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Share Your Thoughts on Accountability in Higher Ed
If we as parents decide that accountability in higher education means what it has for the past twenty years, then we have only ourselves to blame if costs continue to go up, if graduation rates remain spotty and if the meaning of an undergraduate degree starts to become marginalized in the career marketplace.
But if we as a group decide that accountability in higher education means that school finance offices must account for every dollar spent, that school academic affairs offices must explain every course taken and that school career planning offices must justify the return on investment of coursework and degree-granting programs, then we may have ourselves to thank for creating an atmosphere where the education our kids receive is as grounded in the real world as it is eye-opening to new worlds.
As a parent of a future or current college student, your views on accountability in Higher Ed are even more important as mine. Please share what you think accountability should mean in higher education will all of us by leaving a comment below.
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on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 12:46 pm and is filed under College, High School.
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September 4th, 2007 at 10:15 am
In the obsessive wold of college PC parents are effectivley shut out from any knowledge
of how the student is performing, good or bad, if the student -especially in the case of bad - needs help and so forth, you will not know unless the student shares.(NOT)
The tuition and other forms of bills find their way to the parents pronto ! but heaven forbid any other issues be shared.
August 29th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
There should be not ever be any lack of communication among students and teachers. As of today the University my child goes to have no concerns of the students. They should be held accountable for their practices as well as communication. When no one wants to speak to the students and they are discourage they will withdraw from the school. The employees of the university should inform the students if they have enough financial aid for housing, meals, books and etc without putting more hardships on parents. My child attend summer classes at the university she attends, passed her classes they withdrew her from, got a special loan to pay her tution in which her grades have disappeared along with one of the teachers and no one can justify what happend to the grades or the teacher. Again, nothing that my child did no wrong but the university does not want to be held accountable for their actions. What do we as parents do, go to the media.
August 11th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
When it comes to accountability by colleges and universities, I am only now becoming aware of all ancillary issues related to my daughter’s enrollment as an incoming freshman. My current pet peeve is the expense of textbooks purchased because the course required them. Students are encouraged to get them before classes start and then the professor doesn’t ever get to use one or two. Apparently, this happens often. The student cannot get their full purchase price back and the textbook industry counts on this. The college is negligent in its commitment to the student by perpetuating a system that allows its students to become victims of profit schemes by related industries (textbooks, financial aid, etc.) due to lack of interest by the college, or perhaps outright cooperation in a mutually beneficial arrangement. The bottom line, these schools have to remember whom they are supposed to be serving.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:36 am
One aspect of accountablility should be the ability to compare results from different schools. This means that they have to be using a similiar assessment system that is nationally validated, reliable, and directly correlates to the demands of the job. . ACT’s WorkKeys tests are one means to do this, it helps eliminate the subjectivity of grading when numerous faculty are teaching different sections of the same course and includes a specific defined skill goal that the program should be targeting for its graduates. It would also allow a rigour comparison of how effective different schools are in helping students master the fundamental skills necessary for work in the 21st Century labor force.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:00 am
I agree with Jim’s point that improved accountability for undergraduate education by colleges and university is essential. It should apply to both direct educational services and other services like billing. The government has been trying to set up rules, but it will not happen because the higher education lobbyists are too strong and government itself has not been able to enforce standards well. However, why can’t the educational institutions themselves develop a set of qualitative and quantitative benchmarks and report performance? Doing so would be following what businesses, some government agencies and a few non-profit organizations already do? If thise institutions took the time it spends on fighting the pressure for performance measures and spends it on listing “good practices,” things would be better. Parents can help get the process started by asking questions like “do your faculty order books in time to get them in the bookstore before the first class” or are “tentative syllabi for all classes available electronically before students have to sign up for those classes.”
August 8th, 2007 at 2:42 am
I believe that colleges and universities need to be held accountable for every course offered. Each course needs to provide some sort of education to the student. I also believe that career counseling is very important in the education of our young people. As the parent of a university upper classman (daughter), I firmly believe in accountability for all colleges and universities.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:36 am
I believe that colleges and universities need to be held accountable for every course offered. Each course needs to provide some sort of education to the student. I also believe that career counseling is very improtant in the education of our young people. As the parent of a university upper classman (daughter), I firmly believe in accountability for all colleges and universities.