Monday, December 19, 2011

Write Timing


As I am entering the library earlier this week, I pass by a student on a cell phone and hear the student make the following statement: “I finished all my finals but I still have to write a 60 page term paper which is due in two days.”  As hard as it is to believe, the student clearly stated that the paper is due in two days.  I’m a good writer and assuming all the research is done, I could write a good paper in two days but I seriously doubt that I can write a first rate paper that is anywhere near 60 pages long (even assuming I use large margins and type size) in such a limited time frame.  I know nothing about the student I passed by; he could be an awesome student or an awful student but in either case, I would question whether time management was an area of strength for this person.

I think to some extent we all overestimate what we can do and how long it takes us to do it until the moment of truth arrives.  A 60 page paper is clearly a moment of truth.  And what does the student do at that moment—write continuously, ask for an extension, ask for an extension based on a traumatic event, borrow someone else’s paper?  The alternatives range from not good, to not smart, to counterproductive,  to not ethical, to perhaps fatal.  I still remember the person in graduate school who lost a grandparent every semester at final time.  The first time it happened everyone was sympathetic and the student was given extensions in all his courses. By the third time everyone was skeptical.  To my knowledge this person, though very intelligent, never completed his degree.

One semester in graduate school I had the opportunity to schedule all my courses for the semester on one day, with classes from early morning until late at night.  Since I was doing adjunct teaching at the same time, the one day schedule was irresistible to me.  Everything was going well, with all my exams and papers scheduled on different days until final exam time. For final exams there was a set schedule where the exam was the last class of the semester.  In some colleges and universities there are provisions where a student can reschedule a final if there two other finals are scheduled the same day.  There was no such provision that was available for me to make use of.  And so, I came to class and completed the four finals in one day.  I did very well on the first two, well on the third, and just OK on the fourth (though I knew the material well).  By the fourth exam, I was no longer exam focused.  Not surprisingly, I never took advantage of a scheduling opportunity like this again.

There are so many subjects that we teach well that are critical to a good education but we rarely teach time management.  Some university 101 courses do cover this material but I believe it is presented to a small minority of students and perhaps appreciated by even fewer.  An educated person also benefits greatly by being able to allocate his or her time in the best manner possible.  We should do more to reinforce this concept.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Right Time


Late this week, I received a letter from our longest serving faculty member.  This person has served for over 50 years as a full-time faculty member and continues to be an excellent teacher, an outstanding colleague and a respected scholar.  The letter started off by stating “Much to my own dismay, I have come to the conclusion that now is indeed the time to begin the process of my retirement.” The letter continues by noting that “there are moments when inevitability takes precedence over all else and I must defer.”

This faculty member will be retiring at the end of the 2013-2014 academic year when she will have completed 54 years of service.  Prior to that time she plans to maintain the same sustained high level of activity that has characterized her decades of service up to this time.  In addition she plans to help create a new institute on campus and plan a detective-fiction conference.  As you can tell, this person has been and continues to be a tremendous asset to the University and she will be missed.

Not every career works as smoothly.  When I first arrived at Hofstra there was a person who was both an excellent teacher and a nationally recognized scholar.  This person was one of a handful of Hofstra faculty that I had heard of prior to joining Hofstra.  But this person never wanted to leave even though, over the years, the person’s abilities declined until what remained was a shadow of the original outstanding scholar/teacher.  No colleague ever spoke to this person about what was happening but many colleagues suggested to department chairs and deans that it was, and had been for a number of years, clearly time for the person to go.

When is the right time to go?  The easy answer is when you are still at the top of your game, or in baseball terms, when you are still a 300 + hitter.  Life and finances sometimes makes that hard to do.  Lack of feedback also makes it hard to do.  I never cease to be amazed when faculty or administrators come to talk to me about the diminished skill set of a colleague without every talking to the colleague, even though this happens on a regular basis. Why can’t they talk first to the person they are talking about?  Students also tend to talk to other students about faculty but you can’t expect them to talk to the faculty member about these issues even though they are being shortchanged. Teacher evaluation programs can help but that feedback alone may not be sufficient.

For someone who has served many years, a soft landing is essential.  On-going comprehensive feedback is also essential.  The feedback can’t just be there when everything is going well.  With that combination together with the common sense of the overwhelming majority of faculty, I think the answer to when is the right time to retire will be clear.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Test Takers


I had a terrific experience as a doctoral student. The courses, the faculty, the other students all made for a wonderful educational journey. I was certain economics was the right field for me before I began and I was even more certain by the time I graduated.  Within this wonderful experience, one moment still stands out, not because it directly involved economics, not because it represented an intellectual breakthrough, but rather because I learned an important life lesson.

That moment was when I took my statistics qualifying examination.  That day approximately a dozen students came to take the exam.  The faculty proctor handed out the exam and we all began.  Now the statistics qualifying exam had a reputation for being rigorous but also had a reputation as an exam where typically 5 people passed.  If there were a small number of test takers or a larger number, the results always seemed to be the same—five students passed.  About thirty minutes into a two hour exam, the proctor decided to leave the room while we all continued working on our examinations.  Shortly thereafter one thing changed.  Even though this was not an open book examination, one of the test takers took out the textbook plus a notebook, and began working on the answers with the added support in clear view. What did I do and what did the rest of the class do?  Each of us just kept working on the examination and following the rules.

About an hour later, the proctor returned for the last 30 minutes of the examination period.  Within a few minutes most of us handed in our exams and left the room.  I thought I did well on the exam but nevertheless, was a little apprehensive.   I didn’t say anything to the proctor as I was leaving about the person cheating, and to my knowledge neither did anyone else.  A day or two later, I found out that one of my classmates reported the student who cheated.  His exam was disallowed and I was told he was suspended from the program.  A penalty that was certainly deserved.

When the results of the exam became known about two weeks later, I was relieved to learn that I had passed.  Five students passed this qualifying exam, and going from highest to lowest passing grade, I was number 5.  If the cheater hadn’t been turned in, I assume I would not have passed.

I have been thinking about the Long Island students who paid other students to take the SATs for them.  For a few thousand dollars, they were on the fast track to a much more impressive SAT score and the resulting benefits in terms of gaining admission or being awarded a scholarship.  But very often, just as was the case in my statistics qualifying examination, someone cheating their way to admission or a scholarship likely precluded the person deserving the recognition from receiving it.  In all the publicity regarding the exam takers and those who paid for someone to take the exam, the real potential victims have not been identified. They are the individuals who did everything right, but nevertheless would have been shortchanged out of the positive results of their efforts.  I know it can happen.  It almost happened to me.

I often think that we are not as stringent as we should be in our monitoring and enforcement of academic honesty and I also think that we are often too lenient in the penalties we impose for violations of academic honesty.  If we are to be fair to the individuals who do everything the way it should be done, we (faculty, students, and administrators) need to do more to eliminate cheating. If we turn the other cheek to cheating, we are hurting ourselves and cheating the system that we are part of.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Failure


The news from the congressional supercommittee was not surprising.  No budget deal – meaning we now will have an automatic triggering of across-the-board budget reductions.  What a bad decision by our Congressional leaders, what a bad impact for our economy, and what a failure to read the will of the public.

