Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[fourhats]

Polly is correct. The liberal arts refers to all subjects that are not professional or pre-professional. So yes, all sciences, humanities, social sciences. But not business, etc. I've taught many SLAC students who are at "liberal arts" colleges and majoring in the sciences. I think what throws people is the word "arts." But American colleges in the old days (i.e. my days) expected students to study "liberally" throughout the fields to be well-rounded, which is why we have broader undergraduate requirements than, say, UK universities, where students study in just one area for three years.

[downer]

The Dark Ages are the period from around 400 to around 650, so called because there is very little evidence, written or archaeological, for what happened during that period. That period is also known as the Late Antique period. The Middle Ages are not synonymous with the Dark Ages. Those who want to know more may be interested in Seb Falk's new book The Light Ages, which seeks to explode many of the stereotypes around this. https://www.sebfalk.com/the-light-ages

I already have Faulk's new book. I'm excited to read it.
Of course, we long knew that there was the Islamic Golden Age, which largely retained and protected the scholarship of the ancient Greeks, which meant that whatever was happening in England, France, Germany and Italy, that period of time was not culturally checked out completely.

[kaysixteen]

fourhats is right about the current US usage of the term 'liberal arts', which is certainly in accord with how dear alma mater, the finest college in the world, uses it.   Indeed, places like this, and even fifteenth-rate knock-offs like Amherst, generally overtly refuse to teach subjects like engineering, nursing, business, etc., calling these not properly part of the 'liberal arts'.

Is this term currently in use in Britain or elsewhere in the anglophone world?  And what, if any, translations of this concept, in phrase and/or deed, would be in use in non-anglophone countries, if any?

[TreadingLife]

The College of Saint Rose, University of Evansville and Marquette University are seeing massive academic cuts. Officials point to ongoing demographic trends. Faculty grieve and fight back.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/12/14/college-saint-rose-u-evansville-and-marquette-see-severe-cuts-proposed

[marshwiggle]

Is this term currently in use in Britain or elsewhere in the anglophone world?  And what, if any, translations of this concept, in phrase and/or deed, would be in use in non-anglophone countries, if any?

It gets used a little in Canada; mostly a spillover from the US. (And mostly by places that aren't strong in STEM, as kind of a cover.) But, since we don't have the proliferation of tiny places OR private institutions, there's not the same cultural conception.
(We also don't have the "general education" thing.)

"Arts" typically means "humanities", as opposed to "Science", "Engineering", etc.

[spork]

Is this term currently in use in Britain or elsewhere in the anglophone world?  And what, if any, translations of this concept, in phrase and/or deed, would be in use in non-anglophone countries, if any?

It gets used a little in Canada; mostly a spillover from the US. (And mostly by places that aren't strong in STEM, as kind of a cover.) But, since we don't have the proliferation of tiny places OR private institutions, there's not the same cultural conception.
(We also don't have the "general education" thing.)

"Arts" typically means "humanities", as opposed to "Science", "Engineering", etc.

The College of Saint Rose, University of Evansville and Marquette University are seeing massive academic cuts. Officials point to ongoing demographic trends. Faculty grieve and fight back.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/12/14/college-saint-rose-u-evansville-and-marquette-see-severe-cuts-proposed

The quote at the end from the student is illustrative -- she defines Saint Rose as reflective of the world at large, when it's not. The same can be said by a lot of faculty and administrators at U.S. higher ed institutions, who for decades have stubbornly refused to make reality-based decisions.

[mamselle]

The Dark Ages are the period from around 400 to around 650, so called because there is very little evidence, written or archaeological, for what happened during that period. That period is also known as the Late Antique period. The Middle Ages are not synonymous with the Dark Ages. Those who want to know more may be interested in Seb Falk's new book The Light Ages, which seeks to explode many of the stereotypes around this. https://www.sebfalk.com/the-light-ages

Agreed, and, yum! Thanks for the reference!

M.

[apl68]

The College of Saint Rose, University of Evansville and Marquette University are seeing massive academic cuts. Officials point to ongoing demographic trends. Faculty grieve and fight back.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/12/14/college-saint-rose-u-evansville-and-marquette-see-severe-cuts-proposed

They note that Saint Rose has already cut $8 million in administrative expenses.  That means that they've likely already eliminated administrative fat, and probably some administrative muscle as well.

