tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post8492177377544863875..comments2023-08-13T06:56:50.760-07:00Comments on Arts & Sciences College Forum: Organizational Communication at UTDavid Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12126067283016390050noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-36060963082850973442010-09-15T16:26:57.460-07:002010-09-15T16:26:57.460-07:00I don't think complaints about conditions at U...I don't think complaints about conditions at UTMC is a knock to our colleagues but rather a criticism of the same administration that is getting rich on the backs of the people that they lay off. Consider this: when UTMC published there great results with the JACO (I hope this is the right acronym) inspection, they almost immediately laid off quite a few of the staff that helped them achieve that outcome. I believe that the hospital probably has suffered worse than the academic side with this administration. However, they do not have nearly the freedom of speech to say so as we do as they do not hold tenure and they are in a very autocratic form of management. Our colleagues at UTMC clearly work hard and are dedicated to their callings. But they are understaffed and micro-managed to the point where they may have difficulties being as effective as they want to be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-20428536547687198612010-09-15T11:21:16.228-07:002010-09-15T11:21:16.228-07:00I'm uncomfortable with efforts to knock our co...I'm uncomfortable with efforts to knock our colleagues over at UTMC especially when their in contract negotiations. They need our support not attacks. You may think you're just attacking administrator but you're attacking the people who provide the real care, the nurses and technicians.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-19485020242016338682010-09-15T11:14:52.016-07:002010-09-15T11:14:52.016-07:00I had an aunt, who's husband's sister'...I had an aunt, who's husband's sister's friend knew a couple who's stepdaughter's father's brother heard from the man who cleaned his pool that his mother-in-law went to UTMC once and it was bad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-27306683076062379272010-09-15T06:47:38.079-07:002010-09-15T06:47:38.079-07:00Shortly after the merger, I did go to UTMC for a c...Shortly after the merger, I did go to UTMC for a condition. I was having a severe shortage of breath and I had a fever. I couln't get past the emergency room: I signed in and sat there for two hours. Then I left and went to Flower Hospital. Within ten minutes of arrriving I was seeing a doctor and within thirty minutes, he had me on an IV with antibiotics and a mask with oxygen. I think I could have died at UTMC before I would have seen a doctor. Never again!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-14603384773336048262010-09-15T04:21:54.233-07:002010-09-15T04:21:54.233-07:00A friend of mine was not feeling well. Kept going ...A friend of mine was not feeling well. Kept going to the emergency room there. They kept telling him there was nothing wrong with him. He went to Toledo and they discoverd he had a rather serious blood clot. They treated him and he is fine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-12709220507885481202010-09-14T18:00:01.618-07:002010-09-14T18:00:01.618-07:00This is exactly what happened to me! People sat ar...This is exactly what happened to me! People sat around discussing the finer points of visitations, and nobody thought to go get a bucket of water! 42 comments! Must be a record.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-74659627628379444442010-09-14T10:14:03.453-07:002010-09-14T10:14:03.453-07:00doctoral-level reasoning number forty-onedoctoral-level reasoning number forty-oneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-78072677693427097422010-09-14T06:14:40.100-07:002010-09-14T06:14:40.100-07:00Last commenter raises all sorts of red flags!
1) ...Last commenter raises all sorts of red flags!<br /><br />1) What is the transfer of the hospital to the Medical School?<br />2) What are the limits on the expenditures from these funds?<br />3) Is the hospital in transferring fund unable to be a better hospital? <br />( If you go to <br /><br />http://ohiohospitalcompare.ohio.gov/HospitalMeasuresQualityComparison.aspx<br /><br />and look at patient satisfaction, UTMC has the worst in Lucas County!)<br /><br />4) Are the funds being controlled and budgeted like the funds budgeted to other colleges on campus?<br /><br />I do not have answers to any of these questions. Because of the lack of transparency of this administration, I can not trust the answers that they give because I can not independently check their answers.<br /><br />And so now we have yet another cause of mistrust!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-33620478288898408212010-09-13T17:03:01.264-07:002010-09-13T17:03:01.264-07:00Correct. Would you rather that money come out of t...Correct. Would you rather that money come out of the money that otherwise goes to other colleges?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-82715450893428506052010-09-13T10:39:40.942-07:002010-09-13T10:39:40.942-07:00What the previous post meant to say was that the h...What the previous post meant to say was that the hospital subsidizes the College of Medicine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-50308005215027238692010-09-12T17:10:03.709-07:002010-09-12T17:10:03.709-07:00the hospital subsidizes the the universitythe hospital subsidizes the the universityAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-37696482870667131702010-09-12T13:32:13.433-07:002010-09-12T13:32:13.433-07:00"The travesty of high tuition is that most of..."The travesty of high tuition is that most of the extra charges aren't going for education. Administrators, athletics and amenities get funded, while history departments are denied new assistant professors. A whole generation of young Americans is being shortchanged, largely by adults who have carved out good careers in places we call colleges."