How did we get here?  Clearly, too many lines in the sand.  A reluctance to cut spending coupled with an equally forceful reluctance to increase any tax rates.  Leadership by following a "my way or the highway philosophy."  There are without question some areas in social services, health, and defense where spending reductions should be very measured.  There are also many tax rates that should under no conditions be increased.  But there is also without question justification for some spending cuts and justifications for some tax increases (or loop-hole decreases).

But where we are now, with across-the-board adjustments the default position, is on the verge of doings greater harm to the economy.  With the triggering of across-the-board cuts, spending in areas such as health, research, some kinds of student aid, and even defense all are about to be reduced.  Who loses by doing this, other than those directly involved in these industries?  We all do given the critical nature, the future consequences, and huge impact of the industries involved.   And are we really sure that this budget reduction number even makes sense for the economy or is it another case of a guesstimate by Congress, which can now lead to another line in the sand?

Most of us know that compromise is possible if politics move to the sideline and national interest moves to the forefront.  Most of us also know that the best interests of our economy and our country require compromise.  Will our nation's leaders jeopardize our best interests by cutting without thinking or will our leaders rise to the occasion?  We don't need or want more political rhetoric.  Instead, we need thoughtful solutions to cut the deficit brought about by thoughtful elected officials.  For the current crisis, the last best time is clearly now.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Happy Birthday Chevrolet


This month, Chevrolet turns 100 years old.  Happy Birthday Chevrolet.  In the Chevy line-up over the years are many of the models that I fell in love with when I was growing up.  I still love seeing an early Corvette and I have always been crazy about the ‘57 Chevy Bel Air hardtop, ideally in candy apple red though I could do without the fluffy dice hanging from the rear view mirror.  But the Chevies I most wanted, came out when I was nowhere near driving age.  When I reached driving age, the first car I bought and paid for was a ‘69 Chevy Nova.  The car was OK transportation.  The car had three options—a (powerglide) automatic transmission, an AM radio (with one speaker), and for $6.95, real vinyl upholstery.  The car was reliable transportation but nothing more.  I really wanted a car along the lines of the more classic Chevrolets. I wanted a car that I could connect with on an emotional level.

In 1974, a new Chevrolet Vega came out.  The car was nicely styled, especially the hatchback and I purchased it with almost every option that Chevrolet offered.  And in fact not only did I purchase a Vega, I convinced two of my friends who were in the market for new cars to purchase a Vega as well and by purchasing three at the same time, we got as good a price for the car as possible.  The car was a sales success, not only among the three of us, but it also resonated well among the general public.  It may not have been a 1957 Bel Air or a Corvette, but I liked driving it and  even looked for reasons to drive.  So far so good.

Within months, the  three speed automatic transmission started slipping and shortly thereafter my three speed transmission became a one speed transmission.  In rush hour, when I needed to drive at 15 miles per hour or less, I was fine; otherwise I was going nowhere fast…except back to the dealer.  The dealer was courteous and immediately kept the car to repair the transmission.  It seems that there was a synthetic transmission oil that had replaced the previous oil and no doubt GM saved a few cents on each car by this change.  Which is fine…as long as the replacement was thoroughly tested and as durable as the original product.
Now, any car can have a one-time problem and especially in the mid 1970s one time problems were the norm on cars, not the exception. But there was one other flaw that quickly developed. Though the car was  economical  in terms of gas mileage (very important given there was a gas crisis a few months earlier), it tended to burn oil continuously which quickly negated the savings on gas. Lemon laws were no doubt inspired by cars like this.

Though I would pay the price for the Vega a second time in terms of trade-in value, I was ready to trade it in ASAP. My next car was a ‘76 Toyota Corolla.  No problems whatsoever; no emotional attachment whatsoever. It took me more than a decade before I would drive another American car, and the vast majority of cars I have purchased or leased since that time were not built in the USA.

I wish Chevy well in its next 100 years and I like some of the cars that they are making today.  But Chevy and GM will always provide a classic business lesson for all of us.  If you take your customers for granted, if you always assume that people will see the USA in their Chevrolet, the customers and your market may diminish or disappear.  In this very competitive environment, complacency will not carry the day in the automobile industry or in higher education nor does it deserve to.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Pride


About a week ago one of my earliest students was appointed superintendent of a very important neighboring school district.  He was a very smart student more than 35 years ago and he is still smart today.  The students will benefit greatly from his leadership and my sense of pride is enormous in recognition of his accomplishments.  I have stayed in touch with this particular alum over the years.  We even played tennis a number of times but I am a better educator and economist than I am a tennis player so the tennis matches were few and far between.

There are also some former students I have lost track of, and then fortunately we are able to reconnect.  A few years ago, a personnel folder crossed my desk for a new hire in the education area.  The person was an experienced high school teacher who was now beginning a new career in higher education.  The name was familiar, though hardly unusual.  And this person’s undergraduate degree was from the institution where I began first teaching as an adjunct while completing my doctorate.  Sure enough when I looked further, he was my former student. He has been a tremendous asset to Hofstra in the decades since he first began teaching on our campus. Interestingly enough, when this person was an undergraduate and my student, he complained that I wasn’t liberal enough for his political positions.  Decades have passed and he is still complaining.  Middle of the road economists have trouble gaining appropriate respect from either the left or the right.

As I think back to the students I taught in my early years in teaching, I can easily identify a now university president, a professor of English, a number of psychologists, lawyers, successful business people, all individuals I have stayed in touch with.  One of my former students is  even a University trustee and a number of years ago, there were actually two of my former students on the trustees. There are other former students that I am not in touch with or have lost contact with and I am sure within this group are many successful individuals. I hope my economics courses made a difference in their education and their lives and I am humbled by the thought that I have had a positive  impact.  I want every Hofstra graduate to succeed but I do care even more about those I know and have worked with personally.

It’s interesting that as a dean and as a provost, I have hopefully impacted positively the education of tens of thousands of students. Knowing that I have been able to play a leadership role for decades and have made a difference on many key issues, brings a great sense of satisfaction.  But in a University, it is ultimately the relationship between students and faculty, or students and advisers, or students and their coaches that make the greatest difference.  That personal touch can help inspire and there is no substitute especially for an undergraduate.  As we look to make the best decisions in a time of  constraint, we should all strongly advocate for keeping   as much of a personal touch in education as we can.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Occupy Wall Street

As I’m walking in a midtown subway station, a group starts yelling “Occupy Wall Street, all day and all night” over and over again.  And this is followed by “We are the 99 percent” also over and over again.  The message is clear whether it is delivered in Zuccoti Park, in a subway station or anywhere across the country.

As I reflect on the movement, I am sympathetic to the calls for tax reform.  There are, in my opinion, federal tax rates that are too low for the income involved, and there are rates that are too high.  And yet many in Washington are opposed to any changes or fine tuning whatsoever.  Many of these same individuals also champion a more balanced budget.  That leaves spending cuts as our sole present fiscal policy tool.  But cutting more in social services or in defense spending in the short term may not be a desirable option.  And, besides, too many spending cuts are counterproductive to a struggling economy. Going back to tax rates, what makes our current structure so perfect (loopholes and all ) that there is significant opposition to any changes?  Were they set with such precision or were they set through a series of political compromises that yielded the present matrix (which may or may not be the best possible matrix for our economy)?  And if we focus exclusively on the top 1% of our population (in economic terms) , which is getting richer and richer over time, are they really paying the taxes they should or does the system  provide them with more than their fair share of benefits?

