(OC Reg)
The upshot of the above article is that a non-profit group “that seeks to boost academic standards” (namely, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni*, which was co-founded by Lynne Cheney!) has issued a new report, which “zeroes in on wasteful spending at California public universities, pointing to hundreds of degree programs from which only a handful of students graduate each year”:
The California State University system had 512 degree programs where fewer than 10 students graduated with bachelor, master or doctoral degrees in 2010-11, according to a report by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. “Physics, General” graduated fewer than 10 students at 14 campuses; the undergraduate philosophy program also had low enrollment system-wide, graduating 10 students at eight campuses in 2011….The group thinks CA public higher ed should move toward more online courses.
The University of California had 792 programs with fewer than 10 graduates per year, the group found. There were 14 graduates from five campuses in the geophysics and seismology programs in 2011….
Do online courses work? Can they replace traditional courses?
In some disciplines, for some students--the answer is likely "yes."
And the rest?
Nobody really knows.
Socrates vs. the Republicans
*See first comment below
SEE ALSO Shared Governance Endangered?
2 comments:
This report comes from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. You may recall that back in November 2001 they published another report (‘Defending civilization: how our universities are failing America and what can be done about it’) listing academics and scholars who spoke out against those promoting reactionary violence, jingoism, and war in response to 911.
Lynne Cheney was quoted on the cover: "At a time of national crisis, I think it is particularly apparent that we need to encourage the study of our past. Our children and grandchildren—indeed, all of us—need
to know the ideas and ideals on which our nation has been built. We need to understand how fortunate we are to live in freedom. We need to understand that living in liberty is such a precious thing that generations of men and women have been willing to sacrifice everything for it. We need to know, in a war, exactly what is at stake."
As long as you don't think for yourself or criticize policymakers.
The gist of the 2001 report was to promote the silencing of dissent and critical thought on college campuses all before the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I do recall—and it has been reported here on DtB numerous times—that in perfect ACTA fashion IVC admins tried to silence any discussion of the war in Iraq in classrooms.
So, essentially ACTA exploits a given crisis situation, and tries to come up with ways to further dismantle public education, hand it over to the private sector.
Thanks for sharing this.
-K
Whatever the reason; perhaps the rapid-fire inundation of information Peeople seem quickly unconscious between truth and lies. It's only that they heard it. Nowhere is this more apparent than among those being trained in critical thinking where "Institutional History" seems to last just a few weeks.Almost 20 years of lies and deception have governed the the SOCCCD; not just by Bad
Guys in high position, but rather by "Good Guys" who just couldn't be bothered, and now can't discern truth from fiction.
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