Colleges vs. Universities Take 2

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Mike Albrecht, Jun 10, 2002.

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  1. Mike Albrecht

    Mike Albrecht New Member

    /with the discussions of name changes and "specialized" univerisities such as Hamburger U for Mickey D's, I came across another one that seems to be trying to work with major schools.

    Caterpillar University which has ventures with the Univeristy of Illinois -Urbana-Champaign.

    And as a side note is looking for instructors.



    Senior Learning Consultant

    For more than 75 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been building the world's infrastructure and, in partnership with Cat dealers, is driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial turbines. The company is a technology leader in construction, transportation, mining, forestry, energy, logistics, financing and electric power generation.
    Job Description:
    The position will report to the Dean of the College of Leadership, Caterpillar University, with responsibility for developing common, global leadership curricula for Caterpillar.
    Position will assist the Dean in developing the learning strategy for leadership in a corporate setting by working with a team of representatives to identify common global learning needs.
    Additionally the position will conduct performance-consulting analysis and recommend solutions for performance problems. Will assist with curriculum development and identify learning solution providers. Will work with external training providers, external consultants, Academia, and subject matter experts at all levels within Caterpillar to assure utilization of optimum learning solutions. Will work closely with worldwide training facilities, global learning managers & the Caterpillar University delivery staff to assure quality delivery of training. Will monitor learning effectiveness measures & customer satisfaction related to the College.
    The position may have one or more Learning Consultants directly reporting to them.
    Job Requirements:
    Applicant should have a university degree or equivalent experience in a related field (e.g. HR, Organizational Development, Adult Learning, etc.) and should possess extensive expertise and experience in the area of leadership in a corporate setting. An understanding of a Corporate University, change management and creating a learning organization is also ideal.
    Must have advanced organizational and planning skills, excellent communication skills, high energy and initiative, good business sense, exceptional customer focus, demonstrated leadership & interpersonal skills and the ability to be adaptable to changing demands. Applicant will be expected to work in an environment that rewards teamwork and expects individuals to act in a “Shared Beliefs” manner.
    To be considered for this position, please refer to job code SLC. Please send your resume and cover letter, quoting job source and reference number (i.e. InfoMine / CareerMine) to :
    Corporate Employment Services
    Email : [email protected]
    Caterpillar Inc
    100 NE Adams
    Peoria IL 61629-8300
    Ph: 1-888-228-5627
    Fax: 309-675-6476
    An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer
     
  2. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    What's next Yugo U., accredited by the Balkan States Association of Universities and Colleges.
     
  3. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    Until 1998, Michigan's Kettering University was the General Motors Institute.

    http://www.gmi.edu/
     
  4. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    So is the Graduate School known as Butterfly University? ;)
    Jack
     
  5. telfax

    telfax New Member

    A Victim of Vocabulary!

    To raise the issue of 'university' and 'college' is important. Why? Because it makes us go back and examine the very meaning of what a 'university' is, or should be! My heading, 'A victim of vocabulary' is not my own but that of Andrew Oswald, professor of economics at the University of Warwick in the UK. This was the heading for his recent artcile (May 24, 2002) in The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES). He argues that the term 'university' is being debased. This is certainly true in the Uk and has long been the case in the USA if we go by his debate.

    His main case is that universities are essentially research institutions and the teaching element is a side-line that is informed by research. The teaching-only institution he would not credit with the label or title 'university'. Until recent imes in British universities the use of the title 'professor' really was limited to the few who were truly experts in their field. Like the USA, this is no longer the case. All and sundry in the new hybrid university colleges are seeking the title 'professor'!

    Oswald argues that his idea will upset people and basically thinks that's tough! He then goes on to define what he thinks makes a university distinct from an institution that simply trains, exams and produces graduates. He states that a university is:

    1. A truth business. Real knowledge, he argues, almost always is first discovered in a university.
    2. In the excellence business. Universities must choose the best students and teachers - not that which falls less than the best.
    3. In the freedom business. Universities shoudl play a part of being in the checks and balances that hold society together and be able to question without hinderance and without being financed by central government and other agencies.
    4. In the elegance business. I quote:

    It will frustrate politicians from now to eternity, university researchers pursue beauty and symmetry out of instinct, not because they are searching for something useful.


