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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Who's Blogging Where?


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Context:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lloyd-a-jacobs-md/innovation-higher-education-_b_1899802.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lloyd-a-jacobs-md/higher-education-reform_b_1871882.html

Anonymous said...

From UT President Jacobs' blog dated September 10:

~At the same time, Wilhelm von Humbolt, the German whom many credit for founding in the early 1800s the model of the modern university, looks down at college campuses from the clouds and says to himself, "Just as I left it." … An excellent school certainly, but a school that, as Mr. Humbolt might say today, is "just as I left it."~

It's embarassing when our president ventures forth to blog to the world about his puny achievements, and then twice screws up the spelling of a real achiever like Humboldt, meanwhile demoting him from Baron to "Mr."

Anonymous said...

President Jacobs might be wise to read what Wilhelm Humboldt actually thought about educational policy before he writes about him. It is a quick Internet search. President Jacobs' actions are in direct contradiction to Humboldt's educational philosophy. Or perhaps those academic leaders who are advising him need to take time for a bit of scholarship themselves. http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/archive/publications/ThinkersPdf/humbolde.PDF


One also wonders why President Jacobs is so worried about events at the University of Virginia when there is a major investigation into a terrible tragedy at his own institution. And the U Va President had the strong support of the faculty in the dispute with the Board.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps Jacobs should try to do something to bring the entire UT community together: Resign.

"There will be dancing in the streets."

Anonymous said...

Did you read it? Jacobs says Humbolt is the problem. Of course they are in contradiction. That's the point Jacobs was making.

Anonymous said...

President Jacobs appears to blame the cost of education on the theory of education that Baron Humboldt is credited with formulating. Yet Baron Humboldt's university structure did not have the layers of administration and the depth of services offered by most universities in the United States today. President Jacobs conveniently ignores this as he rewards his senior staff. Should we return to Baron Humboldt's structure, we might just find education much less expensive as well as returning the university to its original objective, that is, teaching and research. Of course, President Jacobs might have problems trying to reward his cronies which seems most relevant in President Jacobs' structure.

Anonymous said...

Nothing is ever Jacobs' fault. It's the faculty, stupid.

And when it's not the faculty's fault, it's the nurses' fault.

Anonymous said...

The Toledo Blade article reported by UT-AAUP highlights the view of higher education held, not only by Jacobs, but also by a great number of our community leaders today. Unfortunately, the technologists of the world who are now in key positions of leadership and who have long avoided thinking about the grand questions of who we are and what should be our ethics, our morals and our relationships to other humans, are exerting their influence to turn higher education into schools where only the advancements in technologies are taught. "Eveeryone should learn a trade" is their overriding mentality. Thought about the questions raised by living is wasted time based an the actions of these leading technologists. No wonder the world is in such a quagmire today.

Anonymous said...

Jacobs firmly believes in class distinctions. I think he does believe the humanities have a role in higher ed - but in the elite universities where the elite members of society are being educated for leadership roles. For a university like Toledo, the humanities are an unnecessary diversion from a pursuit of the careers its students will pursue. In other words, I think Jacobs believes the volk and the engineers and doctors in a society don't need or benefit from a classical education and it's a waste of their time and of the university's resources to provide one.

Anonymous said...

The Victim's Revolution: The Rise of Identity Studies and the Closing of the Liberal Mind (2012) by Bruce Bawer.

The new UT Provost and anyone else who wants to help drive UT and higher ed in the right direction and understand some of the most fundamental issues that continue to hamstring UT, higher education, government, the economy, real social justice and pretty much everything else in contemporary society, need to read this book - or at least read an executive summary presented by a trusted colleague.

MOST of the administrative (and academic) bloat in higher Ed that faculty continue to complain about here on the ASC blog is driven by PoMo PC identity politics.

Runaway costs, runaway proliferation of PoMo PC administrative and academic programs, dumbed down academic standards, systematic mediocracy instead of meritocracy - mediocre students coming from mediocre high schools, the student loan bubble debacle, stupid politicized education and education administration theory and bureaucracy - opportunistic careerist pinheads like Dr. Previous & Co. running amok all over campus etc.

If you cut out all this politicized PoMo PC bureaucratic administrative pseudo-academic pseudo-intellectual ideological crap there will be a super-abundant surplus of quality, effective and sustainable financial and human capital and resources remaining to devote to REAL education and REAL research and REAL problem solving of REAL issues.

Like I said, pick up a laser blaster and start shooting down all the political PoMo PC academic and administrative asteroids and what's left over will be a lean and mean high quality no-more-victim-mentality university that will serve the REAL best interests of all stakeholders and make real students, teachers, scholars, academic administrators and alumni proud.

There is a vast new-found academic gold mine filled with tremendous untapped academic and administrative career opportunities for those who may feel threatened by the assault on PoMo PC - namely Post-Postmodern Studies - the new academic discipline dedicated to deconstructing and shoveling out all the PoMo PC bullshit that has accumulated in academia, politics and culture over the past 50-odd years.

So grab your BS shovels everyone.

Ready?

Start digging!