<br />This is the last paragraph from the interesting op-ed piece written on the LA Times by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus. <br />Read it here: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-dreifushacker-college-cost-20100912,0,6821452.story<br /><br />And by the way, if Andrew and Claudia will write another book on the subject or plan to update the one they have written I invite her to include the disaster at UT as further evidence that medical school should stay separated from a university.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-20061035349517861202010-09-12T07:43:43.856-07:002010-09-12T07:43:43.856-07:00Great. Now Calvin and Hobbes chime in. I have read...Great. Now Calvin and Hobbes chime in. I have read their book. They argue that universities serious about practicing good stewardship in support of their academic missions should divest themselves of their medical schools. Suggest that at the next Jacobs Town Hall meeting if you care to hear a pin drop.Reed Mybooknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-14009602995468482362010-09-12T06:16:24.938-07:002010-09-12T06:16:24.938-07:00Hi, you blog is intriquing. We'd love to hear...Hi, you blog is intriquing. We'd love to hear more from you and your readers on our website and blog. www.highereducationquestionmark.com<br /><br />Best, Claudia Dreifus<br />co-author with Andrew Hacker of <br />"Higher Education?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-62046322708850453942010-09-09T18:56:38.989-07:002010-09-09T18:56:38.989-07:005. Managers follow standard HR advice and get in t...5. Managers follow standard HR advice and get in trouble if they don’t. This advice includes:<br /><br />Hire for skills, not for values. Standardize interview questions to drive out any chance you might actually get to know the person.<br />Give out salary increases to people according to a bell-shaped curve, telling people that an extra 1% is proof that they are deeply, deeply valued.<br />Measure employees against pre-determined criteria rather than other results they produced. We don’t want our employees distracted by opportunities we didn’t plan for.<br />Bonus: The need to hew blindly to HR advice makes for a nifty-looking employee handbook that will be blessed by corporate counsel. And that will make stupid spread like misquotes in summer. If you have this handbook on your bookshelf or accessible over your intranet, give your company an extra point.<br /><br />Scoring:<br /><br />Organizational stupidity is more than fodder for Dilbert cartoons. It’s the reason our country is lagging behind in competitiveness and why American wages are declining. If your company scored 4+, the place you work is part of the problem.<br /><br />Do you work for Stupid Inc.? If so, please tell us about it (no names, please) in the comments below.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-52506444203636495462010-09-09T18:56:17.713-07:002010-09-09T18:56:17.713-07:003. Every executive speech follows this format: thi...3. Every executive speech follows this format: things were bad when I took over, I’ve worked hard to turn it around, and now the future is rosy. This statement is stupid for two reasons: (1) it repels any lessons from the prior regime other than it was incompetent, and (2) focuses on the action of the leader rather than the group. “I,” “me,” and “my” talk is a sure sign of organizational stupidity, and an inability to think past the tenure of the current leaders is a sign that the stupidity is here it stay.<br /><br />Bonus: If the executives routinely use “we” instead of “I” but clearly mean themselves, give your company two stupid points instead of just one.<br /><br />4. Organizational learning is seen as nirvana. With deep respect for the pioneers of organizational learning, my two year old learns a new word every day and recently figured out how to work my iPod. Learning is simply a prerequisite to thinking, and organizational thought (mass innovation) is the real key to growth. If your company aspires only to do what a two year old does naturally, it’s high on the stupid scale.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-33199436252872556592010-09-09T18:55:39.488-07:002010-09-09T18:55:39.488-07:003. Every executive speech follows this format: thi...3. Every executive speech follows this format: things were bad when I took over, I’ve worked hard to turn it around, and now the future is rosy. This statement is stupid for two reasons: (1) it repels any lessons from the prior regime other than it was incompetent, and (2) focuses on the action of the leader rather than the group. “I,” “me,” and “my” talk is a sure sign of organizational stupidity, and an inability to think past the tenure of the current leaders is a sign that the stupidity is here it stay.<br /><br />Bonus: If the executives routinely use “we” instead of “I” but clearly mean themselves, give your company two stupid points instead of just one.<br /><br />4. Organizational learning is seen as nirvana. With deep respect for the pioneers of organizational learning, my two year old learns a new word every day and recently figured out how to work my iPod. Learning is simply a prerequisite to thinking, and organizational thought (mass innovation) is the real key to growth. If your company aspires only to do what a two year old does naturally, it’s high on the stupid scale.<br /><br />5. Managers follow standard HR advice and get in trouble if they don’t. This advice includes:<br /><br />Hire for skills, not for values. Standardize interview questions to drive out any chance you might actually get to know the person.