Myles Brand , President of the NCAA died yesterday. I'm going to try not to personalize criticize the guy. I never met him, never knew him, and the only thing he did that I personally didn't care for was his firing of Bobby Knight when some punk provoked him.
But on the NCAA's webpage today, there is a memorial to everything he accomplished in seven years as Executive Director of the NCAA. One of those is "having an unofficial goal of having 80% of all student-athletes graduate." Furthermore, it goes on to say that "Division I student-athletes have stepped closer to that goal every year, with the most recent data showing 79 percent graduating within six years."
Doesn't that seem grossly underachieving? 4/5 of all student-athletes in Division I graduating in SIX years? Shouldn't the goal be four years? And 100%? Maybe if the number of travel trips were restricted - ie - for football, traveling outside your conference no more than once every two years, or for basketball, no more than two a year. Maybe set milage limitations. Or restrict travel for basketball during holiday periods only. Maybe then we'd go alot further to improve that graduation rate.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Man I love College...
One of my newer favorite books is The American College Town, by Blake Gumprecht . It's almost a doctoral thesis, doing research on what defines the college town in America. (I have to read it in pieces in the University of Kansas bookstore since I can't afford the hardcover copy. If you buy me a book , make it a hardcover please.)
It cheered me in the book that one of the college towns that fit Mr. Gumprecht's definition thereof was Hanover, N.H., where I spent the years 1986-2006, with various stops across the river in Norwich, Vt., junior college in Randolph, Vt., and finishing out my degree in Keene, N.H. I love Hanover. If I got a job at Dartmouth, I would move there immediately and never leave. Forgetting the fact that my parents live there - there are so many great things about that town. It's intellectual, it's beautiful, it has a phenomenal school system (of which now five Osheyacks are a product of, with four more [at least] to come.), but most important of all, there is a sense of achievement that permeates the town that thrills me to my very core.
I remember being young, and watching my parents' friends who were in medical school or working on their MBA at Tuck and how successful they seemed. How the world seemed at their feet - because of their education. Looking back on it now - I can't help but draw inspiration from it.
It's why I want to live in a college town. It's why I want to work at a college. It's why I want to raise children in a college town. It's why living in a town like the one I'm in now - and I am, truly am, grateful for having a roof over my head and for the experience of living in a small midwest town - drives me crazy sometimes. There is no pursuit of intellectualism. There is no feeling of individual success. And that's fine - who I am to criticize how people live their lives? But it's not for me.
That's why I can't wait for school. I feel motivated for the first time in a LONG time. Maybe ever. I know what I want out of life. I know a lot about myself that I didn't know two months ago. I can't wait till January.
PS - please buy me the book?
It cheered me in the book that one of the college towns that fit Mr. Gumprecht's definition thereof was Hanover, N.H., where I spent the years 1986-2006, with various stops across the river in Norwich, Vt., junior college in Randolph, Vt., and finishing out my degree in Keene, N.H. I love Hanover. If I got a job at Dartmouth, I would move there immediately and never leave. Forgetting the fact that my parents live there - there are so many great things about that town. It's intellectual, it's beautiful, it has a phenomenal school system (of which now five Osheyacks are a product of, with four more [at least] to come.), but most important of all, there is a sense of achievement that permeates the town that thrills me to my very core.
I remember being young, and watching my parents' friends who were in medical school or working on their MBA at Tuck and how successful they seemed. How the world seemed at their feet - because of their education. Looking back on it now - I can't help but draw inspiration from it.
It's why I want to live in a college town. It's why I want to work at a college. It's why I want to raise children in a college town. It's why living in a town like the one I'm in now - and I am, truly am, grateful for having a roof over my head and for the experience of living in a small midwest town - drives me crazy sometimes. There is no pursuit of intellectualism. There is no feeling of individual success. And that's fine - who I am to criticize how people live their lives? But it's not for me.
That's why I can't wait for school. I feel motivated for the first time in a LONG time. Maybe ever. I know what I want out of life. I know a lot about myself that I didn't know two months ago. I can't wait till January.
PS - please buy me the book?
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
How to turn a conservative into a liberal without really trying...
Or how I turned into one. This probably won't work on any hard-core conservatives. But if you can find a moderate, like I was circa 2007, you may have a winner.
When I made the decision to move to South Florida in 2007, I never once thought how my mediocre college grades would have landed me there. I had always been a firm believer in work over thought, even though I always thought I was smarter than everyone else. I graduated from college with a 2.56 GPA, never thought much of it. I had the job I always wanted at age 24! Some people work for 10 years before they get the title I got. But I was desperate when I accepted the position. My original job had fallen through, I had moved in with my parents again, and this was the first offer I got. There was a 0% chance I wanted to back to Florida. None. I didn't even have a car. I lived on two different peoples' couches for six weeks before I had a place to live. I didn't even know how I was going to back to Florida to begin working until when, as I was in the airport flying home after my interview, I heard a call for my flight say it was overbooked and Airtran was offering free flights for those who would give up their seats. I did, and I did.
And I started work.
And I rather liked it, for the most part.
I'm not going to delve into every instance of what went wrong or right at XY University. (XY because I signed a severance agreement, and who knows if this is "defamatory" or not. I'm not taking any chances.)
But I did notice, almost upon beginning, a very "company" routine, if you will. A X>Y>Z power chain, that I was a part of, that did not deviate from protocol, a very soulless part of a machine used to suck dollars from student's wallets while feeding them an education based on a very conservative dogma of free trade and enterprise.
Little hint that I knew they were conservative: Something about their intolerance of big government. Stunning.
