My impression of the op-ed piece was that it was mostly about the
humanities, where I'm sorry to say the numbers are correct: many
graduate students spend six to eight years on the worst of the
trivium, pile up debt, and face a labor market that has nearly no jobs
for them. There's nearly no support, and one reason they take so long
is because they're expected to teach a heavy course load. My Spanish
tutor is a good example, although if his dissertation can be pushed by
a certain meddling tutee to get bigger and more comprehensive than he
first envisioned it, he may--well, who knows? Whereas in the sciences
and engineering schools, students expect to spend no more than four
years getting a Ph.D., and can be confident of finding a position when
they get out. The major universities offer them support, which makes
their debts if not nonexistent, certainly less onerous.
Please don't mistake this for an argument against the humanities. A
university without the humanities would be a sorry thing indeed. But I
agree with the writer that the model needs some drastic changes.
George is right to argue that a university owes it to its students to
support their highest aspirations. But this needs to be tempered with
some realism, and the reality is above.
Pamela
On Apr 27, 2009, at 9:03 PM, Russ Abbott wrote:
I doubt that any working person would happily agree to term
employment if it implies that after N years the employer has no
obligation, legal or moral, to retain that individual. It puts most
people, especially those over 50, in a very precarious position. How
many of the people on this list would like to have their term up
this month and face the prospect of looking for a job in the current
environment? Employment is a relationship between employee and
employer that generally goes beyond term contracts. I don't think
that reducing it to something as limited as that is a good idea.
-- Russ
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 1:35 PM, George Duncan <gtdun...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Based on my experience at Carnegie Mellon for 34 years, I can agree
with many of the recommendations. In particular, I see merit in
replacing tenure with term contracts, emphasizing interdisciplinary
programs with a problem focus, more sharing of teaching across
institutions, and providing alternatives to the traditional thesis.
However, I see no way that any of these will ever come about through
regulation (does he really think that the federal government could
take this on?),
Some of these will perhaps come about through internal moves by
various universities. For example, Carnegie Mellon which is perhaps
the most flexible university in responding to a changing
environment, does have a remarkable array of interdisciplinary
programs and emphasizes opportunities for doctoral students to cross
departmental boundaries. It still has tenure, and I have thought for
decades that the impetus for change there come from state
legislatures that would abolish it in their state universities. But
despite periodic noises it hasn't happened, perhaps never will. The
moves by various universities like MIT, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon
towards more on-line courses and expanding their availability, will
think over time lead to more sharing of teaching resources. Why
should a dozen universities offer advanced PhD courses in say Galois
fields each with three students, when one could do it with 36
students and the best teacher of the topic? Why should every
undergraduate institution want a high-level professor of physics,
when they can import a course with the top lecturer in the country
and provide the personal interaction with students through lecturers
who care about students and earn perhaps $40K a year? Some
universities do already provide alternatives of varying sorts to a
traditional thesis, especially in more professionally oriented
doctoral programs, such as those in social work or education.
I cannot agree with the negative tone of the article about preparing
for the academic life. If a person is successful at it, academia
provides a remarkably fulfilling career. Name another profession
where you mostly get to do what you want to do, work in a pretty
pleasant envirionment with intelligent colleagues and students to
chat with, and if you are a full professor at Columbia you make a
pretty decent salary. So not all who aspire, make it. What
percentage of Carnegie Mellon's drama graduates make it to Broadway
or Hollywood? What percentage of graduates of art school ever sell a
painting? The responsibility, I think, is for schools to do the best
job they can to support the student's highest aspirations while at
the same time providing a decent education for fallback positions.
Last of all, the piece neglects the fact that most graduate students
are not PhD students but instead are enrolled in professional degree
programs. They can have their problems too but at least they have to
be fairly directly responsive to a market--most are paying some $50K
in tuition plus the opportunity costs of non-employment.
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 1:45 PM, Nicholas Thompson <nickthomp...@earthlink.net
> wrote:
I think everybody who thinks about higher education ought to have a
look at this article, not because it is necessarily correct but
because it suggests great opportunities for institutions -- such as
the "City University of Santa Fe" or Clark University -- which by
reason of their small size could re-organize quickly to respond to
these realities.
I have to admit that I am ambivalent about tenure. If, over the
last 40 years, tenure had seemed to foster intellectual courage and
a willingness to speak one's mind and invest long term in the
institute, then I would continue to favor it unequivocally. But
since the onset of Academic Reaganism, tenure seems only to meant
that most faculty members have allowed themselves to be manipulated
by ever more trivial incentives -- the merit raise or the honorific
reception with bad wine, stale cheese and crackers. Time to read
Fromm's ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM again, i fear.
And I have to deplore the implication that the only way you get
people to pull their weight is by threatening them with financial
sanction. On the contrary, the entire faculty of Clark University
was subjected to bad pay for all the years I worked there, and it
never changed anybody's behavior. No. I think the failure has been
in our unwillingness to speak directly and from the heart and in
person to colleagues about what we need from them. True
collaboration requires honest critique in the absence of power;
what we have had, over the last four decades, is the application of
power in the absence of honest critique.
n
Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology,
Clark University (nthomp...@clarku.edu)
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
OPINION | April 27, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor: End the University as We Know It
By MARK C. TAYLOR
If higher education is to thrive, colleges and universities, like
Wall Street and Detroit, must be rigorously regulated and completely
restructured.
1. Op-Ed Contributor: End the University as We Know It
2. More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops
3. Corner Office: He Wants Subjects, Verbs and Objects
4. Shortage of Doctors Proves Obstacle to Obama Goals
5. U.S. Declares Public Health Emergency Over Swine Flu
ยป Go to Complete List
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