Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 9, 1993 TAG: 9304120244
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
U.S. COLLEGE SYSTEM DOESN'T NEED `FIXING'
THE TALKING heads have of late directed their bloodthirstiness toward higher education in the United States. The fashionable complaint goes something like this: Universities are just extensions of high schools, and professors are just schoolteachers. Therefore, any time not spent in the [undergraduate] classroom is a waste of resources. The cry is for "more instruction" rather than more "learning," but if instruction is what they desire, I offer the following:
A Ph.D. is not a license for "school marms" but a research degree granted only to those who develop both a command of their discipline and the demonstrated ability to extend that discipline through research.
There are differences (other than spelling) between the words "college" and "university." Traditionally, colleges focus on instruction and grant bachelor's degrees, while universities focus on both research and instruction, and grant bachelor, master, professional and doctor of philosophy degrees. Students can quite easily select the kind of institution they wish to attend. Moreover, the system of accreditation provides a mechanism for transfer of credits should a student choose to attend an alternative institution.
While secondary-school teachers may repeat the same lecture five times per day for years on end (spending half their class time imposing discipline and the other half imposing discipline), university instructors enjoy no such luxury. A teaching assignment may include as many as three separate and distinct courses, which may vary still more from session to session. Each of these courses involves class time, office hours to assist and instruct students on a one-to-one basis and a depth of preparation that the average student (or reporter) does not comprehend. Add to this the time required for student evaluation, committee assignments and student services such as job-placement assistance, and even the most meager course load greatly exceeds a standard 40-hour workweek.
When then do those lazy, sneaky faculty conduct that wasteful research? Drop by a university some evening after 5 p.m., or on Saturday or Sunday mornings. You won't see many undergraduate students hanging around thirsting for knowledge, but you will find most of the graduate students hard at work, and a considerable portion of the faculty meeting their obligation to science.
Now for your test:
Please circle the response which best corresponds to "efficiency." If Albert Einstein were on your faculty, that "resource" would be better used:
A. Conducting research.
B. Working with graduate students.
C. Teaching freshmen how to calculate the area of a cone.
D. None of the above.
There is one industry in the United States that is the envy of all the world, has no peer and where "imports" exceed "exports" a thousandfold. That industry is our system of higher education. It has attracted the brightest and the best, and produces the brightest and the best. It does not need to be "fixed" by the media. CLARK WHEATLEY BLACKSBURG