Periodically, the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators are joined by prominent individuals and celebrities in a strong show of support.  The support leads to more airtime for the demonstration and as such serves to highlight both the person and the movement.  I sometimes  wonder how strongly the celebrities share an on-going commitment to change.  How politically active are they and how involved are they in moving forward the agenda of needed change?  Are some looking for a photo opportunity or to move forward a cause?

I have two other observations.  The demonstrators clearly have Wall Street as their target giving a misleading sense that wealth is concentrated solely in these individuals.  Wall Street  employs many people who are far from wealthy, and there are many areas  outside of Wall Street where the wealth and income of individuals involved is at the top 1% level.  Though clearly there needs to be more transparency in the dealings of financial institutions and more reforms are still needed, the target should be the tax rate structure rather than the street address.

I worry about how the demonstrators will make the transition from protest movement to major political force to be reckoned with.   If the major presence of the Occupy Wall Street movement  is in Zuccoti Park and like places, the movement will have failed.  It needs to transition to a strong political movement.  The Tea Party is not my drink of choice but I give them great credit for not only standing up for what they believe in, but also in impacting the political landscape and the halls of government.  To really be successful, Occupy Wall Street needs to march out of the park and into the 2012 election.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Inventory Time


My kids and I decided that yesterday should be a day we spend in Manhattan.  We were already set to meet a terrific former student of mine/good friend and her daughter to go shopping on the lower east side (Canal Street) but we decided to go for the entire day. We started at the Museum of Natural History where the regular exhibits as well as the special exhibits always fascinate.  I have been a fan of Natural History all my life.  The dinosaurs have always fascinated me and so has the planetarium.  Even as a kid, when the dinosaurs hadn’t been extinct nearly as long as they are now, I was captivated by what the Museum brought to life.

We followed the Museum by buying lunch at Shake Shack (a popular local hamburger place) and eating it, sitting on the Times Square steps.  Times Square was crowded and within a few minutes of sitting down, a crowd began flash dancing right next to the steps.  Next we walked from Times Square to the High Line, which was also very crowded.  The High Line is an abandoned elevated railroad track that has been turned into an elevated park.  The plantings in the park are sustainable and views of the Hudson River and the ambiance is great.  What a great vision and demonstration of creativity to turn an eyesore railroad track into a park.

Back in the subway, this time for a ride to Canal Street.   On Canal Street, which similar to the Museum and Times Square and the subway, was also very crowded, the kids each bought a school bag as well as a $2.00 “bling” ring. A great in-person lesson for each of them into how barter works because on the lower east side the posted or asking price is merely an opening bid and the final sales price is always significantly lower.

Now here we were on Canal Street having just ventured into Chinatown for a snack and wanting to get back to the Museum of Natural History where my car was parked.  For so many of us, in areas with inadequate mass transit systems and an overreliance on automobiles, we never really experience an alternative that can efficiently move people from point A to point B, even if they aren’t going in a straight line. The NYC subways are that efficient alternative. To get from Chinatown to the Museum we took three trains—the “6” line to Grand Central, the shuttle to Times Square and the “1” train to 79th street. Every subway came relatively quickly and in short order we were on 79th street.

More and more colleges and universities realize that resources off campus can substantially increase the learning experience, and there are more and more organized opportunities to take advantage of those resources.  Often this happens because a faculty member or an administrator is familiar with the resource and how it fits well into his or her course or the broader curriculum. What would help even more is for each college and university to prepare a comprehensive inventory of what resources are readily accessible (including the costs involved) and see if and how going to these resources would enhance the educational experience.  Part of a transformative education is to have the students open their eyes to what is around them.  We all need to do our part to make that happen.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Demand and Supply


The 2010 Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce study of “Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018” concluded that “by 2018 we will need 22 million new college degrees- but will fall short of that number by at least 3 million postsecondary degrees, Associate or better.”  Furthermore, the report states “we will need at least 4.7 million new workers with postsecondary certificates. “ The report comes to two other conclusions, all conclusions that will not surprise the higher education community.  First, the report notes that “between 1973 and 2008, the share of jobs in the U.S. economy which required postsecondary education increased from 28 percent to 59 percent.  And second that “as the economy evolved, postsecondary education gradually became the threshold requirement for access to middle class status and earnings.”

But there is a fundamental disconnect between the increasing need for higher education credentials and the support by government of students pursuing this education.  Be it on the graduate level or on the undergraduate level, financial support for students as well as for institutions is declining.  Consequently in a lackluster economy, with many families straining to afford the education for their children, the diminished support makes it more difficult to pursue added education and less likely that this investment will be made.

Education is first and foremost an investment, an investment in the personal growth of the individual undertaking the education as well as an investment in the economy.  Our economy needs workers with sophisticated skills sets to do the increasingly more complex jobs that are available in fields such as the sciences, healthcare, business and education.  In a global economy and in a highly technological time, there are no substitutes for such workers.  As one example, if we look at health care where we are striving, rightly so, to provide a health care safety net for all our citizens, how will we be able to vastly increase the services needed by this broader base of our population without expanding the supply of educated workers?  Laws can provide accessibility but without the necessary supply, the results will not be there.

Especially in those areas that are vital to our economic growth and to the well being of our population, there needs to be a well thought out policy that provides more, not less, resources for higher education.  We should highlight the areas with the greatest need for skilled workers, and I think we already know this information for at least the next decade.   Next, we should publicize where those areas are and what the required educational attainment is for a person to succeed in those fields.  This information needs to be conveyed to students in middle and high schools and also to their families so that it can be fully considered as part of the decision making process in regard to postsecondary education. And then to further make sure the supply of skilled workers is commensurate with our needs, we need to develop specific economic incentives.  These incentives should be targeted just to increase workers in areas of need; in a time of scarce resources we need to carefully and precisely allocate those resources.  Yes, this will cost money; yes, we will need to increase our support of postsecondary education; and yes, this will impact the decision making process of these students/future workers.  But we have no choice.  To allow a fundamental disequilibrium to exist between needed skills and the number of workers with those skills is to relegate our economy to clearly falling short of its potential.  And the more we fall short of our potential, the more we face an economy unable to do all we all need done.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Cheating


Six students from a top Long Island high school each hired the same recent high school graduate to take the SATs for them so that they could submit a higher test score than they would receive on their own as part of their college admissions profile.  I am pleased they were caught but I’m certain that these students are not the only students who have substituted other individuals in their place to take important admissions and other examinations.  What should happen to these high school students?  The punishment should be severe (though I wouldn’t advocate jail time).  How severe?  If they are guilty as charged, I would recommend they should be barred from submitting a SAT test score or a high school transcript for at least a year and during that time they should provide extensive mandatory community service. A course on ethics should also be required.  The test taker should also face at least as severe a punishment.  And if there were any parents that aided and abetted this effort, their punishment should be much more severe. Furthermore, it appears that we need to substantially improve test security so that every possible safeguard is in place to prevent anyone else from taking the place of the student who is supposed to be the test taker.

