Some colleges and universities show indifference to employment prospects for their graduates, almost callousness, as hoards of students receive degrees, accompanied by too many promissory notes and too few job prospects. Ā Students almost unanimously choose to pursue a particular careerā¦
Leadership withoutĀ spine or vision, subject to political whim, fancy, flirtation, and subjugation, will compromise, and eventually enfeeble, U.S. higher education. To watch it occur, as universities are held up as the panacea for social ills, is reckless beyond measure. Realā¦
The university is a mirror of, or window to, the world. St. Paul suggested to the Church of Corinth that at times we āsee through the glass darkly.ā Things are not as sharp or bright as they should be. Soā¦
Universities have lost their mission. Education and academic performance take a back seat to reinforcing the inflated self-concept of students and their families. We have reduced admission standards, reduced standards to progress through courses, and reduced standards of performance requiredā¦
In many cases, a college diploma has come to represent exposure to certain experiences rather than individual learning and accomplishment. Absent gross misconduct, everybody passes. The degree is simply a totem of club membership rather than an indication of aā¦
The relationship of a student to the university is a bit like a marriage. The idea of that relationship is shifting as George Bernard Shaw predicted it would. As with marriage, the university experience is becoming a contractualĀ affiliation rather thanā¦
Universities, one hopes inadvertently, are training generations to avoid responsibility for their actions. This is shameful. Such training breeds an expectation of entitlement that undermines initiative, industry, courage, self-reliance, community, and discourages students from exercising one of the greatest benefitsā¦
There is a shameful trend in higher education and other quarters of society that treats success as something to be considered with suspicion.Ā Some accuse The Occupy Wall Street crowd of holding this position, but achievement and greed are notā¦
Third in a series on state funding for higher education Addressing how the Monetary Assistance Program (MAP) is affecting the students of Illinois, the IBHE Task Force observed:Ā The first issue is the increasing demand for financial aid. More studentsā¦
Fearless, confident leadership is required in our universities.Ā Leaders focused on academic excellence and student success will eventually prevail, but it may not be pretty between now and then as fearlessness is a scarce commodity in the face of subventionā¦
The quality of the educational experience and the earning power of degrees attained are the purview and responsibility of each student and family who enter the educational marketplace.Ā It is a marketplace where ideas of value (hopefully) are exchanged forā¦
The words of the popular early twentieth century song Iām Forever Blowing Bubbles may reflect the spirit of the challenges in the housing and education sectors of the U.S. economy better than most twenty-first century economists – I’m dreaming dreams,ā¦
Our University: Great Expectations In a New York Times piece on February 18, 2009, by Max Roosevelt entitled Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes, James Hogge, associate dean of the Peabody School of Education at Vanderbilt University is quoted.ā¦
Sixth in a series of who our students are and how they perform. Quality transfer students can bring positive characteristics to the university, not the least of which is a willingness to work.Ā Avril Thorne, Professor of Psychology at U.C.ā¦
Work is a four letter word, but not the kind our mothers and fathers used to scold us for using. The people of Southern Illinois are not afraid to work. Hard work will always produce results and fruit does notā¦
