Hey CTO!

[OrangeinBoston]

I know I should probably post this on the "all other" board, but anyway. What did you make of the recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education? What's the plan to reverse the dip?

 

[cto]

I know I should probably post this on the "all other" board, but anyway. What did you make of the recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education? What's the plan to reverse the dip?

Here's a response in a letter signed by more than 100 faculty members. It think it sums things up very well.

October 4, 2011

To the Chronicle of Higher Education:

To read Robin Wilson's piece about Syracuse University, one would think there were neither women faculty worth talking to nor faculty from under-represented groups or faculty with disabilities, and that one five foot woman with a big laugh had run roughshod over the entire professoriate!

Wilson tells a story of Syracuse University’s “slide.” How could the Chronicle of Higher Education think that this was the story? She quotes a narrow range of faculty in the article, she does not report the strong vote in the University Senate to support diversity at the University, and she engages in a surface reading of what’s happening on campus. In other words, she did very little investigation. We wish Wilson had written an insightful analytical piece addressing the complications that institutions face in their struggle to remain vibrant and competitive in these difficult financial times. She didn’t tell that story, but we wish she had owned up to the story she was writing. Instead, Wilson told a story of how a group of faculty has resisted the chancellor’s efforts without informing her readers that this was the story she was writing: that a small group of faculty have opposed work to make Syracuse University important in the field of higher education and in the world. We are deeply disappointed in the poor level of journalism represented by Wilson’s piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

When the article quotes faculty saying that the university must choose between being selective or inclusive, as if those goals were opposed to each other, it suggests that including low income students, and students with disabilities or wanting our students to be more racially and ethnically diverse counters selectivity or quality. Not only are selectivity and inclusivity not opposed to each other, but framing the changing national demographics this way represents people in these groups as “other,” and shows no concern with how those people who are being “included” would hear how they are represented. The country is changing, the world is changing and universities elsewhere are working to address the question of how to build a vibrant student body while supporting faculty to do their compelling work and engaging their communities. The fact that SU has a commitment to offer greater support for lower income students than other comparable universities is one of the reasons we have been able to attract a distinguished and competitive faculty.

We wish that Wilson had told the story of Syracuse University’s rise to an engaged, dynamic, competitive campus that has a visionary leader and is setting the stage for the future of higher education.