Academic honesty is a problem in many high schools and in many colleges and universities.  At times, especially since we are dealing with young adults, the plagiarism is unintentional.  At other times, the cheating is both intentional and on-going.  Many teachers and professors will react forcefully to cheating as it happens but at the same time intentionally moderate or eliminate long term consequences.  Often cheating is not reported so as not to tarnish the student’s record and often the punishment is determined based on this cheating being a once in a lifetime occurrence, not a pattern.  Once in a lifetime suggest that a moderate response is appropriate; a pattern suggests there needs to be an escalating response.  How do we know what response is appropriate if the tracking system throughout much of a student’s education is rife with omissions?  We really need to do better so that the message is more clearly and emphatically that academic dishonesty doesn’t pay.

Students are very aware of who cheats and students can help foster an environment where academic honesty is valued but at the same time, I don’t think we should count on students alone to play a lead role in moderating the cheating of other students.

What can we do?  Every incident of cheating—unless it is clearly not intentional—should be reported.  The penalty for an individual offense should be determined by the faculty member but there needs to be an additional penalty triggered by repeat offenses.  Every student can make a mistake and learn from his/her mistakes.  But more than one occurrence should be accompanied by a zero tolerance response that should, if it continues, result in suspension and, if justified, dismissal.

The penalty should also escalate as students advance in their education.  We should all be more tolerant of a high school student or a first year college student making a mistake and much less tolerant of an advanced undergraduate or graduate student having an ethical lapse.  And in certain fields such as law and medicine, the penalty for academic dishonesty, if proven, should be immediate dismissal.

All of us comment with dismay on the widespread culture where academic dishonesty is more or less prevalent.  But to change the environment we need to do more than comment and more than deal with individual occurrences.  We need as a community to work together, to report and to track academic dishonesty as it happens.  If we are determined to reduce academic dishonesty, our actions can help make it happen.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Teacher Evaluation


At all levels of education in the New York area, the key conversation at this moment in time revolves around the APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review) which will beginning now affect New York’s  K- 12 teachers and administrators.  Be it in public schools or in schools of education, the education community is focused on what APPR means and what the impact will be.  Nationwide, the equivalent of an APPR (and a more common curriculum)seems to be in various stages of development . For me, as a long time supporter of  comprehensive on-going evaluation of  faculty at the higher education level, including student course and teacher ratings, peer observations, ongoing support and feedback, I also support K-12 comprehensive evaluation of teaching . 

The major portion of these performance reviews will look a lot like the performance reviews already been taking place continuously in K-12 education.  Classroom observations are and will continue to be an important part of this matrix.  But there are differences between APPR and what has existed before.  An important factor in the new evaluations will be the progress demonstrated by students on standardized state or comparable local examinations. How much this component will actually be is still in dispute, and will depend on the results of litigation as well as collective bargaining negotiations before being fully decided.  What is not in dispute is that after 2 years of being evaluated as ineffective, a teacher’s job could be on the line.

As a school board member, I am more and more involved in discussions on APPR and I also know that our School of Education, Health and Human Services is fully involved in how to prepare our teacher education students for APPR as well as how to prepare local school districts to be as successful as possible with APPR.   I want APPR to work, but I am very worried as to how it will work.

The economics of K-12 public education is not in good shape. A tax cap with too little legislated mandate relief will clearly require we educate our students with less available dollars.  Class size, support services and other enrichment activities will likely suffer. At the same time, with the implementation of higher standards on statewide examinations as well as a transition to a mostly national common core curriculum, we will be expecting our students to do more and do better.  And our teachers will be judged individually on how successful they are in making this happen.

Even if our teaching becomes even more effective, the end result when all the other factors are included could be students doing no better than before or perhaps even worse.  How will that factor into the evaluation of teaching?  And for those of us in higher education, as our future students go through what could be a less robust K-12 education, we may end up with students who are less well prepared (even though the APPR and the common core curriculum was motivated by our wanting to more effectively prepare students for higher education).  And do we have the resources, if in fact that should happen?  I know that as an economist, I have a bias in terms of how important economics is in so much of what we do.  But here is another example of, with the best of intentions but with far from the best of economic times, the results may be in question.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Race To Nowhere


For almost a year, I have received a series of recommendations to see the film Race to Nowhere by filmmaker and parent Vicki Abeles.  Early last week I had that opportunity and I certainly agree that the film presents a powerful message on the state of K-12 education.  The film focuses on the over scheduling and then consequent stress (and possibly worse) we inflict on the current generation of students. Too many classes,   too much memorization, too much homework, too many after school obligations, too little downtime, too little sleep.  And much of what the film shows, I see firsthand in my kids, and in the kids of my friends and neighbors.

But in delivering a powerful and worthwhile message, the film also oversimplifies and distorts the answers to difficult questions and leaves out key facts that would help present a more complete and accurate picture.  For example, on the issue of too much homework, the film includes a relatively young teacher stating that when he reduced the amount of homework, test scores went up.  The inference is clear—if we reduced homework across the board, test scores across the board would rise.  I don’t doubt that this can happen in one case and perhaps in more cases.  But I have yet to see any proof of the strong correlation suggested and that the first happening (the reduction in homework) is the cause of the second happening (increase in test scores). This message from the movie actually gives me the opportunity to utilize the majority of my Latin vocabulary.   First, we have here a classic example (what could be better for Latin) of Post hoc ergo propter hoc.  In other words, it is a logical fallacy of that what comes second is caused by what happens first.  On very hot and sunny summer days, I tend not to open the shades of south facing windows until very late in the day, to cut down in the heat in the house.  Typically, almost immediately after the shades are opened, the sun goes down.  But no one would argue that this is cause and effect and similarly, it is difficult to argue that less homework leads automatically to better test scores.  My second use of Latin in this blog is perhaps the favorite Latin phrase of all economists: ceteris paribus which translates into all other things remaining the same.  Less homework and a more dynamic teacher or a less rigorous test, can lead to higher test scores.  Brighter students or better foundations courses together with less homework will still likely lead to higher test scores.   But because all other things did not remain the same, in no way did we prove that less homework equals higher test scores.

The film also doesn’t really take into account the stress that parents can place on kids.  We all know parents who consider any grade of less than an A to be failing, parents who want their kids to take every advanced placement course offered, as well as parents who want their kids to accomplish – in the classroom and out on the field—what they couldn’t accomplish.  There may be too much stress placed on our kids but in searching out the causes, looking in the mirror helps as well as looking at the schools.

But even with the concerns I have about this film, I consider Race To Nowhere worthwhile viewing for all educators.  To the extent that our kids are overscheduled and overstressed, we need to improve our educational system but at the same time not cut back on the important learning taking place.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Looking Forward

As I write this blog on Labor Day, I am looking forward to the next day when fall semester classes will begin. For me a campus during the time period after summer sessions are over and before fall student move-in/the first day of classes is lacking in energy. I’m not suggesting that administrators lack energy; they don’t, but without students and without faculty, a campus has lost its heart and soul.

This time of year is exciting to me for another reason. Despite hurricane Irene, my excitement has nothing to do with now being hurricane season or the fact that the end is in sight for the hot and humid weather. Instead it is because on the Friday before classes begin, I had the opportunity to address new undergraduate students and this is often my favorite speech of the year. What do I say to these students who are less than half my age? What do I say to this group of students who are so different from the Baby Boomers that I grew up with? What should my message be?

