Introduction:

Higher education has to change. President Obama called for it.

What would you do to change Higher Education?

If there were a way to lower the costs, how would you allocate the funds needed for Higher Education?

Barriers to Innovation in U.S. Higher Education

Higher Education in the US needs to change. Once the leading country in the world in terms of education, America has slipped.

From all of these models and modes of learning and educating (ie regulation, funding, business models, ets), map out a college that will be the example of change. Plan out what model you would follow (ie business, educational, hybrid), what funding you would rely on the most and so on.

Mayo Clinic of Higher Education:

The results from UMR are surprising and rare. An 85-90% passing rate for organic chemistry is basically unheard of amongst CUNY students.

Pinpoint what you think UMR is doing right? List everything that Lehmukuhule has done and where you think UMR needs improvement (ie accepting students with higher SATs and ACTs).

It’s only expensive to create new universities if you use the old model.

How do you the government and higher education as a whole should attack this problem of retaining information, personalized education and graduation rates?

Do you believe that the UMR structure is the structure higher education should follow?

Conclusion:

Change is inevitable. But, why is it taking so long for Higher Education to change? Mention everything that you believe to be the reason, even drawing from previous weeks’ readings.

Jobs, Value and Affirmative Action: A Survey of Parents About College

The perception of college has more and more shifted to that it serves a single purpose: to get a student a well-paying job. Is that why you are in college?

Did your parents significantly affect which college you chose to go to?

Liberal Arts Education (Wikipedia Article)

Why do you believe that other countries have started to adopt this way of teaching, specifically in Europe? Do you believe the delay in starting this way of teaching was because they did not want to return to a Medieval way of learning?

Center of Inquiry

Do you believe that a liberal arts education should be available to everyone?

“What we don’t know about the effects of liberal arts education far outweighs what we know.”

Being a student who has a liberal arts education, do you believe that this statement is true? Do you believe that a liberal arts education would have a profound effect on its students?

Survey finds that business executives aren’t focused on the majors of those they hire and Percentage of Employers Who Want Colleges to “Place More Emphasis” on Essential Learning Outcomes

Companies are looking for a specific range skills. The percentages also show the distribution and intensity of this range. Do you believe that this is the main reason why liberal arts education could come back into demand? Provide other reasons why this way of learning could come back.

Not For Profit

Parents are apparently ashamed of their children having literature and art majors. Humanities and art classes are continually being cut out from institutions. A liberal arts education, also, is more and more being associated with the wealthy elites. If we make the liberal arts more affordable to all, will its demand rise? Will more students opt for a liberal arts education?

Again, being a student who has a liberal arts education, do you believe that a liberal arts education has profound effects on its students?

Liberating the Liberal Arts

Colleges are being perceived more and more these days as being not worth it, among other things. Solutions such as not raising taxes have been proposed as to stimulate a greater response to college. Propose more solutions.

Guido Sarducci and the Purpose of Higher Education

According to one of the article’s readers, “Grades in courses don’t help with personal assessment of learning outcomes.” Is this true? What do you propose to assure that a student has learned all the specific skills he/she needed to learn from the course? The broad, interpersonal skills?

The Death of Liberal Arts

“It’s hard to predict the landscape of the labor market for the next 10, 20, 30 years.” If this is true, wouldn’t a liberal arts education, which creates well-rounded people, be the education to take? Why are career-oriented majors and colleges being followed if they do not produce the desired candidates?

What You (Really) Need to Know

This article hints that it is not really what you teach but how you teach it, especially in higher education, which will truly influence the student. Have your professors ever used impractical methods for you to learn the material?

Liberal arts colleges rethink their messaging in the face of criticism

“Students in pre-professional majors aren’t challenged in the same way as students in liberal arts disciplines.” Using your own experience and the evidence embedded in this article, defend or argue against this statement.

The Third Way

Macaulay offers us both a liberal arts education and the opportunity to intern basically anywhere. With the implementation of “3/2” programs, and ones similar to it, that integrate a liberal arts education and internships, how would higher education change? Do you believe this to be a positive or negative change? Draw from both these articles and your own experience.

