Comments for On Higher Education

Comment on Our Universities: God, Rick Perry, and the Daily Egyptian – Three Degrees of Freedom by TW

TW — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:19:36 +0000

On # 3, The Daily Egyptian has been going downhill over the past year due to losing some of its finest investigative student reporters who have now graduated as well as fear of upsetting the administration. How many letters and opinion columns have appeared raising important issues rather than the sub-standard, banal “Siskel and Ebert” clones reporting on trashy entertainment of no relevance to our current situation? If the DE receives funding from the administration then it will turn into that student newspaper envisaged by a former Dean of a past College merely printing positive stories about the administration like that issue after the strike when one had the impression that the Chancellor had won the strike 100%. On matters of faith,I may have different perspectives from Dr. Wendler but believe that any faith should be respected as long as it does not dictate to others. Should the DE collapse, this would be a wonderful opportunity for the growth of independent newsheets very much modeled on the old Soviet era samizdhat that would report on the news in a a critical fashion taking issue with the spin culture that is now going on and which many people see through – as enrollment figures demonstrate.

Comment on Open Letter to High School Graduates by KMW

KMW — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:25:03 +0000

Overall, good advice, but like most other pieces of general information it contains some flaws worth pointing out. First, given the range of courses which can be taken in high school, many students “self-select” for future success or lack of success in college while still in high school. By the time a student is a senior, the path is often laid out. Most admission people and college deans will tell you that there is little high school gpa, r-i-c and test score difference between those who succeed at their schools and those who don’t. There are many other variables at work. The courses one took, especially the courses beyond the minimum for admission consideration, make a huge difference in persistence to degree. The student with the credentials suggested by the author who has four courses in the five main academic areas has a much better chance of graduating from college than the student who stops with two or three years of math, two years (or none) of foreign language and who has not taken challenging college-prep courses in English and social studies. Data show that the student with a college-prep course in a science in 12th grade is well on the way to beating the odds. Additionally, choice of college attended often correlates with higher graduation rates. Is it causal? Who knows, but students who gain admission too and attend the flagship state university (the Wisconsins, the Michigans, the Virginias the UCs) will find that 80 to 90% of their cohort each year will graduate. Something is at work here. Not all state university experiences are the same. Perhaps it’s working up to the level of the competition, perhaps it is being goal motivated while in high school and knowing that students need to apply and challenge themselves to gain something worthwhile. Perhaps knowing that all state schools are not the same, just as not all private schools are not the same, and knowing that good high school preparation and early goal setting gets stronger students into these schools can help tip the odds. Maybe knowing that you’re not the smartest student in the classroom in college can cause one to rise to the competition. The author’s financial advise is still good, but let’s be careful about what we equate to success prediction.

Comment on Open Letter to High School Graduates by JJR

JJR — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:27:50 +0000

Expansion on item three and personal experience of the ‘racket’

Another way a young person can get free education is to enter military service. Upon release from service I decided I was mature enough to give it a go. Our family is now reaping the benefits of higher education with a total debt of $7500 which includes an anticipated Masters degree in August and a good job awaiting us. I lament that there are not other public services such as social work or government service with such a program (at least well known) in the United States. Anyone who sacrifices the self for the greater should be considered, and society is well compensated in the investment when the money went towards people with a desire to preserve it.

Things were not always so glamourous.

My experience graduating high school was bad. I was herded to a guidance counselor I did not have a relationship with and she gave advice according to the prevailing winds in lieu of even attempting true communication. Ready or not I went to college and failed with a black hole in my wallet. My testimony of arrested development is this: Don’t waste 12 years of education on a child only to fall short the 12 hours of educating them of their options. I think the only qualified person to do this is dad or mom, but this article can give parents the ammunition when the time is right. On target and clear.

Comment on Open Letter to High School Graduates by DOJ

DOJ — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:33:23 +0000

Wow, an educator telling the truth, how refreshing. I can’t wait to go home and have my 15-year-old son read this article. Thank you.

Comment on Open Letter to High School Graduates by TW

TW — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:20:23 +0000

We need the equivalent of a General Smedley Butler for higher education. He stated that “War is a Racket.” So is higher education today in terms of your very apt words “stoking a deceitful dream on life support.” While higher education CEOs earn the equivalent of $400,000 p.a. as tenure -track opportunities decline, faculty positions eliminated or frozen, term contracts increase, libraries cut their humanities journals budegts by $1 million, Board of Trustees vote $3 million for baseball fields, and libraries consider eliminating print versions of books and journals, these are very dire times. Again, repeating your open letter of last year is more timely than ever.

Comment on Open Letter to High School Graduates by LD

LD — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:49:12 +0000

Excellent. Very good analysis and sdvice.

Comment on Our Universities: Hire Power by MMCC

MMCC — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:18:38 +0000

” … 4 of 10 hires are ineffective and cost $25,000 apiece … ”

When a hire fails, it is a failure of the hiring process — not the person hired. At our state-U, the hiring process is directed by management. When a hire fails, management is responsible — not the employee.

It is much too easy for the management of a failing organization to place blame on “failing” employees — deserved or not. A well-run organization will not allow employees to fail. When an institution is failing, look to the top leadership — not the rank-and-file. When an employee is failing, look at the underlying reasons, and then provide the help needed to reverse course and create a productive environment.

One of our state-U’s greatest assets are its body of hard-working employees — many are underpaid, yet continue to provide initiative, institutional knowledge, outstanding service and much more. There may be exceptions, but I suspect that a close examination of existing incentives would reveal the underlying causes, and subsequently, suggest a remedy.

It is incumbent upon management to fix a failing institution — not blame employees.

Comment on Our Universities: Learned Helplessness by DF

DF — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:12:14 +0000

“A culture of helplessness is born in a hot-house of frayed vision, obfuscated purpose, and the mindlessness of discontent assembled behind the counterfeit facade of discipline and order, glued together by apprehension.” Simply brilliantly observed, Walter. Your descriptions sadly describe my departure from service in higher education, as I determined I could better serve others with my teaching craft outside of the confines of those halls that held nothing but disincentives for pursuit of true learning.

Comment on Our Universities: Learned Helplessness by TW

TW — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:21:58 +0000

Happy Camper, As someone who has tried in vain to write his way out of this place, I’m pleased to learn you have found a better position. However, the tragedy is that we have lost another good person who is moving on as well as those retiring in disillusion who could have contributed even more from a fund of knowledge such as ARP. Both of you will probably not be replaced in a time when non-faculty-input computer grading ideas are being seriously considered and the Morris Library is facing $1 million in Humanities journals cuts while Kubla-Khan building projects and Sports appear to be unscathed from these financial exigencies. As cuts cause further damage and faculty face further contempt as to their professional abilities by administrators and ex-politicians, those of us left face further challenges to whatever resilience we have left – and that pool is slowly diminishing. Good luck to you both.

Comment on Our Universities: Learned Helplessness by ARP

ARP — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:12:39 +0000

Much of what Dr. Wendler describes can be found in the literature of the “burn-out” syndrome which is well researched. Put in it’s simplest terms, when the challenges exceed the rewards, burnout occurs. Leadership is almost always to blame, according to the literature. In our State Universities today, burnout has become almost the norm for many faculty, yet almost no attempts are being made to train future leadership at any level. Most State Universities are being managed (or mismanaged) by State or local politicians and, unfortunately, no change is in sight. It is a shame that most of us with many years in the academy (in my case 48 years) leave in discouragement.