My message has varied over the years. Last year, I spoke about the importance of academic honesty and why cheating and plagiarism has no place on a University campus. We know that plagiarism is unfortunately part of the fabric of many high schools and often is also present in middle school. We know that often it can start with parents being overly zealous in helping with homework; or it can start with students looking for the easy way out—copying takes less effort than learning; or on occasion, it even can originate from teachers being overly zealous in this environment when more and more they are being judged by their students’ test scores. However it starts, the message must be clearly delivered that students will be judged on their own work and that academic dishonesty and plagiarism will not go unnoticed and of course there will be consequences. I also spoke last year about the importance of diversity, all kinds of diversity, in promoting the best possible education. We all benefit from the value of difference; different points of view, a multiplicity of voices, different backgrounds, different orientations, multiple perspectives all serve to broaden our horizons and help us better understand the world we live in.

This year’s speech once again had a focus on diversity. I just feel that the importance of a respect for diversity needs to permeate all that we do and all that we say. But my other main theme this year was the opportunities that higher education provides to expand horizons, discover new fields, and stretch outside of your comfort zone at what is an ideal time in a new undergraduate’s life to do so. Courses as varied as ballroom dancing and personal finance enlighten and shape students. Others such as interpersonal communication, stress management, LGBT studies, contemporary art, and animal ethics all serve to increase understanding and expand horizons.

And how do I package my themes so that I can more easily relate to our new students? What I share with many of our new students is a passion for the Harry Potter books and films. I begin with comparing my years of service with Dumbledore’s years as headmaster of Hogwarts and end with a comment that Dumbledore makes to Harry about the importance of the choices we make. In between I make the critical points noted above. Without a spell or a potion, I’m not sure that the message always gets through but I know the message makes a difference and I hope the students were listening.

P.S. Visit Hofstra.edu for a copy of the speech

Monday, September 12, 2011

Hats Off

I am writing this blog in a hotel in Seattle.  I picked the hotel because it has LEEDS certification and in this way I am supporting businesses that share my priorities.  I am here to attend the Bat Mitzvah of a close family friend's daughter and I am viewing the weekend as a nice change of pace.

In the temple for the Bat Mitzvah services, I am enjoying the music which comes with a piano, clarinet, and guitar accompaniment.  Both Bat Mitzvah girls are doing great and we are up to the sermon.  And what does the Rabbi talk about?  Something in the bible?  Something in today's Torah portion?  Not at all.  He is talking about the sad state of the U.S and world economy.

Now I recognize that in difficult economic times, everyone tends to give economic advice and that advice is often easier to give when you don't fully understand economic concepts and consequences.  The less you know the more sweeping the changes you can advocate simply because you are innocent of the consequences of what you advocate.  I often feel that many of our politicians on the local, state and national level should spend more time talking with economists and more time studying economics.  This is not designed to ensure full employment of economists as much as it is designed to  ensure the fullest understanding possible of complex alternatives to move our economy forward.

From my remarks above you can tell how sympathetic and receptive I was to this sermon when it started.  But hats off to the Rabbi (perhaps not the best suggestion when it is recognizing a Jewish religious leader) for his advice.  He made three critical points.  First, even in difficult times, we need to remember that so many of us have so much to be thankful for and so many reasons to be happy.  Second, we should never forget that our society and our world have many vulnerable people and that we should make sure their needs are met and they are protected.  And third, there are limits to what we can do, limits to what we can spend, and what we can commit in resources around the globe.

I appreciate the Rabbi's priorities. I appreciate that he decided to give this sermon on this Saturday and that I was there. Whatever economic solutions we ultimately implement will be better if we keep this advice in mind.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Hurricane Rhetoric


On Saturday just before Hurricane Irene hits Long Island, I venture, very early in the morning, into the local supermarket to make sure I have extra bread at home.  My food passions are dark chocolate and good bread and if I’m going to be stuck at home, I may as well have the necessary comfort foods.  As I am waiting to pay, there is a middle age man nearby loudly complaining and getting a sympathetic response from those around him.  The complaint is in regard to the technological progress we have made in this man’s lifetime and before, and the fact that we have not yet learned how to tame the weather.  And the bottom line of the rhetoric is that we are no better off in regard to Mother Nature then we were 50 or 100 years ago.

My goal that Saturday morning was to do what I needed to do in terms of getting ready.  I was anxious to get back home to move the deck furniture into the garage and therefore I chose not to enter the conversation. In reality, it’s not my style to enter into someone else’s conversation, especially given I didn’t know the man doing most of the talking nor did I know the individuals that were now also part of the conversation.

On the Thursday before Hurricane Irene hits Long Island, our president convened the first of a series of meetings to coordinate the University’s efforts in regard to Hurricane Irene, and it is clear that much work has already been done.  We are fortunate that the fall semester doesn’t start until the Tuesday after Labor Day, and therefore there is only a small minority of our students on campus. Nevertheless, we spend considerable time reviewing measures to ensure the safety of the students on campus, we review communications to all members of our community, we review facilities and we talk through that all contingency plans are in place.  We listen to all the latest weather briefings and we are clearly well prepared.  Subsequently, we also use our emergency communication procedures to reach out to our entire community via phone calls, text messages, as well as our website, Facebook and Twitter. 

Listening to the Mayor of New York, and the County Executives of Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties, it is clear that careful planning for all likely contingencies has taken place throughout the area ( and throughout the entire east coast ).  I don’t remember any other time in my lifetime when area mass transit as well as all local airports were all shutdown and closed. And Broadway being dark for weather related reasons for two days is also another first as is the mandatory evacuation of substantial areas on Long Island and in New York City. Safety concerns were clearly a top priority.

But the key to all this careful preparation is the much more precise knowledge we have in regard to hurricanes, and the much more sophisticated technology we have to reach out to members of our university communities as well as the larger area communities.  Our tracking of storms is impressive and together with proper planning, the much more sophisticated communications capability makes an enormous positive difference, especially in terms of safety.  We also have much more information available much more quickly to assess and respond to what has happened.  Mother Nature hasn’t changed but we have—thanks in great measure to technology.  

Monday, August 22, 2011

Well Protected

With the growth of on-line services has come a wealth of convenience.  I log into the Hofstra portal and my email around the globe. I rarely step inside of a bank.  I purchase more and more products on-line, I pay more and more bills on-line, and I even access much of the national, regional and higher education news on-line.  The rapidly increasing transition to more and more on-line products and services in the last decade has been a welcome change.  I know I am more productive and efficient as a result and I even believe I have slightly more discretionary time.

Along with all the enhanced usage, there is clearly an increased need for security.  My emails, what I buy, what I pay, and what I read is my business.  Therefore with more and more of my accounts, there is a password along with the log-in ID and this is also as it should be.  Initially, my approach was to use the same ID and the same password for almost all of my accounts.  In a very few cases, there were password parameters that required I make changes and I did so whenever the need arose…but not more than that.  As the accounts multiplied, it became clear to me that having so much reliance on one log-in and on one password diminished my security and increased my vulnerability; and so I began to vary both on a regular basis and to even change passwords on a regular basis. In all cases, I did stick to basic themes for both the ID and the password and so I ended up with many, many variations on a theme. I was clearly responding effectively to security concerns and to add further to the level of protection, I never wrote down any password and relied on my memory which served me well.