Sincerely,

Syracuse University faculty members:
Sari Knopp Biklen, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education, School of Education
Linda Carty, Associate Professor, African American Studies, College of Arts and Sciences and Sociology, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Jackie Cuevas, Assistant Professor, Women's and Gender Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
Paula Johnson, Professor of Law, College of Law
Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Professor, Women's and Gender Studies, College of Arts and Sciences; Dean's Professor of the Humanities
Jackie Orr, Associate Professor, Sociology, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Silvio Torres-Saillant, Professor, English Department, College of Arts and Sciences
Barbara Applebaum, Associate Professor and Chair, Cultural Foundations of Education, School of Education
Alan Foley, Maxyne and Karen Alexander Professorship of Adaptive Technology, Associate Professor, Instructional Design Development and Evaluation, School of Education
Stephen Kuusisto, Director, Renée Crown University Honors Program; Professor, Disability Studies
Timothy Eatman, Assistant Professor, Higher Education, School of Education; Director for Research, Imagining America
Christy Ashby, Assistant Professor, Teaching and Leadership Department, School of Education
Beth Ferri, Associate Professor, Teaching and Leadership, School of Education
Cathy Engstrom, Associate Professor and Department Chair, Higher Education, School of Education
Kathy Hinchman, Professor, Reading and Language Arts, School of Education
Marcelle Haddix, Assistant Professor, Reading and Language Arts, School of Education
Jeff Mangram, Assistant Professor, Teaching and Leadership, School of Education
Richard Shin, Associate Professor, Counseling and Human Services, School of Education
Jing Lei, Associate Professor, Instructional Design Development and Evaluation, School of Education
Qiu Wang, Assistant Professor, Higher Education, School of Education
Dawn Johnson, Assistant Professor, Higher Education, School of Education
Steven J. Taylor, Centennial Professor of Disability Studies and Director, Center on Disability Studies, Law and Human Policy, School of Education
Arlene Kanter, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence; Professor of Law, College of Law; Director, Disability Law and Policy Program; Co-Director, Syracuse University Center on Disability Studies, Law, and Human Policy
Michael Schwartz, Associate Professor of Law, College of Law; Director, Disability Rights Clinic
Leslie Bender, Professor of Law, College of Law
Kendall Phillips, Professor, Department of Design, and Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, College of Visual and Performing Arts
Don Mitchell, Distinguished Professor, Geography, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Emily Robertson, Dual Associate Professor, Education and Philosophy, School of Education and College of Arts and Sciences
Mario Rios Perez, Assistant Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education, School of Education
Marjorie DeVault, Maxwell Professor of Teaching Excellence, Professor, Sociology, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Vincent Lloyd, Assistant Professor of Continental Philosophy of Religion, Department of Religion, College of Arts and Sciences
Jan Cohen-Cruz, Professor, College of Visual and Performing Arts; Director, Imagining America
LaVonda Reed-Huff, Professor of Law, College of Law
Kelly Chandler-Olcott, Professor and Department Chair, Reading and Language Arts, School of Education
Shobha Bhatia, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence, Civil and Environmental Engineering, L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science
Deborah Kenn, Associate Dean of Clinical and Experiential Education; Professor of Law, College of Law;
Rachel Ann Gazdick, Instructor, Communication and Rhetorical Studies, College of Visual and Performing Arts
Immaculada Lara-Bonnilla, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, College of Arts and Sciences.
Derrick L. Cogburn, Associate Professor, School of Information Studies
Diane Murphy, Dean and Associate Professor, Social Work, College of Human Ecology
Evan Weissman, Assistant Professor, Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics
Arthur R. Flowers, Assistant Professor of English, College of Arts and Sciences
Anne T. Demo, Assistant Professor, Communication and Rhetorical Studies, College of Visual and Performing Arts
Katherine E. McDonald, Assistant Professor, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics; Faculty Fellow, Burton Blatt Institute
Gwendolyn Pough, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, Writing and Rhetoric, College of Arts and Sciences
Robin Riley, Assistant Professor, Women's and Gender Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
Cecilia Green, Associate Professor, Sociology, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Carol Fadda-Conrey, Assistant Professor of English, College of Arts and Sciences
Michael Schoonmaker, Chair, Television-Radio-Film; Associate Professor, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Michael Burkard, Associate Professor of English, College of Arts and Sciences
Vivian May, Associate Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
Micere Mugo, Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence Professor of African American Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor, Television and Popular Culture, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications; Founding Director, Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture
Richard Breyer, Co-director, Department of Documentary Film and History and Professor, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Richard Dubin, Professor of Practice, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Tula Goenka, Associate Professor, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Alejandro Garcia, Professor, School of Social Work, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics
George Theoharis, Associate Professor, Teaching and Leadership, School of Education
Marion Wilson, Associate Professor, Department of Art, College of Visual and Performing Arts
Janis McDonald, Professor of Law, Co-Director of the Cold Case Justice Initiative (“CCJI”), College of Law
Stephen Mahan, Director and Artist in Residence, Literacy and Photography Project, College of Visual Arts and Burton Blatt Institute
Suzette Menendez, Lecturer and Director of Children’s Rights and Family Law Clinic, Academic Co-Director of Syracuse Medical-Legal Partnership, College of Law
John Wolohan, Professor, Department of Sport Management, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics
Eric Kingson, Professor, School of Social Work, College of Human Ecology; Professor of Public Administration, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Gretchen Purser, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Thomas M. Keck, Chair, Department of Political Science; Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Sandra D. Lane, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor, Professor of Public Health and Anthropology, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics
Dalia Rodriguez, Associate Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education, School of Education
Rachel Brown, Associate Professor, Reading and Language Arts Center, School of Education
Gretchen Lopez, Assistant Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education and Director, Intergroup Dialogue Program, School of Education
Andrew London, Professor and Chair, Sociology, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Kathleen King, Research Assistant Professor, Exercise Science, School of Education
Zaline M. Roy-Campbell, Coordinator, Program in Teaching English Language Learners, Reading and Language Arts Center, School of Education
Romita Ray, Assistant Professor, Art History, Department of Art and Music Histories, College of Arts and Sciences
Robert Wilson, Assistant Professor, Geography, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Tom Keck, Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics, Chair, Department of Political Science, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Robert A. Rubinstein, Professor of Anthropology and International Relations, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Amy Lutz, Associate Professor, Sociology, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Kira Kristal Reed, Assistant Professor, Management Department, Martin J. Whitman School of Management
Kimi Takesue, Assistant Professor, Department of Transmedia, College of Visual and Performing Arts
Mark Glauser, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science
Harvey Teres, Professor, Department of English, Director, Judaic Studies Program; College of Arts and Sciences
Larry Elin, Associate Professor, Television Radio Film, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Brian Lonsway, Associate Professor, School of Architecture
Janet Wilmoth, Professor, Sociology, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Stephen Sawyer, Professor of Information Studies, School of Information Studies
Gina Lee-Glauser, Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science; Vice-President for Research
Peter Vanable, Chair, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
Can Isik, Senior Associate Dean, L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science
Arthur Paris, Associate Professor, Sociology Department, Maxwell School
Julia Loughlin, Professor Emerita, Sociology Department, Maxwell School
Mark Monmonier, Distinguished Professor of Geography, Maxwell
Bradford Vivian, Associate Professor, Communication and Rhetorical Studies, College of Visual and Performing Arts
Yingyi Ma, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Maxwell School
Jeffrey Stanton, Professor, School of Information Studies
Roger Hallas, Associate Professor, Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences
Dessa Bergen-Cico, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition, David B. Falk College
Susan Borker, Associate Professor Emerita of Sociology, Maxwell School
Richard Loder, Professor of Sociology, Maxwell School
William Kelleher, Associate Professor of Anthroplogy, Maxwell School
Renee E. Franklin, Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies
Carrie J. Smith, Associate Professor, Social Work, Falk School
Barbara Kwasnik, Professor, School of Information Studies
Ruth Small, Laura and Douglas Meredith Professor, School of Information Studies
R. David Lankes, Professor, School of Information Studies

