No Surprise Here: Presidents hired for fund-raising ability

Here is an not so surprising story on CNN about the need for college presidents to raise funds. We all know that this is the case. It is interesting, however, that it is showing up in the major national media.

Unfortunately, this has become all too true for our own Chancellor and those who lead the public institutions in this country.

CNN.com - More college presidents from outside academic ranks - Nov 3, 2005

National Summit on cutting college costs makes suggestions

I have linked to this organization and website before, but here is a new report about a recent meeting.

There, several adminstrators and public figures to address the question of how to control college costs and discussed several issues, the one highlighted by the Inside Higher ed story is remedial service for unqualified students. They also mention making faculty teach more, generating more non-tuition revenue, etc.

It is an interesting emphasis. We clearly have plenty of help for students who are not fully prepared for college, but it is hard to imagine that it is a very large share of the overall budget.


Inside Higher Ed :: High Schools and High College Costs

Let's Work Together to Fix Academic Journals

Ron Hardy sent along this open letter about the price-gouging practices of large academic journal publishing. The statistics in the letter lay bare the policy of exploiting the necessity of university libraries to subscribe to key journals whatever the cost.

As a community, we should join this movement, and get journal prices under control. Perhaps the faculty senate should get involved and support a broad initiative!

Consider this:

An Open Letter to All University Presidents and Provosts Concerning Increasingly Expensive Journals:

http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~mcafee/Journal/OpenLetter.pdf

"It is time to recognize a simple fact, and react to it. The symbiotic relationship between academics and for-profit publishers has broken down. The large for-profit publishers are gouging the academic community for as much as the market will bear. Moreover, they will not stop pricing journals at the monopoly level, because shareholders demand it."

"So far, universities have failed to use one of the most powerful tools that they possess: charging for their valuable inputs. Journal editing uses a great deal of pro

fessorial and staff time, as well as supplies, office space and computers, all provided by universities... we see no reason for universities to subsidize editorial inputs to journals that are priced to extract maximum revenue from the academic community."

Will UW-Oshkosh accept this challenge? Will the library, with University Endorsement, consider cancelling academic journals that, based on measurable data, are gouging the very institutions that produce the content they sell?


Ronald Kane Hardy
Head of Information Resources
Polk Library, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh
Oshkosh, WI 54901
hardyr@uwosh.edu
920-424-2097

The letter authors also link their analysis of cost for 5000 journals

Voters suspend TABOR in Colorado

In news that has important implications for Wisconsin, Colorado voters yesterday voted to allow the suspention of their strict budgetary caps to allow increased spending. Higher education will gain a large share of this money, as the public universities in Colorado took deep cuts in the decade since this amendment passed.

Even the Republican governor endorsed this yes vote!

Let us hope that this vote in Colorado will help bring our own legislators to their senses about automatic caps and freezes.

Colorado voters give up billions in tax refunds - Politics - MSNBC.com

Low-Cost Adjuncts are growing in popularity

If Michael's decision to hire more staff wasn't enough, even more poorly paid adjuncts continue to play a key role in education on this campus and across the nation

The AFT is sponsoring a sarcastic advertising campaign on the problem and you can read about it here.

Inside Higher Ed :: Help Wanted: Low-Cost Adjuncts

A-T editorial on faculty and staff leaving.

The editorial staff at the A-T weighed in on the outflow of talented staff from the unversity this week as well. As the article mentioned, salaries are low here and driving away good people. Unfortunately, the hemoraging will continue. Who will be next to leave???

Advance Titan Online

Only one of new searches will be tenure-track

I was looking at the Advance-Titan this weekend and found their report on new hires for COLS. They report that out of 11 searches that Zimmerman has authorized for next year, 10 will be instructors.

The A-T story is not exactly clear, as the terminology is not quite correct, but this is the first I have heard that we are getting exactly 1 t-t replacement, out of 50 vacancies in the college.

It is especially troubling to see UWO increasing its push towards temporary hires with larger teaching loads. Zimmerman's lip service about the importance of liberal arts rings hollow as he uses the budget as an excuse to eliminate research from the halls of our university.

UWO continues to head in the wrong directions with this decision. It is no wonder that Zimmerman didn't happen to mention it in his announcement to the faculty.



Advance Titan Online

Fees climb even faster than tuition for UW students

The journal-sentinel reports on the big increase in fees throughout the UW system.

It lists a myriad of ways that student fees are being used to offset state budget cuts and ends with our old favorite, UW-hater Rob Kreibich complaining about accountability.

It has a nice chart with it as well.

JS Online: 'Stealth tuition' could be pricing students out of UW

Law professor claims being right-wing hurting his tenure chances

This story popped up over at the Chronicle of Higher education and here on InsideHigher ed.

A law professor at a university in Indiana claims that his conservative view are hurting his chances for tenure. As I read the story, I can't quite figure out what is going on, since he has not been denied tenure and is not yet up for it. He apparently got a few negative votes during his performance review and is very angry about it.

The most interesting part of the case is that he has taken his claims to Bill O'Reilly, and we might expect to see this case become some sort of cause celebre for the right.


Inside Higher Ed :: 'Not the Right Kind of Indian'

Here is the link to the Chronicle of Higher education. It may be out from behind the firewall in a few days.

If there aren't enough men in college, with whom are women having all the sex?

I had to post this story, even though it is tangential to things I usually put up on the website. Middle-aged college professors complaining that their female students are unhappy because they are having too much sex (but not with them?).

A Harvard Government professor recently gave a talk where he mourned the losss of 'modesty.'

Theories of the Erotic - Male traditionalists wring their hands at the "grim" lives of young women. By Meghan O'Rourke

The New York Review of Books: The Truth About the Colleges

A political science professor reviews a whole slew of books about higher education and comes to the conclusion that things look grim.

Professors don't care enough about teaching and students don't care enough about learning. Add the need to publish and win big research grants, and U.S. higher education is locked in a troubling downward spiral.

The New York Review of Books: The Truth About the Colleges

Republicans in Washington go after students

Republicans in the house revealed a plan to make students loans more expensive for college students, using Katrina as an excuse.

It is a complicated story, but the idea seems to be that college students are one of the groups that should suffer because a hurricane hit ill-prepared parts of the South.

The republicans at all levels seem to think that it is worthy to give money to the rich and powerful and take it away from those who have less. Once again, higher education may suffer. Clearly our own students, many of whom need lots of federal help to get through their years here, will be hurt by this plan.

Inside Higher Ed :: Faint Echoes of 1995

A New Local Link Page for the Northwestern

I just noticed that I am linked on the new northwestern page. It has several links to local blogs. You can also preview the new look that the northwestern's web site will have.

Chancellor Wells decides to stay

This just in: The Chancellor just informed the university community that he has withdrawn from the search for President of the CalState Long Beach. He cites he and his wife's attachment to the state of Wisconsin. At least we won't have to worry about transitions of leadership for another few years!

Here is his message:

To: The members of the UW Oshkosh Community
From: Chancellor Richard H. Wells
Re: The California State University Long Beach Presidency
Date: October 24, 2005


Earlier today, I called Chancellor Charles Reed to let him know that I have decided to officially withdraw from their search for the next President of California State University Long Beach.


After careful thought and consideration, I decided not to return for the Wednesday interview with Chancellor Reed and the Board of Trustees. CSULB is an excellent University characterized by fine people who are rightly proud of their institution. However, UW Oshkosh is an outstanding academic community with terrific students, faculty and staff. Furthermore, Christie and I greatly appreciate the support of the people of Oshkosh and we are enjoying the State of Wisconsin more than any place we have had the pleasure to live. We are very happy to be once again fully focused on our University and the State of Wisconsin.


Thank you for your patience, understanding and support. The extensive positive feedback we received from people on and off campus figured prominently into our decision. It is an honor and privilege to be your Chancellor.

Understanding Independent Students

I don't know what the percentage of undergrads here are officially independent, but I would guess that it is fairly substantial. The numbers excerpted in this story show that they face substantially different and more difficult challenges than the traditional college student.

I hear often about the heavy work and family responsibilites of my students, and this is clearly not something unique to us.