A few weeks ago, I needed to enter an important program on my hard drive that I had last accessed over a year ago.  I open the program and get ready to enter the password but can’t remember exactly what the password is.  And so I start to enter possible/likely passwords and nothing works.  I even wrote down passwords as I try them since as I mentioned above, my passwords are close variations.  Here too, nothing works.  Periodically I come back to this program and to date nothing has worked.  But I do feel confident that my data is secure.  I have also opened two new accounts during this time and in each case have written down the ID and password information.

Since the technology exists I am ready for the ID/login function to be replaced by a thumb print or an eye scan.  In the meantime I have started writing down this information for existing as well as new accounts on a secure site.  I’ve learned my lesson.  My memory is excellent but my many, many logins and passwords are more than a match.  Maintaining security is critical but without accessibility, it leaves something to be desired.  Having written this blog, I am feeling optimistic and heading right back to finding the right combination to access my data.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Administration 101

A middle level administrator I know was faced with a dilemma.  The person had agreed to make a program recommendation and immediately after sending the very strong recommendation began to have serious reservations about the program.  To some extent these reservations were the result of information that became available subsequent to the recommendation being sent.  And to some extent the reservations were the result of a more careful look by the administrator at the program being recommended.  The end result was a 180 degree change from recommend to really can’t recommend.

But what does the middle level administrator do at that point?  One possible response is to go back to the program developers and indicate that given this and that, the administrator can no longer support going forward.  Another related possibility is that the administrator withdraws the positive recommendation.  If one or both of these courses of action are your responses, you get Administration 101 advanced standing credit. However, what if this is not the response? What if instead the response is to contact the person the administrator reports to, and ask that person to turn down the recommendation?  In that way, the administrator could go back to the program developer and indicate with sincerity that it was a higher-up that deserves the blame since the administrator had made a positive recommendation.  With this scenario, what if the higher up refused to play this role?

Are there other alternatives?  The administrator could write a detailed memo to the higher up indicating the flaws in the original recommendation and once again indicate that the higher up should turn down the recommendation.  Why not at this point just rescind the original recommendation?  The explanation could be that the administrator is still not comfortable saying to the program developers that the original positive recommendation was flawed and should be withdrawn.  Once again, what if the higher up refused to play the role of nay sayer?  What if the higher up very clearly indicated to the administrator that if there are such serious doubts the recommender should contact the program developers, explain the reassessment, and withdraw the recommendation?

One resulting possibility is that the administrator emails the program developers directly, spelling out in detail the concerns about the program.  It should and could be a well thought out email. The conclusion, at this point, might go in one of two ways, with one punch line being that for the reasons noted above, the University had decided not to go forward.  The other alternative would be for the administrator to state that it is he or she that is withdrawing the recommendation.

There are clearly moments in time when a recommendation looks sound initially and subsequently turns out to be very flawed.  I think we are all aware of such situations. Absent extenuating circumstances, my Administration 101 advice is that the recommender should just go back to all involved and indicate that given all the information now available, that he or she can no longer make a positive recommendation.  Think about it. Asking someone else to do your work or suggesting that someone else has made your decision, serves no purpose and more than likely is counterproductive to long term administrative advancement.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Moving Forward


In my early days in administration, many years ago, I had the opportunity to serve on negotiating committees for various labor contracts and the position I held on these committees was the exalted chair-filler position. A chair filler has minimal involvement with the actual negotiations so expertise is not necessarily a prerequisite.  Instead a chair-filler is selected based on his or her ability to fill a chair and look both intelligent and engaged at the same time.  I did the best I could to meet these standards, and though I wondered initially why it was necessary to have such a position, I nevertheless found it to be a valuable experience.  The “why” in my opinion is simply because if one side has a large number of individuals on their team, the other side needs an almost equal number to show it is at least equally engaged.

The reason I found these early career experiences to be invaluable is that almost at the beginning of  the process I was able to gauge with a high level of accuracy exactly what the settlement would be.  In an environment where everyone realizes that bargaining is a mutual benefit equation, it is not that hard to predict the conclusion.  I believe the likely conclusion is known by the individuals heading the negotiations and those associated with the negotiations well in advance of the deadline date and perhaps even well in advance of the start of formal negotiation. However, the widely held belief is, if you settle too early, you are really not doing all you can to have your positions prevail.

In the recent budget/national debt debate in Washington, even though we came close to defaulting, I think our national leaders (as well as the accompanying chair fillers) knew based on clearly stated positions, exactly what the likely outcome would be. The fact that it took so long was designed to convince the public of how each side worked to have their position prevail.  I think this strategy was a mistake.  With an economy that is struggling, with a faltering economy, it is a serious mis-step to undermine confidence in that economy and not surprisingly in the Washington leadership in both parties.  And yet we have done that.  Would a settlement two weeks or a month sooner have made a difference? I believe it would have and that we would have been better off as a result of that earlier conclusion. 

More and more we seem to be headed for confrontations and for blunt economic solutions.  No changes in taxes, tax caps, and across the board spending cuts are blunt instruments.  There are no doubt tax loopholes that should be closed or tax rates that should be adjusted.  There are no doubt tax caps that will prevent real needs and priorities from being addressed. And across the board federal budget cuts, if it comes to that, will almost inevitably result in changes that undermine the national interest.

As I have said before we do need to contain spending, we do need to get a handle on the national debt and we do need to reduce the tax burden.  But unless we move away from brinkmanship, and also substitute well thought out policy initiatives for blunt economics, these goals will not be achieved or if they are achieved, the costs could rival the gains.  The economy is faltering and the clock is ticking. We need to do better and now is the time.

Monday, August 1, 2011

High on Imagination

One of my favorite birthday gifts given to me this year was a membership to the High Line, and so a few days ago my kids and I went to visit there.  What is the High Line?  Before I answer that question, let me answer the question that should come first—what was the High Line?  It was an elevated freight train structure including of course the tracks, and freight trains ran on this structure until the 1980s.  And as a kid, riding in a car down or up the west side drive, I still remember the trains running.  The High Line, and before that time, surface level tracks, were prominent parts of the west side of Manhattan corridor during the time that railroads were an indispensible mainstay of our transportation infrastructure.  Those days are long gone, and even the rail facilities that continue to exist aren’t treated with the respect that this still important form of transportation should be accorded.

So what happens to the structure and the tracks when the need disappears?  More than likely, in the name of progress, the raised tracks and the necessary elevated structure also disappear.  And that was starting to happen here. But thanks to a group of individuals who had the imagination and the wherewithal to push for a park, the High Line now flourishes.  We entered the High Line on 14th Street.  My kids were not really sure what to expect, and the thought of an elevated park seemed strange to them.  I also had wondered whether this was really a park or was it a gimmick. From the second we got on, and from the walk to Gansevoort Street and then from Gansevoort to 30th Street, we were enthralled.  We walked, we sat, we looked at the sights including the buildings, the plantings, the art display, and the Hudson River; and we were all enthralled.  The kids have already decided that we need to go back soon and take some of their friends along for the experience.

New York was fortunate that much of this structure was not torn down and that this park exists. But the greatest good fortune lies in the imagination of those individuals who pictured the High Line as what it could be rather than what it was.

