loss, of course, I'm not responsible in any way, but what shall I say to them? They trusted Bill as much as I did. If someone stole the gold, it wasn't Bill. That reminds me. Of what? Well, when I woke up last night, I went to the window and I saw a couple of men down here by the store.  No. You're sure? Absolutely. They were much larger men. They couldn't have had anything to do with it. Why not? Unless they were Bill's accomplices. Don't you understand, man, the outside of myself Bill's the only one who knew the combination to the safe and it wasn't forced open. We had a light snow last night. It should be easy to follow their trail. I'm not going to stand for an accusation such as you've made without fighting back, Mr. Gridley. I'm going after those men. Oh, you are just hysterical, Mrs. Croydon. This is a matter for the police. And by the time you get word to Dawson, they'll be... No. No, I'm going after them. And suppose you find Bill with them. What then? Perhaps they held him up. Perhaps he followed them. That's it. Oh, no, it isn't. Try to calm yourself and think clearly. I'm going to follow that trail. Mrs. Croydon hurried from the store and down the street to the Gordon's. She asked Mrs. Gordon to take care of Davy for the day and then ran on to her own home. Davy, where are you? I'm out in the kitchen, Mom.  It's all ready. I'm all finished. Oh, that's fine. Davy, I'm going out of town for a little while and you're going to stay with Mrs. Gordon until I get back. I'll get your park. Where are you going? Can I come too? Not this time, dear. It's business for your father. But I'll be back in a few hours, I'm sure. Here you are. Mrs. Croydon, let me play with Spock. Oh, Gordon. I wish I had a dog. Well, we'll try and find you one. Come on, darling. All right, Mom. At noon that day, Sergeant Preston was within two miles of Grand Lenge and as the team neared the point where the hill trail joined the main one, King slowed out and looked back at his master. The sergeant stepped on the break. Oh, there. Oh, there. What is it, boy? Well, I can see the tracks of a sled and the prints the dogs left. They came from the town and turned north here, but where are you so interested? The great dog, who'd been working as a loose lead, ran up the trail and turned back to his master, asking him to follow. I told you we're looking for old timer. Is old timer a member of that team? Sounds like yes to me. All right, boy. We'll see what this trail leads. See you there. On, King. On, your King. At four o'clock that afternoon, it was already dark and the northern lights were streaking across the sky. The team had climbed high into the hills and ahead of him, ghostly in the weird glow, the sergeant could see a cluster of buildings, a town long deserted. Then suddenly King began to bark. Just ahead and lying beside the trail was a Parker-clad figure. Okay, okay. The sergeant stopped the team and ran to investigate. It was a young woman. What's wrong with her? King, she's been shot. We'll continue our story in just a moment. There's nothing like it. Yes, there's nothing like the big moment down on the football field when... This is it. There's less than a minute left to play, folks, and the score is tied. Ball's on the three-yard line. The crowd is going crazy. And here it comes, one of the last plays of the game. They're out of the huddle. The pass from the center. And look at that power. It's over for a touchdown. Yes, moments like this stand out. There's nothing like it. And for breakfast, nothing stands out like a heaping bowl of Quakerpuff wheat or Quakerpuff rice. Just pour on some milk or cream and top with your favorite fruit. You'll say, this is it. A standout. A standout in flavor, crispness. That's because Quakerpuff wheat and Quakerpuff rice are giant king-size kernels. They're the premium grains of flavor-rich wheat or rice. And they're shot from guns. Yes, actually exploded up to eight times normal size to make them crisp and tender. Bigger and better tasting. And like the football team that pours in extra power for a touchdown, wheat and rice shot from guns delivers extra food value. Yes, Quakerpuff wheat and Quakerpuff rice furnish added food values of restored natural grain amounts of vitamin B1, niacin and niacin. So ask for crisp, fresh Quakerpuff rice. They're never sold in bags or bulk. Always remember to buy the big red and blue packages with the smiling Quakerman on the front. He's your guarantee that you're getting the one and only Quakerpuff wheat and Quakerpuff rice. Shot from guns. Now to continue our story. The young woman lying in the snow was Nancy Croydon. She was still alive, but the bullet wound in her shoulder was deep. Quickly the sergeant dressed it and wrapped the woman in blankets. There was an old cabin set back from the trail among the trees and the sergeant placed Nancy on the sled and drove her there. The cabin was deserted, but there was a stove and a cot inside. The sergeant worked fast. Before long the cabin was snug and warm. Nancy lying on the cot stirred under the blankets. The sergeant had a cup of broth ready for her. Hello. Don't try to talk until you've drunk this. When Nancy