Inside Higher Ed :: Understanding Independent Students

Detox at Madison

I end up linking this site quite a bit, but this is another interesting story about how Madison has decided that public announcement of drinking arrests might help curb the problem.

We seem to have been doing that for years. The A-T weekly publishes its list of students who have been arrested, with the details of what they were doing when it happened.

It hasn't made a difference here, one would have to say, so it probably will make no difference at Madison. There isn't much shame associated with public drunkenness these days.



Inside Higher Ed :: Detox at Madison

A few tuition statistics: Aid Is Up, Tuition Up More

Related to the NYT article and other posts, this article givves some recent numbers for tuition and aid across the country. Tuition up 7.1% at public institutions and net cost is up as well. The article also notes that loans take an ever bigger part of student aid package, leaving students deeper in debt when (if) they graduate.

The chronicle of higher education adds that benefits also diproportunately flow to families with incomes over $50,000. The lower classes are being priced out of higher education, it seems.

Inside Higher Ed :: Aid Is Up, Tuition Up More

Here is a link to a site that gives suggestions and discussion about college costs. They are pushing a conference on college costs that will take place in November.

UWO makes news for students' desire for more booze

The Student Government voted to propose alcohol in Reeve Union Monday evening.

The Northwestern is up in arms--covering the story and then editorializing against it. The anti-university editorial writer has decided to take this opportunity to once again bash the university, claiming that the city has different standards than the campus community. It strikes me as the pot calling the kettle black: to claim that Oshkosh, with a little bar on every street corner and whose political leaders keep asking the state for permission to have more liquor licenses, to say that serving alcohol at Reeve is somehow problematic.

The real point is that the Northwestern likes to publish sensationalist negative attacks on the university and see what happens. They look forward to angry letters from our ranks and hope the regular conservative letter writers applaud their decision. Do you think they have data which suggests they sell more papers when they harrass the university?


I am not likely to start going to Reeve to have an afterwork drink with my students, so I think the students' justification is weak, but I also don't see a big problem with allowing alcohol to be served on campus.


Oshkosh Northwestern - UWO union may soon serve alcohol

There is not a link yet for the editorial.

New York Times on 'Privatization' of Public Universities

This article ran in the Sunday paper. This touches on many of the issues that I have raised in this blog over the last few months. The percentage of state spending and the spending per student has dropped precipitiously in the last decade. The article focuses extensively on Wisconsin, and our continuing problems. Have we really lost the debate on the public good of higher education? I hope not, but the trend seem to be headed in the wrong direction. . .



I am going to paste the whole thing here so you don't have to go there and register:

October 16, 2005
At Public Universities, Warnings of Privatization
By SAM DILLON

Taxpayer support for public universities, measured per student, has plunged more precipitously since 2001 than at any time in two decades, and several university presidents are calling the decline a de facto privatization of the institutions that played a crucial role in the creation of the American middle class.

Graham Spanier, president of Pennsylvania State University, said this year that skyrocketing tuition was a result of what he called "public higher education's slow slide toward privatization."

Other educators have made similar assertions, some avoiding the term "privatization" but nonetheless describing a crisis that they say is transforming public universities. At an academic forum last month, John D. Wiley, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that during the years after World War II, America built the world's greatest system of public higher education.

"We're now in the process of dismantling all that," Dr. Wiley said.

The share of all public universities' revenues deriving from state and local taxes declined to 64 percent in 2004 from 74 percent in 1991. At many flagship universities, the percentages are far smaller. About 25 percent of the University of Illinois's budget comes from the state. Michigan finances about 18 percent of Ann Arbor's revenues. The taxpayer share of revenues at the University of Virginia is about 8 percent.

"At those levels, we have to ask what it means to be a public institution," said Katharine C. Lyall, an economist and president emeritus of the University of Wisconsin. "America is rapidly privatizing its public colleges and universities, whose mission used to be to serve the public good. But if private donors and corporations are providing much of a university's budget, then they will set the agenda, perhaps in ways the public likes and perhaps not. Public control is slipping away."

Not everyone agrees with the doomsday talk. Some experts who study university finance say the declines are only part of a familiar cycle in which legislatures cut the budgets of public universities more radically than other state agencies during recession but restore financing when good times return, said Paul E. Lingenfelter, president of State Higher Education Executive Officers, a nonprofit association.

"Let's not panic and say that the public commitment to higher education has fundamentally changed," Dr. Lingenfelter said. "Let's just say that these cycles happen, and get back to work to restore the funding."

But the future of hundreds of universities and colleges has become a subject of anxious debate nationwide. At stake are institutions that carry out much of the country's public-interest research and educate nearly 80 percent of all college students, and whose scientific and technological innovation has been crucial to America's economic dominance.

Margaret Spellings, secretary of education, noted her own worries in announcing the appointment of a national Commission on the Future of Higher Education last month.

"We still have the finest system of higher education in the world," Ms. Spellings said. "But we're at a crossroads. The world is catching up."

The commission, whose first meeting is scheduled for Monday, will explore universities' affordability and competitiveness. Some members argue that universities, by failing to contain costs, share responsibility for the exploding price of a degree.

The average in-state tuition nationwide for students attending four-year public colleges increased 36 percent from 2000-01 through 2004-05, according to the College Board, while consumer prices over all rose about 11 percent.

The Morrill Act of 1862 granted federal land to states to finance the creation of public universities, and one of their core missions ever since has been to provide services that promote the well-being of communities and states. Today, educators using the term "privatization" say universities are being forced to abandon this social compact. In the process, many major public universities are looking more like private ones.

For instance, the University of Virginia and other public universities in the state responded to years of dwindling financing by asking Virginia's General Assembly to extend their autonomy and to reaffirm the university governing boards' authority to raise tuition. Lawmakers granted those requests, said Colette Sheehy, a University of Virginia vice president.

Two years ago, Miami University of Ohio became the first public institution to adopt the tuition model used by private colleges, eliminating the differential between in-state and out-of-state residents.

Across the nation, educators said, public anger is rising not only about tuition but about the increasing numbers of faculty members who focus on research rather than on teaching undergraduates, and about the time that university presidents spend hobnobbing with billionaires. University administrators say all three phenomena are related to the transformation of revenues.

As private donations and federal grants make up a larger proportion of universities' revenue, more professors are paid mainly to conduct research. And as state financing drops, more building projects depend on private philanthropy.

At the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Grainger Hall, which houses the business school, was financed largely by donations from David W. Grainger, chairman of W. W. Grainger Inc., the business-to-business distributor; from his wife; and from the Grainger Foundation. The school of pharmacy is in the new Rennebohm Hall, named after Oscar Rennebohm, whose drugstore chain amassed a fortune. The Rennebohm Foundation financed the building.

"Wisconsin people see all the construction on campus and don't understand why the university is complaining about budget cuts," Dr. Lyall said. "We have this apparent incongruity of building growth at a time when resources for teaching in those buildings are shrinking."

But flagship universities are less vulnerable to financing declines than are hundreds of state-run four-year colleges that do not offer doctoral programs or conduct significant research, said David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, the nation's largest association of universities and colleges. The flagships can replace some state revenues with federal grants and private donations, but the four-year colleges cannot, he said.

"Privatization may be a good description of what is going on at our flagship campuses, but not at our four-years," Dr. Ward said. "They cannot survive without public funding."

Patrick M. Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a nonprofit group, also said he dislikes the word.

"The air is filled with this rhetoric about privatization, but the evidence doesn't support it," Mr. Callan said. He noted that in straight dollar terms, state appropriations for public universities have not fallen much across the nation in recent years. They totaled $67 billion in 2001, $70 billion in 2002, $69 billion in 2003 and $69 billion in 2004, the last year for which nationwide data is available.

But because enrollments surged during those years by more than 1 million students, or 11.8 percent, per-student appropriations dropped more steeply than at any time since the early 1980's, to $5,721 from $6,874, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers.

Another measure, the average percentage of state tax revenues devoted to public higher education, has declined for several decades. About 6.7 percent of state revenues went to higher education appropriations in 1977, but by 2000, universities' share had fallen to 4.5 percent, according to a study by the Urban Institute.