The emphasis in much of education today is on testing.  Test results carry great weight in evaluating a school district; test results carry great weight in determining where you will be able to go for higher education as well as graduate education. We are all familiar with school districts whose claim to fame is their test results and whose students help populate many of the best colleges and universities. But where does imagination play a role in this equation.  We know it can make all the difference; we know that meaningful change often requires imagination and the ability to see things differently.  I’m an economist.  I think that economics is invaluable but I know that fostering imagination is enormously helped by a meaningful exposure to the arts.  Music and art bring out the creativity and allow the mind to expand.  In this era of constraints, when choices in education may become more limited, we have an obligation to support the arts and to encourage students at all levels to take arts courses.  Test results do matter but test results without imagination lead to the same things being done in the same way.  The arts are one meaningful way of expanding the possible. And for so many of the problems we face today, expanding the possible is the best hope we have for a better quality life for ourselves and the other inhabitants of our world.

Monday, July 25, 2011

The Return of/to Spider-Man

An earlier blog focused on my family trip to see Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark.  My wife, two kids, and I thoroughly enjoyed the production. Much of the staging was spectacular, and the story – though it faltered somewhat in the second act—easily held our attention.  This original version closed for three weeks for some rewriting and reopened with much more favorable reviews.  My kids very much wanted to see the revised version (and actually would also have been pleased to see the original version again) so this past weekend we made our second Spiderman trip.  There is much good news and there is some less than good news.

The second act was a vast improvement over the original version.  The story line was much crisper and clearer, and there was also no superfluous filler (such as a song about Arachne, the spider’s show wardrobe).  There was also more of Dr Osborn aka the Green Goblin, a villain played with real gusto and talent by Peter Page.  The music by Bono and The Edge was also enhanced and seemed to be much more effective in this revised version.  The downside, to some extent the other side of the crisper story line coin, was that the story lost the nuance of the more complete Arachne story.  My younger daughter missed the added focus on Arachne and felt its removal was a loss.  For the rest of us, though we missed seeing more of Arachne, the gain much more than made up for the loss.

What makes this show special, in its first iteration or the new version, is the staging.  It remains brilliant as do the costumes and the sets.  Without the flair inherent in Julie Taymor’s vision of Spider-Man, no amount of revision could have been made this production memorable.  And the producers and directors of Spider-Man were completely correct, the show needed the time and attention to go through the evolution that many Broadway shows need, and given the scale of the production that process needed it happen under the glare of the Broadway lights.  Where the producers and directors were wrong is in underestimating the time this evolution would take.  The resulting five postponements of the opening just served to erode confidence in the show, certainly not a help when the goal is at least earn back the $75 million that this production cost.

As I stated in my last blog on Spider-Man many of the most memorable authors often required many drafts and many rewrites before an outstanding final product emerged.  And many educators recognize that the development of our most outstanding students and graduates is often also an evolutionary process.  For Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark the process is complete, the story did “Rise Above” and the result is certainly worth the wait.  The evolution of Peter Parker and the evolution of many of our students is always a journey where the final product is certainly worth the wait.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Blunt Economics

Across the country, virtually every state is trying to control spending, and nationally we are also working hard to control spending.  Who could argue?  No one wants additional taxes, so raising revenue (absent a more robust economy) on the state level will be difficult while raising the deficit on the national is equally unpopular.  We all demand, and rightly so, fiscal discipline from our leaders.

To control spending, you could do a thorough national, state, and local review of all policies, programs and regulations. It is certain that some programs have a great deal of waste, or have outlived their usefulness, or provide only marginal benefit.  It is equally certain that some unfunded mandates/regulations are costly and not needed.  But doing a program by program or policy by policy review is difficult, time consuming, and often impacted by politics at least as much as merit. Given that difficulty, tax caps have become more and more popular.  You can stringently limit spending increasing but avoid making the tough program by program or mandate by mandate decisions.  We have such a cap now in New York, and as a school board member I can clearly tell that there are serious problems ahead that virtually all school districts will face as a result.  With the legislation recently in place and given unfunded mandates, the built in annual education cost increase (inflation rate) will likely be higher than the cap.  Overriding the cap will require a super majority (60%) and consequently be very difficult but living within the cap will squeeze education and in time almost certainly adversely impact quality.  Tax caps are blunt instruments.  I am not disputing that they can be helpful but there are certainly alternatives and there are certainly negative consequences.

On the revenue side, we also seem to be embracing a blunt approach.  The mantra of no tax increases is alive and well at every level of government.  The appeal is enormous and I’m certainly sympathetic.  But once again there are consequences of following a one size fits all policy rather than taking a more micro look at taxes.  Are there some tax rates that are still too high and tax payers paying more than they should?  Are there others where the tax rate is too low and tax payers should be paying more?  Remember that if there are no possible increases in tax revenues, we will likely be forced to cut important programs (such as in the education area), that are key investments in our future.  Blunt instruments and one size fits all policies may be easier to articulate and implement but may have far greater negative consequences than a more thought through less arbitrary plan of action.

We are all invested in keeping spending under control at all levels of government.  We are all invested in minimizing the tax obligation.  Both need to happen. But moving forward wearing the blinders of blunt policy parameters can’t be the best decision making process when our future is on the line.  Now is the moment for our government leaders to provide the sophisticated leadership that these challenging times demand.

Monday, July 11, 2011

The C Word

I had the pleasure of attending my local high school graduation last week.  This was a class that was recognized for their social action, for their sense of purpose, and for their involvement.  A nice change in priorities from the “me” generation that we suffered through not that long ago.  Early in the ceremony, there was a speech by the class valedictorian who as you can imagine was very bright and articulate, and had a sense of humor besides.  Certainly an impressive young man with a great combination of positive attributes.

The speech by the valedictorian noted that their journey as students had progressed from the relatively simple learning early in elementary school (spell “cat”) to the more complex learning and socializing as you approached and entered middle school, to the much more complex environment in high school.  According to the valedictorian, it was upon entering high school that the students were introduced to the “dreaded C word” where the “C” stood for college. At the point this comment was made there was a laugh from many of the graduates and an unhappy look from a few.  Why the laughs, why the frowns, and why was there a sense of “dread” when it came to thinking about college?

The sense of dread didn’t really come from thinking about college. Rather it came from the realization that almost everything you did in high school would impact the chances of your getting into college, most especially perhaps the schools you most wanted to go to.  Your grades, your standardized test scores, as well as your other school related activities all made a difference.  Add to that, your economic situation, especially the ability of your family to help cover the costs of higher education which can also make a significant difference.  As do any number of life events, from the most positive to the most tragic.

For some of the students graduating, the journey from high school to college was as smooth as can be and they were positioned perfectly for this next step in life’s progression.  But for others in the audience the journey was more complex and the end result may not have been everything they desired.  Sometimes the journey leaves the current graduate in an uncomfortable place and the disappointment permeates the person and perhaps also the family. At an early age, optimism is clouded by failure and a person may end up being judged solely by his or her SATs or high school average.

Students don’t always accomplish everything they want to, especially by age 18.  But what makes our system of higher education work so well is that there are multiple opportunities provided to change schools, majors, career goals.  In many societies and in many situations in life, there isn’t the opportunity to move forward from a difficult situation.  Our system isn’t perfect but the opportunities are there.  So, after high school, the old saying really does apply, “if you don’t succeed at first, try, try again.”  And our role as educators at all levels of education is to help instill in our students the determination and ability to move forward and ultimately succeed.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Passion

I’ve been waiting to write a blog with a racy message.  However, my title of “passion” isn’t describing a steamy relationship; rather it describes an intellectual relationship between a dean, department chairperson, and/or tenure or promotion committee chair, and the accomplishments of the tenure/promotion candidate that is being written about.  I have read thousands of tenure letters from all the participants in the process and I have written hundreds of letters recommending tenure.  What registers most on the next step in the process – a letter that comes across as boilerplate or a letter that articulately and passionately describes why the person deserves tenure or promotion?