 

[OrangeinBoston]

Thanks!

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Sounds like shooting the messenger
IMHO by adding any criteria other than excellence the pool is depleted
That is not to say that other criteria may or may not be important to the school but find that from great candidates

When I was in grad school at SU you knew on the first semester who was there who should not have been, either by AA or legacy exceptions


Sent from my Vortex using Tapatalk

 

[Millhouse]

Sounds like shooting the messenger
IMHO by adding any criteria other than excellence the pool is depleted
That is not to say that other criteria may or may not be important to the school but find that from great candidates

When I was in grad school at SU you knew on the first semester who was there who should not have been, either by AA or legacy exceptions

Sent from my Vortex using Tapatalk

Are there other examples of schools who are able to successfully dismiss rankings?

If US News is mysterious, Cantor is more so. I don't see much in the way of measurement from her. Lots of talk about "new normal" and "public good"

 

[tipphill]

i believe the current strategy by cantor, although noble in goals, is not appropriate for syracuse. she is in fact bringing a state school mentality to a private school. unless her ultimate goal is to become part of the suny system it does not fit with su.
look at the major privates, northwestern, rice, wake,duke,notre dame,vandy, just off the top of my head. almost all have strong hard science research, most with med schools or affiliation, and other professional schools. i believe although admirable, the direction seems to be too much on inclusion, and not enough on growth/ establishment of professional schools. with out that su will continue to fall in the rankings and perception of other schools.
she needs to enhance the law school, and develope significant reseach facilities, establish a coop relationship with upstate med school or other suny med schools (not sure su has one)
yes we have newhouse and maxwell, which are a#1, but we need to enhance our presence in other areas. why is the law school rated 100th?

 

[rrlbees]

i believe the current strategy by cantor, although noble in goals, is not appropriate for syracuse. she is in fact bringing a state school mentality to a private school. unless her ultimate goal is to become part of the suny system it does not fit with su.
look at the major privates, northwestern, rice, wake,duke,notre dame,vandy, just off the top of my head. almost all have strong hard science research, most with med schools or affiliation, and other professional schools. i believe although admirable, the direction seems to be too much on inclusion, and not enough on growth/ establishment of professional schools. with out that su will continue to fall in the rankings and perception of other schools.
she needs to enhance the law school, and develope significant reseach facilities, establish a coop relationship with upstate med school or other suny med schools (not sure su has one)
yes we have newhouse and maxwell, which are a#1, but we need to enhance our presence in other areas. why is the law school rated 100th?

Well they are building a new $90M law building. Right in the middle of football and tailgate parking.

