Travesties by a troika of twits

Shelby Thames believed that USM was not an institution run by a combination of faculty governance and administrative cooperation, but rather an autocracy. Therefore he fired 2 tenured professors for no reason whatsoever.

The resulting protests and court cases cost USM over a million dollars, a mass exodus by the faculty, and basically ended his career as USM president.

Scott Cowen proposed a bold renewal plan for Tulane University, which included the elimination of Newcomb College, the first degree granting college for women in the United States and Louisiana, as well as the elimination of the School of Engineering, which produced such people as the founder of Yahoo and the inventor of the Wood Screw Pump, which keeps New Orleans dry when the incompetently built levees are in place.

He also fired over a hundred MDs from the med school. All of this has made the faculty exodus palpable...like a green wave you could surf.

Now, he has been proposed as a president for Case Western Reserve University, from whence he came, and even Harvard, which, he may not know, has a low threshold for twit-like behavior from administrators. The quicker he leaves, the better off all of New Orleans will be, especially Tulane, and even Lusher. He couldn’t be happy destroying Tulane, he had to impose his rich-boy mentality on the entire New Orleans school district.

Now, we have Loyola University of New Orleans, and their president, Kevin Wildes, has proposed eliminating the programs in Broadcasting and Film, Computer Science and Elementary Education, and suspending the Masters programs in Music Ed, Music Performance, and Music Therapy.

Why?

There is no correct strategic reason, and the fact that Tulane is eliminating CS would lead one to believe that Loyola’s CS program could not help but grow as a result.

Also, the broadcasting program is one of the best in the country, and they are nationally renown for their music school.

All 3 of these university presidents have stepped out of line. The purpose of a university president is to provide a pretty face for parents, alumni and prospective donors, and to suck as much money out of the latter 2 groups as is humanly (or whatever they are) possible. That’s it.

Wildes and Cowen have used Katrina and the resulting man-made disaster and the resulting financial exigency as excuses to impose their will on their universities, and have repeatedly stated that these changes were for the strategic goals of their universities, while steadfastly refusing to proffer any numbers that would either confirm or deny their conclusions.

Something smells really fishy, and it ain’t that seafood warehouse after Katrina.

Comments

[Fitch N. DarDar]

Just finished my commentary on the same topic. As my entry implies, it is strictly a monetary decision. It doesn't matter that broadcast communication is a popular and historically-significant major on campus. The broadcast sequence doesn't make any money. That's my experience in higher ed.

[saintseester]

It's a sad trend that colleges these days are going down the "turn a profit" business path.

Administrators seem to be shifting from the student earns the degree through hard work to "the student is the customer" and the customer comes first. So only the "customers" that help the bottom line the most get to stay and the others, well, RIP Loyola programs, too.

[Fitch N. DarDar]

"The student is the customer." Fuck them. It's going to be their justification to dump liberal arts and humanities from the core curriculum in upcoming years. The "customers" are going to say, "Why the fuck should I be forced to read Plato and Aristotle? I just want an accounting degree so I can get a job." (no offense to accountants intended)

You know that's where it's headed. I'm already starting to see that mentality creep in where I teach.

B.T.W. my post is at http://thethirdbattleofneworleans.blogspot.com/2006/04/loyola-university-dumping-broadcast.html

[Sophmom]

I am a Loyno parent. My son is an English/Writing major. Personally, I was shocked to see that their fine Communication Studies (which includes Film and Advertising) department was scheduled for the axe. This particular cut seems out of place with the rest. There is a period of time set aside for input.

We have patents, so I am often negotiating license agreements. When we draft an agreement, we often intentionally put in provisions that we fully intend to "give up" just so the other party will think they have gained something. I am hoping (perhaps in vain) that Father Wildes' inclusion of th Communication Studies program is a similar strategic device.

[Len]

The only things I know people have gone to Loyola to study (besides Law) are music and communications which I'm sure is linked to broadcast journalism and both are being cut. What's left over there?

[Brownsavvy]

Loyno alum here, 98, biology. Was I the only one who thought the students signs in Roussell (Or was it in Nunemaker?) were hilarious. I saw "Use the Endowement," "What the Fuck?" and my favorite "Don't make me go to LSU!"

[Loyola employee]

I liked "Cut Education? That's Unpossible!!"

[VenkatramReddy]

And I have been to guest lectures where the spkeear gives no humor whatsoever they are the most boring pieces of crap you can see or hear. Phil has been speaking similarly to people in interviews his entire career. I've been into Pantera since 1993 I recall every single interview with him doing the same delivery arrogance that I saw, read or heard in that time. He is saying little things to get the reaction he was looking for or else he would be looking pretty annoyed.

[Ramahi]

You sounded good toghint Phil , he replied What just toghint? . Just kidding man, thanks I appreciate it. Phil puts it on sometimes just to be funny. Other times I think a mix of southern accent, long thought processes and a little arrogance may make him sound more arrogant than he is. Don't mix confidence with arrogance either, and this is a man with a lot of confidence.