Texas legislature to consider requiring college faculty to boost graduation rates

[somone]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/pressure-building-on-faculty-to-boost-graduation-rates-1174881.html

Pressure building on faculty to boost graduation rates
Legislature expected to consider requiring increased productivity even as budgets decline.
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz

The state's higher education agency, the governor's office and business-oriented groups are sending an increasingly clear message to faculty members at public colleges and universities in Texas: Step it up. The state Legislature is expected to consider various suggestions intended to increase faculty teaching loads, raise graduation and course completion rates, and otherwise boost the productivity of the academic enterprise. The focus on faculty members, many of whom enjoy lifetime tenure, comes as legislative funding for higher education is declining in light of a projected state budget shortfall of more than $24 billion for 2012-13.

"We have to find ways to get faculty to understand that all of us work for the state, that the state is in financial crisis and that we have to get better results for the same amount of money or even less money," said Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes, whose agency, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, has floated a number of reforms for lawmakers to consider. "That's the reality we're in." The proposals have been warmly received by the Texas Association of Business and the Governor's Business Council. The Texas Public Policy Foundation, which says it favors limited government and free markets, also likes the recommendations.

Some faculty members worry that a push to raise graduation and course completion rates could lead to a lowering of academic standards. They are especially uneasy about a recommendation that lawmakers base a portion of state funding for schools on how much those rates rise, particularly for students studying science, technology, engineering and math — disciplines that state officials have deemed a high priority. Funding is currently based on enrollment. More broadly, many faculty members are troubled by a view that regards higher education as a business, with students as customers. They say this reflects a misunderstanding of the roles of professors and students.

"I think there is this idea that faculty are just sitting around," said Mary Aldridge Dean , executive director of the Texas Faculty Association and a former community college professor. "This isn't an auto assembly line. Students have all kinds of issues and all kinds of needs. And as soon as you tie money to performance, there will be a huge push by administrators to get the money."...

[ck4829]

1. After they teach that man and dinosaurs coexisted, now the kids are failing to graduate?

Who didn't see that one coming?

[jody]

2. Better way is to have each student pass a tough, comprehensive exam to see if they are qualified to

enter a profession like those for physicians, nurses, dentists, teachers, etc.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Yep, that's a great way for America to regain its #1 standing in education. Just like making sure

that everyone passes a test or inflating grades.