So, I went on to the TIAA-CREF website this morning because I believe a little disappointment before holiday activities makes the activities more fun (i.e., a contrast effect; TIAA-CREF is pretty reliable in causing disappointment and I'm thinking about how it can be used to experimentally induce depression - watch out Velten!). Anyhow, an article on TIAA-CREF's President/CEO Roger Ferguson commencement speech at Michigan State U caught my eye. Here's a link to the article that summarizes his speech: http://www.tiaa-cref.org/public/about/news/articles/gen1105_258.html
What I think is noteworthy about Ferguson's speech to graduates is that he focused on three "misconceptions" that students and others may have had about the nature of college and education in general. Quoting from the article, here is his first point: |Misconception No. 1: College is about getting a job and maximizing |your earnings. | |“The goal is not to just go out and pursue the highest salary you can get. |Not that there’s anything wrong with a high salary, per se – especially in |light of the loans that many students have to take out. | |But financial rewards should not be your top priority in figuring out how |to best put your human capital to use. Not to go out and get the "highest salary you can you can get"? Why, that's heresy in most business schools and whole colleges are oriented to such a goal (because they produce the "best of the best" and therefore deserved to make as much money as possible). Is it really possible that money shouldn't be the primary motivating force for getting a college education?! I can hear Albert Ellis screaming "Don't should on yourself!" The next point may come as a shock to tenured faculty who have been at only a single institution for most/all of their career. |Misconception No. 2: The way to get ahead is to climb the “career |ladder.” | |“There’s really no such thing as a career ladder anymore. The term ‘career |ladder’ implies that you get on somewhere near the bottom and start |climbing in a straight line toward the top. It also implies that you know |exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life. The world just doesn’t work like that anymore, if it ever really did. | |Instead, what we have today is more like a ‘career climbing wall.’ |Your goal is still to get to the top, but sometimes you need to go sideways |and you might even have to move down to make progress. Well, if tenure is abolished throughout academia, then young faculty would be wise to follow this advice instead of using a "means-ends" analysis with a "difference reduction" strategy (i.e., always do things that maintains your position or reduces the distance between where you are now and your goal state). I presume that tenured faculty might what to take advantage of any fat early retirement package offered to them. If tenure is still maintained, either as it's currently implemented or in modified form, then Ferguson advice is misleading. But it may still be valid for people seeking non-academic careers. I think that all Tipsters can get behind Ferguson's last point: |Misconception No. 3: Graduation marks the end of your education. | |“If you want to be successful, see your life as a continuous education. |Today’s world is changing faster than any of us could have imagined. |Globalization, technology, demographic forces, economic challenges – |all are reshaping our nation and our world. | |But if you see yourself as a lifelong learner, you will feel more confident |about your ability to handle the changes that will inevitably come your way. |You will know that you have the potential to continuously grow and |evolve your human capital to align with the new realities, whatever they |may be. So, with respect to Ferguson's words of advice, are they pearls of wisdom or just more yadda-yadda? Check you TIAA-CREF account before you decide. ;-) -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=10757 or send a blank email to leave-10757-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
