AIER >> Daily Economy >> Education >> Art and Culture
I will not bore readers with a list of universities that should immediately lose accreditation but instead will argue that any university that implements a stupid policy should lose it because, if nothing else, accreditation should certify that a university is non-stupid.
Accreditation is the “key to the kingdom” of federal and state subsidies and widespread recognition of some minimal level of curricular competence. Most students will not attend a university that is not accredited because they cannot obtain financial aid and most employers will not recognize any coursework or degree as a bona fide credential unless the university is accredited.
But given what is going on at many accredited universities across the country right now, it is unclear why employers draw the line at accreditation. To maintain some semblance of street cred (not to mention Street cred), accreditors need to have some bright line tests and drop schools that cannot pass them. As a former university professor with a quarter century of experience at universities ranging from DeVry to NYU, I suggest the following:
A university should immediately lose accreditation if it:
1. employs more administrators than full-time faculty with some measure of job security. 2. mandates masks for anyone this fall. 3. mandates Covid vaccines for students. 4. is in an NCAA division that it clearly doesn’t merit due to -- excerpt, rest at link above --
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
There would be, what - two or three open accredited universities if these eminently reasonable standards were put in place.
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
Going to have to disagree with several. Accreditation is supposed to be about academic quality, something the writer should be acutely aware of and sensitive to if he was a prof at DeVry during Obama's assault on "for profit" colleges and universities. The list:
1. employs more administrators than full-time faculty with some measure of job security. Largely concur. Such an institution is not devoting its energy to instructing students.
2. mandates masks for anyone this fall. Disagree. Let the marketplace plus input from legislatures for state universities and the courts apply heat to help the administration see the light.
3. mandates Covid vaccines for students. Disagree. Let the marketplace plus input from legislatures for state universities and the courts apply heat to help the administration see the light.
4. is in an NCAA division that it clearly doesn’t merit due to its size and/or the size of its major enrollment catchment areas. Disagree. Not relevant to academic education.
5. has policies that suggest that professors who do not publish can be “great teachers.” Concur. Reward profs who teach well. Publication is marginally relevant to academic education, at best.
6. employs faculty in any department who claim that 2+2=4 is racist. Strongly agree. Anything CTR is academic and intellectual malpractice.
7. thinks it is acceptable to mislead faculty or students about … anything. Only if directly relevant to academic instruction. Courts should handle other grievances, if they are serious.
8. overreacts to anybody’s social media post. (I mean, c’mon, there were outright lies published by Lancet and you’re worried about the opinion of some kid with a hundred followers on Twitbook or Instatok?). Concur. Short of criminal behavior, which is the business of the police, what students do outside of classrooms and their classwork is none of the institution's business.
9. claims that it is committed to diversity but fails to maintain even a semblance of intellectual diversity. Concur. Not fostering intellectual diversity is academic and intellectual malpractice.
10. mandates any other stupid policy or advances any other stupid claim. Only policies and claims relevant to academic instruction. That aside, responding to stupidity with mirror image stupidity is stupid.
Good comments, @Magwitch, but I disagree with your #3..
A.) the vaccine is experimental and should not be mandated for anyone until it has been thouroughly tested and a record of safety and efficacy has been established. Neither have at this point. B) CV 19 is overwhelmingly not dangerous for people under 50 and with no co-morbidities. Forcing an unapproved and untested shot on them is.... well, it's puzzling. Why would anyone want to do that?
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
There are three vaccines, not one "the vaccine". All al currently being administered under Emergency Use Authorization. "Experimental" is a tendentious word game. Both Pfizer and Moderna have started the process that will lead to receiving full FDA approval, a Biologics License. "Experimental" is about to be falsified.
If you thought I approved of mandatory vaccinations, you misunderstood, entirely. I merely pointed out the fact that mandatory masks or vaccinations are irrelevant to academic instruction, and hence irrelevant to Accreditation. Obama used accreditation to attack good "for profit" colleges and universities, DeVry being one such. Uses of accreditation for purpose other than academic instruction should be curtailed, not used as a political or social coercive weapon.
Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:17 pm (Last edited: Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:39 pm)
Unfrozen Cave Water Cooler
1
The Unfrozen Cave
Print view
reply