    For these reasons, this is why universities (especially in the UK) need to redefine their existence and and become independent.

    Oswald makes the point that the last thing policitians and local and national governements want is truth, excellence, freedom and elegance. They want practicality, soundness, well-behaved citizens and cheapness.

    I tend to agree with Andrew Oswald.

    So, what is a university? Increasingly, an institution that mass delivers , especially in the fields of business and management, ideas and theories that never have worked and proably never will! Going to university now, more than ever, seems to be something about gaining facts and figues and information rather debating it all. With the advent of so many on-line 'lets give them information rather than get them to analytically critical' programmes around, what is a university?

    What do you think?

    telfax
     
  6. Here's a related article from last year: Universities are Not in the Usefulness Business.

    We have discussed some of Oswald's articles here in the past. I myself had some fun with his article in the Guardian about British universities being a "disgrace." Oswald is deliberately provocative in his non-technical articles.
     
  7. Mike Albrecht

    Mike Albrecht New Member

    I must agree with Gert and telfax, even though I started this thread and perhaps because I did, I do find it peculiar to have a heavy equipment manufacuter (Caterpiller) call it's training arm a University with Deans and Professors, and then have it supported by a true state University.
     
  8. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    Re: A Victim of Vocabulary!

    Doesn't that contradict the assertion you/Oswald made that a *real* university should be concerned with beauty and symmetry? Who cares if ideas don't work? Isn't demanding that ideas have practical applications hopelessly philistine?

    Post-modern social criticism, of course. What all good humanities majors should be doing: *deconstructing* something.

    Creating things that have value in real people's lives is for trade-school mechanics.
    I think that there isn't any significant difference between universities and colleges. I see no reason to create one out of mere academic elitism and nostalgia.

    What's more, the movement of history seems to be towards ever greater need and ever increasing opportunity for lifelong adult post-secondary education. This is already blending in seamlessly with traditional university education, and that's a trend that I think will only continue in the 21'st century.

    Universities offer a variety of credit and non-credit classes to adults both on-campus and by DL. And as this thread suggests, corporations and government agencies will increasingly offer in-house training programs to their staff, some of which carry university credit. We will probably see more classes offered by other sorts of organizations, such as professional bodies or museums.

    And we will see more assessment degrees that allow people to bring all this knowledge together, no matter where it was obtained, and get a socially recognized credential for it.

    I can understand university faculties' misgivings about the labor implications of all this, but it's the wave of the future, I think.

    And from a student's point of view, I welcome it.
     
  9. Peter French

    Peter French member

    Re: A Victim of Vocabulary!

    We have similar views put by Cardinal Newman and Abraham Flexner - the latter who feared that universities were becoming mere 'service stations'.

    However, I often wonder what they would say if they were here today - unfortunately we have no way of knowing, but we may be susprised.

    I may have something to add to the Cat Uni story a little later - this is a few weeks too early - but with our model out here it is not an isolated case. Deakin for example has partnered with our largest national retailer and there are several thousands involved in that program; Nokia did a few decades ago and people who entered with a base technical qualification at best could and many did, retire with a doctorate, adn they never left the factory.

    Come on guys - we are in the 21st Century. Employers greatest asset isn't even on their balance sheets, but they are very conscious of developing the potential of that asset, and education and training is at the core of that process.

    They are not good enough to be educated through a university, or what? Maybe a veiled hint of elitism somewhere around here? If they deal with grease, or real mechanics, leave them where the grease monkeys hang out.

    Shame, shame, shame ;)

    Peter French
    DipProdEng ... and no futher if some had their way!
    Horse Trailier
     

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