The state of Florida is considering implementing a tier system for tuition. This means that certain majors would be offered at a lower cost (with the remainder subsidized by tax payers) in an effort to motivate more students to pursue careers in STEM. The argument in favor of this policy is to prepare more graduates for high-demand jobs that will bolster Florid's economy and make Florida business more globally competitive.
Although not inherently "racist," this policy devalues other disciplines of study such as arts, humanities and ethnic studies. Furthermore, students of color and women are severely underrepresented in STEM fields. This could mean that these already marginalized populations would be forced to pay more for school unless they choose a career in the math or sciences--areas of study that have traditionally not supported these students. What do you think of this policy? Should Florida implement it? What would be the impications? Do policies such as tiered tuition support a "public good" or "private return?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/education/florida-may-reduce-tuition-for-select-majors.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
“The higher education system needs to evolve with the economy,” said Mr. Brill, the president of the Florida Chamber Foundation. “People pay taxes expecting that the public good will be served to the greatest degree possible. We call that a return on investment.”
https://www.change.org/petitions/governor-rick-scott-protect-higher-education-in-florida
What does this mean? The central idea du jour emerging from the task force is a “differentiated tuition structure to support degree programs in strategic areas of emphasis.” The state, the task force argues, “should move away from uniform tuition rates … among all degree programs within a university.” Programs with no tuition increase would be those deemed “high skill, high demand, and high wage.” Liberal arts and social science topics (English, History, Political Science, Psychology, etc.) would cost students more, on the assumption that no one with such a degree has high skills, would ever be in high demand, and would ever earn a high wage, however “high” is defined. As Proctor himself put it on October 29, “English is not a strategic discipline.” As tuition for such non-strategic disciplines increases, these programs would be slowly phased out, or at least severely diminished, as more students seek “strategic degrees.” This new thinking will supposedly solve the financial problems of Florida’s universities while somehow improving the economy of the state.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
First Ever LGBT Class Begins At Morehouse College: Students Voice Their Reaction
An interesting at Morehouse College where there is a course (for the first time in its history) on being offered on LGBT culture and identity. This follows significant controversy last year about the rights of gay and transgender students to express themselves on campus. Morehouse is known for both its connection to the civil rights movement (via Martin Luther King, Jr., Benjamin Mays and others) and its conservative culture among administration leaders. The comments following the story reflect the tension between the LGBT and conservative Black community. Thoughts?
Link: http://www.blackbluedog.com/2013/01/news/first-ever-lgbt-class-begins-at-morehouse-college-students-voice-their-reaction/
Link: http://www.blackbluedog.com/2013/01/news/first-ever-lgbt-class-begins-at-morehouse-college-students-voice-their-reaction/
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Generation LGBTQIA
In early January, the New York Times ran an article about the "New LGBTQIA Generation."
An interest of mine has always been "concealable" underrepresented students, meaning students whose status cannot be readily identified by looking at them (i.e. sexual orientation, first generation, socioeconomic status, etc.)
The article not only raises awareness about the changing LBGTQ community but also potential impacts on college campuses.
So questions to think about while reading the article are:
1. Why do you think one mainstream "LBGTQ face" gets focused on?
2. What potential impacts do you think this article has on:
a. Campus Climates?
b. Best Practices among Colleges and Universities?
c. Recruitment of these "concealable" students
3. Is higher education putting too much/not enough emphasis on identity?
4. When we ask students to identify themselves are we encompassing both master identities and emergent identities?
The link to the article is below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/fashion/generation-lgbtqia.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&
Monday, January 21, 2013
On rankings of the College of Education @ the UIUC
On January 14th, the College of Education (COE) at the U of I shared the 2013 U.S. News and World Report Rankings. As a first year doctoral student who had been less keen on rankings when applying to graduate schools (other issues took priority in analysis), I was eager to learn how "my college" did. Only after opening the link and seeing the top image was when I became less interested in the college and more concerned about "my department". I automatically saw what was there - in the rankings - and what was not: EPOL. Once you visit the site you will notice how other departments within the COE rank among the top ten graduate programs. This is bittersweet for me. I am proud to be a student in such a great University, an inviting College, and an inclusive and diverse Department. Yet, I cannot avoid the emptiness I feel for what not being there represents.
As we may all know by now, EPOL is the most diverse Department on campus; there is a mixture of different minorities, international, non-traditional, aged, gendered, classed - and hopefully - queered students. At a moment in which we are discussing diversity in higher education, I think it is important that we reflect on what these rankings mean or do not mean, how they are perceived, and why they are used.