Stanley O. Ikenberry, a president emeritus of the University of Illinois, says he believes that most state legislatures remain committed to supporting public higher education but that as budgets shrink, it is more difficult to cut programs like Medicaid, public schools and prisons.

"The higher education budget serves as the default place to make the cut," Dr. Ikenberry said. Nonetheless, he avoids the word "privatization," saying, "It's not a productive way to talk about what's happening now, but more a way of describing where we may be heading."

Tom Keefe leaves for St. Louis U.

In what may be the first of many fleeing a sinking ship, Tom Keefe, fund-raiser in chief, takes off for greener pastures.

Tom has done a great job raising money for UWO, even if much of his effort has been aimed at athletics. I generally accepted his argument that sports was a good way to open a donors wallet, and then you can turn towards more academic endeavors.

Unfortunately, he is now gone, making it all the more difficult to raise funds for the new academic building on campus.

Michael Zimmerman wanted to move to Lawrence last semester. Chancellor Wells may be next--he hopes so. . .

I wonder if this is happening all over the UW system? Are we beginning to see the inevitable drain of talent away from our universities to places where there is more respect for higher education?

Implications of Blackboard/Web CT merger

Although UW system adopted d2l last year, this article seems relevant to me. I especially like the idea of using open source software to accomplish the same thing we pay d2l to do.

D2l is a incredibly buggy piece of software that doesn't seem to be able to handle the load here at Oshkosh much of the time. You can't use Firefox without running into all sorts of trouble.

I have come to rely on the web for much course content, but I am never sure if it is a wise decision. Who knows when the next upgrade of d2l will take out all our data!



Inside Higher Ed :: Blackboard vs....

A Diversity Candidate in Every Pool

A Dean down at Marquette made the news for making public and explicit a policy that was surely in place earlier.

It is clear, for example, that there is overt pressure from above here at Oshkosh to make sure minority and women candidates are represented in final lists for faculty positions. No "official" policy exists, but search committees are made aware of their responsibilities towards diversity.

It is a real quandary when it comes to academics. I used to believe that academia was a place where merit was the ultimate arbiter of success. How naive was I!! Intellectual excellence is only one of many qualities deemed necessary when it comes to the academy. Much more important is having the right contacts.

These diversity questions go the heart of the incestuous networks of scholars that exist throughout our profession. How do you break in, if you do not have contacts with the right circles? However, these circles are really quite diverse, as opposed to the simple old-boys networks of corporate America. This is not to say that academia is anything but the preserve of the white middle-class, but there is a lot of self-consciousness and soul-searching about that problem.

Can simply forcing committees to look at diverse candidates help them break these barriers? Does this demand simply reinforce the strength of academic networks? I don't know the answer and I don't know where I stand on administratively-decreed diversity requirements.



Inside Higher Ed :: A Diversity Candidate in Every Pool

Wells: Chance to grow

The Northwestern published a short column on Chancellor Wells today. He emphasized that he wants to leave because of the terrible financial climate in our state. The reporter led with more money, and left the complaint about financing off to the end in the story.

As a side note, maybe Wells is hoping he'll get another job before he addresses the complaints in our petition from last Spring!


Oshkosh Northwestern - Wells: Chance to grow

Even the Chancellor thinks it might be time to leave

The chancellor announced this afternoon that he is a finalist for a similar position at CalState Long Beach.

This surely is a step up in the world of academic administration, being a bigger and more highly rated institution. However, it is also true that if the financial and ideological situation around here weren't quite so poisoned, he might not have been as ready to accept the nomination.

However, it just wouldn't bother me much to see him go. How about you?


Here is the text of his announcement:

Date: October 10, 2005


To: Members of the UW Oshkosh Community and Friends:



The California State University system office will announce later today that I have agreed to be a finalist for the Presidency of California State University Long Beach. I want to assure you that I am very proud to be your Chancellor, however, this is an excellent opportunity that requires careful consideration. I was nominated for this position, and it is the only Presidency I have agreed to consider. If it were not for the outstanding reputation of our UW Oshkosh academic community, the UW System and the State of Wisconsin, my family and I would not be in the position to consider this opportunity. We greatly appreciate the support of the people of Oshkosh and are enjoying the State of Wisconsin more than any place we have had the pleasure to live. Consequently, if an offer is extended, we will be facing a difficult decision.

Chancellor Charles Reed and the California State University Board of Trustees expect to conclude the search on or before November 1. I regret any distraction this situation may cause for our academic community, and I intend to continue, with your help, to stay fully focused on moving forward the priorities of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

Richard H. Wells
Chancellor

A more positive story about UW outreach.

This digitization project discussed at the Wisc. State-Journal is a great project and is co-directed by our own library director Pat Wilkenson.

Wisconsin State Journal

New Buildings on Campus

The regents gave approval to the new academic building on campus last week, which is good news for the university community. However, it comes at a very interesting time. My biggest question is why the state has $40 million to spend on new buildings at a time when we are cutting courses like crazy.

It is an serious question for the university. How can we complain that we are being gutted by the state legislature (which we are) when such a huge amount of money is being spent on a new building? What is the point of getting a new building when we don't have enough teachers to teach the students that we do have? Where does this money come from anyway and why aren't we tapping it to take care of students who are here now?

I suppose it is a matter of the way money is divided up. Somehow it is more legitimate to give $40 million to private contractors to build a new building. We know, afterall, that there are much better donors among the big contracting companies than among the university supporters. Why not raise tuition and hand it over to the rich businessmen?

I should provide a few links, in case you are not up to speed on the news:

Here is the Northwestern story

I was also struck by the critical letter to the editor yesterday by the retired director of facilities management (second letter down). He seems extremely angry that the university leased Cub foods building and is moving ahead with new construction. It makes me wonder about the history of this project!

Cuts by legislature left opening for abuses in UW system

The Journal Sentinel reports that part of the reason for the backup position scandal is that cuts by legislators caused campuses to cut back on their self-auditing (in order to save teaching resources).

JS Online: Cuts hurt scrutiny of UW System

Computers hurt education

This is an interesting article complaining about the adverse effects computers have on education--it seems quite relevant to much of the discussion lately about d2l and other educational technology:



Orion > Orion Magazine > September | October 2005 > Lowell Monke > Charlotte's Webpage

Buying the state of Wisconsin

The latest tempest on campus is that all state-funded travel must be paid for using a U.S. Bank Visa card. Apparently, the Doyle administration claims that forcing all state employees who travel to carry a new credit card will provide great efficiencies.

What is probably the real case is that the administration will be getting a kick-back from U.S. bank when state employees use the card. Someone feels that this 1% that the state is recieving is enough to radically change the way travel works for state employees.

There is great resistance to this idea here on campus. Why should we all be forced to apply for (and hand our personal information over to) a new company? Why do we have to be burdened by carrying and preserving an extra card that can ONLY be used for specific aspects of travel up to a limited dollar amount?

We are personally responsible for all debts incurred on the card. I suppose the state will wash its hands of responsibility as well if the card is stolen or is used to steal your identity.

This is just another example of the corporate take over of the public sector in America. We are already forced to carry a U.S. Bank Campus ID card, and now we are being forced to hand over more information to this corporation if we want to use part of our benefits. I wonder how deep U.S. bank has its hand into the student loan business on campus? Maybe we should just outsource the whole operation to a big corporation. After all, education is all about profits, isn't it???

Buying the campus mind

Ideological-driven special interests grow, as colleges search for more donations:

News & Features | Buying the campus mind

College Education Still Pays

If you want to put a few dollar signs on the value of higher education, here is a story from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

A glance at the current issue of The Economist's Voice: The value of a college degree

The hourly-wage gap between people with college degrees and those with only a high-school education has been growing for decades, but the rate of increase slowed in the 1990s. At the same time, tuition prices rose, leading people to ask whether college was still worth it. But after studying the financial risks and rewards of higher education, two economists have concluded that continuing one's education definitely still pays off.

"In fact, there are no signs that the value of a college education has peaked or is on a downward trend," say Lisa Barrow, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Cecilia Elena Rouse, a professor of economics at Princeton University.