 

[cmr27]

Just like the student response to the story, that letter reads like an Onion parody of academic group-think. I love the appearance of the "other" -- Saussere and Foucault would be proud.

 

[dash-30-dash]

Just to echo what others have said, Here are the facts, we were ranked 40th and now we are ranked 62. Just as Cantor fired P for his failing record, she needs to go. This is not the right plan for Syracuse. She is not the right person for Syracuse. Quite frankly, the response by Syracuse was to say the least, disappointing. Just a lot of spin.

 

[tipphill]

rrlbees: maybe i am thinking in the wrong direction. perhaps enhancing what we already have and marketing them as premier schools (information management, architecture, engineering) is a better option. but i still believe that a medical school affiliation will go a long way in su perception., as well as upgrading the law school.

 

[Millhouse]

Just to echo what others have said, Here are the facts, we were ranked 40th and now we are ranked 62. Just as Cantor fired P for his failing record, she needs to go. This is not the right plan for Syracuse. She is not the right person for Syracuse. Quite frankly, the response by Syracuse was to say the least, disappointing. Just a lot of spin.

when i was there in mid 90s there were some pretty embarrassing giant banners in SOM hailing top 40 status. i'm sure individual schools can do what they want and cantor wasn't there, but as an institution, they weren't so skeptical of rankings when they went in their favor.

 

[tipphill]

Just to echo what others have said, Here are the facts, we were ranked 40th and now we are ranked 62. Just as Cantor fired P for his failing record, she needs to go. This is not the right plan for Syracuse. She is not the right person for Syracuse. Quite frankly, the response by Syracuse was to say the least, disappointing. Just a lot of spin.

very few hard science people in those listed. i get the feeling that the liberal "at all cost"agenda is in control. by nature i am middle of the road and independent, what is troublesome as there does not appear to be a balance anywhere,but,those at su who disagree with the direction, cannot respond for career purposes. i do not know who "governs and sanctions this direction---does anyone know??are they trustees, some sort of board? cantor i believe is truly energetic, dynamic and intellectual, but does not seem to fit for a smallish private school. how's her fund raising been?? i hope great. i am certain i don't see the whole picture

 

[OttoMets]

why is the law school rated 100th?

Because it is a mediocre quasi-regional school with outdated buildings, a 70% New York State bar passage rate, and a bunch of undereducated kids who are looking to trade-school their way to a J.D.

 

[OttoMets]

very few hard science people in those listed. i get the feeling that the liberal "at all cost"agenda is in control. by nature i am middle of the road and independent, what is troublesome as there does not appear to be a balance anywhere,but,those at su who disagree with the direction, cannot respond for career purposes. i do not know who "governs and sanctions this direction---does anyone know??are they trustees, some sort of board? cantor i believe is truly energetic, dynamic and intellectual, but does not seem to fit for a smallish private school. how's her fund raising been?? i hope great. i am certain i don't see the whole picture

The fund-raising has been tremendous, helped greatly by programs such as this: http://www.dailyorange.com/news/opp...-su-creates-exclusive-opportunities-1.2645997
Great for recruiting, great for brand exposure, and great for cultivating some very successful alumni (not to mention great for work opportunities for the students).

You'll hear that hard sciences have gotten shorted in some ways. This may be true, to an extent. One of the respondents in one of those articles mentioned the success of the new Biomaterials Institute in Bowne. They're going good things. Hopefully SU increases its emphasis on hard sciences through organizations such as that and the Center of Excellence.

The business school's recent work with veterans is also getting positive national recognition. Not hard science-y at all, of course, but something that everyone can get behind.

 

[Czar]

Because it is a mediocre quasi-regional school with outdated buildings, a 70% New York State bar passage rate, and a bunch of undereducated kids who are looking to trade-school their way to a J.D.

Also they aren't as good at gaming the numbers like other law schools

 

[OttoMets]

Also they aren't as good at gaming the numbers like other law schools

Could be. I know many schools have been hiring recent grads to do part-time administrative work so they can boast that 90-odd percent of graduates are employed 12 months after graduation. I don't know if we do that.

 

[OrangeMojo]

I know I should probably post this on the "all other" board, but anyway. What did you make of the recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education? What's the plan to reverse the dip?

if selectivity and inclusivity are not opposed as the letter suggests, then how do they explain the fall in the rankings? they seem like they're going to state their case against that argument in the letter, and then change mid-sentence to say that making that point would make some people feel bad. I'm not an alum so I don't have any skin in this - but that was a very weak response to an article about why the university seems to be falling in the rankings and to me says a lot about why they are in fact falling.