had finished with the broth. You... you belong to the Northwest Marley. Sergeant Preston. At your service. Did... Gridley send you after me? Why, no, I don't even know who you are. I found you lying beside the trail. Are we inside the tunnel? No, not a half mile from it. What are you doing here? Those who tell me about your son first, who shot you? I don't know. I was following his sled tracks and they led straight into the town. Well, all of a sudden I saw an old man. He was up on the roof of the hotel and he was shaking his fist at me and shouting something, something I couldn't understand. Something about the town belonging to him. And... and then the bullet hit me. It knocked me down and I got up and ran. I ran as far as I could. The old man shot you? He was the only one I could see, but he couldn't have. He didn't have a gun. There are other men in that town, though. Obviously. Do you... do you know about the robbery? No, what robbery? In Grand Ledge last night. The Northern Trading Company. Mr. Gridley accused my husband... Nancy told the sergeant why she had followed the sled tracks to the most town. Of her suspicion that the two men who drove the sled were really responsible for stealing the gold. And when she had finished her story, the sergeant asked her a number of questions. Finally... You say the sled tracks go straight through the town. I only got as far as the hotel, but they seem to be heading for the mine entrance. That's at the upper end of the street. No sign of anyone, of course, but Franklin Linden must be somewhere around. You know their names? Whether they stole the gold or not remains to be seen, but one of them must have shot you, so I'm going after them. You'll be safe and warm here. I don't try to move till I get back. I promise I won't be more than an hour. The sergeant and King started into the town. There was no sound, no sign of any human being, but the sergeant relied on King to warn him of any danger. We're still looking for old-timer King. All of the tumbledown buildings on the other side of the street seem to be deserted. The sled tracks led on to the mine entrance and disappeared inside it. Go straight into the tunnel, King. When the entrance was reached, the sergeant stopped for a moment to light a hurricane lantern.  Just inside the entrance, the sergeant found a sled. I'm honest, the dog's here. Easy, boy. A lot of side tunnels. No telling when we'll run into something. King never hesitated. All right, again. Well, this tunnel must run through the hill at the back of the town. Sloping down, yes. Suddenly, there was a sharp explosion that rocked the walls of the tunnel. It was followed by the dull rumble of a landslide. Hold it, boy. It's not as if it came from the entrance. Perhaps there isn't any entrance now. You don't seem to be worried, though, King. Still want to go on? Oh, dogs. So we're still heading for Old Timer. Go on, King. A few minutes later, the tunnel opened into a vault-like timbered room. The ceiling was supported by a line of posts. And to each of them, a dog was tied. With one exception, all of them were on their feet and barking at King. The exception was Old Timer. He was lying down very still. But there was a welcome in his eyes for his friends. Hello, Old Timer. How are you feeling, boy? Hungry?  A muffled voice from the corner of the room attracted the sergeant's attention. It was a man bound and gagged. The sergeant made short work of cutting his ropes and untying the gag. Thanks. You Bill Croydon? How did you know that? Sergeant Preston, Northwest Mountain Police. I'm investigating the Grand Ledge robbery. The Grand Ledge, a couple of crooks by the name of Brent and Lyndon. I work for the Northern Trading Company. I know, go on. I was working late. They knocked on the door. I figured it was a couple of travelers who needed supplies, so I let them in. They forced you to open the safe? No, they didn't have to. I'd been working. I was just getting ready to put the ledgers back in the safe. It was open.  When I came to, I was on the trail on their sled. Where's the gold? Up above. Yes, this room is right underneath the hotel. There's a ladder over there that leads up to a trapdoor. Are Brent and Lyndon up there? I guess so. They went up the ladder a few minutes ago and they heard the explosion. I have a few questions, Bill. Why did they take you with them after the robbery? Any idea? Oh, I haven't. Had you ever seen them before last night? I saw them hanging around town during the day. So you'd have been able to describe them? Of course. I didn't know you. About your son, for instance, and the operation you should have. I didn't even know their names until I heard them talking to each other. There was no way in which they could guess that you would be blamed for the robbery. Me? You have been. The fact that you needed money and the fact that you disappeared at the same time the gold in. Greatly couldn't believe that I'd take it. I wonder if he really does. Seems to me that he was a little too ready to assume that you were guilty. As the sergeant was freeing, Bill Croydon, Brent, the main entrance of the mine. That crazy hermit again set a blast up