For the average student who entered college in 2003, the authors calculate, the cost of earning a bachelor's degree would be worthwhile if it raised the value of the student's lifetime earnings by $107,277. That figure represents the sum of average tuition and fees for a four-year degree program and the amount someone with just a high-school diploma could earn in the same span of time.

Ms. Rouse and Ms. Barrow write that a college diploma would raise such a student's lifetime earnings by as much as $402,959 -- nearly $300,000 more than the total cost.

That increase is important to focus on, in contrast to the rising cost of tuition, which the authors say has almost no effect on the value of a college education. In fact, despite the growth in the number of graduates, the wages of degree-holders continue to rise, indicating "an increasing -- not a decreasing -- demand for their skills," they write.

The article, "Does College Still Pay?," is available at http://www.bepress.com/ev/vol2/iss4/art3/

Price Increases Sharpest at Public Colleges

Inside higher ed posts a summary of a study of the costs and graduation percentages at universities and colleges. As the headlines note, legislatures all over the country are trying to balance their budgets on the backs of students and their parents.

Inside Higher Ed :: Price Increases Sharpest at Public Colleges

The latest in the Barrows saga: Wiley wanted to fire him

I am getting tired of this story, but I'll post this link, so that if you are following along, you will know the latest:


Wisconsin State Journal

Marder before the Wisconsin Supreme Court

I have not followed the details of this case over the years, but it seems to be reaching its final denoument, as it is now before the supreme court.

The most interesting issue in the article: whether Marder was protected by state laws or not. Seems strange to me that a state employee might not be covered by state laws, but we'll see what the court decides.


JS Online: State Supreme Court hears fired UW professor's appeal

Student Success at Public Colleges

Inside Higher ed published a study of colleges that have success in graduating their students, putting "high expectations" at the center of the effort.

It seems like a good place to start as the University view the PBS documentary "Declining by Degrees" at the Provost's Summit on Teaching and Learning tonight.
Inside Higher Ed :: Student Success at Public Colleges

Lack of men on college campuses

USA Today ran a story yesterday about the fact that more women than men are graduating from college.

It asks the question where the men have gone. It suggests that there is a growing problem of underemployed and hopelessness among young men in the U.S.

Almost as many men are on probation and in prison as are in college, the story reports.

The story raises an additiional question as to the shape of education on campus and across the country.




USATODAY.com

K.C. Wong tries to remind Northwestern that all crime is not the same

K.C.'s letter appeared in the Northwestern this morning, in response to an editorial from Sept. 21 that called for the immediate dismissal of all UW employee's convicted of a crime

Oshkosh Northwestern - Not all criminal conduct bad for university classrooms

The original editorial is here.

K.C. continues to make worthwhile points about crime and about the university system. We are not a nursery school, and students are not babies.

K.C. is also suggesting that we in Wisconsin and in the U.S. need to rethink our knee-jerk response to crime. Abandoning all who are convicted of a crime, whether to jail or to ostracism, is not compassionate nor sound public policy.

Journal Sentinal reflection on bad relations between legislature and university

The MJS author argues the problems are really due to ideological differences: republican legislators can't handle university system that disagrees with their conservative agenda.

JS Online: Legislature, UW System not on same page

Latest from the Barrows saga

Backup jobs remain in the news. UW reputation continues to drop as UW Madison chancellor admits not following rules.

JS Online: Officials faulted but lose little in UW case

This story summarizes the memo that got Barrows fired.

Here is a story of reactions from madison.com

Also, a Timeline, where you can see that Barrows still has a job making $72K a year.

Finally, this link takes you to a copy of the report itself.

National Survey of Student Engagement shows problems at UWO

The provost recently sent out a report on the results of the 2004 NSSE survey. Oshkosh fell below the national average in every column. Another message suggested that these figures place us in the bottom 10% of all universities:

A summary:
For first-years:

Level of Academic Challenge 46.2 (natl. average 53.6)
Active and collaborative learning 34.0 (natl. average 42.3)
Student Faculty Interaction 24.8 (natl. average 33.3)
Enriching educational experience 19.0 (natl. average 26.7)
Supportive campus environment 55.3 (natl. average 62.8)

For Seniors:

Level of Academic Challenge 53.9 (natl. average 57.6)
Active and collaborative learning 47.8 (natl. average 51.4)
Student Faculty Interaction 35.6 (natl. average 44.0)
Enriching educational experience 33.3 (natl. average 40.9)
Supportive campus environment 53.4 (natl. average 59.7)

I don't know exactly how the questions were put together or exactly what the numbers mean, except that we are doing worse than most places across the board. At least seniors think slightly better of us than the first-years.

The provost made some vague statements about addressing these issues in the strategic plan, but they seem to suggest that something drastic might need to change if we want to improve the quality of education for students. I imagine that larger class sizes and fewer classes are not going to help when the survey is administered again next year.

Barrows sues -- claiming UW was mean to him

The embarrassing saga that will not die -- now Paul Barrows claims to be the injured party.

JS Online: UW official sues chancellor, former dean

Interview about problems and future of higher ed

In an interview hyping their new book, three authors discuss the problems of higher education. They are especially concerned about the marketization of higher education and the lack of commitment to public purposes.

It parallels what Dean Zimmerman suggested in his opening day remarks: we need to explain better that universities exist not only to serve "the consumer," but also serve to create a better society.

Inside Higher Ed :: 'Remaking the American University'

Stephen Kercher's report and commentary on the Budget forum

Stephen posted this insightful comment on the budget forum and Underheim's bitter rhetoric to the university discussion list:

Those of us who attended yesterday’s forum on the “Crisis in the
Public University” are more than likely being asked by their students
what they “think” about Representative Gregg Underheim and his
position on public funding for the UW system.


How does one reply? How does one not betray the anger and
frustration that many of us felt in Reeve 202 as Representative
Underheim circumvented the strict code of civility that Dave Siemers
rightly attempted to maintain and dismissed Susan McFadden as a
starry-eyed idealist who foolishly believes that money grows on
trees. (Perhaps Dave applied the code a little too zealously. I
don’t think the student Shannon was wrong to suggest that there was a
strong hint of condescension in Underheim’s delivery.)


What follows is a free-wheeling, opinionated take on the subject of
yesterday’s forum. Please read on if you are interested.


To begin, it seems to me that inquiring students might think of the
ways that Gregg Underheim embodies the prerogatives of America’s
conservative movement. Having exhausted hope in the public sector,
conservatives of Underheim’s stripe hold out as models for public
policy corporate, managerial modes borrowed from the country’s
largest private-sector employer, Wal-Wart. With the example of Wal- Wart as a guide, conservatives promise to pursue “economies of scale”
and follow the “law of diminishing returns.” But, as Andrew
Schroeder and many others point out, the fallout of Hurricane Katrina
demonstrates the pitfalls of providing public services on the cheap.


Witness too Representative Underheim’s pseudo-populist stance—another
hallmark of the modern conservative. The public policy question
forced by today’s budget crisis, Underheim told us yesterday, is
whether the less well-off should be forced to support the tuition of
the pampered middle-class students who attend our classes. Mr.
Underheim is a frequent visitor to our campus (he once dropped in
(unannounced and uninvited) to a lecture I delivered on the Watergate
crisis)), and he ought to know that many of our students are the
offspring of the working-class families for whom he claims to represent.


I have reason to believe that Representative Underheim, like many
conservatives, have the interests of the wealthy, not the poor, at
heart on this issue. Many working-class families who send their
children to our university understand, as Michael Zimmerman reminded
us, that our institution will provide them with their best hope for
upward mobility. It is in the perceived best interest of many
wealthy, more ideologically conservative constituents to ratify our
faith in the “free market,” extol the virtues of privatization and,
not least, make substantial cuts to their tax burden. Unfortunately
for us, this agenda has helped undermine the public’s faith in the
public sector. Mr. Underheim’s political strength is a grim reminder
of this fact.


