I’m whacking out post categories by posting another news item, but this was right on the money…
Helicopter parents are not the only problem. Colleges coddle students, too.
from the Washington Post, October 21, 2015
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/10/21/helicopter-parents-are-not-the-only-problem-colleges-coddle-students-too/
Highlights:
- Written as a byline by Grade Point contributor Jeffrey J. Selingo… former editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education, higher ed author, prof. of practice at Arizona State University.
- “A handful of big public universities, including Georgia State, Virginia Commonwealth, and Arizona State (where I’m a professor of practice), have adopted computerized advising systems that track students’ progress in classes and mine data on tens of thousands of grades to make suggestions about what courses should come next for them.” (para. 5)
- Obama also says liberal arts students shouldn’t be coddled (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/15/obama-says-liberal-college-students-should-not-be-coddled-are-we-really-surprised/)
- Professors are encouraged to provide “trigger warnings,” advance notices to students that instructional material might elicit a troubling emotional response from them, and on some campuses report “microaggressions.”
- Students are never exposed, for instance, to the feedback process that is the hallmark of most jobs today.
- The A is the most common grade given out on college campuses nationwide, accounting for 43 percent of all grades. (In 1988, the A represented less than one-third of all grades.)
I think the concept of this is legit, but some of these points aren’t really hitting home for me. My gut reaction is that I agree that universities are coddling students, but I think it’s in part a byproduct of universities trying to look out for themselves (i.e. not just related to helicopter parenting.) Examples: High overall grade norming and delayed withdrawal deadlines allow for better university numbers, leading to more impressive parent/curb appeal, more enrollment, more money.
Point 2… does FAU use this? I don’t think so, but wasn’t sure. I wonder if more will adapt it.
Point 4… is this the same as our weird notification system where you can “flag” a student to the Dean’s office? Otherwise I’d be interested to hear if the Emerging readings ever cause issues with students… I know one GTA mentioned that a student tried to refuse to write a paper because s/he disagreed with the essay content. (Spoiler alert: the student had to write it anyway.)
Point 5… disagree! At our program here, at least, it seems like there’s room for this (peer review, rough drafts, argue your grade, etc.)
Point 6… not sure where this came from (he doesn’t cite it), but always wonder about this. I was surprised in the workforce that so many employers lauded applicants with 4.0s. To me it was usually a red flag.
I think the true negative effect of helicopter universities is that graduates are steamrolled by the workforce and life-after-college. I for one felt like an idiot after I graduated and got my butt handed to me in the real world (and I know many friends who felt the same.) I had a cushy college experience and didn’t realize how much work was really coming to me. But maybe that’s just part of growing up.
Overall, wish he would’ve baked this out a bit more. But, imagine he’s bylining this sucker alongside 500 hours of student grading, teaching, publishing, etc. Time for a reporter to pick it up…?
Bonus: This is also a really interesting follow-up piece he did that looks at Georgia State, and shows that their algorithm software actually seemed to work surprisingly well… https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/10/30/are-colleges-coddling-students-or-just-leveling-the-playing-field/