The Role Of Research, Technology Transfer, And Non-Core Education

People attend college or university for several reasons, including exploring hundreds of career opportunities, pursuing their passions, learning critical thinking skills, and achieving their maximum potential. According to Dr. Richard Vedder’s, “For Many, College Isn’t Worth It”, attending college or university is not worth the time, effort, or money – Dr. Richard Vedder wants to solely focus resources on private universities and institutions. Vedder describes how many graduates with Bachelor’s degrees do not even obtain jobs in their specific field and how they will never start a career in their area of academic study. In his article, Richard Vedder describes how there should be more stringent standards placed on college undergraduates; he believes that public universities are not necessary and only private, more elite universities should remain operational. I personally believe that obtaining a college degree from an accredited university is worth the risk and the money, not only for one’s self but for society as a whole. Instead of shutting down undergraduate universities, we should consider raising collegiate admission standards throughout the nation.

A college education is valuable and its quality is of the highest importance to most Americans. In his essay, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students,” Mark Edmundson utilizes ethos, pathos, and logos to effectively deliver his argument that the current educational system, especially in college, revolves around consumerism which in turn has negatively impacted students, teachers, and universities in general. However, although Edmundson presents an overall logically sound argument, there are few instances throughout the article that may hinder the reliability of his claims to the audience.

Higher education in modern day America has become a debated topic, with some saying that it is not worth it due to the debt it leaves upon leaving, and some saying that it opens opportunities that surpass the results of obtaining one. A resulting view from this conflict is that certain forms of education aren’t as beneficial as others. A primary example of one of these less valuable educations is the study of Liberal Arts. Author Sanford J. Ungar discredits this view in his article The New Liberal Arts where he discusses the many misconceptions that have come to form this interpretation. To convince the reader of these misunderstandings, Ungar uses the appeals of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, with heavy appeal to logic (Logos) over the other two. Each misconception uses and focuses on more of one appeal than others, and by doing this, he is very successful in influencing the reader into considering that these misunderstandings are present.

Every higher institution of learning has their own set of myths and history. Some of them may be vaguely true and some may be highly influential. The history of the institution may have a negative effect on those who look to apply or be a part of the institution. The history of a place sets the epitome of future enrollees. Some of the ghosts that haunt any college may have an extremely negative impact on how they are viewed today. This negative perception of the university can lead to strong economic deficits. Throughout trying to combat negative concepts that are thrust upon an institution, they have resolved issues of ethics, violence and, to most importantly, boost cohesion and moral.

Published in Harper's Magazine’s September 1997 issue, Mark Edmundson’s essay, “On the Uses of Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students,” presents a very personal argument for an apparent crisis in liberal education–the lack of passion in students. According to Edmundson, a professor at the University of Virginia, “liberal-arts education is as ineffective as it is now…[because] university culture, like American culture writ large, is, to put it crudely, ever more devoted to consumption and entertainment, to the using and using up of goods and images” (723). He believes that consumer culture is responsible for students’ dispassionate attitude towards his class because they view liberal education as a paid service or product that should cater to their wishes. Further, he writes that universities feed into consumer culture, maintaining a “relationship with students [that] has a solicitous, nearly servile tone” (725). In this way, Edmundson lays out the reasons for why he thinks liberal education is failing.

Hunter Rawlings, the author of College is not a Commodity, protests society’s view of the importance of college and argues the necessity of an education instead of the college title. Rawlings boldly exhibits stereotypical views of college as being unaffordable, creating too much debt, and simply not being worth the hassle. He then goes on to explain his contributing factor the the article, “The value of a degree depends more on the student’s input than on the college’s curriculum.” (paragraph 4) Rawlings displays that a college degree is not just handed to the student, however the expertise of that degree is dependent on the level of education that the student sought to receive. The author inevitably argues that college is not a commodity like

At the beginning of this article he states “colleges and universities are primarily vehicles for the preservation, development and transmission of our intellectual culture (scientific, humanistic and artistic).” He then goes on to explain that we expect colleges and universities to provide

Mark Edmundson, the author of “On the Uses of a Liberal Education”, is an English teacher at the University of Virginia who expresses his concerns about the trajectory of the universities and colleges in America. Edmundson depicts how college students today have “little fire, little passion to be found,” towards their classes (4). In an effort to find the source of this lack of passion, Edmundson describes contacting other professors about this issue while refining his own ideas. Ultimately, Edmundson comes to a conclusion. He believes that the consumer mindset of college students has hindered American universities as a whole. My target audience is my professor, Professor Chezik. Looking closely at his wording, formation of sentences, and idea structure, one can see a recurring theme throughout Edmundson’s essay. Edmundson uses fragments, specifically at the beginning of his paragraphs, to start his point, pose counter arguments, and to have a poetic refrain.