I argue that even among a department that seeks to provide as much access to higher education as possible, the findings in this report are not coincidental. I share this information not to criticize the Department, faculty, or fellow students, but rather as an example of how critical we should be when discussing issues on diversity. It is crucial to realize that there are indeed structural forces, power relations that take place even after we obtain access to higher education. As part of my comment on Dr. Baber's Jan. 14th post, I mentioned that as minorities we have to work twice as hard to get half as far. Do you think these rankings/stats resemble this?
As we may all know by now, EPOL is the most diverse Department on campus; there is a mixture of different minorities, international, non-traditional, aged, gendered, classed - and hopefully - queered students. At a moment in which we are discussing diversity in higher education, I think it is important that we reflect on what these rankings mean or do not mean, how they are perceived, and why they are used.
I argue that even among a department that seeks to provide as much access to higher education as possible, the findings in this report are not coincidental. I share this information not to criticize the Department, faculty, or fellow students, but rather as an example of how critical we should be when discussing issues on diversity. It is crucial to realize that there are indeed structural forces, power relations that take place even after we obtain access to higher education. As part of my comment on Dr. Baber's Jan. 14th post, I mentioned that as minorities we have to work twice as hard to get half as far. Do you think these rankings/stats resemble this?
Inauguration on MLK Day
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/politics/Obama-s-2nd-inauguration-on-MLK-Day/-/1719386/18216612/-/ecyh94/-/index.html
We are not meeting this week so I wanted to discuss the MLK speech that was recommended reading. This was a fascinating and very humbling piece. I wanted to comment on the following excerpts:
Miller: Dr. King, another question, do you feel it is socially just to place a colored person in a high
position because of his color, bypassing in the same act many white men who have priority because of
their seniority?
Dr. King: So the first thing I'm concerned about is full employment for everybody. Now the Negro has sufferedmore because of automation than whites because the Negro, with limited educational opportunities and having been denied apprenticeship training in so many instances and outright discrimination, has been
limited to unskilled and semi‐skilled labor. In the day of automation, these are the jobs that are passing
away so the Negro gets a double for outright discrimination and automation doing away with certain
jobs. I'm concerned about full employment.
On the other hand, I think we must honestly face a fact if one gets behind in a race, he must eternally
remain behind or run faster than the man in front. You've got to give him the equipment to catch up.
Now the fact is that the Negro has had 244 years of slavery in America and working without wages and
then he's had a hundred years of segregation and mistreatment in generally. Now, he's faced with a very
serious problem and that is that he is required to be as productive as people who have not had these
conditions and the only thing that a society can do for individuals who have been deprived of something
is to give them a little special treatment. Now you don't put anybody out of a job, but you just make it
possible for the individuals who are behind to catch up...
I think this is all we're saying that we have been deprived of something as a people and we have been
crippled because of this. We feel that America ought to give us a crutch until we can come to the point
of walking on our own rights...
And also:
Miller : Dr. Martin Luther King, we thank you for your presentation. The audience has indicated its
enthusiastic reception of your remarks. I might say here before I read the first question that Western
Michigan University gained the name of University de jure in 1957. What is much more difficult an
accomplishment is to get it de facto. Certainly, one aspect of it is to have a faculty and to have a student
body that can look at one another and see men and women and only men and women and not a social
class, or an economic class or a race or a creed or a national origin. This is what we seek. This is what a
university means. I like to think that we are making significant headway in that direction. I wouldn't say
we've reached the millennium but this is the goal and this is a proper goal of a university, the only goal
that it can seek in this respect.
The presidential inauguration falling on MLK day this year served as a vivid reminder of how far this nation has come in moving toward King's dream. For the second time, a black man was sworn in as president--a day many of our ancestors may have never believed would come. Does President Obama's second term indicate that African Americans have "caught up" so to speak? What about other marginalized groups?
Furthermore, if African Americans have caught up, then what is the role of higher education in providing services for underrepresented students, students of color and low-income students? Is the goal of a university as WMU President Miller suggested, "to look at one another and see men and women and only men and women and not a social class, or an economic class or a race or a creed or a national origin"? What end does this type of color-blind rhetoric hope to reach, and what role are to we to play in reaching it?
We are not meeting this week so I wanted to discuss the MLK speech that was recommended reading. This was a fascinating and very humbling piece. I wanted to comment on the following excerpts:
Miller: Dr. King, another question, do you feel it is socially just to place a colored person in a high
position because of his color, bypassing in the same act many white men who have priority because of
their seniority?