The Economic Value of Liberal Education

Both “broad set of cross-cutting capacities” and “specific job skills” are desired in potential job candidates. So, why aren’t the liberal arts more revered or taken up by students? Use this article and all of the previous ones to answer this question.

Ace Report: Minorities in Higher Education

The percentage of both Women and Asian Americans obtaining a BA has risen within the last twenty years. What factors do you perceive to be the cause of this change (ie socioeconomic factors, the economy)?

What is College For? The Purpose of Higher Education

The “traditional” college student of one who has just freshly graduated from high school has changed due to several reasons, including the cost of tuition. Do you believe that this change of the traditional college student to be a beneficial or detrimental change to our economy and the future of higher education? Explain.

The implementation of a liberal arts curriculum has declined severely within the last few years. Is liberal arts knowledge crucial in the world we live in today? Do you believe this decline to be part of the knowledge that the payoff of majoring in the Arts and Humanities has declined in the last few years to be part of this change?

There has been an argument that most students who enter college are not “college material” and that “graduate degrees are not worth much.” What can we do to fix this?

Funding has more and more been given out on the basis of merit. As the current economy has cut millions from higher education budgets, how can colleges cater themselves more for students who do not necessarily meet the basis of merit but still want to go to college?

Grutter v. Bollinger Wikipedia Article

Grutter v. Bollinger upheld the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School. However, this case sparked a lot of concern over the status of higher education and its role in admitting minority students. Do you believe that this case had the right ruling of prolonging affirmative action? Or should they have just ended it then because they are now having multiple court cases that are trying to overturn this ruling?

Justice O’Connor’s Deadline

Colleges clearly want to maintain “black admission,” but the “white average was higher than the black average” on multiple SAT tests over the last ten years. What can educators do to ameliorate this gap?

Michigan: Who Really Won?

Colleges want affirmative action to maintain diversity with the argument of higher education being courageous. Are there other means for higher education to maintain its diversity and courage? Please list and explain.

Post Michigan: How Minority Enrollment Has Changed and U. of Michigan Will Use Application Essays to Help Enroll Diverse Undergraduate Class

The new enrollment policy in the University of Michigan was the implementation of application essays. The problem is that the applicants do not know how to write these essays or approach them, again pointing to a problem with their education as opposed to the college’s administration. What can be done to fix this and make minorities more “college ready?”

Affirmative Action, Innovation and the Financial Future: A Survey of Presidents

“A full 70 % of presidents surveyed agreed or strongly agreed with that statement that the consideration of race in admissions has had a ‘mostly positive effect on higher education generally.’” Now, this statement can be taken many ways. Do you believe, after reading this article, that these presidents mean this honestly or because a greater, more diverse student body means more money coming in from both the government and from donors? Look at how the presidents rated themselves and their opinions about MOOCs for a clearer picture.

Essay on Significance of Supreme Court case on affirmative action

This article introduced the condition statement of “as long as Grutter remains good law.” Do you believe that is was good law in the context of race-conscious admissions practices?

Some Universities Use Race as a Factor. That Could Change.

The argument made in this article from a few weeks ago is that using race as an admissions factor is wrong and that the attention should now shift to merit. Do you believe that this should be the new shift?

The World New II

This article is clearly laced with the opinions of the reporter. What is your opinion of the Fisher v. U. Texas case? Should it have been picked up by the courts, let alone the Supreme Court, in the first place?

The Supreme Court Just Doubled Down on Affirmative Action

Do you think Abigail Fisher was justified in taking her case to court? State your opinion and explain.

Is there any true substance behind her claim? Any true principle?

Supreme Court takes another case involving affirmative action and higher education

With the ruling of the Fisher v. U. Texas case coming in June, how would you, if you were a Supreme Court Justice and after reading all of these articles, rule the case?

U.S. Supreme Court takes on second case of affirmative action, college admissions (poll)

“Americans value diversity, but they value fairness more,” said in regards to affirmative action.