They propagated this cogs in the wheel mantra by hiring plenty of their own alumni. At one point, the following people in the organization were educated by that same institution:
The Director of Human Resources
The Director of Alumni Relations
The Director of Public Relations
The Assistant Director of Public Relations
The Registrar
The Assistant Business Manager
One Academic Advisor
Now I will admit, my experience is higher education is slim. I've worked there for three years. I don't have a Ph.D (yet), and have never taught a class. But I did grow up in the shadow of an Ivy League school (freaking DARTMOUTH, for crying out loud). I did attend a pretty fine liberal arts school (although as noted, I didn't really apply myself) that actually did hire the occasional alum (though not this one. Still love ya, KSC. Someday I will donate.) I still, somehow, doubt, that when an institution has seen enrollment plummet for five straight years, would consistently hire people educated in that same system. Does that make sense? Let me put it another way. When students are leaving your institution at a rapid pace, I wouldn't hurry to scramble up the ones that do stay and put them in important positions at the school. Just me.
Back to politics.
The more and more I became disgusted at my work environment, the more and more I realized that XY was doing nothing but taking money from kids and not giving them an education, the more I realized that some thing was very wrong. This was not what education was. This was the Wal-mart of education. OK, BJs. Expensively priced but utterly worthless. Decisions made at the highest level were not ever fully explained to the specific persons on the respective campuses. People with far reaching levels of celebrity were championed over those who thirsted for common sense and respectable marketing decisions. People without educations at all were hired in critical spots because they were friends. Exceptions were made for student athletes not even on account of their talent, but because of who their coache(s) were. Student-athletes who could not keep a 2.0, or even a 1.0 were kept eligible, while others who saw their GPA dip from a 3.75 to a 3.5 were cast aside.
It soured my very spirit. It was so disheartening to watch children, some brought from across the globe, be so poorly treated on their studies.
I changed political ideologies because of this. I changed it because I know that this cannot be the way that education is headed in this country. I know this is but a small example, but I am forever changed by it. I want to dedicate my life to teaching and education in a proper manner. To truly touch a young person's life. To ensure they exit college with a proper blend of educational, competitive, and life experiences. Not to promote an embarrassment of financial riches, but to make an honest effort to change the world.
Thank you, XY. You have made me see the light - truly.
When I made the decision to move to South Florida in 2007, I never once thought how my mediocre college grades would have landed me there. I had always been a firm believer in work over thought, even though I always thought I was smarter than everyone else. I graduated from college with a 2.56 GPA, never thought much of it. I had the job I always wanted at age 24! Some people work for 10 years before they get the title I got. But I was desperate when I accepted the position. My original job had fallen through, I had moved in with my parents again, and this was the first offer I got. There was a 0% chance I wanted to back to Florida. None. I didn't even have a car. I lived on two different peoples' couches for six weeks before I had a place to live. I didn't even know how I was going to back to Florida to begin working until when, as I was in the airport flying home after my interview, I heard a call for my flight say it was overbooked and Airtran was offering free flights for those who would give up their seats. I did, and I did.
And I started work.
And I rather liked it, for the most part.
I'm not going to delve into every instance of what went wrong or right at XY University. (XY because I signed a severance agreement, and who knows if this is "defamatory" or not. I'm not taking any chances.)
But I did notice, almost upon beginning, a very "company" routine, if you will. A X>Y>Z power chain, that I was a part of, that did not deviate from protocol, a very soulless part of a machine used to suck dollars from student's wallets while feeding them an education based on a very conservative dogma of free trade and enterprise.
Little hint that I knew they were conservative: Something about their intolerance of big government. Stunning.
They propagated this cogs in the wheel mantra by hiring plenty of their own alumni. At one point, the following people in the organization were educated by that same institution:
The Director of Human Resources
The Director of Alumni Relations
The Director of Public Relations
The Assistant Director of Public Relations
The Registrar
The Assistant Business Manager
One Academic Advisor
Now I will admit, my experience is higher education is slim. I've worked there for three years. I don't have a Ph.D (yet), and have never taught a class. But I did grow up in the shadow of an Ivy League school (freaking DARTMOUTH, for crying out loud). I did attend a pretty fine liberal arts school (although as noted, I didn't really apply myself) that actually did hire the occasional alum (though not this one. Still love ya, KSC. Someday I will donate.) I still, somehow, doubt, that when an institution has seen enrollment plummet for five straight years, would consistently hire people educated in that same system. Does that make sense? Let me put it another way. When students are leaving your institution at a rapid pace, I wouldn't hurry to scramble up the ones that do stay and put them in important positions at the school. Just me.
Back to politics.
The more and more I became disgusted at my work environment, the more and more I realized that XY was doing nothing but taking money from kids and not giving them an education, the more I realized that some thing was very wrong. This was not what education was. This was the Wal-mart of education. OK, BJs. Expensively priced but utterly worthless. Decisions made at the highest level were not ever fully explained to the specific persons on the respective campuses. People with far reaching levels of celebrity were championed over those who thirsted for common sense and respectable marketing decisions. People without educations at all were hired in critical spots because they were friends. Exceptions were made for student athletes not even on account of their talent, but because of who their coache(s) were. Student-athletes who could not keep a 2.0, or even a 1.0 were kept eligible, while others who saw their GPA dip from a 3.75 to a 3.5 were cast aside.
It soured my very spirit. It was so disheartening to watch children, some brought from across the globe, be so poorly treated on their studies.
I changed political ideologies because of this. I changed it because I know that this cannot be the way that education is headed in this country. I know this is but a small example, but I am forever changed by it. I want to dedicate my life to teaching and education in a proper manner. To truly touch a young person's life. To ensure they exit college with a proper blend of educational, competitive, and life experiences. Not to promote an embarrassment of financial riches, but to make an honest effort to change the world.
Thank you, XY. You have made me see the light - truly.
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