Re: Obama's Powderkeg

Disculpa Senora Chris Mihos, pero did you really mime the following on 3/7/2008 1:48 PM???
On Mar 7, 1:35 pm, Tom Enright <freddy_ha...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Mar 7, 11:59 am, "Randolph M. Jones" <rjo...@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, never
tug on Superman's cape:

Tom Enright wrote:
It is only "naive" in the university world. In the real world it is
the best model. If you own a business that cleans carpets and hire 10
carpet cleaners it would be wise to have all 10 cleaning carpets.
Concentrating on the CORE business and doing what they were HIRED
for. Seems pretty logical.
Aha. So you think university professors are hired to teach. I think
I've found part of your misunderstanding. In the business model,
university professors are hired to increase revenue. They can do this
by bringing in research money or by increasing the reputation of the
university. The latter activity can *partly* be achieved by teaching.
And I see part of your confusion.

If a university hires professors to increase revenue, fine. I see no
issue with that. The schools should maximize profit. Eliminate
tenure, hire only the best professors (not the most politically
acceptable) etc. If a university's goal is to actually educate
students, to stay true to those Latin words hammered in stone outside
the front gate, than professors should be hired to educate those
students. When you move between the "we are a public, non-profit
entity involved with educating students" and "we are attempting to
maximize revenue" there is no point in debating. You can use these
two arguments, no matter how irreconciable, whenenver convenient.


I don't understand, though, why they can't both be true. Why can't a
university be interested in educating students and, at the same time,
try to maximize its revenue stream? Why can't you have faculty working
both to educate and to conduct research and bring in research funding?



Sorry for the delayed response, but I just saw this and feel obliged to chime in.

I definitely don't believe that maximizing the revenue stream should be a university priority. Universities are supposed to (1) educate students, and (2) advance the state of knowledge through research and other scholarly activities. They most definitely shouldn't be aiming to make profits or to be run like corporations. I recall that many years ago I was visiting Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS (the Little Apple, baybeee...) and the local campus paper had this article where the president/chancellor was talking about how he was the "CEO" of the university and how he had certain responsibilities towards its "stakeholders." It made my hair stand on end - I'm sorry, but a university is NOT a business and should not operate like one. Unfortunately, we're seeing - more and more- that this is how university presidents view their roles. Increasing endowments and net income dollars is number one on the list.

As research goes, I agree that it's perfectly acceptable to spend time trying to bring in grants to support graduate students (and to help pay for a month or two of your own summer). But the thing that depresses me intensely is that research productivity is so often viewed in terms of dollars - as in "Prof. X has Y thousand dollars in research."
No mention of publications or graduate students mentored or most importantly - research impact. Just dollars! I do have to say there's one thing that backs up Enright's original point (even if it was not in the proper context) - we graduate WAY too many PhD's, and we'd be generally better served if only SOME faculty at SOME universities focused on research and the others focused on teaching.






--
I'm so hip I have trouble seeing over my pelvis.
I'm so cool you can keep a side of meat in me for months.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Obamas Powderkeg
    ... Concentrating on the CORE business and doing what they were HIRED ... If a university hires professors to increase revenue, ... If a university's goal is to actually educate ... students, to stay true to those Latin words hammered in stone outside ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
  • Re: Obamas Powderkeg
    ... Concentrating on the CORE business and doing what they were HIRED ... If a university hires professors to increase revenue, ... students, to stay true to those Latin words hammered in stone outside ... university be interested in educating students and, at the same time, ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
  • Re: Obamas Powderkeg
    ... Concentrating on the CORE business and doing what they were HIRED ... university professors are hired to increase revenue. ... If a university's goal is to actually educate ... students, to stay true to those Latin words hammered in stone outside ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
  • Re: Obamas Powderkeg
    ... Concentrating on the CORE business and doing what they were HIRED ... If a university hires professors to increase revenue, ... students, to stay true to those Latin words hammered in stone outside ... university be interested in educating students and, at the same time, ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
  • Re: Building up a teaching business
    ... guarantee you'll have much more business than you have right now. ... Write a little blurb about why somebody should take lessons and why ... Give a few cards to any friends who will take them. ... Give your existing students some cards. ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)