House Dems: double Pell, rework federal loan system

Hi Rich,

I agree with you. I think college is more than just a piece of paper or at least it was and should be about engagement and community. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the aim, at least right now. The college education is pitched with a major focus in career outcomes and asynchronous learning makes it bit harder to keep a conversation alive.

I remember when I first went to college I was in love. Mainly, due to the increased freedom and a place to challenge and be challenged; the student clubs; and sports.

B Franklin said the purpose for educating the majority it to keep them civilized; while the “special” group will get a different education. Do you think this is what we are seeing now?

This article is interesting. NYU Organic Chem Professor fired. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/us/nyu-organic-chemistry-petition.html?unlocked_article_code=BTHorE_Rfway4KbkRG-JljoNcGhxx6LfNvMkJ8Oq9jh3Eyyri912y4-dZxyuecHWrrJS9xi4WvsjBReZfUKVUHPLEDQnydLjwTb9pY0QbRn0wNz6hJU0L1NXwlF42Td8lyrfT8_mKaEp7v6VseaQ_Tt1Ov3GcGjIk03McA3GT3c-yZ3uE1IFdSO7U3XBcaPXfQdBOyD-5MaFJeJGdIKvDDAyEwTfnYvpaZw1jx_J8ERrApsmyVB1DXoT3bjzXqw8vqXVz4wotlBCZ6bO82DfEAQ2O2pu4VF5u3jP-V2j9GElVWtFEX-94Kbh2AorzpOWVUvq8BlCl3-xmvwrCrpiDP75Ew&smid=share-url

 

@Greeneyedpea81 Thanks for sharing the article.

Dr. Jones has been doing what he does, as he does for decades and has established a formidable reputation as a professor. Many. many students passed his courses in the past and became successful professionals. Now conditions have changed - and I believe students have been changed by them. COVID has made it intensely difficult for all in the classroom, those who instruct and those who learn. It has been a virtual classroom for much of the last couple of years - and continues to be so, in some cases.

I do not fault Dr. Jones for not changing methods or standards. I don't know the best answer to the problem here. I think we have something on our hands that came suddenly and might take a decade - or two - to sort out. One of the real puzzlers is - what do we do, when students start staying away from lectures (online) in large numbers as they did here. There are aspects of this that lead me to believe people set themselves up for failure by not attending. Is this a widespread thing with other courses, schools and instructors these days? Are we seeing a second "Great Resignation" in the classroom?

It was noted that this is a weed-out course. I think the administration might not see it that way any more. That could be a dangerous decision. And if they decided irrevocably that Dr. Jones' yearly contract could not be renewed, I do not like this talk of "firing" an academic who has had a distinguished teaching career for over half a century. He is 84. Most people have retired many years before this age. The VERY least this professor deserves is an "honorable discharge."

If there's blame here - then blame radically changed conditions. As the saying goes in Nigeria, "Na condition wey make crayfish bend."

 

Thought I read in one of the articles that Dr. Jones retired after 40 years at Princeton, wrote the predominate textbook in the field, and was one of the early founders or champions of the transition to a PBL methodology. Hard to grasp how his career ended. Certainly a gate-keeping/weed-out course like that has to be watched closely by the administration though…

 

@Johann I am not certain what the solution is either. I do know anxiety or trauma from the pandemic has been tied to poor performance in several areas and many people have a hard time dealing with change. I know in secondary schools have lowered the bar tremendously.

I caught the retirement part too. I’m not sure what is going on at the Universities, but quite a few professors are quitting or getting fired, administrators are quitting around the same time as well, and some colleges are getting rid of advisors and replacing them with the professors to advise. I’ve also read about universities removing tenure status. A lot of these schools are partnered with 2U.

I suppose all of these changes are appropriate since we are globalizing and overhauling the current system with advanced technology.