Dear Colleagues:
I strongly urge you to read Mike's paper, which strikes to the core of the importance of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the higher-education crisis, if you will. There are many interesting details and proposed pathways forward to consider, but here's my interpretation of Mike's impressive articulation of the problems and possible solutions.
Much like we see with the current debate with respect to "re-opening business" and the entrenched interests that only genuinely see an "economic bottom line" rather than any serious consideration of a "social bottom line" (my words, sorry!), higher education has over the years strayed further and further down a similar pathway. I can tell you as a dept chair for 5 years and then as an Associate Academic Dean after that, the institutional forces that Mike describes are quite real and consequential. Without getting further into the weeds (read Mike's paper!), the facts are that our admin folks, faculty, and, yes, our students have become dramatically instrumental in focus: 1) senior admin has grown dramatically in size and cost, while focusing on "bums in seats" and enrollments levels (including more "foreign" students to increase our tuition revenues) rather than outcomes; 2) faculty are entrenched in their silos and, while some still are committed to the value of the liberal arts education, many find themselves competing against their colleagues for scarce resources (WE deserve the next tenure-stream appointment) and for students (look how many students WE serve), as well as for the importance of their OWN discipline ("Do we REALLY still need to have a religious studies department [even though we're a Catholic university?]"; and 3) students care more about getting their marks, meeting their requirements, and getting to their jobs (not kidding: i have 2 students in a fourth-year seminar leave at the break before COVID-19 halted in-class session explain that they had to get to their jobs).
Anyway, Mike does a great job of laying out the details, so forgive my simplistic anecdote. What I will say, in short, is that one could use my university as a case study the verifies exactly what Mike describes in his article. So, add my experience & university in the column of "confirmatory evidence."
Thanks Mike - and everyone else. Peace, -Joe
Dr. Joseph H. Michalski
King’s University College at Western University
266 Epworth Avenue, DL-201
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 2M3
Tel: (519) 433-3491
Email: [log in to unmask]
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From: tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Michael Mascolo <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 8:50 AM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Transforming Higher Education
Hi All:
I recently wrote a paper entitled “Transforming Higher Education: Responding to the Coronavirus and Other Looming Crises”. I posted a pre-publication copy of it on academia. I’ve opened up the paper for comments.
I invite you to participate (or, alternatively, to remain safely sequestered in paper-proof quarantines!).
Here is the link:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.academia.edu_s_6bca903430-3Fsource-3Dlink&d=DwIF-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=C3o5Z56qiczOKaJcyrqm2YIbTEBAF5-1xtU8xt01viE&s=KRrzQ6zcm524HD7wzkaZmYi0uiro9DgDbmY-xPZTDms&e=<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.academia.edu_s_6bca903430-3Fsource-3Dlink&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=vZbXRIMFdFeBfHwLYWsXliu9kFvwdk-PQIY68jqXB4I&s=n_RuSLZDUr9ZWW9YxhdxJpdneYD55kdHaB8dRRWvTss&e=>
My Best,
Mike
Michael F. Mascolo, Ph.D.
Academic Director, Compass Program
Professor, Department of Psychology
Merrimack College, North Andover, MA 01845
978.837.3503 (office)
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