next »

[jonesey]

From Michael Roth, President of Wesleyan, in The Huffington Post:

The great advantage of our cosmopolitan liberal arts education is that it allows students to explore international, virtual networks of knowledge while learning the virtues (the pleasures and effectiveness) of face-to-face conversation, team participation and cooperation. Whether learning music or biophysics, consistent personal contact with teachers and fellow-students deepens education. The key is that the students at these schools are developing skills, learning how to learn, in ways that will serve them for decades.

Liberal arts schools will continue to be proactive about finding students from diverse backgrounds because this enhances everyone's education in a residential community. Strong financial aid programs are crucial for making college affordable. And we must continue to enrich our curriculum by developing classes that go beyond traditional canons and methodologies because by doing so we open up new possibilities for learning and for life. Today's liberal arts students plug into expansive virtual networks, of course, but they do so without sacrificing campus interactions that give these networks additional intensity and relevance.

[neutralname]

THAT's the great advantage?  That's what they pay all that money for?

Couldn't they get that at the community college? 

[aandsdean]

THAT's the great advantage?  That's what they pay all that money for?

Couldn't they get that at the community college? 

Not with a bunch of other people with 1450 SAT scores and really nice cars.

[neutralname]

But Pres Roth doesn't mention that part A&SDean.  I guess that's the subtext.

[jonesey]

THAT's the great advantage?  That's what they pay all that money for?

Couldn't they get that at the community college? 

No.  People at a CC want to finish their courses and get the F out.  Plus, they're all working and raising kids. 

[temporaryname]

No.  People at a CC want to finish their courses and get the F out.  Plus, they're all working and raising kids. 

Odd--back when I was a traditional-age CC student with no kids, I found myself in classes with a bunch of other traditional-age students with no kids. Little did I realize that, by virtue of being CC students, we all actually had kids at the time and didn't know it.

[jonesey]

No.  People at a CC want to finish their courses and get the F out.  Plus, they're all working and raising kids. 

Odd--back when I was a traditional-age CC student with no kids, I found myself in classes with a bunch of other traditional-age students with no kids. Little did I realize that, by virtue of being CC students, we all actually had kids at the time and didn't know it.

Good God, wer're sure a literal bunch of folks around the CHE these days...\

The demographics are different, and you know this.  I teach at a CC; the difference between FT day and PT evening students is profound, and the difference between the CC students I teach and the R1 students at UF I'm around on a regular basis is also profound.  Not better or worse, just different.

[neutralname]

I'm sceptical about Roth's claim that his college really focuses on students' ability "to explore international, virtual networks of knowledge while learning the virtues (the pleasures and effectiveness) of face-to-face conversation, team participation and cooperation" and the diversity of his school's population.  If students are really seeking diversity, Wesleyan is not the place that comes to mind.

However he talks a good talk and I haven't seen any other university presidents with their own blogs.  He's also hunkalicious. 

[mad_doctor]

I'm sceptical about Roth's claim that his college really focuses on students' ability "to explore international, virtual networks of knowledge while learning the virtues (the pleasures and effectiveness) of face-to-face conversation, team participation and cooperation" and the diversity of his school's population.  If students are really seeking diversity, Wesleyan is not the place that comes to mind.

However he talks a good talk and I haven't seen any other university presidents with their own blogs.  He's also hunkalicious. 

You realize that they have to demonstrate how they assess those things for the accreditors?  Talk about a PITA!.  What would you do to assess how students "explore international, virtual networks of knowledge while learning the virtues (pleasures and effectiveness) of face-to-face conversations"?

[neutralname]

I really don't think Wesleyan is worried about having its accreditation pulled.  It's like all accreditation -- you write up some BS, create some good looking syllabi, pay them the money, and the accreditors will give you what you want.  PITA yes; reflection of reality, not so much.

[aandsdean]

I really don't think Wesleyan is worried about having its accreditation pulled.  It's like all accreditation -- you write up some BS, create some good looking syllabi, pay them the money, and the accreditors will give you what you want.  PITA yes; reflection of reality, not so much.

This is true if you're a place like Wesleyan.  A place not so much like Wesleyan, not so true.

[neutralname]

We are getting off thread topic, but there doesn't seem to be great enthusiasm for it anyway, so I don't feel guilty. 

I'm curious which schools really have to worry about accreditation.  My school has been on shaky ground, mainly because of our finances -- but if our finances go south, the school is going to fail anyway, accredited or not.  I'm not sure how it helps having the accrediting organization raise it as issue.  The other thing they go on about is outcomes assessment, and as usual, I am being badgered to create a plan for it for a bunch of courses.  It's been like that for 10 years.  It all  makes zero difference to students' experience in the classroom.

I get the impression that accreditation for Education and Business programs does make some real difference.  If our business school were to go for AACSB Accreditation, they would have to hire a bunch more faculty and rely on adjuncts less.  When there's some competition or real choice between different accrediting agencies, maybe it makes more difference. 

[sibyl]

However he talks a good talk and I haven't seen any other university presidents with their own blogs.  He's also hunkalicious. 

Right down the road from Wesleyan, Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, SJ, the president of Fairfield, has his own blog too.  I'll leave you to decide on his hunkaliciousness.

On preview:  I just googled "college president blog" and got 90,000,000 hits.  So, you know, there are a bunch.

We are getting off thread topic, but there doesn't seem to be great enthusiasm for it anyway, so I don't feel guilty. 

I'm curious which schools really have to worry about accreditation.  My school has been on shaky ground, mainly because of our finances -- but if our finances go south, the school is going to fail anyway, accredited or not.  I'm not sure how it helps having the accrediting organization raise it as issue.  The other thing they go on about is outcomes assessment, and as usual, I am being badgered to create a plan for it for a bunch of courses.  It's been like that for 10 years.  It all  makes zero difference to students' experience in the classroom.

I get the impression that accreditation for Education and Business programs does make some real difference.  If our business school were to go for AACSB Accreditation, they would have to hire a bunch more faculty and rely on adjuncts less.  When there's some competition or real choice between different accrediting agencies, maybe it makes more difference. 

The majority of schools in serious jeopardy of losing regional accreditation are those with shaky finances.  This is in part because poor finances are so easy to see.  And when I say "shaky" I don't just mean "tuition-dependent," but something like

• the debt-to-asset ratio is far above acceptable norms
• the bond rating is junk
• expenditures have exceeded revenue for multiple years and there's no end in sight
• there are inadequate safeguards against fraud and embezzlement

The other big reason that schools lose accreditation is inadequate governance structures: the president has abolished the faculty senate, etc.  So loss of accreditation is really just the final acknowledgement that there's a big ol' mess.

AACSB standards are meaningful not just because they are "competitive" but because they are more stringent.  You can have a perfectly good business program without meeting AACSB standards, but you want AACSB accreditation if you can get it because it shows you are following the highest standards.  The same goes for NCATE and ACS and NAST and every other discipline-specific accrediting body.