As Ruby Mendicant University grows over time, it may well end up becoming Mendicant University, a multi-disciplinary free online school for all those who value intellectual curiousity, social responsibility, and the producer mindset. In the hopes that it will help me connect with others who want to make this dream a reality, today I've decided to list out some of the cultural and practical values that I think will be important to the future of our project.

So, in no particular order, here are the things I value which I believe would make Mendicant University a good place to be:

• Global access to all our courses, resources and learning resources without any fees to all those who can put them to good use.
• A firm focus on practical applications and producing something of value from every course we teach.
• A highly individualized learning experience which provides direct access to experienced mentors at all times.
• A sustainable funding model that is completely independent of corporate sponsorship of any kind, while simultaneously minimizing dependence on direct donations.
• A system which counterbalances consumer culture by giving individuals the means of production for creating valuable contributions to society.
• A deeply connected network of students and staff who share new opportunities with each other and genuinely care about helping each other succeed.
• Courses taught by field experts who happen to be good teachers, rather than "expert teachers". All of our instructors should be able to draw on life experience to bring their courses to life, rather than simply relying on a disconnected academic body of knowledge.
• Frequent and meaningful interactions with the industries and ecosystems that our curriculum is meant to prepare our students for.
• An emphasis on continuous improvement and life-long learning. There will be no such thing as "graduating" Mendicant University.
• A system of evaluation which emphasizes iterative development and continuous feedback rather than arbitrary scoring or simple pass/fail metrics.
• An organization which is mostly run as a do-ocracy, in which a culture of participation is strongly encouraged.
• An environment that rewards careful, measured learning rather than faith-based arguments and common appeals to authority.
• A highly transparent organization which does not hide its inner workings from those involved, and works towards consensus building when internal conflicts arise.
• A place in which acting out of self-interest may be part of the picture, but is not the dominating motivation among participants.
• A place which rejects the aggressive "winner-take-all" attitude that is common in many professional communities, simply because it is an ineffective way to make real progress.
• A place which embraces the Hacker Ethic, and encourages playful exploration through the Hands-on Imperative.
  
• A place where opinions may be strong, but are loosely held so that they may change when presented with new information.
• A place in which the beginner's open mind is encouraged and the expert's narrow mindedness is discouraged. We all have something to learn at all times.
• A community which embraces diversity in all its forms and welcomes all individuals who share our common values, regardless of gender, race, ethnic background, religious background, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or any other form cultural categorization.
  
• A close-knit community in which all those involved can directly observe and help shape the cultural values I've described above.