Too many letters are of the boilerplate variety.  Each point is touched on that needs to be touched on –  teaching, scholarship, and service are all discussed but often without noting why this is a compelling candidacy.  The student evaluations and peer observations are OK; the articles, chapters and or books are OK; and the service is OK.  If this is the standard for tenure and promotion, recommendations like this should serve the purpose.  But often the standard for tenure or promotion requires excellence in one or more of these categories.  And for tenure especially, there should be no doubts.

Boilerplate letters often don’t do justice to the outstanding candidate for tenure and or promotion.  Sometimes such letters are prepared because “everything is OK” is the best that can be said.  More than once in my career, a department chair, a committee chair, or a dean have written such letters, come to such conclusions because it really was the best that could be said about the candidate and perhaps even more than the best.  If Ok is the best we can say, is this tenure or promotion deserved?

And sometimes, the letters that are written do a tremendous disservice to the candidate.  The candidate is clearly outstanding, awesome, a tremendous asset, and deserving of tenure or promotion but the letters don’t convey that level of achievement. Every personnel statement should strive to do justice to the person’s record.  If the record is outstanding, the letter documenting those achievements should make the case persuasively.

Everyone involved in the tenure or promotion process should make sure the letters written are the strongest most passionate accurate assessment that can be compiled about the candidate.  If each of us viewed our letter as the critical document in the process and the key to the candidate’s promotion and or tenure, letters in general would be at a much higher caliber. Promotion or tenure should not be a judgment call; the facts and the resulting documentation should be compelling.  What a loss it would be to the University if this person was not tenured or promoted.  Let the passion be real and let the passion shine through.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Economics - The 360-Degree View

Be careful what you wish for.  By the end of last week, I was looking for a reprieve from Anthony Weiner stories.  Every newscast I watched or listened to and almost every bulletin on the internet dealt with another facet of this widely covered and fully uncovered story.  I am from the school of thought that public officials should not only provide leadership but should also serve as role models.  I would like my kids to view public service as a desirable higher calling and view our elected officials as exemplary citizens.  Sleaze and corruption undermines interest in government service and undermines the very fabric of our society.  If you can’t have confidence in our elected officials, can you have confidence in our government?

What turned attention away from Anthony Weiner in this area was the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing below the 12,000 point level on Friday, June 10th.  The headlines now focused on the DJIA decline over the last month and the perceived increased weakness in our economy.  What was happening to our recovery?  What was happening to jobs creation, to housing prices, and what would the impact be on the 2012 elections?

Last October, I had the pleasure of being invited to an economic conversation with Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.  As a higher education economist, I am always cautious in conversing about national and international economics (especially with a Prime Minister) but at that conversation I made one key point that remains fully relevant today.  The economy is moving forward and the White House, the Congress, and the Federal Reserve all deserve credit.  I am pleased to note the increasing viability of Detroit and I am pleased to see the increasing strength of our financial institutions.  But without a 360 degree view, you are not seeing the entire picture and you are not in a position to accurately gauge our economic vulnerability.

I live on Long Island, in New York State.  I like Long Island and I like the proximity to New York City, but Long Island, New York City and New York State are all encountering dire financial situations.  New York in general and Long Island specifically, has lived outside of its means and newly elected government officials are working diligently to restore the financial viability of the area.  Jobs are being cut on the local and state level, programs are being curtailed, benefits for existing workers and especially for new hires going forward are being reduced, and a tax cap has achieved more popularity than Lady Gaga.  What is happening in New York is also happening in many other states.  Often politicians defend these cuts as resulting in doing more with less.  To some extent this may be true but to a greater extent we are doing less with less because there is no other alternative. 

With states and localities cutting back, there is a significant drag on the economic recovery.  A recovery requires a certain momentum and a certain velocity.  We want that momentum and that velocity to result in a robust economy.  But just as Washington has helped provide that initial thrust, New York and other states have provided increasing downward drag on the economy.  This will not be a vibrant economy anytime soon, we will not be impressed with the gains in employment and in the Dow Jones.  I think we are on the right track, however, and if we stay the course, the economy – absent any external shocks – we will continue to move forward.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Slow News Day

On November 9, 1965, my doctor appointment in mid town Manhattan lasted longer than I expected and I needed to be at a meeting at The City College within less than 30 minutes.  So instead of a casual walk from Madison to 7th or 8th Avenue to get on the subway, I decided to make use of connecting trains.  I was very fortunate, the train came immediately  (at about 5:25PM) and though it was very crowded, I was on my way.  Well, on my way, turned out to be an exaggeration.  We did get out of the station in a timely manner but somewhere between that station and the next station, the train stopped and everything went black.  I was in fact caught in a major northeast/New York blackout and it took me and my fellow riders almost five hours to be led out of the train to an above ground exit.  No fun at all.  What made it especially difficult, in addition to the very crowded conditions, was the panic that set in among a number of passengers. An hour into our five hour ordeal, a passenger in the train indicated that she thought we were trapped because of a nuclear attack.  The panic spread to a few more people in the train but luckily, cooler heads prevailed and we, for the most part assumed, what turned out to be the case, that we were in the midst of a major blackout. 

The speculation regarding a nuclear attack most upset the few kids that were in the train.  A blackout is frightening enough for children; add a nuclear attack and the situation becomes especially hard for most children to handle.  The parents and friends of these kids did all that they could to calm them down but as their crying demonstrated, there was very limited success.

Fast forward through the decades to Saturday, May 21, 2011.  According to Harold Camping, the world would end that day.  An earthquake would spread through the time zones from east to west; the rapture day would be here at last.  Yet, even though there was significant press coverage regarding the coming end of the world, no one seemed consumed by the prediction (though a few students – tongue in cheek – did ask if the grading process could be speeded up so that they would know their grades prior to the 21st).  But as the day approached, I did notice that my kids, who are relatively young, and their friends seemed somewhat cranky but I wasn’t sure why.   On the morning of the 21st as I am out running errands with my 9 year old daughter, I comment to her that after a week of rainy weather, it was great to have a beautifully sunny, clear day.  She responds by asking if the world is about to end.  I say absolutely not and try to assure her that periodically throughout time, people have been predicting the end of the world but the world keeps going.  I stress that throughout her lifetime and many succeeding lifetimes, the world would be fine.  She seems reassured but nevertheless does decide that she will wait to take a shower or do her homework until Sunday.

Dedicating as much press as was dedicated to an end of the world prediction shows it was a slow news period of time. And yet maybe during such periods, the press should still not highlight extreme predictions.  As grownups, we pay no attention to such stories and continue to do what we do. We often even joke about predictions of this type.  But for kids, with all the complexity and uncertainty that already exists, we do a tremendous disservice by highlighting predictions like this.  Kids should have the opportunity to be kids.  What we find funny or off the wall, they may find very scary.  We should remember that before we highlight future predictions like this, and if they are highlighted, we should remember to explain in advance what they do and don’t mean. Since Camping has issued a revised end of the world schedule for October, we will get another chance to do it right.