Perhaps you have read about Bhutan and its measurement of Gross National Happiness an idea that definitely has my support. At a recent visit to Technologico de Monterrey in Mexico as well as its sister institution Universidad TecMilenio, I was somewhat surprised to find that they have taken institutional ownership of the concept of happiness in a serious way. A brief search on happiness reveals a mixture of results from fairly serious articles on positive psychology to some shall we say less peer reviewed views on what makes for happy people. However, no doubt that many people are taking the whole concept of happiness very seriously indeed. Continue reading “Undergrad Curriculum Based on Happiness?”
Block Curriculum
I recently visited Quest University in Squamish, BC. Aside from the most beautiful setting Quest is an interesting university on a number of fronts. Here are a few:
- It is a private not-for-profit, I believe it is the only Canadian private secular university, but I could be wrong.
- Tuition is $34,000 and accommodation and meals are additional.
- It is fully residential (on-campus) for all four years of the undergraduate program.
- Maximum class size is 20.
- There is only one program a Bachelor of Arts and Science.
- Freshman class intake targets around 200 students.
- About 17% international, 46% Canadian and 37% US (the US and Canadian numbers have just reversed for the Sept 17 intake).
- Faculty contracts are initially for 1 year, renewable for a further 2 years, then 3 years and then 6 years, there is no tenure and no ranks.
- They do not have an academic senate but have an academic council.
- Classes are delivered via a block curriculum.
The Slow Professor
I must admit to reading this book with some trepidation. As a university administrator (and male) I expected to come out of this read feeling pretty bad about myself. As it turned out this was only partially true. Continue reading “The Slow Professor”
We’re Losing Our Minds
Rethinking American Higher Education by Richard Keeling and Richard Hersh is yet another book describing the train wreck that is higher education and demanding change. I have to admit to being somewhat tired of reading about the dreadful state of higher education but this book goes beyond that with a detailed prescription of what we need to do (which is also subject to some debate.
Disciplines RIP?
All the talk these days is about interdisciplinary studies. Not new, in particular, but the volume seems to be increasing. The disciplines are accused of producing graduates that too narrowly focussed and unable to think particularly critically. The poor old engineers seem to have been particularly pigeon-holed, especially by the humanities (who have of course been likewise scoffed at by the engineers) – good old academic disciplinary rivalry one might think. Increasingly this is seen as a bad not a good and I am tempted to agree. Continue reading “Disciplines RIP?”
Government Assessment
It is a favourite pastime these days for universities to gripe and complain about the heavy hand of government in their day to day activities. Granted the reporting requirements have increased significantly over the years and also granted that there seems to increasing concern that universities are doing a poor job of preparing their graduates for the modern work force (whatever that means) and in the right applied subject areas. Continue reading “Government Assessment”
Mimetic and Normative Isomorphism
A complicated academic title about which plenty that has been written in organizational and educational theory books and journals but a relatively simple concept when applied to post-secondary institutions. Simply put, it is the tendency of institutions to try to look alike over time and model themselves on the perceived segment leader. It can be led by the faculty (normative) or the administration (mimetic) – at least this is my loose interpretation. So we all want to be Harvard. My experience tells me that this is a powerful force especially with our predisposition to league tables or rankings. It is clear (maybe) that the best students go to the top ranked universities and wouldn’t we all like to teach those students. A previous president of mine called this “the homing instinct” and his advice was to resist it at all costs.
So is the homing instinct a valid notion about what a university should be or a complete absence of the recognition of today’s realities? Continue reading “Mimetic and Normative Isomorphism”