One year ago I was the Program Coordinator for BDW, a masters program attached to the University of Colorado very similar to the program I am at currently (Turing), save for the fact that it was focused on design rather than code. BDW was an incredibly unique and awesome place, the class structure and teaching content was based around immersive learning rather than the usual strict hours per semester model. Teachers were free to set class content how they saw fit depending on the landscape of the industry at the time. Class could be rescheduled anytime as professors were both in industry and teaching, allowing for a healthy and symbiotic relationship between Student and Teacher. BDW put considerable resources into setting up day to week long design sprints with industry, working with real companies such as Nike, Allstate, and Uber on real products.
If you are saying to yourself "This does not sound like a typical master's program", you are correct. The only reason BDW was able to exist as it did is because it physically and metaphorically removed itself from the university as much as it could. One of my tasks as program coordinator was working with the school to ensure everything we did was by the books for the school. While we never went outside our constraints as to regulation, it was a HUGE challenge working with the university to make our experimental program "legitimate".
University delegation did not used to be the struggle it is now for BDW. Throughout the seven years of its existence BDW has gained quite some notoriety in the design/ad agency world. The result of this is a closer eye on the school in a very positive way. The not so positive side effect of this is that the university and governing bodies within colorado also had a closer eye on us. No longer could the curriculum simply be decided upon by what was best, but it had to be conceptualized and recorded in a way that made curriculum more sluggish. Design Sprints with industry became a battle of lawyers due to the university's insistence. Community building events and discussions had to be hush hush at times as the content would not be deemed 'appropriate' by the school (see Turing gear-up).
This year BDW is taking a break to restructure the program to more strictly fit into the universities cookie cutter masters program out of necessity. No doubt it will still offer value to the students who attend, but it will be nothing compared to what it once was. Instead of being a part of a community of people, the students will simply attend class and then head home. Instead of engaging in incredible and provocative conversation, students will follow a dialogue the university has approved. The incredible positivity that BDW received from the community, an initially great thing, caused regulation to destroy what was once great about it.
This is my great fear about the future of Turing.