What many wealthy, ideologically conservative Wisconsites believe on
this issue—and a few of them, embolded by stiff drinks, have not been
afraid to confess it to this university professor in public—is that
the University System (big, bloated, and wasteful) is a drain on
taxpayers who have no intention of sending their children to a public
school. Underheim, I would guess, represents these citizens’
concerns more than he does others. I think Underheim’s description
of Milwaukee—read BLACK Milwaukee—as a “drain” on public resources,
as Susan McFadden astutely pointed out, confirms this impression—in
my mind anyway.


What conservatives like Underheim won’t fess up to is a deliberate
agenda to cut public spending by “starving the beast.” In an age of
economic downturns, bloated budget deficits and cowardly politicians
(who in their right mind, people ask, would have the courage to raise
new public revenue?) we are stuck with Underheim’s politics of
despair and cynicism.


Yet I think that students should also know that things don’t have to
be this way. Students would be well served to revisit the tradition
of the Wisconsin Idea, to acquaint themselves with that chapter in
the history of American social thought when proto-progressives took
on the Social Darwinist “realists” and imagined a new public role for
universities and the state, to read Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.’s
description of a new “politics of hope” at the dawn of the 1960s, as
well as many other articulate, idealistic responses Americans have
made to the conservative status quo in our history.


In the end, perhaps Susan McFadden was not the starry-eyed idealist
in the crowd but one of the few REAL realists. By yielding to
Underheim’s cynical social vision, his empty and destructive politics
of division, progress in the state of Wisconsin will be thwarted. To
grow our economy, ensure social justice and improve the quality of
life for all people in Wisconsin, we are obligated to not swallow the
pills Underheim his fellow “realists” prescribe for us. There are
other visions, other solutions, other paradigms.


For those students who may despair at the bleak picture painted
yesterday, they should be encouraged to take heart. Newt Gingrich’s
conservative revolution was stalled by the American public’s healthy
skepticism of where it might lead them. And we can be thankful that
Wisconsin’s citizenry had the good sense not to elect Underheim State
Superintendent of Public Instruction. As the parent of two children
educated in area public schools, I’d rather them learn at the hands
of a real-time teacher than the experts popping up on children’s
laptops in Albuquerque.

Oshkosh Northwestern - UWO budget forum sparks controversy

Here is a very poor report of the forum that appeared in the Northwestern:

Oshkosh Northwestern - UWO budget forum sparks controversy

Oshkosh News report on the budget meeting

I didn't make it to the meeting, but Miles Maguire reports that Underheim blamed the system for being bad lobbyists:


Oshblog: Underheim to U: Take it from K-12

"Crisis in the Public University: Budget Cuts and Tuition Hikes in the UW System"

Attend the forum this afternoon in Reeve 202, at 3 PM to hear Dean Zimmerman, Rep. Underheim, and Legislative Director of the United Council of UW Students Renee Stieve discuss the crisis we face here!

Biology dept wins teaching award & ignores staff

Looking at Frank Church's Oshkosh in the news feature this morning, I was reminded of my nagging criticism of the way the biology department handled its reception of the award.

It is great for the University to win another Regents teaching award, but what I noticed was that the department did not acknowledge the people who teach a significant percentage of their classes.

I know that most lower level lab sections in the biology department are taught by academic staff. They are the initial contact that most students have with the department and free the t-t faculty to concentrate on the majors. However, these people, both full and part time, apparently don't count in the regents process. At the opening day ceremonies, only the tenure-track folks were invited up on stage (not to mention the picture in the program).

It seemed to me to be in poor taste not to acknowledge a large percentage of your teaching staff when you win a teaching award. (The department even refuses to pay for phones in many staff offices)

Strip faculty of right to share in governance -- argues a Republican from Menomonee Falls

Tony Palmeri saw this in the Madison paper and sent the link to the COLS list.

I am not sure what to make of it, except that the republicans love to assault us at every turn. How dare the faculty have input into the running of their own institutions. It is so un-American!


The Capital Times

UWM chancellor sounds alarm about budget cuts

In contrast to the bland opening day speeches here, the chancellor of UW Milwaukee lashed out at funding cuts and publicly argued that the cuts would hurt both the university and the region. He stressed that the only way to survive is to gain more external funding, i.e. become less of a state institution.


JS Online: UWM chancellor sounds alarm

here is the full text of his remarks.

Katherine Lyall talks of privatization

Former Chancellor of the system suggests there needs to be real debate about the direction that the relationship between the state and the UW system is taking.

Privatizing UW

U.S. Falling behind in education

This story is all over the news today, even getting a small story in the Northwestern.

We are getting a smaller percentage of our kids through high school and college. We used to lead the world in these statistics, but have now dropped to seventh.

It is not too hard to see why. Accessible higher education (and high school) is under assault by the anti-tax movement that dominates our politics. As we all know, students here face high tuition bills, less personal attention, and, I would have to imagine, a harder time completing their degree.

This report just highlights the problems we face--continuing attacks on higher education undermine our ability to create criticial thinking citizens and a work force that knows how to reason and adapt to the changing global economy.

Invest in education! Make sure Wisconsin citizens of the next generation get college degrees and can help keep our state prosperous.

This call, however, falls on deaf ears in Madison.

Inside Higher Ed :: International Erosion

Viscious Stew and Praise for diversity efforts

In a day of opposites, the local paper ran an editorial praising efforts to create a more diverse student body on campus, while Stew Rieckman attacked the bureaucracy of the university in his little rant.

Oshkosh Northwestern - UWO learning right lessons for building minority attendance

Rieckman, a bureaucrat himself if you think about it, attacks both the county and the UW system.

In the second half of his "column," he once again attacks UW for saying that universities provide backup jobs to senior administrators. One Regent says it isn't true, so Stew decides everyone else must be lying. Accusing everyone of arrogance and ignorance, he ought to look in the mirror once in a while.

Rieckman comment

He is really a pretty disagreeable character, and unfortunately, the voice of our local paper.


They also ran an editorial by head of system, Kevin Reily.

Regents support cutting backup jobs, paid leaves

Report on the regents meeting yesterday from the Journal-Sentinel. They want to toughen policies for back-up jobs and internal investigations.


JS Online: Regents support cutting backup jobs, paid leaves

Regents vow to curb backup jobs, leaves

Not surprisingly, the regents announced plans to revisit the issue of backup jobs, leaves, and due process rights.

A few troubling examples drive the whole process--no one has shown any wide-spread abuse of these policies. Before we throw the baby out with the bathwater, shouldn't we know the whole effect of these policies?


JS Online: Regents vow to curb backup jobs, leaves

Enrollment at UWO remains steady with mix

The northwestern ran a story this morning about our enrollment numbers.

The size of the U actually shrunk by a few dozen students (though as I remember this doesn't count interim), and there is slightly more diversity on campus.



Oshkosh Northwestern - Enrollment at UWO remains steady with mix

Chancellor Reilly's statement about back up jobs

JS Online: UW System strives to have its policies match its principles

WSJ on back-up positions

It seems most agree that these positions should be limited to academic faculty. I wonder how the current policy was put in place.

Wisconsin State Journal

Kreibich finds another excuse to assail university system

This guy must be planning to run for state-wide office on the basis of his hatred for the UW system.

JS Online: UW lashed for pricey new payroll system

Return backup contracts at UW to restricted use

There is even a reasonable editorial on the issue of backup contracts.

I hear that the rules come from system and state regulations, not from decisions made on our campus.


Oshkosh Northwestern - Return backup contracts at UW to restricted use

A few students displaced by Katrina make their way to UWO

At least one student from New Orleans is coming to UWO this fall to finish her degree. It is nice that UWO has found a way to help!

Oshkosh Northwestern - Katrina’s students

It is also nice to see the occasional positive story in our local paper!

Opening Day

Yesterday, the Chancellor, Dean and other administrators gave their opening day speeches. It was a strange group of speeches. No one talked about the real problems on campus, the budget cuts.

The chancellor gave perhaps his worst opening day address since I have been hear, almost mumbling through a list of planning initiatives. The speech was pure bureaucratese, devoid of substance or seriousness.

The bright spot is the new dean of student affairs, Petra Roter, who gave an amusing, spririted overview of the positives for students on campus. She completely avoided the parking issue, because it might mean realism would invade the sunny positive speeches.

