Tracy Liu

Unit 5, Part 1

As part of my graduate education in this postsecondary education leadership now at

MSU, my intentions are to advance my knowledge and grow into a more senior administrative
leader within my college I am currently employed at. A skillset that I am currently lacking is
more advanced accounting knowledge to properly manage the finances that flow through a
department in the form of staffing, grants, etc. Therefore a cognate interest I wish to explore
more is generalized accounting. After diving into Anya Kamenetz’ Edupunk’s Guide to a DIY
Credential - my plan is separated into two parts: the first are the digital class resources; the
second is surrounding myself in an ecosystem to constantly be exposed to new information as it
relates to postsecondary education finance and accounting topics.

To start, the digital resources I can reference such as free courses and those that can count
for credit. There are the managerial accounting or financial accounting courses located in the
Business Administration section of saylor.org
(https://learn.saylor.org/course/index.php?categoryid=6). Additionally there are accounting
courses located on https://www.open.edu/openlearn from the introductory to advanced level.
Finally there is also the accounting MicroMasters series offered by Indiana University on edx.org
(https://www.edx.org/micromasters/iux-accounting). What is enticing about the edx option is
should I ever be interested in getting a full master’s in the program, I could apply to Indiana
University and have my course transfer for credit. Overall I would be able to earn what Kevin
Carey calls “badges” as a form of academic credit. While there are many free/freemium type
courses that exist on the internet, I recognize I’d need to set myself up for success by
surrounding myself with resources to stay invigorated.

The other side of my way to enhance my education is through maintaining what

Kamenetz calls a Personal Learning Network. I plan to create an https://www.inoreader.com/
account to personalize my feeds to focus on relevant news and resources as related to
postsecondary education finance and accounting topics. Having a network of real-life teachers
such as colleagues and mentors will also be important for me to foster and sustain. I also will
subscribe to influential thinkers on education finance through their social media such as Twitter
or their blogs. Finally, being more open to participating in forums such as
https://www.reddit.com/ for peer to peer learning. This supports Charles Vest’s opinion in his
article on why MIT decided to give away all its course materials because “history has proved that
education and discovery are best advanced when knowledge is shared openly.” I think also by
engaging in these communities I would be creating genuine connections and building my
network of expertise I can tap into as I advance within my career.