Are At-Risk Students Bunnies to be Drowned?

[Gator88NE]

VIVA LA BUNNIES!!!
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[ucbalumnus]

However, the school still needs to figure out what its longer term plan is, since being a tuition dependent school with declining student interest and yearly budget deficits is not a good situation to be in.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/02/29/mount-st-marys-university-and-the-dilemma-facing-american-higher-education/

[intparent]

Well… I’d never heard of them before this. Wonder if they can find some positive way to use their name recognition now.

[dadof1]

^Seems to have helped Sweet Briar with application numbers, at least in the short term.

[MYOS1634]

If they can rebuild their brand as “nurturing college that won"t let students fail and will even oust president who’d want to kick them out right away”, they may have found a niche market, kind of like some colleges in New England that have a special (pricier) program for students with LDs.
All in all, this should remind all “leaders” who think they can solve problems easily that humans aren’t products and can’t be discarded as if they were.

[LucieTheLakie]

Inside Higher Ed’s coverage: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/03/01/president-quits-mount-st-marys

[zobroward]

his wording was terrible/creepy. but everyone does not belong in college and some who get in do not have what it takes. I think if he had used better wording his point would be valid. now he is… I guess a bunny himself. not sure what his plan b will be…but i doubt it involves being a president at another college.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mount-st-marys-university-president-simon-newman-resigns/

[ucbalumnus]

@zobroward

his wording was terrible/creepy. but everyone does not belong in college and some who get in do not have what it takes. I think if he had used better wording his point would be valid.

It was not just his wording. His proposed method of giving the survey under false pretenses and then dismissing some of the students before the reporting date for number of entering students to game the graduation rate is unsavory. Either change the admissions process to avoid admitting students who are deemed unlikely to succeed at the college, or give everyone a chance, rather than admitting some and dismissing them before they have a chance to prove themselves.

[MidwestDad3]

I feel sorry for his wife. An article in the Baltimore Sun a while back indicated that she had encouraged him to apply, and he submitted his CV on the last day of the search. I imagine she saw talents in him that would be good for the school. But a substantial professional shift requires a recognition of, and respect for, a different culture. For whatever reason he just didn’t get that. These days pretty much the only seekers of a presidency who can say whatever they want are those going after the highest office in the land . . .

[Zinhead]

@TomSrOfBoston -

Northeastern “gamed” their way up the rankings by raising admission standards, increasing retention and graduation rates and spending a billion dollars on the campus. They also got USNews to use the 6 year graduation rate due to the unique structure of the co-op program.

If you don’t like the term “gamed”, take it up with the former president of the university. He used that term. From the article:

Freeland swept into Northeastern with a brand-new mantra: recalibrate the school to climb up the ranks. “There’s no question that the system invites gaming,” Freeland tells me. “We made a systematic effort to influence [the outcome].” He directed university researchers to break the U.S. News code and replicate its formulas. He spoke about the rankings all the time—in hallways and at board meetings, illustrating his points with charts. He spent his days trying to figure out how to get the biggest bump up the charts for his buck. He worked the goal into the school’s strategic plan. “We had to get into the top 100,” Freeland says. “That was a life-or-death matter for Northeastern."

Universities can choose to play the rankings game or not. Northeastern decided to play with a vengeance, and it worked for them going from 162 to 47. Colleges who did not suffered. Take a look a Syracuse which traditionally has been a much more prestigious school than Northeastern. They ignored the USNRR, and fell from the low 50’s to 61 in the most recent rankings.

[TomSrOfBoston]

@Zinhead Syracuse University was also forced to resign from the Association of American Universities or be expelled. Their level of research funding had fallen below AAU standards. There are many other issues behind Syracuse’s fall. Look it up.