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Monday, August 6, 2012

Search?

Okay, so the search continues for the Provost.  Or, does it? I skipped the Scarborough presentation having seen him in action before the old Arts and Sciences Council. I did, however, go to the presentation of  the very nice gentleman from UMBC.He was very proud of the record they had for excellent undergraduate teaching.  This alone may disqualify him but let me continue.  The three outside candidates all had similar qualities.  They come from a science/engineering/medical background and have spent most of their time trying to recruit and retain very bright students.  While that may be a problem for us, the much larger issue is retaining and graduating marginal students.  The state is going to start reimbursing universities for those who are retained and eventually graduate.  So what do we do with a 16 ACT who doesn't come to class, makes little effort when there, and then leaves without graduating and for whom we get no state aid?  The state has also said we may no longer teach remedial classes.  Can we insist that student do a year at a community college?  Can we insist they take a semester of college boot camp that will not count toward graduation?  Not one of the candidates addressed this issue or what they are going to do to increase the graduation rates.  My fear is the faculty will take the hit in some way.  I do not have a magic wand but I do know this problem will not go away.  It will not be solved by technology.  It will not be solved by hiring more administrators.  It is the elephant in the room and needs to be discussed openly and forthrightly.  One of the candidates noted Akron was no longer going to accept anyone with lower than a 16 ACT.  If our university decides it is no longer going to be open enrollment  then what does that really mean?  Are we Toledo Tech?  We need to partaicipate in this discussion.

15 comments:

ROCKY7 said...

UT needs to raise admission standards. The recent Forbes ranking of 650 US universities had Toledo at 641, which is shocking.

Anonymous said...

Shocking, yes, but hardly surprising.

Anonymous said...

Shocking, yes, but hardly surprising.

Anonymous said...

So I guess that means more faculty and staff will be let go, and the workloads of those remaining will be increased, until they can't keep up and then must be let go because they're not doing their jobs. And hire on more administrators to complain about the methodology of the study and in general spin it so that 641 out of 650 is a positive reflection on the Jacobs regime. (While the BOT cowers in the background.) And this, of course, is their definition of student-centeredness.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps, losing a body of students who don't belong to university campuses to begin with, is not just a bad outlook. If UT raises its bars chances are great that they will take more pride in their work,and take their coursework seriously, after all they are paying.

Community college experiences can be gratifying with lots of good instructors and resources for those who are undecided.

If student centeredness can stay, it needs to transform with a focus on students who could grow at UT, but the present model of grotesque, mindless student-centeredness must go.

That applies to you as well, Benster, and your TOYS-R-US image of libraries! We will need someone else who can help students GROW UP.

If you go into Carlson, you no longer see a librarian -- that means another wedge he has driven between US (teaching faculty) and fellow faculty in this library. Instead, you'll be interrupting some student texting, chatting, facebooking using language skills that can't get past alum, aluma... They will have their iPads available to search for a restroom or a definition from wikipedia's world of high scholarship. And we haven't seen the worst yet!

Who wants to lead a library restoration commission and find a competent leader to run it, so we can move from the 641 slot?

Anonymous said...

Hmm...who will Jacobs pick to be the next fall guy: a weak provost to push around, a provost who knows how to manipulate the money, a provost who has no respect for faculty? So many choices..

Anonymous said...

3468 stii"Hmm...who will Jacobs pick to be the next fall guy: a weak provost to push around, a provost who knows how to manipulate the money, a provost who has no respect for faculty? So many choices..."

That's diversity!

Anonymous said...

So the ad for Provost actually said they were looking for a Chief Operating Officer? Not a Chief Academic officer but a COO. Corporate mindset for the strategic dynamism of a relevant university. huh?

Anonymous said...

Sorry to go off-topic: Does anyone know why there's been "music" blasting from the south end of campus all week? It's sort of distracting as I try to, you know, engage in scholarly activity. Or whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing at a research university.

disgruntled alum said...

big surprise!
Colleagues,

A truism across higher education is that one of the most important positions in a university is that of the chief academic officer. Today, it is my distinct pleasure to announce that I will recommend that Dr. Scott Scarborough be appointed by our Board of Trustees to serve in the critical position of provost and executive vice president for academic affairs for The University of Toledo.

Scott has served most recently as the senior vice president and executive director of our University of Toledo Medical Center, yet he has spent a significant majority of his career in higher education as a teacher and administrator. He has developed a rich spectrum of experiences and demonstrated a track record of student centeredness.

As senior vice president of finance and strategy at UT, Scott gained an intimate understanding of our operations, academic programs and culture. I believe he will not only bring this knowledge to bear, but also his passion, dedication, expertise and versatility; leadership traits which he has demonstrated most effectively during his short, yet highly successful, time leading UTMC. Layer upon this his successful experience at DePaul University, the University of Texas at Tyler, and with the University of Texas System, and you find a tremendous candidate with much to offer as provost.

Over the course of our search, Scott met with many constituent groups, whose feedback proved critical to his selection. He received consistent accolades for his commitment to putting students first and focusing on providing a UT experience inside and outside the classroom. It is this philosophy that I believe will be a hallmark of tenure as our chief academic officer.

In the coming days we will work to negotiate the details of the appointment with Dr. Scarborough, which will then be presented to our board for its consideration. It is my hope to have him formally in place by the end of the month, pending board approval.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Scott Scarborough on his selection for the critical role of provost.

Sincerely,

Lloyd A. Jacobs, M.D.
President

Anonymous said...

Scarborough selection was a foregone conclusion since he was asked by Jacobs to apply. Too bad for UT. I sort of figured based on the Peter Principle that Scott would be rewarded for the consumer reports rating with a promotion. Surround yourself with Yes MEN and you have what you want: a ship shape university with the only people who are unhappy being students, staff and faculty.

Anonymous said...

So it's Scarborough. Huh. Is anyone with options seriously considering sticking around? How minor-league. That little bit of hope I had that UT might someday regain respectability is just about gone.

Anonymous said...

The Jacobs regime has again demonstrated its capability for such a TOUR DE FARCE of higher education. They waited after the HLC visit to do this, so now Scarry (also very Scary) can ruin what's left to ruin. Worried about battle scars? Worry no more because Uncles Lloydie, Goldie, and the Stooges will do another makeover (surgical reconstruction, or reorganization) on the university in the name of innovation. Where is that council of dim wits?

Worried about tenure? Worry no more. Instead of dossiers, develop ledgers and balance them -- or as the Accountant-in-Chief would say: reconcile them, so your existence on this campus may continue. Worried about impact factor or h-index? Flush that down, your value is in numbers.

This is bad news for Bennie Boy (Pryor) and his Toy-R-Us world (it used to be the library, you know). Since Scarry promoted the idea of cancelling OhioLINK membership (imagine how many bonuses that will yield!) you do not need ipads to access any library. Get an ABACUS and use Wikipedia, twitter, and don't forget the annual ledger (not your dossier)!

Colleagues, if there is no public outrage, your days are numbered here. The Jacobs Mob has outlived its usefulness and relevance. Your courses will be meaningless, useless, mediocre, and with the Scarborough record of failure, we will be sliding lower on the scale. It will be time to warn foreigner not to seek anything here even if it is an easy deal to get a useless degree here.

It is a shame that we have allowed this to happen!

TU - Twisted University

Anonymous said...

Scarborough, as I guess most know but me, joined UT in 2007, the same year he was forced out of DePaul. He was investigated by DePaul for something the univ stated was not related to financial irregularities, suspended, met with the trustees, and then resigned the first week of Sept 2007. That same month he was hired by UT.

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