In response to what some faculty, students, alumni and Toledo community members see as a campaign against the liberal arts at UT, an online petition calling on the state leadership of Ohio to review UT President Lloyd Jacobs' plan for the university has been gaining support in the last month and a half.
The petition has garnered 879 signatures of UT faculty members, students, Toledo community members and others since April 25.
It claims supporters from 31 states, the nation's capital and eight countries, including Spain, Australia, South Korea, France, Canada and the United States. Most of the supporters, though, are from Northwest Ohio.
The petition is hosted on Gopetition.com, a "leading international petition hosting portal," according to the Web site.
The author of the petition, known only by his or her Gopetition username, "furzepig," faults Jacobs for misinterpreting the message of the 10 Year Strategic Plan for Ohio, written by Ohio's Chancellor of Education Eric Fingerhut.
"Furzepig" specifically accuses Jacobs of engaging in a destructive and inappropriate form of the "differentiation" requested by Fingerhut. He uses this term to describe how academic institutions ought to determine which academic areas on which to focus.
The author elaborates by saying Jacobs is focusing on "areas of excellence" while letting more "traditional areas of scholarly endeavor," the humanities and liberal arts, to weaken.
Supporters of the petition assert that "UT's undergraduates are entitled to a full, broad, and high-quality education comparable to institutions across the country."
Fingerhut's 10 Year Strategic Plan for Ohio, released on March 31, calls for the establishment of the University System of Ohio, a proposed collaboration designed to foster cooperation among Ohio's public and private universities and colleges.
Fingerhut hopes the plan will drive down tuition costs by stopping damaging competition among universities and colleges, making higher education more accessible to Ohioans of all ages and walks of life.
Instead of Ohio colleges and universities competing, Fingerhut said he would like to see them focus on particular "areas of excellence," academic fields that the institution specializes in and for which it is recognized.
For Fingerhut, these "areas of excellence" must be utilized to train Ohioans for a successful and easy transition into the professional and business world, thereby attracting businesses to the area and rejuvenating Ohio's lagging economy.
Along with technical training, as the petition points out, Fingerhut notes the importance of the liberal arts necessary to teach students "the communication skills, creativity, innovation, an understanding of global cultures and history," along with the technical skills needed for success in a globalized economy.
UT's "centers of excellence" have yet to be decided, but there are a number of options present, according to Main Campus Provost Rosemary Haggett.
"There are probably about 25 ideas [for UT's "centers of excellence"] across a broad range of disciplines, but we have to have centers that are matched in the chancellor's strategic plan," she said.
Erik Johanson, an associate professor of music who signed the petition, said Jacobs is downplaying or ignoring the emphasis on the humanities stressed by Fingerhut.
"I think the [chancellor's] plan has a lot of good to do in Ohio's system of higher education," he said. "I do think, however, that President Jacobs is misinterpreting parts of the plan."
Johanson was the 18th person to sign the petition.
"I got onto the [Arts and Sciences Council e Forum] blog, and there was this entry about a petition, and I said, 'Makes sense to me.' I don't see any other way of making the point," he said.
The belief Jacobs regards the humanities at UT negatively or indifferently has been largely fueled by the administration's call to restructure the College of Arts and Sciences and its support of Yueh-Ting Lee, the college's dean, despite the April 15 42-7 vote of no confidence in him by the Arts and Sciences Council.
Referring to the administration's desire to restructure the CAS, Johanson said, "The College of Arts and Sciences has run well for nearly a hundred years, and I don't see where all of a sudden it's falling apart. Well, if it's falling apart, what's the new factor? A new administration."
Haggett, on the other hand, doesn't recognize any destructive differentiation present in Jacobs' plans.
"I do not believe that the plan which I am working on with the president hurts the liberal arts, and in fact what we are doing is trying to put the student in the center of their education and provide them with a broad liberal arts education."
"Furzepig" indicated in a forum post titled "Plans for Petition" on Gopetition.com that all signatures and comments gathered through the petition, which will remain active until June 16, will be directly delivered to Fingerhut when he visits UT the next day.
Copies of the petition will also be sent to local and statewide media, along with publications such as Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of Higher Education, according to the post.
Fingerhut will be on campus for a roundtable discussion on June 17 to discuss "centers of excellence" and his strategic plan.
The petition calls on Ohio's chancellor, board of regents and the governor to clarify the 10 Year Strategic Plan to the UT administration.
Haggett also suggested that a dialogue be developed.
"The petition suggests that we do need to have dialogue over these issues," she said. "When the faculty returns in the fall, I hope that we can have a single or a series of conversations of what it means to be educated in the 21st century."
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