Ever wonder which superhero would make the best community-college dean? Professor X of the X-Men gets Dean Dad’s vote:
First of all, he’s ex-faculty. “Professor?” Oh yeah. Also, he’s in a wheelchair, so you’ve got some affirmative-action cred. But most of all, Charles Xavier is a telepath. A telepath. How useful would it be to be able to read minds? Imagine how he could manage meetings and figure out faculty and state problems? Better still, he can alter people’s minds. Oh my.
FACULTY: Dammit, Charles, this isn’t fair!
X: Are you sure? [activates mental powers]
FACULTY: Uh…no. You’re absolutely right. Now I’m going to leave and be happy with my job, and thankful that you’re helping me get it done. I’m here to guide the minds of tomorrow!
X: Thanks for stopping by, professor.
FACULTY: No, no, the pleasure was mine. Would you like me to get a cup of coffee for you on my way out?
X: That’d be great.
X: Mr. State Senator, the higher education in this state is drastically underfunded.
SENATOR: My constituents need tax cuts!
X: Are you sure? [activates mental powers]
SENATOR: Upon consideration, the future of the state requires a fine university system!
X: I’m so glad you feel that way.
SENATOR: I will fight to increase your funding! Fight to the death!
X: Thank you, Senator.
SENATOR: Care for a scone?
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5 Responses to Dean by Day, Superhero by Night?
sinha - October 18, 2011 at 10:14 am
Regarding Ms. Sen’s experience”She says she felt as if she learned more in a year’s program in Leeds than in her entire undergraduate education—not a compliment to the very scripted style of some Indian education”. I think the Indian education system does a fine job of “educating” students – I speak from experience in a Engineering College in India, which gave me the strong foundation to pursue graduate studies in the US. During my undergraduate years in the Indian university we were given all kinds of opportunities from internships to extra projects (of course I am referring to the Engineering curriculum, which maybe very different from the curriculum Ms. Sen followed). Also, there was no dearth of opportunities even for a women in an Engineering school in the 80′s in an Indian University!
chandrak - October 18, 2011 at 3:27 pm
It is interesting to note that in India students choose the program their parents or relatives want them to choose. It is true. Students have less flexibility. Indian education needs more practical experience or training. It is based on rote memory and theory.
nimm2235 - October 18, 2011 at 7:05 pm
I am a little weary of the rhetoric of Indian education being all “rote memory”. a) that is simply not true and b) don’t discount the value of learning from memory-that is different from “memorizing”. People often confuse the two. Honestly, if it was such an ineffective system, how do we explain that the same students excel in a completely new system making the transition apparently effortlessly? I teach graduate and undergrad students in the US and I’d be surprised if more than a handful would do as well in an entirely new education eco-system. Many of them find a study abroad semester in a comparable system in Europe difficult to handle.
That is not to say that everything is perfect in the Indian education system; there are problems and challenges as any other system but to posit those complex challenges in reductive ways is not useful to say the least.
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domemall - November 19, 2011 at 7:29 am
It’s fascinating to notice which within Indian college students pick the plan their own mother and father or even family members would like them to select. It holds true. Students tight on versatility. Indian training requirements much more working experience or even instruction. It is dependant on rote storage as well as concept.