 

[DPCuse]

The rankings are a bit of a crock. For one, several things like expenses per student are factored in. So when your student enrollment rises like SU's has, it hurts this particular ratio and makes it look like the students are being jipped on resources. Schools are rewarded for overspending which in turn increases tuition. It is a viscious circle. The increased enrollment also hurts the student/faculty ratio. When you have a spike on your enrollment numbers in a given year, you aren't going to hire a bunch of full time faculty members because when that large class leaves, you don't need the faculty any more. They also count alumni participation that give back to the school. Schools try to get their alumns to give just $1 so they can say we have xx% contributing back to our school. It doesn't measure the amount they are giving back. There are so many of these little nuances that skew these rankings. They really should get rid of these rankings because they drive up the cost of higher education at the end of the day.

 

[dash-30-dash]

well, that doesn't make up for a 40 to 62 drop. If what you write is true, a national academic newspaper would know it and factor that in to their ratings. They didn't.

 

[tipphill]

The rankings are a bit of a crock. For one, several things like expenses per student are factored in. So when your student enrollment rises like SU's has, it hurts this particular ratio and makes it look like the students are being jipped on resources. Schools are rewarded for overspending which in turn increases tuition. It is a viscious circle. The increased enrollment also hurts the student/faculty ratio. When you have a spike on your enrollment numbers in a given year, you aren't going to hire a bunch of full time faculty members because when that large class leaves, you don't need the faculty any more. They also count alumni participation that give back to the school. Schools try to get their alumns to give just $1 so they can say we have xx% contributing back to our school. It doesn't measure the amount they are giving back. There are so many of these little nuances that skew these rankings. They really should get rid of these rankings because they drive up the cost of higher education at the end of the day.

sorry--perception is EVERYTHING---witness pozi schemes---i don't dispute the argument--but it is not relevant to the general public. do i believe us news as gospel? no!!!! but the majority does----however i still question cantors mission it does not appear to be relevant to su. you expect the viewing public to examine your points closely, when in reality, your points do not exist for them and further they do not care. the ratings are unfortunately here to stay in one form or another---

 

[Madbiker]

So the majority of faculty is supporting the pious attitude that academic standards should be sacrificed to further diversity for the greater good? Why are the two mutually exclusive? Many other institutions have found a way to accomplish that without tanking their academic standard. Sounds like they're just taking the easy way (and inappropriate way) out. Cantor's performance needs to be held to account. Alumni don't want the academic standard and reputation diminished. Cantor needs to do her job better.

 

[Millhouse]

The rankings are a bit of a crock. For one, several things like expenses per student are factored in. So when your student enrollment rises like SU's has, it hurts this particular ratio and makes it look like the students are being jipped on resources. Schools are rewarded for overspending which in turn increases tuition. It is a viscious circle. The increased enrollment also hurts the student/faculty ratio. When you have a spike on your enrollment numbers in a given year, you aren't going to hire a bunch of full time faculty members because when that large class leaves, you don't need the faculty any more. They also count alumni participation that give back to the school. Schools try to get their alumns to give just $1 so they can say we have xx% contributing back to our school. It doesn't measure the amount they are giving back. There are so many of these little nuances that skew these rankings. They really should get rid of these rankings because they drive up the cost of higher education at the end of the day.

i'd love to know how cantor measures her success

 

[Noexcuse]

i'd love to know how cantor measures her success

She's taller than Donna Schalala. That's good enough.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Whitman is always puffing their chest about rankings, etc, etc. They love it... It's kind of annoying really

I know for a fact that there is no way ESF lets a student of my caliber through their doors today. It has gotten pretty competitive. Anyone seen the ESF dorms with the Stickley furniture in them? Not shabby

 

[Millhouse]

Whitman is always puffing their chest about rankings, etc, etc. They love it... It's kind of annoying really

I know for a fact that there is no way ESF lets a student of my caliber through their doors today. It has gotten pretty competitive. Anyone seen the ESF dorms with the Stickley furniture in them? Not shabby

yeah, a little embarrassing. great we're top 40, do we really need to pat ourselves on the back with a flag that even perkins would think is obnoxiously big