This exchange reminds me of a recent column by David Brooks of the NY Times in which he argues that the mission of a university is to produce practical knowledge and technical knowledge, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/opinion/Brooks-The-Practical-University.html. Those academics whose letters were published in response to Brooks' column revealed an obvious difference of opinion: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/opinion/what-is-the-mission-of-a-university.html.
Miguel ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Green" <[email protected]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2013 12:51:47 PM Subject: Re: [tips] Obama on Federal Support of Education Alas, we have already seen how this goes -- a classic case of unintended consequences. They think that the new rating system will make schools (i.e., professors) work even harder (because, it is assumed, we have been slacking off somehow on these issues... ) to ensure that (the same pool of students we currently have) graduate, get employed, and pay off their loans. What in fact will happen (this is a prediction; write it down and check back in five years), however, is that schools will become (even more) averse to admitting "risky" students (those who, because of their socio-economic backgrounds, are historically less likely to graduate, get employed, and pay back their loans) because they endanger the school's future "rating." That is to say, rather than getting an education more focused on their employment prospects (the intent), this new system will instead just make it even MORE difficult for those who are already poor and who were ill-served by the public school system to get even the chance they have at present to obtain the education they need to get ahead in life. It is a recipe for creating an (even larger) under-educated, impoverished underclass of minimum-wage workers, trapped at the station where they were born, with even fewer realistic pathways up and out. It is a shame. Chris --- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada [email protected] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================= On 2013-08-22, at 11:53 AM, Wuensch, Karl L wrote: “It is time to stop subsidizing schools that are not producing good results.” J “Good results” means graduation, employment, and pay-back of loans. I expect universities will be evaluating departments in the same way. Who pays her loans back more reliably – the graduate with a degree in management information systems or the one with a degree in psychology? Cheers, <image001.jpg> Karl L. Wuensch, Professor and ECU Scholar/Teacher, Dept. of Psychology East Carolina University, Greenville NC 27858-4353, USA, Earth Voice: 252-328-9420 Fax: 252-328-6283 http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/klw.htm --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] . To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62bd92&n=T&l=tips&o=27245 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-27245-430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] . To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=466839.0421d1005414eed82340aa280e7ce629&n=T&l=tips&o=27246 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-27246-466839.0421d1005414eed82340aa280e7ce...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- 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=27249 or send a blank email to leave-27249-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
