Monthly Archives: August 2009

“The youth today,” with a grain o’ salt

Posted on August 18, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Every year, some group at Beloit College comes out with the “Mindset List,” which is basically a list of assumptions about the “kids today” coming to college (at least traditional, 18 or so year-old, first year students, who were born in about 1991). Some of it doesn’t seem to give 18 year-olds enough credit (I think most understand that It’s a Wonderful Life has not always been just on television, just as they probably understand that television itself hasn’t always existed), and some of it gives “adults” too much credit (I can think of lots of 40-somethings who couldn’t tell you what R.S.V.P. means or who would not understand what “Members of Congress have always had to keep their checkbooks balanced since the closing of the House Bank” means).

But some if it is also seems kind if profound to me (“Someone has always been asking: ‘Was Iraq worth a war?’” and “Text has always been hyper”) and some of it just makes me feel old (“There has always been a Cartoon Network” and “Britney Spears has always been heard on classic rock stations”). So enjoy with salt handy.

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Posted in College Fun, In the media..., Student Life

I can see it now: “ENGL 121 Comp II: Researching the Public Experience (brought to you by Ford)”

Posted on August 17, 2009 by | Leave a comment

From today’s Inside Higher Ed comes “Cash for Courses.” Here are the opening paragraphs:

To Don Q. Griffin, it was just an idea. But to many commentators, it endangered academic freedom.

Near the end of June, in the midst of one of the worst budget crises in California history, the City College of San Francisco chancellor told The San Francisco Chronicle that any private donor who gave $6,000 to the institution would have the canceled course of his or her choice revived and named after them.

The critics, including trustees who learned of the chancellor’s idea only after reading about it in the newspaper, wailed. While donors have endowed chairs and entire divisions of colleges for years, this was different, critics said. What would happen, they asked, if — for example — the college offered a health course sponsored by a big alcohol or tobacco company?

After Milton Marks, president of the board of trustees, emphatically told The San Francisco Chronicle that “public education is not for sale” in a retort to the idea, Griffin changed his tune about naming rights. Now, months after tabling the naming idea altogether, Griffin has approached the trustees with a set of guidelines he believes will save courses but maintain the highest integrity in doing so, keeping donors from stipulating usage of their dollars and influencing course content.

I got to say this idea of having courses sponsored by donors doesn’t really bother me a while lot. Obviously, there would have to be some reasonable guidelines along the lines of not having health courses sponsored by Phillip-Morris. But the idea of universities naming stuff after donors is hardly new: I’ve seen arenas, buildings, classrooms, furniture, colleges, entire universities (“Ball State” is an interesting example) named after donors. The notion that public education is not for sale is ludicrous.

So if a donation/sponsorship can save a class from being canceled and help the university, well, why not?

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Posted in Academics, Budgets, In the media...

Jack Kay has a blog

Posted on August 14, 2009 by | Leave a comment

And he appears to be pretty busy with it already: brand-new Provost Jack Kay is keeping a blog where he has (so far) written a bit of a biography, a bit about what it’s like to be provost, etc., etc. In fact, it looks like EMU has made the move to host all sorts of blogs, which I applaud (though I haven’t any details yet how that’s going to work).

Anyway, as we’re still in the honeymoon period with Dr. Kay, I welcome him to EMU and I’ll be curious to read his blog as time goes on. It could be really interesting in all sorts of ways.

And btw, if Dr. Kay or anyone else in Welch Hall wants to post some sort of contribution here….

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Posted in Administrator Life, Blogosphere

Grand Rapids CC bans smoking on campus and will issue tickets

Posted on August 14, 2009 by | 13 Comments

I just heard about this on the radio, but here’s a link to the story via the Grand Rapids News/mlive.com: “You puff, you pay this fall on Grand Rapids Community College Campus.” Here’s a quote:

Grand Rapids Community College is putting some teeth in the campus smoking ban, slapping offenders with fines of up to $30 if they persistently puff.

Starting with the fall semester, campus police are directed to approach smokers, issuing tickets that will lead to mailed warnings and educational literature for first and second offenders, followed by fines — and potential suspensions.

The move was cheered by some students, but others say the college should at least provide designated areas for people to light up.

As the article notes, GRCC has a whole program here and is phasing this in, and at least on paper, it looks to me like they are doing this in a smart way.

Anyway, I’d personally love to see something like this at EMU. It seems to me that the trend around the country is to ban smoking on college campuses, and it’s just inevitable that it’s going to happen at EMU, too. I’d just like to see it happen sooner that later.