Dean Zimmerman, in his address to the COLS, could not avoid a bit of negativity in his speech. Several times, he declared he didn't want to talk about the budget, though it was clear he did. Instead, he talked about some of his inititatives to convince a broader public of the need for liberal arts education. As usual, his remarks were cogent and interesting, but emphasized our weakness in self-promotion.

All in all, the event struck me as particularly empty. I was waiting to hear something substantial, but there was nothing but platitudes.

Oshkosh Northwestern - ‘Backup’ jobs for 39 at UWO

Here is the latest bad press for the university. It is hard to believe all of the people who have backup appointments. I always assumed that this was something done only for academic administrators.

I wonder how many people actually take advantage of these offers--there have been reports of a few, so one would suspect that the system isn't as excessive as critics will claim.

Still, it is unfortunate for all of us without backup appointments to watch our school get abused for it.

Mos

Oshkosh Northwestern - ‘Backup’ jobs for 39 at UWO

University issues around Katrina

The crisis that still exists in New Orleans, Mississippi and Louisiana is terrible and we should all do what we can to help.

It is astounding how ineffectual all of the government agencies have been in responding to this disaster. Apparently there had been almost no planning for such an event. Let us hope that someone can get a handle on this over the next weeks, before too many more people die.

In the meantime, here is a link to the Red Cross and a story about how New Orleans universities are trying to deal with Katrina.

Inside Higher Ed :: Finding New Homes or Temporary Homes

New York Times reports study on liberal bias of law professors

New reports of bias in the academy, a study shows that law professors give money to democrats--81% of them.

It is pretty amazing to think about the rhetoric -- making the argument that giving money to the democratic party makes you liberal and biased.

It seems to me that the democratic party has fought many internal battles about their political direction. The right wing media might have called John Kerry a liberal, but he was barely to the left of center at all.

Then they go on to declare that these "liberals" have failed spectacularly to endoctrinate their students, as if this were the secret, conspiratorial goal of all (secretly communist) college professors.

It is quite the story and once again a misrepresentation of what happens in classrooms all across this country.






If the Law Is an Ass, the Law Professor Is a Donkey - New York Times

JS Online: Carroll faculty win union battle

Faculty at Carroll college win legal right to organize a union.

It seems too bad that relations between administrators and faculty often degenerate to this point, but collective action is often the only possible response.

Look at the way the state cavalierly handles issues with us, knowing that we have little recourse to stand up to their machinations.


JS Online: Carroll faculty win union battle

Story from 9/1 on insidehighered.com

UWO budge site

If you are interested in the administration's information about the budget, it is available at the link below.

Budgets

PBS special on higher education

I think most of us missed this PBS special, but there has been discussion on the COLS list about the documentary. Some have suggested that we have a campus-wide showing and discussion.

It seems like that might be a good idea, as we struggle to define ourselves in the face of financial and ideological hostility from Madison.


DECLINING BY DEGREES
May, 2005

When award-winning journalist John Merrow started work on his PBS documentary about the state of American higher education, "Declining by Degrees," he met with noted educators, policy makers, and researchers before he shot the first minute of video. Many of us here at Carnegie spoke with him at that time. Yet, even with this degree of preparation, John admits that he wasn't ready for what he found once he began to visit campuses and started talking to faculty and students.

In this month's Carnegie Perspective, John takes on one of the primary issues raised in the documentary, the decline in the quality of education experienced by many of America's college students. For anyone who cares about the state of the academy, it's a tough piece to read, just as his documentary may be uncomfortable for many to watch. Rest assured that during his frequent periods of residence as a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Foundation, John's role is often that of challenging all of us with equally uncomfortable questions.

By John Merrow

Of all the students I met during nearly two years of working on our PBS documentary about higher education, I continue to be intrigued by a sophomore named Nate. After proudly proclaiming that he was maintaining a 3.4 GPA despite studying less than an hour a night, he wondered aloud, "It's not supposed to be this easy, is it? Shouldn't college be challenging?" Nate was one of the more enlightened students that we interviewed.

He talked about his "boring" classes, including an English class he described as "a brain dump." We sat in on that class. The teacher had assigned students to write parodies of The Road Not Taken, knowing that to do the assignment well, they would have to read and understand Frost's poem. She was meeting students at their level ... and trying to push them to go beyond it, attempting to move them out of their "intellectual comfort zone" and lead them in new directions. Tough job, because Nate and undoubtedly most of his classmates-had obviously NOT read the assignment. Nate had succeeded in high school by figuring out what was going to be on his tests and doing as little as possible. And since that approach also got him into college and was now earning him a solid B average, he saw no reason to change. Ask Nate the purpose of college, and he would probably say something about "getting a good job." The learning part wasn't necessarily what he was paying good money for.

Although we found this English class stimulating, we could see how frustrating it became for the teacher because of the lack of student-directed engagement and motivation. In this case, the students' expectations didn't match the professor's. Teaching becomes a difficult transaction when students expect to get the diploma that they pay for without caring whether they learn anything in the process. The situation is made more difficult because professors begin classroom teaching at a disadvantage. Few have any training in how to teach. We were very impressed by Tom Fleming, a senior lecturer at the University of Arizona, who took advantage of a faculty development course offered by his institution on teaching theory and effective practices. Using technology in a huge lecture hall, he deftly engaged students, allowing very few to merely get by.

College used to be a "sink or swim" environment, but today, either colleges are giving much-needed "swimming lessons"-investing in student success-or they're allowing students to "tread water"- giving decent grades for very little work. In the first case, students actually receive an education; in the second, they merely get a degree. It's all too easy for some students and faculty members to settle into a pattern of behavior that looks like an unspoken "non-aggression treaty," in which professors don't ask much of students and the students don't expect much from their professors (as long as they get A's and B's).

The good news is that many faculty members-those giving swimming lessons-work with energy and imagination to move their students beyond that simplistic "diploma=$$" formula. The relationship between Tom Fleming and his students falls into this category. Even more heartening is the fact that many students intuitively know that they're being denied an education and seek out campus experiences that give them what they need. But that 20 or so percent out there treading water are shortchanging themselves and future employers who think that a college degree indicates achievement as well as persistence. And those professors who find it more comfortable to demand little of their students are denied the satisfaction that good teaching affords.

The shift in the expectations of students and faculty members began around the time that America learned that college graduates made more money than high school graduates-as much as a million dollars more over their working lives. The mantra became, "If you want an education, then you pay for it." The old social contract-the idea that education of individuals is a public good and therefore should in part be publicly financed-is on life support and barely breathing. Instead, "Education Pays" is proclaimed on billboards around Kentucky, encouraging kids to go to college just to nail down that good job.

Kids arrive on campus determined to major in "business" and often remain impervious to the efforts of their professors to expose them to new ideas and new information. Our student financial aid system supports the "investment in me" approach by making less money available in the form of grants to needy students, and more in the form of loans to be paid back as a return on the individual's investment in themselves. The message our kids get is that they're not students; they're consumers. And if they're willing to settle for "purchasing" a degree that means nothing in terms of educational achievement, it's their right. It's their investment. In this environment, professors, colleges, and universities are forced into giving the customers what they want, not necessarily what they should want.

I admire students who squeeze as much as they can from the college experience, and I salute the teachers who dedicate their energies to seeing students succeed. Too much is left to chance, however, and too many lives are blighted by our national indifference to what is actually happening on our campuses during the years between admission and graduation. What we found is not the equivalent of a few potholes on an otherwise passable highway. Serious attention must be paid at a national level. Other countries are not standing still. Those that have not surpassed us already in educational attainment levels are clearly visible in the rear-view mirror.

...........................................................................

John Merrow, president of Learning Matters Inc. and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Foundation, produced the documentary "Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk," which will air on PBS stations Thursday, June 23. Check your local listings for exact times. To learn more, go to http://www.decliningbydegrees.org/.

Carnegie Perspectives is a series of commentaries that explore different ways to think about educational issues. These pieces are presented with the hope that they contribute to the conversation. You can respond directly to the author at CarnegiePresident@carnegiefoundation.org or you can join a public discussion at Carnegie Conversations.