on the hill and started a landslide. The opening's closed for good. Yeah, and our sled just inside. Right. Someone driving up the trail. Must be Gridley. We'll take his sled for our getaway. About time, Gridley. I told you I wouldn't be able to leave town until it was dark. Everything all right? Depends on what you call all right. You said this town was deserted. It has been for years. A crack-brained old prospector thinks he owns a place. Look, just blasted the entrance of the mine. There was a woman, too. A woman? That was Croydon's wife. She saw you leave town last night and followed you. Where is she now? I took a pot shot at her and she beat it. That's funny. I didn't meet her on the trail. If she went for help, she'd go straight back to Grand Lenge. How would she go to Dawson? The red coats. I don't like the way things are going at all. Neither do we. We want to get out of here fast. All right, where's the gold? In the hotel. Come on, we'll make our split. He's at it again. The hermit. The hotel had smoke coming out of the windows. He set the place on fire. Come on, we've got to get that gold. The sergeant climbed the ladder and slowly raised the trapdoor. A billowing cloud of smoke choked him. A second later, he was able to see that the room was in flames. In the middle of the floor, there was a large canvas bag. He ran to it, lifted it, and from its weight knew this was the stolen gold. It was impossible to reach the front of the hotel. He ran back to the trapdoor and started down the ladder. Smoke, sergeant. The hotel's on fire. Can't stay here. These timbers will be catching in a minute. I have the gold. Help me set these doors loose, will you? Yeah. Where are we going? Back into the tunnels. But what if the other entrance is here? We're going to be trapped down here for good? I don't think so. If the floors fall due to the timbers crash, the tunnels will be blocked. There'll be no way out. Wouldn't it be better to try and get through the front of the hotel? There's no chance, Bill. Who knows? There may be a third exit from the mine. Yeah, but how can we find it? We'll have to leave that to King and the other dogs. Anyway, we can't stay here. Go on, King. The smoke billowing through the tunnel forced the sergeant and Bill to retreat farther and farther. King stayed close to his master's side and so impressed the other dogs with his authority that they followed quietly behind him. King, boy, I want to go out. Out. Understand? Lead the way. Out, boy. The great dog looked up into a sergeant's face. Out? For him, it was a simplest command in the world. And he trotted on ahead. Left. Left. Right. Right. But at the end of ten minutes, he seemed to be leading the sergeant straight toward a blank wall. And then, as the light from the hurricane lantern hit it, the sergeant realized there was a door in the wall. Oh, good boy, King. Good boy. What is it? A door. I don't know where it leads. It must be an old tool shed. And there's another door. The light coming from underneath it. Now we'll see where we are. The sergeant opened the door carefully. The tool shed was above the blocked main entrance to the mine and farther down the hill in the light of the blazing hotel, the sergeant could see three men. There they are. Yeah. What are you going to do? Arrest them. The killers. I'm sure they meant to kill me. Eventually, they said so. It's three against one, sergeant. Not quite, Bill. King will help me once you find it. Why don't I go off my parka and I can see my uniform? It makes a fine target. I'm also going to check my gun. Now we're ready. Let's go, King. Head erect, shoulders square, with King trotting beside him, the sergeant walked slowly down the hill toward the burning hotel. His gun was in its holster. It is almost an unwritten law with the force never to draw first. The authority of their uniform is enough. The sergeant walks the men closely. They saw him. They recognized him as an officer of the law. There was a hurried conference between them and then they turned to face the sergeant once more. He never changed his pace. He was within 20 feet of them when Brent cracked. The outlaw went for his gun. The sergeant matched his draw. Brent shot for a while, but the sergeants caught Brent in the arm. Lyndon had made a break for the corner of the hotel, but King was after him and tripped him up. The sergeant picked up Brent's gun from the ground and took Ridley's from his holster. Then he walked down to Lyndon. You can mud him up now, King.  