<br />Give out salary increases to people according to a bell-shaped curve, telling people that an extra 1% is proof that they are deeply, deeply valued.<br />Measure employees against pre-determined criteria rather than other results they produced. We don’t want our employees distracted by opportunities we didn’t plan for.<br />Bonus: The need to hew blindly to HR advice makes for a nifty-looking employee handbook that will be blessed by corporate counsel. And that will make stupid spread like misquotes in summer. If you have this handbook on your bookshelf or accessible over your intranet, give your company an extra point.<br /><br />Scoring:<br /><br />Organizational stupidity is more than fodder for Dilbert cartoons. It’s the reason our country is lagging behind in competitiveness and why American wages are declining. If your company scored 4+, the place you work is part of the problem.<br /><br />Do you work for Stupid Inc.? If so, please tell us about it (no names, please) in the comments below.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-67154177641801230752010-09-09T18:55:20.733-07:002010-09-09T18:55:20.733-07:00Most organizations are so incompetent that they’re...Most organizations are so incompetent that they’re best described as flat-out stupid. Does this label apply to the place where you work? Take the Logan Organizational Stupidity Exam (LOSE) and find out. Every time you say “Yep, that’s where I work,” give your company a point.<br /><br />1. In the last five years, at least one senior manager has sent out many copies of a small business book with big type and a catchy title that is painfully devoid of thought. Now, some business books are of value. I visited a company recently where the CEO sent all employees a copy of The Essential Bennis — the antithesis of the bad business book I ranted about a couple of posts ago. He asked people to read it carefully and with personal reflection. Not surprisingly, that company is doing well. Replace Bennis’s great book with any text about cheese, and you’re at Stupid Inc.<br /><br />Bonus: In a related move, if people boast about having attention deficit disorder, give your company a bonus point. Stupid thrives when people brag about not being able to have complex conversations.<br /><br />2. When someone at the top royally screws up, it’s never discussed, but when someone lower down makes a mistake, it’s fodder for endless root cause analysis. Stupid is most incapacitating at the top.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-34463315462407228422010-09-09T18:54:39.442-07:002010-09-09T18:54:39.442-07:00Most organizations are so incompetent that they’re...Most organizations are so incompetent that they’re best described as flat-out stupid. Does this label apply to the place where you work? Take the Logan Organizational Stupidity Exam (LOSE) and find out. Every time you say “Yep, that’s where I work,” give your company a point.<br /><br />1. In the last five years, at least one senior manager has sent out many copies of a small business book with big type and a catchy title that is painfully devoid of thought. Now, some business books are of value. I visited a company recently where the CEO sent all employees a copy of The Essential Bennis — the antithesis of the bad business book I ranted about a couple of posts ago. He asked people to read it carefully and with personal reflection. Not surprisingly, that company is doing well. Replace Bennis’s great book with any text about cheese, and you’re at Stupid Inc.<br /><br />Bonus: In a related move, if people boast about having attention deficit disorder, give your company a bonus point. Stupid thrives when people brag about not being able to have complex conversations.<br /><br />2. When someone at the top royally screws up, it’s never discussed, but when someone lower down makes a mistake, it’s fodder for endless root cause analysis. Stupid is most incapacitating at the top.<br /><br />3. Every executive speech follows this format: things were bad when I took over, I’ve worked hard to turn it around, and now the future is rosy. This statement is stupid for two reasons: (1) it repels any lessons from the prior regime other than it was incompetent, and (2) focuses on the action of the leader rather than the group. “I,” “me,” and “my” talk is a sure sign of organizational stupidity, and an inability to think past the tenure of the current leaders is a sign that the stupidity is here it stay.<br /><br />Bonus: If the executives routinely use “we” instead of “I” but clearly mean themselves, give your company two stupid points instead of just one.<br /><br />4. Organizational learning is seen as nirvana. With deep respect for the pioneers of organizational learning, my two year old learns a new word every day and recently figured out how to work my iPod. Learning is simply a prerequisite to thinking, and organizational thought (mass innovation) is the real key to growth. If your company aspires only to do what a two year old does naturally, it’s high on the stupid scale.<br /><br />5. Managers follow standard HR advice and get in trouble if they don’t. This advice includes:<br /><br />Hire for skills, not for values. Standardize interview questions to drive out any chance you might actually get to know the person.<br />Give out salary increases to people according to a bell-shaped curve, telling people that an extra 1% is proof that they are deeply, deeply valued.<br />Measure employees against pre-determined criteria rather than other results they produced. We don’t want our employees distracted by opportunities we didn’t plan for.<br />Bonus: The need to hew blindly to HR advice makes for a nifty-looking employee handbook that will be blessed by corporate counsel. And that will make stupid spread like misquotes in summer. If you have this handbook on your bookshelf or accessible over your intranet, give your company an extra point.<br /><br />Scoring:<br /><br />Organizational stupidity is more than fodder for Dilbert cartoons. It’s the reason our country is lagging behind in competitiveness and why American wages are declining. If your company scored 4+, the place you work is part of the problem.<br /><br />Do you work for Stupid Inc.? If so, please tell us about it (no names, please) in the comments below.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-47404709718134117922010-09-09T18:32:06.205-07:002010-09-09T18:32:06.205-07:00substantive posts on the main page have been lacki...substantive posts on the main page have been lacking...are the site gate-keepers busy teaching or something?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-10319827862410049652010-09-09T14:57:31.023-07:002010-09-09T14:57:31.023-07:00Do you work for Stupid Inc.? I bet we do:
