The round table (continued)

Jim Nemeth's report is available below and I suggest you all read it and contact him. However, Dr. Tinkle has discerned by interviewing several hundred of the participants that Jim has left two very important elements go without comment. First, was the dean's Yoda like pronouncement that, "Number one can we be my children." When it was pointed out that no open-enrollment institutions are a part of the top tier, she merely brushed it off with one of her, "don't get in my way I'm on a roll" glances. The second point is that somehow because the Pres spent "$80,000 dollars on Zemsky we should all be jumping through hoops to express our graciousness. Hey folks, 80 grand is chump change. He knows it and so does the dean.

However, for today's commentary, Dr. Tinkle would like to return to the dean's comment about Newsweek's rankings. I don't know about you but Dr. Tinkle is getting more than a little irritated that somehow I'm second rate because we don't meet some ridiculous measures. To whom do we owe our efforts, Newsweek or our students? I was unaware that anyone from Newsweek was on the BOT or had students attending here. The fact is we are open-enrollment. That means we do get a lot of unprepared students. We are now going to be blamed for their being unable to do university level work. The dean acts as if there is a magic bullit to fix twelve years of collective issues and problems. Dr. Tinkle received an essay the other day. It had no complete sentences and the words it did have did not go together in any coherent fashion. We also know that the whole retention issue will fall on a specific number of departments. It is highly unlikely that a student who cannot write in complete sentences will major in Biology or Chemistry. Now what really bothers Dr. Tinkle about Newsweek and other absurd measurements is that it is more than possible to get an excellent education in all majors at the University of Toledo. We do a good job. We have excellent faculty and by giving credence to such things as Newsweek the dean does us no favors. Frankly Dr. Tinkle doesn't give two hoots in hell about the rankings. I care about the students in my class.