I think that your prediction is right on the money, Chris. And thank you, Marc, for posting the piece about Edmundson.
I probably have told the story here about a colleague who retired some years ago, but who had grown somewhat despondent over the direction that the college was heading, the declining state of higher education, students' attitudes, etc. When going to class or leaving, he would walk quietly by himself, looking ahead toward the ground, and if you stopped him to say hello, he would stop, slowly look up to you, look around, and look back at you and, in a gloomy baritone voice, he would simply utter the phrase: "We're doomed ..." and unless you engaged him in conversation right away, he would crack half a smile and walk away. Miguel ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Green" <[email protected]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2013 3:36:55 PM Subject: Re: [tips] Obama on Federal Support of Education Miguel, I didn't even get into the question of occupational vs. "real" education. For the sake of argument, I accepted that occupational training was the primary goal of higher ed. Even under that assumption, I predict this plan will fail in the ways I outlined. Now let's talk about the (de-)merits of that vision of higher ed. Chris ----- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M6C 1G4 Canada [email protected] On Aug 22, 2013, at 2:20 PM, MiguelRoig <[email protected]> wrote: > 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=430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62bd92&n=T&l=tips&o=27249 > > or send a blank email to > leave-27249-430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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