In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.

Yes. This. Please read this. It’s not as simple as revising gun laws.

jonathan-cunningham:

joshsternberg:

The University of Virginia fired its president for lack of ‘strategic dynamism’ and people are not happy. UVA professor Siva Vaidhyanathan writes at Slate what this means for UVA and for education.

The biggest challenge facing higher education is market-based myopia. Wealthy board members, echoing the politicians who appointed them (after massive campaign donations) too often believe that universities should be run like businesses, despite the poor record of most actual businesses in human history.

Universities do not have “business models.” They have complementary missions of teaching, research, and public service. Yet such leaders think of universities as a collection of market transactions, instead of a dynamic (I said it) tapestry of creativity, experimentation, rigorous thought, preservation, recreation, vision, critical debate, contemplative spaces, powerful information sources, invention, and immeasurable human capital.

The structure of academia ought to be challenged, and often. As Prof. Vaidhyanathan says in the link, our educational institutions have a “market-based myopia” that prevents the fundamental pursuit of “teaching, research, and public service”.

13 campuses have plans to freeze enrollment all together (starting this spring) and 8 are only accepting a few hundred community college transfers. This is due to the $750 million budget cut the CSU system have been facing this past year. Depending on whether or not Jerry Brown’s initiative passes in November (which, if unsuccessful, imposes an additional $200 million cut to the system), Fall 2013 applicants may be waitlisted for enrollment as well. What’s more outrageous is that two CSU presidents (who now have $300,000+ salaries) just received hefty increases in pay. (x)

“It’s something that’s going to affect many thousands of students and it’s not the direction we want our system and higher education in California going in,” Washington said. “Students are given a set of guidelines and goals when they’re in high school telling them what they need to do to go to college and now our state isn’t acknowledging that anymore.”

More articles:

• While individual campuses have closed enrollment in the past, such a move has never been imposed across the entire system, which is the largest four-year university operation in the country…343,000 - Number of full-time students to which the chancellor and campus presidents have agreed to limit campus enrollments. (x)
• “This administration is transforming this university into the image of a pro-profit system,” Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Association, told trustees. “Your administrators are carrying CEO type salaries while you push exorbitant student fees.” (x)