Is this statement true? Give historical events/rulings to validate your opinion.

Michigan Votes Down Affirmative Action

How does affirmative action truly implicate the status of gay rights in America? Give multiple examples to support your claim.

Retreat on Affirmative Action, Proxies for Race, and The Data Plan

Is it necessary to block Proposition 2? Are there other ways for a college to promote diversity?

Short Term Reprieve for Affirmative Action and Century Foundation report advocates class-based affirmative action

Academic freedom is not explicitly stated in our constitution, but the Supreme Court basically made it a right in a ruling in 1957. Do you believe affirmative action directly falls under academic freedom?

Is there validity, in your opinion, in the argument that indirectly creating racial diversity is less efficient and less effective than simply considering race in admissions? Provide proof.

Delay of Affirmative Action Ban Rejected and Appeals Court overturns Michigan ban on affirmative action

Michigan universities were ordered to stop using affirmative action in admissions immediately. How did this affect the admissions cycle and future ones?

Access and Success, Attacking the “Mismatch” Critique of Affirmative Action, and Affirmative Action and University Fit

Can there be a commitment to access without affecting completion rates for minority students? Take in the policies of California, the idea that “affirmative action influences which schools African American students attend, but has only small effects on whether these students attend…,” the theory of “mismatching” and how UC campuses responded to Prop 209 by trying to help more of its students graduate.

College Losing Pricing Power

“Everyone today knows someone who went to college and ended up with a career that didn’t justify the cost. They see college as a more risky investment.”

After reading this statement and participating in all of our in-depth conversations in class elaborating on the cost of an education and its worth in the long run, how do you perceive this statement? Most students do pick academic paths that lead to great paychecks in order to justify the cost of college presently. Being a Macaulay student, have you taken the same precautions as regular, paying students. Meaning, have you hypothetically picked a career that will “justify the cost” of college even though we don’t pay for our tuition.

Who Can Still Afford State U?

More and more American colleges are looking for students out of the country to reach their admission quota for the year. Do you think that this could be a problematic problem in the future in terms of allocating funds towards American students or foreign students?

Public School, Big Tab

“The cost of attending public colleges is rising faster than the cost of private colleges, as states reduce funding.” In the past two years, our campus has been the source of a lot of controversy in terms of protests and rallies because of the increasing CUNY tuition. Many public colleges around the country have already increased their tuition by above 100%. If such an occurrence happened to CUNY within the next five years, what do you believe would be the student implications and reactions? Would enrollment decline despite the fact that CUNY would still be more affordable than state-run universities?

A Shift From Need to Merit

With the ever-increasing shift of scholarships being awarded from need to merit, inevitable changes will occur in the country. Perhaps, most noticeably, competition between students in the top 10% of their class will increase, and the need for better education will be more pertinent than ever. Do you perceive this to be a step back or a step forward for our country considering that we are not one of the powerhouses in any academic field around the world?

How Administrative Spending Boosts College Costs

“Nonclassroom costs at U.S. colleges are growing faster than instructional costs, contributing to rising tuition.” In noticing some of the numbers, colleges with a lower tuition rate would have higher administrative spending per student than colleges with a tuition above $40,000. For example, the University of Central Florida with a tuition rate of $14,519 per student has a $1,775 administrative spending per student. The University of Illinois at Chicago with a tuition rate of $48,289 per student has a $1,438 administrative spending per student. Why do you perceive this to be the case?

Moody’s Report Calls into Question all Traditional University Revenue Sources By Kevin Kiley  

“What’s new is that in a collective way, the model that we in higher education have been employing since the 1960s is really being called into question by external factors. And it’s that collectiveness that created a new sense of urgency.” “The report notes that a stable outlook would require improved pricing power, a decrease in the unemployment rate, improvements in the housing market and several tears of strong stock market returns, none of which seem likely in the near term.”

With these two quite precarious statements of the fiscal statement of our economy and its ties to our country’s education, do you believe that the quality higher education is doomed to decrease? Or do you believe that the implementation of online courses and “outcome based funding” to be its saving graces?