The faculty members quoted in the article--unlike the student that spork mentions above--aren't trying to defend themselves through bluster about the importance of the liberal arts.  One is quoted as admitting that the demographics are just against her major.  Another criticizes his university's cuts on what sound like plausible technical grounds--cuts may be necessary, but these may not be smart cuts.

[whynotbc]

The College of Saint Rose, University of Evansville and Marquette University are seeing massive academic cuts. Officials point to ongoing demographic trends. Faculty grieve and fight back.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/12/14/college-saint-rose-u-evansville-and-marquette-see-severe-cuts-proposed

"Saint Rose is terminating majors in chemistry, biology and math, though those departments will not lose any faculty positions."

So as polly mentioned, refocussing resources on supporting a core they can recruit on.

[lightning]

It's sad when the majors that require talent, preparation, tenacity, and work, are the least popular degree programs & more subject to elimination due to low enrollment, especially when the fluff programs are thriving with a lot of students.

[polly_mer]

It's sad when the majors that require talent, preparation, tenacity, and work, are the least popular degree programs & more subject to elimination due to low enrollment, especially when the fluff programs are thriving with a lot of students.

The problem all around is the hard majors are generally less chosen, especially at the low end of the prestige chain where the students aren't motivated or prepared.

That's why we keep hearing that the US has a STEM problem.  It's not all sciences; it's the ones that require being proficient in math and then the science that relies on the math and then usually another layer.

Humans generally don't pick hard if they can pick easy.

[Vkw10]

The Dark Ages are the period from around 400 to around 650, so called because there is very little evidence, written or archaeological, for what happened during that period. That period is also known as the Late Antique period. The Middle Ages are not synonymous with the Dark Ages. Those who want to know more may be interested in Seb Falk's new book The Light Ages, which seeks to explode many of the stereotypes around this. https://www.sebfalk.com/the-light-ages

Agreed, and, yum! Thanks for the reference!


M.

Thanks for the reference! Checked out of library to read over break.

[dismalist]

The College of Saint Rose, University of Evansville and Marquette University are seeing massive academic cuts. Officials point to ongoing demographic trends. Faculty grieve and fight back.

Faculty are fighting back against demographic trends?

[marshwiggle]

The College of Saint Rose, University of Evansville and Marquette University are seeing massive academic cuts. Officials point to ongoing demographic trends. Faculty grieve and fight back.

Faculty are fighting back against demographic trends?

Nothing quite identifies the "ivory tower" like the refusal to accept what is glaringly obvious to the other 99% of the population.

[polly_mer]

The College of Saint Rose, University of Evansville and Marquette University are seeing massive academic cuts. Officials point to ongoing demographic trends. Faculty grieve and fight back.

Faculty are fighting back against demographic trends?

Yes, but they aren't doing it using the data that might support their case.  Instead, they have doubled down on keeping their current jobs doing their current things.

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/misuse-demographics-justification-faculty-and-staff-cuts is not nearly as right as the author wants to be because the author doesn't go into sufficient detail.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/12/15/what-do-new-projections-high-school-graduates-mean-colleges-and-universities has much more detail on what the changing demographics are with nods towards what those changing demographics mean.

One detail that is missing from some discussions is the current problem with which aspiring students are likely to be so close to the edge that they were derailed with COVID and may not get back to higher ed as a full-time student ever: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/12/10/analysis-low-income-community-college-students-most-likely-report-canceling-college

Some of the changing demographics have already happened with the minority of students being the traditional students defined as full-time enrollment on a single campus with no dependents and living in the dorms or similar non-familial housing.  The "traditional students" have been under 30% of the national college enrollment for years; elite institutions still have mostly traditional students while one factor sinking the Super Dinkies of the US is failing to transition to a commuter campus in terms of budgeting.  I can't dig it up before work this morning, but CHE ran an article within the past four years about how students who are parents outnumber the 18-22 year olds who live in dorms as full-time students.  Ignoring the needs of student parents because they aren't even on the radar is a big mistake for many institutions.

The majority of students change institutions during their undergrad years.  A near majority of students take more than four years to graduate from time of first enrollment.  Those combined facts mean, except for the elite institutions that don't have to accept transfer students, assuming that students enroll right out of high school and progress in a four-year cohort according to the suggestion curriculum plans is ignoring the reality of the students enrolled.  Again, many Super Dinkies aren't transfer friendly because of their general education requirements that are designed as a super special four-year experience instead of an interchangeable set of humanities, social sciences, and physical/life sciences to check the boxes.