The faculty is entrenched in their ways, and change causes ambiguity and uncertainty. Moreover, the faculty in the organization feel uncertain about the new concepts presented by Dr. Ball to the deans altering their salaries and evaluations (Bolman & Deal, 2013, p. 31). The proposed changes create competition and unrest among the faculty and will shatter the business-as-usual campus conduct and job security. The dean's and faculty are grasping at the symbolic frame, defending their beloved academic lifestyle (Bolman & Deal, 2013, p. 248). The secondary problem in this case is support from the deans of the incentive program that will restore Weston University prestigious reputation as set by the board and developed by the president.

Unfortunately, notwithstanding poet Louisa Fletcher's desire to start over, colleges and universities in the United States will not at any time soon access the Land of Beginning Again. Those institutions must enact meaningful change transitions from where they exist today, and there is much change that is needed. To wit, innovator and strategic management consultant Fred Buining asserts that higher education is in the "eye of the hurricane," which means that leaders, scholars, and educators are not doing enough to meet the challenges they face. Buining suggests that there is "no critical mass" in terms of the changes that are needed in higher education. Moreover, he believes that while today's student in colleges and universities are getting younger the professors and instructors are getting older, issues like cultural diversity and commercialization threaten institutions of higher learning. This paper reviews and critiques scholarly sources that address issues of diversity and commercialization on college and university campuses. Thesis: colleges and universities are in many respects becoming very much like corporations, and this is truly the wrong direction for higher education

America’s education system has been in a state of distress for the past decade, but garnished headlines recently as the student loan debt crisis reached over a trillion dollars. In conjunction with that, tuition is no longer the only obstacle a student faces when considering their future. As generations come and go, universities have slowly, but surely, been angling their education in a way to favor profit over knowledge. Because of the new direction higher education models are taking, Magdalena Kay questions her readers, “is there a problem with students, with teachers, with administrators, or maybe

In addition to Mark Edmundson, Danielle Weiner-Bronner, a young reporter with a history in The Wire and has made appearances in The Huffington Post and Rueters , wrote, “What’s Wrong with American Higher Education” published by Huffington Post in 2011. Bronner, like Edmundson, highlights changing expectations of the American student which consists of developing into a highly regarded, intellectual thinker to financial security (Bronner). At last, while many professionals focus on the flaws of administration’s business pursuits, Greg Lukianoff, tPresident of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and Johnathan Haidt, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business wrote, “The Coddling of the American Mind” where authors

In Simon Young’s essay “Universities, Governments and Industry: Can the Essential Nature of Universities Survive the Drive to Commercialize?” Young implies many universities increase their focus on commercializing rather than focusing to increase a higher branch of learning for university students. Throughout the essay Young voices his concern for this issue through the use of statistics, concrete facts, research and by acknowledging the issue Young is able to inform his readers about the increase rate of commercialization from universities which he believes is a universities purpose. Young notes 40 years of his life were spent at Universities and this allows the gain of credibility. Young’s audience are members of psychiatry and

In the article, “College is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird explains why higher education is not always the right choice for students after high school. The author believes that students do not come to the decision to attend college on their own but they are expected to and pressured by parents, advisors, and society. In the beginning of the article the author argues that colleges use techniques to sell themselves just like any other product on the market. They advertise what they have to offer and tell students what they want to hear. She also feels that campuses, stemming from the riots in the 1960’s, have started to

Floyd claims, “Much of what was written about for-profit colleges prior to the late l990s was either simple advocacy or abstract criticism” (121). Floyd also contends that “the two primary types of for-profit colleges are enterprise institutions and multi campus corporations” (122). Floyd argues that “For-profit colleges have successfully attracted students because they offer degrees in curricula that are in high demand from employers and students … Floyd also upholds that “The developmental direction of the for-profit sector is generally positive; career-oriented education is valued in public policy and by individuals” (123). Floyd suggests that “Many for-profit colleges now offer initial teacher preparation as well as graduate programs in professional education” (123). Floyd believes “70s and 80s, the for-profit sector was viewed as fostering unusual opportunities for access on the part of minorities and women” (124). Floyd asserts that “for-profit colleges successfully fought to loosen federal institutional requirements for Title IV student financial aid restricting the extent of part-time enrollment, online