2008 Woodie Awards
Lost in translation
In Our Opinion
Issue date: 6/9/08 Section: Forum
Few things can be more aggravating or regrettable than when a promising idea, policy or message gets taken up by a pioneer or leading administrator just to be corrupted or misunderstood by its inheritor or the bureaucratic underling charged with its implementation or realization. Such threatens to be the case at UT. If something is not done soon to repair the future path of UT as blazed by UT President Lloyd Jacobs, this institution might forever miss out on the exciting possibilities present in Chancellor Eric Fingerhut's Plan for Higher Education.
Jacobs first mistake is that he doesn't seem to recognize the complementarity between the liberal arts and the STEMM fields, as he routinely indicates the latter as the focal point of Fingerhut's plan. Jacobs said in his interview with The Toledo Business Journal "the governor's Commission on Higher Education and the Economy made the same observations and suggested a need to focus on certain disciplines; the so-called STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines is one approach." The truth of the matter, however, is that Fingerhut explicitly denied this elevation of STEMM over the liberal arts.
Jacobs also has routinely promoted a refashioning of education in a technological format, suggesting in the same interview the future possibility of "most of a course being downloaded on an iPod," where "a pure seminar class" is an abnormality. This treatment of Fingerhut's incorporation of technology transfer via distance learning courses is extreme.
The chancellor only called for this type of course sharing to drive down costs between universities and colleges and to disseminate those technical and professional programs crucial for economic development in an area. A sweeping state-wide distance learning network will only serve to waste the awesome resources as recognized by the chancellor in Ohio's extensive system of physical universities and community colleges.
The administration of this university must review their plan and truly bring it into accord with the sensible vision of Fingerhut and Governor Strickland.
Jacobs first mistake is that he doesn't seem to recognize the complementarity between the liberal arts and the STEMM fields, as he routinely indicates the latter as the focal point of Fingerhut's plan. Jacobs said in his interview with The Toledo Business Journal "the governor's Commission on Higher Education and the Economy made the same observations and suggested a need to focus on certain disciplines; the so-called STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines is one approach." The truth of the matter, however, is that Fingerhut explicitly denied this elevation of STEMM over the liberal arts.
Jacobs also has routinely promoted a refashioning of education in a technological format, suggesting in the same interview the future possibility of "most of a course being downloaded on an iPod," where "a pure seminar class" is an abnormality. This treatment of Fingerhut's incorporation of technology transfer via distance learning courses is extreme.
The chancellor only called for this type of course sharing to drive down costs between universities and colleges and to disseminate those technical and professional programs crucial for economic development in an area. A sweeping state-wide distance learning network will only serve to waste the awesome resources as recognized by the chancellor in Ohio's extensive system of physical universities and community colleges.
The administration of this university must review their plan and truly bring it into accord with the sensible vision of Fingerhut and Governor Strickland.
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