Building Range: Rethinking General Education with Dr. Jonathan Woodward

What if the future belongs not to specialists, but to those with range?

In this episode of UnchartED State, co-hosts Sean Owen and Maddie Ludt are joined by Dr. Jonathan Woodward, Vice President of Teaching & Learning and Community Campus at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, to explore how higher education can build long-term adaptability into its very foundation.

Grounded in the ideas from Range by David Epstein, this conversation challenges the assumption that early specialization is the key to success. Instead, it asks: Are our institutions structured for efficiency or for exploration?

Jonathan shares how MGCCC’s new general education core and workforce initiatives reflect a “range-informed” approach, balancing technical mastery with interdisciplinary learning, transferable skills, and career-aligned advising. The episode also explores how industry collaboration, stackable credentials, and partnerships with institutions like Mississippi State University can better prepare students for industries that are constantly evolving.

In This Episode:

• What “range” means in a higher education context
• The tension between specialization and long-term adaptability
• Designing general education around capabilities, not just content
• Encouraging exploration without penalizing students
• Integrating industry voices into curriculum design
• How community colleges can serve as laboratories for innovation
• The leadership and cultural shifts required to rethink Gen Ed

📘 Learn more about Range here: https://davidepstein.com/range/

As industries shift and careers evolve, this episode asks an important question: Are we building programs for the first job or for a lifetime of change?