Dr. King: So the first thing I'm concerned about is full employment for everybody. Now the Negro has sufferedmore because of automation than whites because the Negro, with limited educational opportunities and having been denied apprenticeship training in so many instances and outright discrimination, has been
limited to unskilled and semi‐skilled labor. In the day of automation, these are the jobs that are passing
away so the Negro gets a double for outright discrimination and automation doing away with certain
jobs. I'm concerned about full employment.
On the other hand, I think we must honestly face a fact if one gets behind in a race, he must eternally
remain behind or run faster than the man in front. You've got to give him the equipment to catch up.
Now the fact is that the Negro has had 244 years of slavery in America and working without wages and
then he's had a hundred years of segregation and mistreatment in generally. Now, he's faced with a very
serious problem and that is that he is required to be as productive as people who have not had these
conditions and the only thing that a society can do for individuals who have been deprived of something
is to give them a little special treatment. Now you don't put anybody out of a job, but you just make it
possible for the individuals who are behind to catch up...
I think this is all we're saying that we have been deprived of something as a people and we have been
crippled because of this. We feel that America ought to give us a crutch until we can come to the point
of walking on our own rights...
And also:
Miller : Dr. Martin Luther King, we thank you for your presentation. The audience has indicated its
enthusiastic reception of your remarks. I might say here before I read the first question that Western
Michigan University gained the name of University de jure in 1957. What is much more difficult an
accomplishment is to get it de facto. Certainly, one aspect of it is to have a faculty and to have a student
body that can look at one another and see men and women and only men and women and not a social
class, or an economic class or a race or a creed or a national origin. This is what we seek. This is what a
university means. I like to think that we are making significant headway in that direction. I wouldn't say
we've reached the millennium but this is the goal and this is a proper goal of a university, the only goal
that it can seek in this respect.
The presidential inauguration falling on MLK day this year served as a vivid reminder of how far this nation has come in moving toward King's dream. For the second time, a black man was sworn in as president--a day many of our ancestors may have never believed would come. Does President Obama's second term indicate that African Americans have "caught up" so to speak? What about other marginalized groups?
Furthermore, if African Americans have caught up, then what is the role of higher education in providing services for underrepresented students, students of color and low-income students? Is the goal of a university as WMU President Miller suggested, "to look at one another and see men and women and only men and women and not a social class, or an economic class or a race or a creed or a national origin"? What end does this type of color-blind rhetoric hope to reach, and what role are to we to play in reaching it?
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Thoughts on Gender
In our first meeting we separated into groups to discuss what makes us unique and how those experiences contributed to our educational paths. The Chronicle of Higher Education published an article today on Diversity in Academe and the desire to have more female philosophers in the classroom as well as in the field of Philosophy.
As I am interested in the opportunity for women to move forward in higher education (especially after reading this book the book Breaking Into the All-Male Club: Female Professors of Educational Administration), I felt that this article added to the discussion the perspective of teaching the classics. Regan Penaluna cut right to the salient issue in that women are more prevalent in the teaching of history and English since the issue of gender inequality can be discussed and put into a particular context, while this cannot be done for philosophy. Students in philosophy are studying the great arguments of Aristotle and find the commonality between the student and the philosopher. It is definitely difficult, as Penaluna describes, to identify "with a thinker who has exceptionally low expectations for you" (Penaluna, 2013, 9th paragraph).
Penaluna goes on to illustrate what educators can do to increase participation by women in the canon particularly attacking the misogyny that is apparent. It is my hope that department chairs and faculty are paying attention to the exclusion of women from the field and move quickly to correct what has been put in place.
As I am interested in the opportunity for women to move forward in higher education (especially after reading this book the book Breaking Into the All-Male Club: Female Professors of Educational Administration), I felt that this article added to the discussion the perspective of teaching the classics. Regan Penaluna cut right to the salient issue in that women are more prevalent in the teaching of history and English since the issue of gender inequality can be discussed and put into a particular context, while this cannot be done for philosophy. Students in philosophy are studying the great arguments of Aristotle and find the commonality between the student and the philosopher. It is definitely difficult, as Penaluna describes, to identify "with a thinker who has exceptionally low expectations for you" (Penaluna, 2013, 9th paragraph).
Penaluna goes on to illustrate what educators can do to increase participation by women in the canon particularly attacking the misogyny that is apparent. It is my hope that department chairs and faculty are paying attention to the exclusion of women from the field and move quickly to correct what has been put in place.
Monday, January 14, 2013
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