An application of systems thinking in solving a problem like tuition rate increases.

1. Systems thinking requires
thinking in systems
Solving complicated problems in society or in organizations requires thoughtful understanding of the
whole problem. Before the problem gets worse we often ignore the details/ or cues that exacerbate
the problems and instead of actively seeking to solve them with thinking systemically we react with
a band-aid approach that only prolongs the problem and blinds us to solutions.

2. What is systems
thinking?
"Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing
wholes. It is a framework for seeing
interrelationships rather than things, for
seeing patterns of change rather than static
“snapshots.” It is a set of general principles
— distilled over the course of the twentieth
century, spanning fields as diverse as the
physical and social sciences, engineering,
and management....During the last thirty
years, these tools have been applied to
understand a wide range of corporate,
urban, regional, economic, political,
ecological, and even psychological
systems. And systems thinking is a
sensibility — for the subtle
interconnectedness that gives living
systems their unique character.
"Peter Senge, in The Fifth Discipline.

3. Systems Thinking: Appling it to a Problem
College are
vulnerable to rising
default rates many
students and their
families can't pay off
loans. Colleges are
positioned to make
changes that may or
may not have
positive results for
targeted populations.
Trillion dollar college
debt crisis. Students
who take out loans
but don’t secure the
kind of jobs they
need will be in debt
years after college ,
hindering an y
lifestyle goals
Society begins to
loose faith in
education and
assume education is
not a viable option .
reversing the well
known assertion that
education is key to a
successful future.
A families social-
economic profile
is affected by
tuition increases.
Threats of
generational non-
educated family
members.
College is
perceived to be
elitists or out of
reach of the
majority of lower
middle class and
the poor.
Lower income families
members take lower paying
jobs. Colleges react to real-
time measures and results
and create scholarships for
low income students but
they are not prepared for
college and struggle staying
in college.
Become a society
unwillingness to see
the truth about
proven research on
societal gaps in pay,
income etc.
People living in quiet
desperation. Using
desperate measures
in desperate times.
Young people seek
violence , suicide,
addictions all to deal
with a world they see
as impossible to gain
access to.
Social and political
unrest and
discontent., riots,
biased, imprisonments
etc. Inequity and hate
groups surface,
societal passivity and
ambiguity, increase in
poverty , poor
educational policy,
and state decreases.
Surface issues we all
know about the problem
Issues we are aware of but don’t
understand about the problem
Issues we are unaware of
about the problem
Problem: An increase in tuition rates?
Key
Systems thinking needs to
happen before moving ahead
with solutions that will be viable
at each stage or step. We look
for the interrelationships of each
issue
Seek
responsible
solutions
using same
thinking in
systems
module
Keith R. Wilder 5/15/2017
Always moving forward in
solving and finding a solution.

4. Influencing Documents:
• RUNNING in PLACE Miles Rapoport Jennifer Wheary
http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/RunningInPlace_0.pdf
• Elite institutions could afford to enroll more low-income students, study argues
According to a recent report by Georgetown University's Center on Education
and the Workforce
• Chris Denhart, Forbes Staff Total Student Loan Debt: $1 Trillion
• FASFA website, https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-
center/student/default
• https://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/05/09/7-big-problems-629/
• Long, Bridget Terry. "Making College Affordable by Improving Aid Policy." Issues
in Science and Technology 26, no. 4 (Summer 2010).