Posted on 12/18/2014 5:41:27 AM PST by reaganaut1
In July, I wrote about the pressure that University of Wisconsin officials have been exerting on the faculty for greater “equity” on campus.
My “Madness in Madison” essay pointed out that university administrators are so caught up in egalitarian groupthink that they want to reduce or eliminate differences in students’ choice of majors and in the distribution of grades.
That essay elicited a defensive reaction from the university. Chief Diversity Officer Patrick Sims stated in a July 22, 2014 press release that UW’s diversity plan does not entail “a quota system for apportioning grades by race.”
Bringing up quotas, however, is a distraction from the plan’s impact—a red herring.
UW-Madison’s new diversity plan, “A Framework for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence,” calls for the elimination of the grade gap, but in a veiled way that never uses the word "quota." Unfortunately, the result will hardly be any different than if it did.
A bit of history will set the stage.
UW-Madison has been moving toward egalitarian grading since 2008 when the university began reporting to departments and instructors the rates of D, F, and drop grades by gender, first-generation college status, and targeted minority status.
That sent a message to the faculty that they’d better pay close attention to low grades for students in certain groups.
The 2009 UW System’s “Inclusive Excellence Framework” insisted upon "proportional participation of historically underrepresented racial-ethnic groups at all levels of an institution . . . and in the distribution of grades."
In plain English, this meant that the university was determined to have equal grades for all groups.
(Excerpt) Read more at popecenter.org ...
Which utterly invalidates the GPA of any “protected group” student matriculating from that University. With companies making bachelor degrees a requirement for hiring, how could any manager be confident that the minority candidate they want to hire can actually do the work?
Essentially, U-Wisconsin is now a diploma mill for anyone in their “protected” categories.
The facts are getting in the way of their group think philosophy.
People might deserve equal chances but what can they do.
Unless taxpayer supported tenure is abolished, this and other culture destroying harebrained left wing nonsense will only get worse.
So, Social Promotion is alive and well in Wisconsin? I hope employers take note when considering hiring any graduates from here. These people don’t want equal opportunity, they want equal outcomes. The degradation of the American Dream continues...........
Yes, and it starts early. Many of the schools in Madison won’t fail or hold anyone back because it’s bad for their self esteem.
Meanwhile, cows flee Wisconsin for California....... go figure
The fact the university has a diversity officer is prima fascie evidence of racism
The university of Wisconsin is racist to the core
So, who is most damaged by this racial treatment of grades? The minority who truly earned the A.
I can’t say how many will be injured as in my entire 30-plus year career, I only knew one black professional who was exceptional. Of the rest who were competent, they had such an air of entitlement that it was hard to get work out of them so who knew what they were really capable of? Others had engineering degrees that were not worth their weight in toilet paper.
Students that study hard and do well should sue. This devalues their degree that they’ve payed a lot of money for. The university has no right to devalue it.
I’m sick and tired of these institutions forcing their fantasy land on everyone. They act outside of the law and think they get to decide right/wrong regardless of what the real world demands. As there’s no other avenue to attain a quality education, at least that is recognized, they think they can do whatever they want.
They don’t seem to see students as customers that deserve what they’ve paid for - which includes maintaining the integrity of the earned degrees/grades.
People forget the great rule: “Whenever everybody has “Rights” nobody has “Rights.”
“Essentially, U-Wisconsin is now a diploma mill for anyone in their “protected” categories.”
It’s also an expensive sleepaway camp for the rest.
If tenure is abolished on campus then the liberals will have 100% control of the faculty instead of the current imbalance. It is still a rarity but there are a few professors who are not lefties on most campuses and the only reason they are there is their tenure. Be careful what you wish for.
If the support were to dwindle these crapbirds would be forced to fly elsewhere. It is incredibly damaging to a culture over the long haul to have give these lowlifes a taxpayer supported permanent nest. They need to be disrupted and stop being subsidized by the people they wish to destroy. If there were truly a free market, good conservative educators would have no trouble being employed.
This and the other insidious stupidity and egregious costs in higher education will only end when state legislatures put their foot down.
It starts with a simple axiom: “The purpose of the state subsidy for education is so that graduates have the opportunity to advance further and earn more in their careers. If part of this subsidy does not directly contribute to this, then it must be eliminated as wasteful and distracting.”
The the state compiles a list of majors offered by the universities, compared with the number of graduates who are placed in jobs associated with that major within six months to a year.
At the top of the list are high placement majors. At the bottom are majors where there is no, zero, demand for graduates, so none are placed. Very objectively, these majors should no longer be subsidized by the state.
The next, more detailed study, is of college courses that are not part of a major, but are “electives”. Universities have dozens or hundreds of these courses that contribute nothing, and are extraneous wastes of time and money. Yet while there may be a limited “cross training” value in students taking a few of these, for the most part they should not be paid for by the state, and nor more than a minimum number required for graduation.
Since “egalitarianism” and the vast amount of other politically correct bulldada has nothing to do with education, there is absolutely no reason for the state to pay for any of it.
Finally, states should enact strict limits on student debt. That unless students get grants, scholarships, or other non-debt funding; *or*, their degree is regarded as so critical that it is fully funded, tuition should be market based. If it is too high to attract students, then it needs to be lowered, with cutbacks in spending if necessary.
Elimination of the “grade gap” is accomplished by elimination of the performance gap.
“All the children are above average”. Well, UW seems hellbent on denying that any favored students are achieving below average.
This should be extended to all aspects of the university. As a height-challenged person, I believe the NCAA should impose a rule requiring at least one basketball player under six feet tall to be in the game at all times.
Hey TC, where did you get that artwork. Love it!
No D’s and F’s for ‘protected’ groups at UW Madison?
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
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