Toledo Free Press letter to the editor from an A&S faculty member

This letter to the editor from an A&S faculty member appeared in this week's Toledo Free Press dated 4/18/2008.

Analyzing Jacobs

Your April 13 article about higher education in Northwest Ohio puts a positive spin on the plans of Dr. Lloyd Jacobs, president of the University of Toledo. I would like to offer a different analysis.

Jacobs does not want to educate Ohioans as a way to contribute to economic growth in the Northwest region. He wants to train them. I encourage your readers to read his recent speech (delivered on April 2 and available on the UT News page on the Web) about “re-engineering” the undergraduate experience. What would a UT education look like if Dr. Jacobs had his way? Undergraduates would take eight to 10 canned courses, standardized to fit a technocrat's vision of what they need to know about science, society and the arts, before entering into a “frugal” approach to getting to their first job.

One directive the president has issued is symbolic of his vision. He plans to take the third floor of the newly renovated Field House and turn it over to technology managers who would help feed packaged distance-learning courses, created by UT faculty or others depending upon the relative cost, to undergraduates. The third floor was originally promised to the English and foreign languages departments, disciplines that are crucial to success in a globalizing market that demands creativity, flexibility, language and reading and writing skills, and, of course, central to leading an interesting life; these disciplines would be at best marginal in Jacob's university.
And think about Jacob's understanding of the phrase “student centered.” Think about his plan for “mass customization.” Education is not a commodity; it is a complex lifelong project to which higher education contributes.

Jacobs was appointed president of the New UT without a national search.

In ignoring all the customary procedures, the board of trustees also ignored its responsibility to hire the most qualified person. Jacobs administered medical schools, not a university. Jacobs is no more qualified to be president than was Vik Kapoor, former dean of engineering at UT, who was fired within 17 months after damaging many of the best aspects of a UT education.

Upon his firing there was another national search, and Daniel Johnson came to UT. His administration repaired damage and returned UT to some semblance of stability, in terms of our budget and programs.

With the addition of MUO to our ranks of UT colleges, we could do even better than UT has in the past attracting funds and students to our school and region. And many of us see potential in Gov. Strickland's strategic plan developed by Chancellor Fingerhut. Yet the administration tells us that this plan would damage UT. I ask your readers to look at Page 21 of the strategic plan to best understand the spirit in which it is written.

RENEE HEBERLE,
associate professor, political science, UT

http://www.toledofreepress.com/?id=7614

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This is the section on page 21 of Ohio's Strategic Plan for Higher Education that I assume Dr. Heberle was refering to:

"Beyond STEM

In emphasizing economic development as the rationale for improving higher education, some inevitably misinterpret it to mean that we intend to focus only on science, technology, engineering and mathematics – the so_called STEM disciplines. To be sure, there is justified concern about the state of science and mathematics education not only in our state but in the nation as a whole. Ohio is taking creative steps to improve its performance in these areas and must take more. Success in the global economy, however, requires more than technical skills. It will take communication skills, creativity and innovation, an understanding of global cultures and history, and much more.

These skills are acquired through study in a wide range of disciplines, including the liberal arts and humanities, law and business, as well as science and math. Among employers and business leaders, concern over the basic reading, writing, and oral communication skills of the workforce is as deep as the concern over the technical skills workers bring to the job. Where this plan speaks of a comprehensive, quality education, it is meant in the broadest sense to include liberal arts, fine arts, and humanities. Where this plan speaks of developing Centers of Excellence,i t fully contemplates that these centers can and will be established in fields commonly associated with these disciplines, as well as the STEM disciplines."

http://universitysystem.ohio.gov/pdfs/strategicPlan/USOStrategicPlan.pdf