“… What we need, especially when debating how to support public institutions that combine research with education at the most advanced levels, is the mutual agreement and will to find new, and creative ways to support high-quality public goods precisely because of their importance to our society as a whole.” …
http://chronicle.com/article/Flagships-Must-Create-New/237055
I read the whole article. . .a lot of words that said very little and, no, I didn’t absorb his call to action at all.
Agree. Zero specifics.
“Innovative Master’s programs”- that’s how kids get suckered into paying for an advanced degree in Event Planning, Human Resources Management, or Real Estate Development-- i.e. fields which do not require such degrees.
Yes- Berkeley should become even more of an innovator separating young people from their tuition dollars via Master’s programs!
Oh so UC Berkeley, and presumably other public universities, need to invest in cash cows that leave the recipients straddled with debt and a masters degree worth almost nothing.
Great idea! Now how do we raise the funds?
As the other posters said, long on words, no actual recommendations. Frankly this reads like the stereotypical “I procrastinated and now need to cobble something together in the next hour” essay.
Reads like the usual administrative propaganda. The folks in the upper echelons of higher ed have truly lost touch with rank and file faculty (notice the needed funding for “named chairs”, i.e. already famous bigshots) and the taxpaying middle class and their offspring and the academic needs of undergrads in general.
How about increasing the quality of and access to existing undergraduate programs instead of new cash cow MS degrees? How about aiming existing MS programs at international students instead of recruiting international students for already oversubscribed undergrad programs, thus taking away seats from qualified undergrads in the home state? Oh wait - it’s all about $$ - and how much cash you can take away from all students.
I get that organizations, including nonprofit ones, need to be solvent. I think there are ways to do that without having to abandon the original mission of public universities. The university I teach at is a directional one with a well respected teacher ed program. The last few years, we are being told that we need to move away from that and become research oriented. Being a teacher training school is no longer “prestigious”, and the program has been battered by cuts. But we really are not equipped to compete with well-established research universities. Apparently there is no longer any dignity in accomplishing a mission and doing it well.
“…it is time to conceive of a drastically different model for public higher education.”
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Or we could stop cutting their funding.
“Or we could stop cutting their funding.”
I’ve seen how UCSD has gone from being an isolated island to being surrounded by lots of high tech companies with high paying jobs. I think strong financial support of the UCs by the state is one of the best investments they can make.
Addendum to post #5:
It looks like UC will be admitting more in state students - note that something that should be standard practice is now news in the NY Times.
Full story:
http://■■■■■■/UuCspG
@momprof94, why do you think it should be standard practice when CA has been cutting funding to the UC’s? The UC’s now get, what? 10% of their total budget from CA?
Personally, I think it long overdue. Columbia has done quite well for itself in NYC by providing a lot of terminal MA programs. Why should only the Cal States offer terminal Master’s?
I believe that’s the author’s point. Cal offers very few terminal Master’s programs to anyone; mostly just doctoral programs. I have no doubt that plenty of internationals would sign up and pay sticker for an MA/MS.