Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Corporate Coup at the University of Virginia Turned Back: Sociologist Reinstated as President.

Good news for higher education in general, and sociologists in particular.

4 comments:

ceemac said...

This op-ed in the Dallas Morning News offered a bit of a different spin. Or at least used the UVA deal as a chance to offer an opinion:

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20120626-jeff-selingo-higher-education-cant-afford-another-lost-decade.ece

Gruntled said...

The article is behind a paywall. What does is say?

ceemac said...

Sorry about that. It's by a guy from Chronicle of Higher Ed, Jeff Selingo. I think he's pushing a book on the topic.

Here's another link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/opinion/fixing-college-through-lower-costs-and-better-technology.html?_r=2

Gruntled said...

I did not know that Centre's consortium, the Associated Colleges of the South, has a New Paradigm Initiative. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.

I am very suspicious of online college. Most of the value of college comes from the way the whole experience shapes character, not from the way a class transmits information.

I believe Selingo is probably right that many schools are now chasing the forlorn dream of being research institutions. This is not Centre's temptation, so I know that problem less well. Chasing big-time sports is, likewise, probably a problem - but not Centre's problem.

I am glad that smart people are working on this problem.

The UVA story, though, was not primarily about any of these problems and potential solutions. It was about CEOs of companies acting as if they were CEOs of a public university, rather than trustees for the whole collegial institution and for the commonwealth of Virginia.