Announcements:
Class- Facilitated by Andres, Elena, and Isabel
Some questions that came up during the discussion:
- Bibliography Project- off the syllabus (for now)
Class- Facilitated by Andres, Elena, and Isabel
- Group 1 Readings
- Schrecker- “The Lost Soul of HIgher Education”
- Chapter 6- The encroachment of neoliberalism on the academy with a reward system that distance academia from the classroom.
- Schrecker- “The Lost Soul of HIgher Education”
- outside economy dictates what students are studying.
- Defining neoliberalism- (students and professor defined neoliberalism. This is a loose summary of their said)
- Elena- privatization and the trust of business
- Sam- More responsibility on the individual instead of the society.
- Steve- Brings together the competition on a global scale (globalization). The replacement of industrial capital with financial capital with financial capital. (Doesn’t see people as the consumer.)
- Chapter 7 →
- The plight of adjuncts
- Unequal benefits, pay, and/or resources
- impermanent contracts
- fired for voicing dissent opinions
- The (losing) struggles from academic freedom
- Ernest Boyer calls for a reconceptualization of scholarly work that would restore undergrad teaching and service activities to their central position within the academic profession
- The plight of adjuncts
- Epilogue→
- administrations usually acting unilaterally, sometimes by implementing long-sought strategic plans without consulting facilities
- Is this an opportunity to “get under control”?
- systemic approach to change.
- Need to improve productivity.
- The increasing vocationalization of the academy now determines what so many Americans do and do not learn.
- The professoriate’s acquiescence has led to its own casualization.
- Zweigenhaft, “Is This Curriculum for Sale?”
- The privatization of curricula
- The removal of academic freedom in the academy
- The combination of the realities led to a “name your price” attitude towards courses
- Group 2 Readings
- Suzanne Mettler- Degrees of Inequality
- Chapter 3- “Unscrupulous Profiteers”
- For-profits has become a corrupted sector of higher education.
- victimize students of color and low-income students
- absorbs federal gov’t funding and lead students to borrow a lot of loans.
- Why does the gov’t support this?
- For-profits has become a corrupted sector of higher education.
- Chapter 3- “Unscrupulous Profiteers”
- Suzanne Mettler- Degrees of Inequality
- Chapter 4- “From Pioneer to Slacker”
- State schools enrollment has increased, while gov’t support has decreased.
- Chapter 5- “Opportune Moments”
- Why are we talking more about higher education now?
- Politicians started to talk about this because of polarization, increased voting participation by students, reports on corrupt leaders, decreased funding of the GI Bill, the economic crash, and Obama’s presidential campaign platform was on access to higher education for low and middle class students.
- Why are we talking more about higher education now?
- Chapter 6- “How Money Talks”
- For-profits universities and colleges have been increasing their roles in higher education
- They started to lobby more once Obama took office. Losing political power would harm the business.
- For-profits universities and colleges have been increasing their roles in higher education
- Martin, Chapter 1: “The Ends of Education”
- Traditions universities act more like business.
- A good model for business and education is to combine craft, art, and science.
- Higher Education focuses on measurable outcomes which destroys higher education’s pursuit of truth.
- Martin, Chapter 5: “The Work of Administration”
- Public v. Private President
- Hire presidents who do not comes from the campus community. They usually last for 6 years and become managers of the college instead of trying to uphold the college’s integrity and creating long-term goals for the college- like an insider would.
- Public v. Private President
- Discussion
- Important Themes:
- Massive impact on neoliberalism on Higher Education
- Money’s impact on higher education and its future
- Where does pressures need to be placed in order to restore autonomy and minimize the business aspect of education and who needs to do it?
Some questions that came up during the discussion:
- Was there a time when higher education was autonomous?
- How can we create change in the institution if we don’t know where power lies within the institution?
- Oberlin → Board of Trustees (Trustee Meeting is October 8th at 9:30pm throughout King)
- Oberlin → Board of Trustees (Trustee Meeting is October 8th at 9:30pm throughout King)