http://...Do you work for Stupid Inc.? I bet we do: <br />http://www.bnet.com/blog/tribal/do-you-work-for-stupid-inc/168?promo=713&tag=nl.e713Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-39690280314202967352010-09-09T12:36:06.207-07:002010-09-09T12:36:06.207-07:00I am "Anon #15" that wrote the incorrect...I am "Anon #15" that wrote the incorrect statememt. <br /><br />I apologize for the error. I had read the article earlier in the day but did not have access to the article when I wrote the post from my home. I clearly am in error and I regret the storm that I created. I am not a member of the A&S Council and my comment should not be considered as a statement from the A&S Council.<br /><br /><br />However, I do not remember anyone stating in the Spring that Freshman enrollments would be down by 400+ students. Therefore, I do not believe that it was planned and that people are rewriting history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-84409261632295036602010-09-09T12:19:25.589-07:002010-09-09T12:19:25.589-07:00OK, The Blade article did say enrollment is down 9...OK, The Blade article did say enrollment is down 9.5% … “incoming class this year of first-time adult students and freshmen”. Commenter #15 is incorrect in that whoever it was left out an important set of modifiers. <br /><br />No one said that commenter was speaking for the A&S Council! The A&S Council has people that are more than willing to speak out for it and sign their names if needed.<br /><br />I find it very interesting that there are a number of people that immediately jump on #15 without stating the true error made, willing to call that person names, and willing to try to impose that person’s error on the whole of A&S Council. Because of the nature of this blog, there is no guarantee that that person is even a member of the A&S Council. For all I know, it could be some highly paid administrator intentional trying to stir up trouble with first posting an error and then acting like they are so righteous in correcting it! <br /><br />I think that the error should be corrected but this can be done in a manner that is factual (Anon 7:56 did that by quoting the Blade article) but I also think that name calling and trying to assert positions of groups in this matter is abhorrent and bespeaks volumes more about the character of the of those giving the critiques.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-29427778077474902822010-09-09T09:58:26.019-07:002010-09-09T09:58:26.019-07:00Re John Dickinson
John, you are absolutely correc...Re John Dickinson<br /><br />John, you are absolutely correct in saying:<br /><br />"Do you think it possible that the vast neoliberal conspiracy is itself a reaction to the public's lack of interest in funding postmodern bullshit with their tax dollars? I'd say there is a very strong connection.<br /><br />If we think the public owes us their hard earned dollars so we can teach their kids that America is racist, TV is as good as Shakespeare, and victims deserve their own Studies, we wrong, wrong, wrong."<br /><br />Right-on, John.<br /><br />Just as the UAW and other unions try to blame the demise of the Big 3 automakers entirely on management (who are indeed largely, but by no means entirely to blame for the collapse of the American auto industry) the AAUP and college professors refuse to accept responsibility for their own central role in the demise of higher ed and liberal arts education -- through the self-serving abuses of faculty tenure, the dumbing-down of the curriculum and academic standards, refusal to be accountable for faculty incompetence and misconduct and dismal student academic outcomes, propagation of corrosive campus and academic political correctness, "postmodern bullshit" etc. etc.<br /><br />The professoriate has smugly thumbed their noses at the public and the countless serious warnings of critics for decades and now that they have finally killed the goose that has laid so many beautiful golden academic eggs for them for so long and reality has finally come to the academy and the game is over – the professoriate reacts with shock, indignation and outrage and points accusing fingers at the “right wing” and “neo-liberals.”<br /><br />How very, very sad it had to come to this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044792945653054348.post-8945849712664220412010-09-09T08:23:05.436-07:002010-09-09T08:23:05.436-07:00"Freshman enrollment is down 9.5 percent. Ove..."Freshman enrollment is down 9.5 percent. Overall enrollment is flat. Please, let's not start using phrases like "enrollment is down 9.5 percent" when the admin can easily point out that isn't true.<br /><br />Please see: http://toledoblade.com/article/20100908/NEWS04/9070357<br /><br />There is so much the administration is doing wrong and by advancing incorrect information it makes it that much easier for the admin to dismiss faculty concerns."<br /><br /><br />Which I see they have been happy to do. Sigh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com