Bowen Sent From Professor Hainline

“The ‘cost disease’ refers to a university’s inability to implement efficiency measures to maintain productivity…” This deadly disease, whether one believes it or not, has spread all over the country. Do you believe that cutting funding to research institutions is the best cure to this problem? If not, provide an alternative method, whether it be one we discussed in class already or one you believe could work immensely.

The Economic Impact of Higher Education in New York State By Thomas P. DiNapoli

New York is one of the leading, if not the leading, states in this country in terms of Higher Education. Funds have been allocated to the state for education and employment has hardly decreased despite the recession. Do you believe the state will always receive such largess from the federal government? If yes, state your reasons, whether you believe its because the state provides a great amount of employment or other reasons. If no, elaborate why, and what do you think the implications of a decrease in federal funds for New York State could do to the country?

Study Casts Doubt on Idea that Spending More Per Student Leads to Better Educational Outcomes By Scott Jashcik

“Research… finds that there may be a minimal relationship between what colleges spend on education and the quality of the education students receive.” If you knew this while you were applying to college, would you have changed your college choices? Also, how does this knowledge affect how you perceive the chart shown in the “How Administrative Spending Boosts College Costs” article?

Is it really the next bubble? By Lexington

Higher education is a worse bubble than the housing bubble because “people make a mistake in taking on an education loan, they’re legally much more difficult to get out of than housing loans… If you borrowed money and went to a college where the education didn’t create any value, that is potentially a really bad mistake.”

There was an argument made in class a few weeks ago that you cannot succeed in life without accumulating some debt. Being in Macaulay, we do not need to take out education loans, or loans of any sort really, so our perception of the current fiscal situation can be a bit askew. But knowing that to further succeed in higher education can lead to being stuck in a bubble, has your career path changed? Have you decided to solely have a BA or to proceed further to attain a doctorate due to your perception of your odds in this “fiscal crisis?”

Dealing with the Future Now By Alan E. Guskin and Mary B. Marcy

Do you believe that these transformative actions, which ultimately were made to accommodate “the services and functions that are essential and thus redesigning them around new technologies to both reduce costs and improve services” are feasible? Significantly restructuring America’s colleges and universities can seem a bit adventurous. If you believe that it is feasible, give an approximate timeline for when you think all of this can be achieved. If no, what do you believe should colleges do to accommodate these rough times?

Declining By Degrees: Higher Education at Risk By: David L. Kirp

This whole document focused on higher education acting as the perfect marketing ground. One of the arguments that we had during our last class was on the role of the President of a University. With this article in mind, do you now believe that a university president should come from the advertising/marketing field or should the education field be completely separate from the world of business?

Financing Higher Education by D. Bruce Johnstone

“High Tuition does not guarantee high aid.” This has been the running fact in all of the articles assigned to us. Do you believe, because of the possibility of federal funds being slashed down exponentially in the coming years, that higher education will become an elitist institution as opposed to its original purpose of supplying knowledge to the masses? All of these articles, especially Johnstone’s, have been foreshadowing a possible redemption or a fatal decline pending on what the university invests in. What do you believe to be the ultimate fate of higher education?

The Times Bundle

The Professors’ Big Stage By: Thomas L. Friedman

“There is no requirement that college professors know how to teach. The world of MOOCs is creating a competition that will force every professor to improve his or her pedagogy or face an online competitor.” Are MOOCs really debilitating the power of professors? Do you believe this to be a productive or weakening competition for the world of academia?

The Trouble with Online College and Secrets to Success in Online College Learning

“Courses delivered solely online may be fine for highly skilled, highly motivated people, but they are inappropriate for struggling students who make up a significant portion of college enrollment…” Do you believe this statement to be true? Argue your case. How would you have written a letter to the editor of that article?

Keeping an Eye on Online Test-Takers By: Anne Eisenberg

What do you think of these measures to prevent online cheating (ie use of cameras, implementation of fees)? Are they ingenious or an invasion of privacy?