Now you're gone. Sergeant, there's some mistake. My name is Ridley. I'm a respectable businessman. Your being here proves that. My safe was robbed by these two men. I followed them here. Oh, none of that, Ridley. You planned the whole deal. You made a mess of it, too. Sergeant, I swear... You can do that when you take the witness stand. The case is clear. The miners of Grand Ledge trusted you and left their goal with you. You arranged with these two men to have it stolen and for your assistant to be blamed. You're under arrest in the name of the Queen. It was nearly a week later. The sergeant was working in his office at headquarters when the door opened and corporal Downey entered. Oh, King. Howdy, sergeant. Just back from Portimae. Oh, good trip. Fine. Sam gave me your report on the Grand Ledge robbery to Ridley. You know, I think something should be done for little Davy Croydon. Something has. Oh? What? Well, the miners were so glad to get their gold back that they made up a purse for the Croydons. They've moved here to Dawson, and Davy's going to get the treatment he needs. Oh, I'm glad to hear it. Now, there's just one other place where your report's incomplete. You started up to Grand Ledge to bring old Timer back. What about him? All taken care of. The Croydons have adopted him. Oh, that's good, too. Sorry, the old fella can't pull a sled anymore. Oh, you said he couldn't. Look out the window. Hello, Davy. Go to it, son. So old Timer's pulling Davy's sled. Right. He's happy. So is Davy, and so am I. This case is closed. In just a moment, Sergeant Preston will give you a preview of Monday's adventure. Here's a taste treat you want to repeat. It's Quaker Puffed Rice and Quaker Puffed Wheat. These famous ready-to-serve breakfast cereals are actually shot from guns to make them bigger and better tasting. They have a come-back for more nut-like flavor, a come-again tender crispness, and they're good for you. Yes, Quaker Puffed Rice and Quaker Puffed Wheat are a real treat and so easy to serve. Make sure to have a good supply of both delicious kinds on hand for this coming weekend. Eat the wheat one day, rice the next. That's the original crisp, fresh, Quaker Puffed Wheat and Quaker Puffed Rice. Never sold in bags or bulk. Buy the big red and blue package with the smiling Quaker Man on the front. Listen, Monday, when Sergeant Preston and Yukon King meet the challenge of the Yukon in the case of the senator finds a treasure. The case began when the inspector sent me to check on the death of a notorious confidence man who called himself Senator Blackburn. It turned out that the senator wasn't dead at all. But when I traced him back to Dawson, I found that he disappeared from his hotel under mysterious circumstances. King and I set out to unravel that mystery. Be sure to hear this exciting adventure Monday. These radio dramas, a feature of the challenge of the Yukon Incorporated, are created and produced by George W. Trendall, directed by Fred Flower Day and supervised by Charles D. Livingston. The part of Sergeant Preston is played by Paul Sutton. They are brought to you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at the same time by Quaker Puffed Wheat and Quaker Puffed Rice. The breakfast cereal shot from guns. For a delicious hot breakfast, eat Quaker Oats. The giant of the cereals is Quaker Oats. Delicious, nutritious, makes you feel ambitious. The giant of the cereals is Quaker Oats. Say, boys and girls, do you want to be a star some day in sports and activities? Then start on good Quaker Oats breakfast tomorrow because nourishing oatmeal gives you more growth and endurance than any other whole grain cereal. Remember, Quaker and Mother's Oats are the same. This is Jay Michael, wishing you good bye, good luck and good health from Quaker Puffed Wheat and Quaker Puffed Rice.


I think I'm going to gag if I see another hand with a seedling coming out of it that I've had. We can't keep on trying to make humans more sustainable. We have to make sustainability more human. That's the key to it. Absolutely. I think the FMCG and CPG industry, we've established an enormous background of societal behaviour influence. There's a role that the industry has played, probably greater than many other industries over this period, in coaching this societal acceptance of consumption. It's in the names, in the acronym, right? But I think that gives us an enormous opportunity because we've demonstrated we can do it. So we can do it again. And I think helping people to shift to more sustainable behaviours is more than just a responsibility. I think actually it's a commercial opportunity. That's the future of where FMCG needs to evolve too. But we hit resistance as soon as we use the S word and start talking about sustainability overtly. Three out of five people are saying, I actually don't relate to sustainability at all. And if that's four and a half billion people, that's where growth is going to come from. So what is it that motivates people to undertake more sustainable behaviours? We have to frame sustainability in a way that they understand, which speaks to a value which they probably hold closer to them most of the time. That's the key way to do this. We talk about the four and a half billion people, but actually quite a lot of them can't change that much because they're living in poverty. And so the onus is actually, let's say bluntly, the onus is on rich people or richer people, particularly in the north and the west, to make the changes faster than anyone else. Absolutely, which brings us right back to the opportunity for FMCG as an industry. We are very expert at influencing behaviours and predominantly in those geographies. So I think it's not to start. It's very much we're partway through the journey, but I think this is the opportunity to strengthen it and to accelerate it.