Quick Takes: New Leader for TIAA-CREF, Admissions Help From Medical Dean, Caution on Plans for World Test, End of 4 AP Courses, Court Win for Student Downloaders, Saint Vincent Faculty Critique, Oberlin Aid for Pell-Eligible, Concerns at St. Mary’s

Accreditation issues raised

While admitting a student to UF’s medical school “not endorsed by the school’s faculty admissions committee” may breach accredited admission standards, the job of accreditors is to legitimate institutions, not regulate them.

In this case, although the Dean that pushed the student through violated procedure, the surprise is that this was even possible.

The former point is also demonstrated by Ward’s remarks, where he refers to the American “institutional mission” myth to avoid International accountability measures for his institutions.

The job of accreditors is to legitimate institutions, not to regulate or to reform them, even when they need it.

That much is clear from WASC’s inaction over the past 20 years regarding “the appearance of racism and discrimination” at St. Mary’s College of California. By merely legitimating institutions, the accrediting guilds miss the opportunity of occasionally reforming them.

Likewise, it is clearly better to have the St. V’s president re-write portions of the self-study (a part of institutional self-regulation for accreditation) than to have it plagarized, as has been the case in the past.

And again, although the changes to the self-study were not detailed, it is safe to say they focused on making the institution look good for accreditors.

When will we get a system of quality control and institutional effectiveness that gets beyond rhetoric and face-saving?

Glen McGhee, Dir., at FHEAP, at 8:20 am EDT on April 4, 2008

Oppose international rankings for the right reasons

ACE president David Ward’s skeptical response to OECD proposals to set up tools for international comparison of university outcomes is on the wrong footing. He comes across as objecting to them because they might actually provide information that would be useful to students, parents, and policymakers at the expense of universities with deficiencies to hide. His position would be stronger were he objecting on the basis that such comparisons invariably require arbitrary criteria and methodology that provide a mirage of information where little to none really exists.

Sue Donna Moss, at 10:00 am EDT on April 4, 2008

Racist at St Mary’s? I seriously doubt it.

Just to counterbalance the almost reprehensibly vague charge of racism directed at St. Mary’s College of California (SMCC) by the governing accreditation association there: I taught at SMCC for a couple of years—it’s been quite a while ago, but I think I know that Christian Brothers college pretty well—and I just can’t see it. The fact that the Christian Brothers have to watch the bottom line, as do virtually all institutions of higher education, especially private ones, has not driven them toward social conservatism. On the contrary, SMCC has explored numerous program options to appeal to a broader student constituency. At least since the 1970’s, starting with a Black Studies department, SMCC has embraced progressive academic trends. And while I can’t see into people’s heads, I suspect these progressive programs were motivated by the moral/political beliefs of some stakeholders, and by the financial tactics of others.

Idyllic, suburban SMCC is just over the hill from UC Berkeley. At SMCC, no progressive professor or student worth his/her salt will miss a chance to decry racism (and corporate greed and the other usual suspects), so of course the issue will bounce around, pretty much perennially. But it would be a grotesque stretch to call SMCC racist to the point of possible sanctions. If they haven’t “responded” to an expression of concern by a doubtless very PC accrediting organization, it’s probably because they just can’t believe such a concern could seriously be directed at them. I can’t, anyway.

Rod Bell, Adjunct Professor at College of DuPage, at 3:55 pm EDT on April 4, 2008

St. Vincent College

Jim’s comment about the faculty complaints at St. Vincent College labels them as “generic,” but his evaluation is a one-size-fits-all approach in itself. As an alumnus of St. Vincent who visits campus frequently, I can tell Jim that the atmosphere is so tense that one can feel the pressures. Conversations are in hushed tones.

A concrete example of the president’s ham-handed approach is a “national search” for an academic dean and the waste of an interviewing committee’s time by choosing the candidate the president wanted all along. Another is the exodus of no less than twenty-five faculty, administration and staff in the first year and a half of this president’s administration. A third is the president’s commandeering of the lower level of the football press box as a “president’s reception area,” forcing real game personnel to be squeezed into an upstairs level.

Take a “let ‘em eat cake” approach all you want, Jim. There are real problems at my alma mater.

Bob Sheridan, at 9:00 am EDT on April 11, 2008

Jim’s Comment About Saint Vincent College

Jim:

The rhetoric and defenses in your comments about Saint Vincent College and the faculty “complaint” sounds like another “Jim” I know could have written them. Are you that “Jim,” Jim? The last sentence especially is a real “grabber.” Heard it before! Heard it before! And why would you, JIM, hope that the trustees would keep the “generic” nature of the letter in “mind,” unless your have a dog in the race.

Your comment closes with:

“One is tempted to conclude that faculty leaders at some schools are locked into a chronic power struggle with their administration that takes precedence over their desire to see their institution improve.”

Peyton, at 11:30 am EDT on April 12, 2008