Are you ever pleased to see one of your institutions in the higher ed media?

[polly_mer]

I've been around the block a few times and have personal experience at several higher ed institutions as student, faculty, administrator, and frequent visitor.  In the past few weeks, I've seen several of those institutions mentioned briefly as examples in some national higher ed article.  At best, the institution was mentioned in a neutral way (e.g., the surviving institution after merging with a smaller institution); at worst, that institution was being held up as a poster child for "what rock have you been hiding under that you're still acting as though 1970 is in the future?"

My question to you folks is is no news good news or do you sigh heavily every time you see one of your institutions with a "yup"?

[ergative]

My previous institutions have usually showed up in ways that seem about right for them, but not in a bad way. I was at a UC school, so the whole Elsevier showdown has caught my interest, but I think it's good that one of the largest higher ed systems in the world is trying to do something about academic publishing. I don't know if it will work, or if it's the best way to go about it, but I'm cheering them on.

A previous institution made the national news some years ago for publicly notifying students that they would not be using trigger warnings. I thought that it was consistent with the general ethos of the institution to make that decision in that way, and the fact that they told everyone in advance seemed like the best way to go about following that route. It's like the tag on Archive of Our Own: Author chooses not to use warnings.

Other scandals that emerge from my previous institutions seem much more localized---e.g., this professor is a dickhead---and less reflections of the university itself and more reflections of the departments or offices or individuals in charge. And every large enough organization will produce cases like that, alas, so there's nothing special about it happening at my institutions.

[Juvenal]

My most recent notice of my undergrad place concerned a denial of tenure, the thing showing up in items at least twice over some months in the journals I read (in STEM) and involved #MeToo.  No, not pleased to see this sort of stuff with some of the machinations mentioned.

[mouseman]

I did grad school at UIUC, need I say more?

[Dr. F.]

I went to Oberlin for my undergrad. sigh.

[nescafe]

A few years back I was a contingent worker and applicant for a tenure-stream job on my campus, and the search blew up in the media in a highly politicized and widely-misunderstood way. I didn't have any better options at the moment, and I watched the job I thought I had a pretty good shot at evaporating through mishandling by people I had trusted. It was a doozy for me personally, though perhaps not for the wider sphere of academia.

I occasionally see articles about the place I got my PhD, usually related to financial mismanagement or anti-union politics. I roll my eyes and say yup.

[Hibush]

Perhaps a different angle on this topic...

I will be pleased next week.

Our press office is very good at getting out news about the many achievements of the institution. That puts us in the news a lot, and in a good way.

Thanks to the writers and connections at that office, I expect to be in the news on Monday. We won't make CHE, IHE or CNN, but will be in other relevant mass media. My grad student solved a difficult problem with an answer that appeals to various warm and fuzzy public sentiments as well as the latest techie angle.  It should be fun.

[sockknitter]

I completed a graduate degree at USC. Ouch. The new leadership has regularly reached out to alumni regarding how they are addressing the two recent scandals, so I'm regularly reminded of what happened even though I'm now far removed from the campus.

My employer has made the news several times in the last few years, for reasons equally appalling to me. Their response to the issues has been far less impressive or effective (read: foot dragging) than the actions of my alma mater.

[egilson]

I completed a graduate degree at USC.

Just an aside (and certainly not a poke at you), but I only learned a few months ago that, in California, "USC" is read as "University of Spoiled Children." I find that to be unreasonably funny.

[mamselle]

My undergraduate school is usually in trouble over sports, starting with when the football coach shoved a photographer's camera into his face a few decades back....

Not something to brag about, although other aspects of the work done there are noteworthy in a good way.

So--the ambiguity of fame, maybe.

M.

[apl68]

I'm not sure I've ever seen my undergrad alma mater mentioned in the higher ed media.  Which I suppose is good news.  It never seems to produce any scandals, and what I've been able to learn about its finances using tools provided at the old "Colleges in Dire Financial Straits" thread suggests that they're okay.  So yes, I suppose "no news is good news."

The R1 where I did my grad work gets mentioned now and then for studies its faculty have done.  It seldom seems to have any problems that hit the news beyond campus.