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, In the media...

“Should the state authorize CCs to offer certain BA/BS programs?” (I say no, personally)

Posted on August 10, 2009 by | 4 Comments

This came up last week and I thought I’d share it now that I’m back: from the Michigan State University Libraries Red Tape Blog, “Should the State Authorize Community Colleges to Teach Certain Bachelor’s Degree Programs? Opposing Viewpoints.”
Continue reading →

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Posted in Academics, In the media...

We’re #576! (sort of?)

Posted on August 9, 2009 by | 7 Comments

Via my Google news feed and the blogosphere, I came across this morning Forbes’ magazine’s “America’s Best Colleges,” which is a ranking of the top 600 colleges and universities in the U.S. West Point (e.g., The United States Military Academy) is considered #1; EMU is #576.

These lists (U.S. News and World Report’s is the more famous one) are always kind of bizarre, and this one is no different. The top ranked Michigan school is Kalamzoo College, and it comes in at #52 (really?). U of M is at #200, Michigan State is #341, Bowling Green is #566, Central is #574, and Michigan Tech is #575, which strikes me as odd (let’s put all these MAC and Michigan regionals in at the 500s).

The article points out that to be on the list at all is an accomplishment since there are something like 4,000 institutions of higher learning that could be on here, and there are schools I know that I can’t find on the list. But somehow, I don’t think EMU’s marketing department is going to be noting how we finished in this particular ranking.

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Posted in Academics, In the media...

“Eastern Michigan University professor Bud Gibson: Michigan must bump up digital skills”

Posted on August 6, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Speaking of the “illiterate crap” that is annarbor.com: there’s a nice and far from illiterate piece about EMU Professor Bud Gibson and some of his internet/web work, “Eastern Michigan University professor Bud Gibson: Michigan must bump up digital skills.” I’ll take any tips you can send me on leveraging EMUTalk.org for more Google Ad and conversion stuff!

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Posted in Faculty Life, In the media...

annarbor.com is “a pile of illiterate crap”

Posted on August 5, 2009 by | 10 Comments

See Jack Lessenberry’s Metro Times op-ed piece about annarbor.com, “The newspaper scam: It’s more than an online paper: It’s a pile of illiterate crap.” I have a couple of serious reservations about Lessenberry’s take here:

  • The Ann Arbor News wasn’t that great of a newspaper to begin with and had been declining in coverage and such pretty steadily over the last few years;
  • Journalism as an entire profession has, IMO, been “doing us wrong” in this country in how it has been practiced for a number of years. So while I would agree with some of what Lessenberry is saying here, to say that the end of one so-so newspaper in a market with lots of other media is going to spell the end of democracy itself, well, that’s a stretch.

Still, an interesting read, and be sure to look at the comments.

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Posted in In the media...

While up north, I’ll give you a topic: changes you’d like to see to EMUTalk.org for the fall?

Posted on August 2, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Sitedad is currently “up north” in Traverse City– working, believe it or not. I’m teaching a course about teaching with technology as part of the program the continuing education has had up for years and years. So, when I combine this much of the day class with the other class I’m teaching online right now, I’m kind of a busy camper. And as a result, the next week or so are likely to be kind of a summer break here at EMUTalk.org with posts few and far between.

But as I say in my subject line, I do want to give EMUTalk.org regulars a topic: since I will (probably/maybe) be revamping the workings and look of the site in the next few weeks and before the fall term begins (only about a year behind schedule, btw), I’m interested in hearing from regular readers ideas for improving the site. So, a few questions to get you started:

  • Do you like/want to maintain the current singular voice (with occasional contributions I post, of course) of sitedad, or would you like to see a return of some moderated version of the multiple voice/contributor style? My own personal preference is actually toward the latter: I would have personally preferred it had other voices started their own blogs I could have linked to here, but since that hasn’t happened for a variety of reasons, I still would like to do something to encourage more than just me here.
  • Any topics/issues not discussed already that you think ought to be talked about more? Anything you would just as soon see less of?
  • I’m thinking about a layout that would include some discreet and cheap ads– probably something like $5 for a months’ worth– to help sponsor the site. Obviously, there would be some editorial guidance with these ads– e.g., nothing advertising things like the University of Michigan, Nazis, etc.– but otherwise, I’d be open to any local/university-oriented groups that are friends of the show er, site. Any thoughts and/or interest?

And of course, anything else, just let me know. I’ll be checking back off and on during the next couple weeks, though probably not posting much and instead working and meditating on your suggestions.

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Posted in EMUtalk.org News