California Bill Seeks Campus Credit for Online Study

“It would be the first time that state legislators have instructed public universities to grant credit for courses that were not their own…” How could this potentially change education forever? Is it just a problem for universities seeking money for courses or a problem also for the student seeking the best education for a low price?

 The Chronicle Bundle

It’s MOOAs, Not MOOCs, That Will Transform Higher Education By Laurie Essig

“Administrators of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your salaries.” If MOOAs are the ones that will transform higher education, do you think administrators would agree to this for the benefit of higher education despite the fact that their salaries will dwindle?

Student Aid Can Be Awarded for ‘Competencies,’ Not Just Credit Hours, U.S. Says By: Kelly Field

Student Aid being awarded for ‘competencies’ apparently can “accelerate the pace of collapse for poor quality private and public colleges and universities.” Will this change in policy cause this? Or will it cause the exact opposite causing higher education to reform poor quality private and public colleges and universities?

A Massively Bad Idea By: Rob Jenkins

MOOCs are being considered “a massively bad idea.” Considering the fact that those who enroll in online courses ten to complete at an even lower rate than do students who enroll in face-to-face courses and other facts mentioned in this article, comment on the original statement.

 The Article By: Ann Kirshner

“It is those leading private institutions (ivy leagues) that should be using their endowment’s and moral authority to invest in new solutions and to proselytize for experimentation and change, motivated not by survival but by the privilege of securing the future of American higher education.” Is this statement true? Do these private institutions have a moral duty to the future of higher education?

SUNY Signals Major Push Toward MOOCs and Other New Educational Models By: Steve Kolowich

This article was all about designing MOOCs to be able to give credit to students of different universities than the university offering the MOOC. This is extremely controversial. Do you believe that such a design will pass through the numerous Boards of Ed and Congress despite it meaning a huge amount of money and possible influx of severe paperwork and confusion?

A Pioneer in Online Education Tries a MOOC By: Ann Kirshner

MOOCs seem to be the new growing fad in higher education, especially since most of them are free. Also, if a well-known educator claims that she is learning something from a MOOC, one then knows that MOOCs are trustworthy. Would you try a MOOC? If no, please elaborate.

The Professors Behind the MOOC Hype By: Steve Kolowich and What You Need to Know About MOOCs

Are MOOCs worth it? Do you believe that they deliver the needed results? All of the money that all of these institutions have spent, like Harvard, MIT and Stanford, do you think that it is all going towards a good/useful cause?

Miscellaneous File

Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning

Why would community colleges have a higher increase in MOOCs than any other type of institution?

“Irrational Exuberance”: The Case of the MOOCs

The “exuberance” refers to the hype surrounding MOOCs. The “irrational” refers to the fact that these courses are free and are available to anyone in the world. How would you define MOOCs? Are they truly an “irrational exuberance,” or something else entirely?

The Ethics of MOOCs

Credentialing MOOCs is a huge ethical issue. It has been mentioned and elaborated on in a majority of these issues. Do you believe that they should be credentialed?

 Much Ado About MOOCs 

Despite all of the changes/dilemmas that they could cause for faculty and the structure of higher education, should MOOCs be incorporated in current curricula?

The History of the Student Credit Hour By: Jessica M. Shield

The credit-hour measure has many “inadequacies” such as its “inattention to student learning and its time and location based method for recording learning.” Since this system was originally created more than a century ago, do you think that it should undergo more changes to accommodate this growing era of technology and its implications? How would you go about accomplishing this?

What Online Learning Can Teach Us about Higher Education By: Peter Stokes

Between “traditional,” “web facilitated,” “blended/hybrid” and “online,” which one do you think colleges should invest more in, based on all of our readings? Why?

Do you really think an actor can replace a professor when it comes to “online” classes?

The Future of Higher Education: How technology will shape learning

This article basically states that students want technology to become integral to their education and that online classes should become a part of a student’s curriculum. Is that what you would want? Explain using evidence from this article or any previously read.