I spent the last four days as a fellow at the Interfraternity Institute. I was tasked with helping participants make sense of their experiences and facilitating dialogue in small groups. However, I learned a lot and a lot that while influencing fraternities and sororities are really issues of higher education and student affairs.

Allen Groves, the dean of students at University of Virginia, did a session on issues in higher education. He focused significantly on issues such as the financial climate (so little money), legal issues (so much documentation), and the press towards increasing opportunities for access, affordability, and ease of getting a degree (so many options). One of the things he talked about was MOOCS (Massive Open Online Course). He was so interesting, engaging and informative I told him that he should do a MOOC on issues in higher education! He’s clearly a well-read and well-versed administrator with his finger on the pulse of issues in higher education. I would take his class because he’s an expert – almost a master – of the topic, particularly law and finance.

It got me wondering – what could be my MOOC? On what would I educate thousands of people if I had the opportunity? Ultimately, for what would I want to be known? And what learning experiences should I expect that thousands of people would actually want to listen to me? This isn’t about presentation style or reputation. It’s simply about what I might understand so well and so thoroughly that I should have the guts to declare I am an expert and to invite thousands of people to learn from me.

I present on lots of things, but I wouldn’t go near the idea of a MOOC. Declaring ourselves the expert, requires us to be absolutely intentional about our development as professionals. It requires us to determine our strengths, interests, skills and to focus on some specific aspects of this work to become the expert – not just a person who reads something and then can facilitate it well. There’s lots of people who can facilitate almost anything. I know lots of good to great facilitators, but I’m not sure all of these people should be declaring themselves as “expert” and opening up their message to the masses. Watching Dr. Groves reminded me that I have more work to do even on the things at which I am good. I’ll continue in my small world while letting experts tackle some of these big issues in the big MOOC based world.

What kinds of things do you feel you have expertise in?

How have you developed that expertise?

Are you so good at that subject that thousands should want to hear you?