A Gag on Public Faculty?

The AAUP filed a brief in this case involving some public officials -- it has interesting implications involving the ability of public employee's to speak without retribution.



Inside Higher Ed :: A Gag on Public Faculty?

Dropping out of the Academy

This is a nice first-hand account of why a lit professor left academia.

Much of what she has to say is relevant to the problems that we face here at UWO -- mixed messages, intrusive administration, pay issues. She had the option of simply quitting, so she did. . .

Here is the commentary.

UWO the Berkeley of the Midwest!

I noticed this blog today. It is written by Jared Longsine, an Oshkosher, who denounces UWO as the Berkeley of the Midwest.

Apparently, he has never been to Berkeley, because most of us would love it if UWO had that reputation. It is one of the top universities in the country, with great academics from humanities to physics.

I know--he claims that all this doesn't matter, because there aren't enough fundamentalists on campus--but Oshkosh would be better off if our university had the resources and national stature that Berkeley has!

Washington Monthly alternative rating guide

This is an interesting counter to U.S. News and World Report rankings. The magazine argues that there are important factors left out of the other survery and tried to put together their own.

They ask what "colleges are doing for the country." and come up with a list that gives big land-grant universities more credit.

"The Washington Monthly College Guide " by The Editors

More bad UW press -- Madison is #1 party school

I am sure most of you have seen the stories about Madison taking over from UC-Boulder as the #1 party school as chosen by some magazine. (Here is the JSOnline story)

You can see one of our own student's glorification of drinking here at Oshkosh at this link: Sloshkosh.com

It is hard to know what to say about all of these stories, but I suppose it is not surprising that the students don't take education seriously when so many of those in charge of our state politics belittle it all the time.

Lareau letter called for cancelling subscription

Tony Palmeri discovered that Al Lareau's letter included a line calling for readers to cancel their subscription in protest. Not surprisingly, the Northwestern censored that line. He also posted that information in a comment below.

One of the more striking facets of writing this blog is noticing that it often turns into criticism of our local newspaper. Their editorial line is consistently anti-intellectual and specifically anti-university, unless it has to do with the sports program.

I would have hoped that our local newspaper would be supportive of one of the biggest employers in town and one that generates or supports much of the creative life of the community. Instead, Rieckman and his minions continually demonize us.

Letter to the editor today: Rieckman is hate-mongering

The Northwestern ran a letter to the editor today, on Rieckman's column of 2 weeks ago (I wonder how long ago the letter was received).

Alan Lareau emphasizes the divisive nature of the editor's nastiness.

At this link

Oshkosh Northwestern - College tosses paper

Here is the Northwestern Story on the lack of paper syllabi on campus. Frank Church provided this link in his summary of stories about the university in the press.

Oshkosh Northwestern - College tosses paper

Inside Higher Ed :: The End of the Paper Syllabus

We made this national site, so check out their reporting. . .


Inside Higher Ed :: The End of the Paper Syllabus

Paging Dr. Dahmer: Responses to UW job security column

The northwestern published a few letters in response to Rieckman's column while I was out of town, but here is the link.

Many Going to College Are Not Ready, Report Says

You have to register to read this story, but ACT scores suggest that only 21% of high school students who took the exam were ready for college in all four areas that are tested.

51% in reading
26% in science
41% in math
68% in English

The estimate is based on the ACT's correlation between test scores and a 70% chance of getting a C in college courses.

That is quite a figure and something to ponder as we get ready to start a new year. If you skim off those who go to Madison, one would have to guess that an absolute majority of our students fall into the "unready" category.



Many Going to College Arse Not Ready, Report Says - New York Times

Northwestern buries criticism of Rieckman

As a side note, two editions of the paper have been published, neither containing Zimmerman's or Wong's comments on the ravings of the paper's editor.

The next attack on state employees: Decent retirement benefits unacceptable!

This story came from the AP and appeared in papers all over the state (I assume.)

Although it impacts all state employees, it is clearly a big issue for faculty in the UW system. Our pay is already low in comparison with other systems and universities, and legislators are dying to cut our pay even more.

I can already see the battle lines in the next budget--"Lets cut the retirement pay of overpaid college professors--that will surely drive out the liberals!" the Republicans will cry.

God forbid that Wisconsin take care of its state workers in retirement!



State's pension among best

Another cushy deal for administrator in Milwaukee

This story will show up across the state and cause us more trouble.

Nothing like overpaying and coddling the administration to make the legislature unhappy and hurt the rest of us.


JS Online: UWM leader's pal gets cushy job, dandy digs

Northwestern's response to Zimmerman & Wong's letters (unacknowledged)

The Northwestern ran this editorial today, which seems to be in some ways a more measured commentary after Rieckman's rant yesterday.

It acknowledges that there are subtleties in the legal cases before the UW system, but repeats the myth of vacation pay for faculty members.

As I suggested yesterday, they continue to misunderstand higher education, claiming it is just like the "private sector."

They end by calling for an independent investigation--will in make the critics happy when they report that every university in the country sets things up in a similar way? I doubt it.


Summer to forget doesn’t have to be UW System legacy

Textbook prices

The wisconsin state journal is running an article about the inflated prices of college textbooks.

We all know this is a big problem, as publishers battle the used book market and fight to keep their margins large enough to satisfy wall street.


Textbook costs needn't be so high, study says

Here is a link to a longer version of the same report at insidehighered.com

A better analogy for Rieckman's column.

Imagine a hypothetical "Professor Rieckman" who published an article in the local newspaper attacking the integrity and operations of UWO. Because he is officially allowed to write freely,a high ranking administrator orders an investigation into the personal habits of "professor Rieckman".

After a few days, the university announces that "Professor Rieckman" has been fired for having illegal copies of software on his university computer. Campus security officers arrive at his office to immediately escort him off campus. Luckily for the administrator, the state legislature had recently removed all rights to due process or appeal from university employees. "Rieckman" is forced to move out of state and back in with his parents.

"Professor Rieckman" finds himself unemployed and the university critic has been silenced. "Rieckman's" computer program, which turned out to be shareware left on the computer for longer than the license agreement allowed, gave the administration an easy path to free the campus of a critic.

Is this really how our columnist envisions the unversity working? Wisconsin would be better off without critical inquiry and questioning? The state and country would be better if no one possessed any legal rights and operated completely at the whim of their superiors?

Those of us "drawing a paycheck from UW system" believe that free inquiry and criticism need to be protected by due process rights. If the system works a bit slowly from time to time, that is a price worth paying. It is very strange that a journalist, of all people, would not agree.

K.C. Wong weighs in on the misrepresentations in Rieckman's column

K.C. does a good job explaining the legal issues at hand, which Rieckman completely ignored:

Response to “bar” talks

On 8/24/05 Rieckman called for the immediate dismissal of three convicted tenured UW professors. There are two conclusions one can draw from such “bar” – intoxicated and intoxicating - talks:

First, the author knows very little about the facts:
The column is 588 words long. 438 words or 74.5% of the content was devoted to an imaginative case of Professor Jeffrey Dahmer, which was intended to inflame more so than inform.

The three cases under discussion came to 90 words or 15.03% of the column; hardly enough for a comprehensive and informed, much less intelligent and serious discussion of the issues involved, e.g. should tenured professors be fired for all criminal convictions, e.g. civil disobedience? should ex-convicts be hired as professors, i.e. after reform?

Second, the author knows very little about the law:
In one case, Steven Clark was convicted of stalking and serving a Huber sentence. This meant that the court has decided that Clark was of no danger to the community or his victim. More significantly, Clark was given a chance to reform himself and to contribute to the society. Should the university not support our judicial process?

In another case, Lewis Cohen, pleaded no contest to sexual communication with a minor. He was placed on two years of probation. Legally speaking, pleading no contest (nolo con•ten•de•re) is not an admission of guilt, i.e. it does not bar future contestation of the case, as in administrative (tenure) proceedings. Is Cohen not entitled to assert his rights and contest his case in the time and manner he saw fit?

In the last case, Roberto Coronado was convicted on 8/5/05 for sexually assaulting three young girls. The university was instating proceeding to fire him. Should the university not be given sufficient time to process his dismissal, in order to avoid future liability?

But for the serious implications resulting, such “bar” talks deserve no comments!

Kam C. Wong, J.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Criminal Justice
University of Wisconsin (Oshkosh)

Michael Zimmerman's letter to the editor

The Dean of COLS wrote a letter to the editor last night:

To the Editor,


Stew Rieckman embodies and enhances the Northwestern’s frequent lack of respect for and understanding of the University of Wisconsin and its employees in Sunday’s column. In case you missed it, he asked, inflammatorily, what would have happened if serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer had been a faculty member. He answers his rhetorically suspect question by concluding that the University would have done nothing. He concludes his rant by informing readers that if they’re “not outraged,” they’re “probably drawing a paycheck from UW system.”


Rieckman’s upset that tenured faculty members who break the law aren’t summarily fired. He ignores two critical points. First, depending on the circumstances, faculty members can be placed on unpaid leaves while legal battles are fought. Second, rules and regulations have been established on every campus for dealing with issues of this sort. Those rules and regulations have to be congruent with rules established by the UW Board of Regents and by the state legislature. Implementation of those rules has to be scrupulously fair and able to withstand review by the state’s Employment Relations Commission as well as state and federal courts.


Rieckman implies that a better policy would be to fire first and worry about legal details later. He mocks UW System for creating a system that includes “due process.” His system might be more comforting to those looking for instant “justice,” but it’s likely to lead to chaos. And, I might add, the concept of “due process” is embodied in the US Constitution.


Finally, it would be nice if Rieckman got the “facts” embedded in his fictional account correct. He says “Professor” Dahmer collected “three months accrued vacation pay.” Sorry, Mr. Rieckman, but unlike newspaper editors, professors do not earn paid vacations.


I’ll be looking for his apology to the hard-working UW faculty across the state.


Michael Zimmerman
Dean, College of Letters and Science
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

Stew Rieckman launches personal assault on professoriat

The editor of the Northwestern, Stew Rieckman attacked university professors in his column yesterday. Using a specious analogy of a hypothetical professor (Jeffrey) Dahmer, he accused the university system of protecting criminals under the guise of due process.

He ended the column by claiming that anyone who believed in work-place rights must "drawing a paycheck from UW systemy." It makes you wonder what planet this guy is from.

Here is the link:
I am going to post two responses that have already come to the COLS list last night and this morning.

New Option for Student Shoppers: E-Books

How about this? We are getting rid of paper syllabi, why not ditch the paper all together and start in with e-books?

The textbook market is an incredibly awful racket, with updates coming at unnecessarily frequent intervals. The companies charge extremely high prices, but I am not sure much of the cost is actually in the paper.

This will give the students an even better chance to make excuses--"my book crashed last night before the test. . ."

Inside Higher Ed :: New Option for Student Shoppers: E-Books

JS Online: Editorial

The Journal Sentinal editorializes on their story of the day before:



Taking job security too far

The Capital Times Editorial

The Cap Times Editorial writers weigh in on the latest bad press for the UW system:



Tenure in Jail

The latest university "scandal"

Read about republican "outrage" over professors receiving before they are fired. . . .



JS Online: UW-Madison keeps jailed professors on payroll

New Madison Transfer Program

UW Madison is trying a new transfer program, with closer ties between it and the community college where students will be taking their first years' classes.

I imagine the whole system, including Oshkosh, will be doing something like this in the next few years if it works.


Wisconsin State Journal

Editorial against Schneider/Kreibich bill

The State-Journal criticized Marlin Schneider today for his micromanaging of the UW system. They point out that he is on his crusade because he got a parking ticket helping his daughter move in. . .



Wisconsin State Journal

The Faculty Salary Game

Here is an interesting article about the differences in faculty pay between univesities and why it happens.

Inside Higher Ed :: The Faculty Salary Game

What Professors think about the Internet

From the Chronicle of Higher Education: Here is the summary of a large survey of college professors on the internet. I think I would have answered the questions in much the same way.

The internet has helped with student communication, but students are less able to use the library and particularly susceptable to plagiarizing essays. I have several each semester that I catch who have cut and paste off some website.

There also seems to be very little reflection on the problems of unmediated information out there on the web. They do not take a critical eye to what they find, tending to accept it as correct and true.

As we move courses away from the tradtional, paper-based world, we have to think more about how we teach students to interpret what they find electronically. We want them to treat our syllabi as gospel, but how can we stress that this is not true of most of what they find out there?


Professors Give Mixed Reviews of Internet's Educational Impact


By JEFFREY R. YOUNG

Although campus computing is often touted as aiding education, many professors say the Internet has actually hampered students' academic performance.

When asked whether the Internet has changed the quality of student work, 42 percent of professors in a recent survey said they had seen a decline, while only 22 percent said they had seen improvement. But a majority of participating professors, 67 percent, said the Internet had improved their communication with students.

The nationwide survey, of 2,316 faculty members, was conducted in May 2004 by Steve Jones, a professor of communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Camille Johnson-Yale, a graduate student in communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The researchers have been presenting highlights of their findings at academic conferences, and they have submitted a report on the survey to a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.

"What the Internet has done, judging by this survey, is increased the amount of communication and in some ways it's improved the quality of communication," Mr. Jones said in an interview. "But that, in and of itself, doesn't necessarily translate into increases or improvements in learning."

Student plagiarism emerged as a key concern of professors. Forty-four percent agreed that plagiarism had increased in their students' work since the Internet has emerged, while 23 percent disagreed and 33 percent were undecided.

A surprising number of the professors surveyed, 74 percent, said they were using the Internet or other high-tech tools to detect plagiarism.

Mr. Jones said he was not surprised to see professors reporting some negative effects of technology.

"The thing that I hear from faculty colleagues is that there's plagiarism and cheating going on over the Internet and that there's a worsening in the quality of students' writing," he said. "I hear complaints more often than I hear any kind of positive comments about how the Internet has affected students' work."

G. David Pollick, president of Birmingham-Southern College, said in an interview that the Internet and computer tools might be dumbing down student writing.

"The style of writing is changing -- it's becoming conditioned by models and forms," he said. Grammar-checker features of word processors, for instance, often mark flowery phrases as mistakes and suggest bland alternatives, he said. "You start to lose a lot of artistic and aesthetic quality."

"It increasingly makes the language a dead language instead of a live language," he added. "If a computer model starts to become the form of communication, then what you end up with is a language that is dying instead of one that gets richer and richer through use."

Top Universities Hire their Own

Here is a change of pace. We have been obsessing about our own budget for the last few months, but this is an interesting study of who gets the jobs in academia.

Academia, just like every other part of life, runs on who you know more than what you know. This study just stands to confirm that. . .

Inside Higher Ed :: Pecking Order

Professor undercover as an undergraduate

Gerry Grzyb posted this to the university list. It is a cute look at the behavior of undergraduates through the eyes of their professor.

village voice > arts > Undercover Mother

Marlin Schneider is Back

Marlin Schneider is making news again with his bill trying to micromanage book choices and advising at Wisconsin Colleges.

If you remember, he proposed the same thing last year. Dean Zimmerman invited him to campus to discuss the issue. Schneider promised to come several times and then backed out at the last minute.

I doubt there is much to worry about, but here is the story from the Lacrosse paper.


Lawmaker calls for UW ‘student bill of rights'

Thanks to Brian Bain for posting this to the university discussion list.

Cute picture over at a local site

ABV News has a cute picture of a kid holding a sign asking for affordable tuition. I don't know the context, but I liked the shot.

Enrollments are climbing--How will Wisconsin deal with it?

I have not been very consistant at the blogging thing since I returned from my trip. Most of the issues that got me started have slowed, but there are still big questions about the directions of higher ed in our state.

Here is a profile of the increasing number of college students in the US. The percentage of students at 4-year schools continue to grow, though the percentage at public schools declined slightly. I suppose this is what the legislature envisions--if they keep cutting funds for us and raising tuition, we will all be transformed into private schools.



Inside Higher Ed :: College Enrollments Continue to Swell