Engagement was the word of the day yesterday, according to Dr. Joseph Innes, finalist for the Provost position at Gallaudet University (see my previous post for details on the position and other finalists). If he gets chosen as Provost, that’s a word faculty, students and staff will be hearing a lot. Engagement: the cure-all, the miracle tonic, the answer to declining recruitment, retention and admissions standards. According to Dr. Innes, if Gallaudet faculty and staff were to engage students during the entire span of their pre-to-post collegiate careers, with a slant towards bilingualism, diversity and inclusiveness, a lot of things would be fixed. I may be wrong, but aren’t schools already supposed to do that?
One thing I have to credit Dr. Innes for, is that he knows his audience. The majority of the search committee are faculty and staff, as were the people in the auditorium. One person came up on stage during questioning and asked how many students were present; I could only see three hands up from where I was sitting. To win the job as Provost, he must win over the fac/staff, and his presentation was tailored accordingly — “I see myself as your advocate when dealing with the President,” he said. He promised them leadership and support. He acknowledged fac/staff dissociation from the administration and the University in general. Dr. Innes’ proposed solution to this? Engagement of fac/staff, of course.
Does all that sound somewhat insubstantial? I’m inclined to think so. There was no emphasis on academic rigor (to borrow a phrase from Dr. Marshall). Dr. Innes proposed a University Without Walls that would expand learning to outside the classroom — to use an example of his, the local welder could come and show students how to fashion art from metal. Is this a vocational school? Do we really need a generation of deaf welders? He talked of re-conceptualizing institutions on campus, such as Gallaudet Research Institute (GRI). Cool, but if someone could define re-conceptualize for me, that’d help.
In contrast to Dr. Marshall, Dr. Innes came the closest I’ve seen a Gallaudet administrator acknowledge that Gallaudet is known more for its social life than its academics. He actually mentioned the word ‘protest’ and talked about healing at length, which I had thought was taboo. He was ‘more ASL,’ if that’s a big sticking point for you. Although I like Dr. Marshall’s way of emphasizing the digits of the year so much, I might adopt it for myself. One hand over the other — there’s a video of it.
Although I don’t think the other finalists were allowed to watch each others’ presentations, the level of similarity at times was almost grin-inducing. It’s like they took the same class in bureaucracy together or something. Dr. Marshall has a vision for an “academic campus culture,” Dr. Innes calls it a “culture of learning.” Same rose, different names. Dr. Marshall wants a Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Dr. Innes wants a Center for Excellence in Innovative Thinking. Dr. Marshall wants a brain trust, Dr. Innes wants a think tank.
I guess if you’ve sat through one provost presentation, you’ve sat through them all. Or maybe not — stay tuned for my report from today’s presentation by Dr. Steven Weiner.
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I was unable to attend Dr. Innes’presentation yesterday, so I’d like to ask:
Did he talk at all about his views regarding Gallaudet’s relationship with the field of Deaf Education–not only in America but worldwide–as a whole? If Deaf Education is allowed to lag behind mainstream education (and by that I do not imply in any sense that a deaf child placed in a mainstream school will receive a better education that a deaf child placed in a residental institution), then given the fact that the majority of Gallaudet’s student body is composed of deaf people, that same student body will always reflect the overall success of the field.
I asked this question to Dr. Marshall, and had I been able to attend Dr. Innes’ presentation I would have asked it of him as well. The point has often been made that Gallaudet cannot be the alpha and omega of Deaf Ed, but I think it is whether it wants to be or not. Education in Hearing America is never going to face the same amount of flak that Deaf Education will face on a continuous basis for the remainder of its existence. As proof of this, Dr. Marshall talked about the recent graduation statistics for the Sweet 16 basketball teams(quite dismal for more than a couple of those schools… check out http://www.newamerica.net/blogs/2007/03/
wholl_win_the_ncaa_graduation_rate_tournament for the exact stats). While these stats might put a dent in some of our previously-held beliefs (”do you see other schools accepting underprepared students? No you do not!”), the probability remains high that none of these schools will ever face closure or problems of the type Gallaudet has to worry about. If only because they have oceans of hearing people to select their student body from.
I’d like to see our plan for plugging Gallaudet directly (or at least more strongly) into our “feeder schools.”
PS you have to cut and paste the whole link above. It’s long and it turns the reply box into one of those things you have to scroll across… so I cut it in half.
Thank you for the summary of both candidates’ presentations, which I enjoyed.
I attended both presentations - I’d like to clarify something. When Dr. Innes mentioned the welding example, he was discussing the involvement of all Gallaudet employees for a culture of academic learning - for example, if a PPD worker is proficient in welding scrap metal into art, the university should take advantage of this opportunity for “sharing” of ideas and knowledge among all members of the Gallaudet community, regardless of position and power, hence “active engagement” of all community members in the future of the university…I thought his emphasis on a ‘fac-staff-student-directed’ university was most interesting… let’s see how he’ll make that happen if he gets the job.
Also, from where I was sitting, I saw about 30 hands rise (including my own and several around me), so there were more than three students in that audience. Maybe you were sitting up near the front :)
Lastly, I’d like to clarify I am not endorsing Dr. Innes or any of the other candidates - just merely adding my perspective of what happened. Thank you for the coverage, and I look forward to your coverage of Dr. Weiner’s this afternoon!
Hi Chris, I sat behind you during Dr. Marshall’s presentation… Do you remember the student who asked a similar question after yours on Tuesday? Well, he asked Dr. Innes the same question, and from what I rememer, Dr. Innes said something like Gallaudet is the reflection of the state of deaf education in the world - if we want deaf education to improve, we must improve the education at Gallaudet as well, and go out there and work with deaf programs/schools to improve their education, which will in turn, increase the quality of entering students.
He mentioned examples such as the President’s office receiving a letter from another country asking for the President to go there and present at their conference on literacy and learning for deaf students (if I remember correctly), and President Davila didn’t feel he was the expert, to make a long story short, they decided to send an expert from Gallaudet there. Dr. Innes said he himself just got back from Michigan where he talked to the audience about something related to education.
From my perspective, his answer was, yes, we gotta go out there… Josh, maybe you remember more of what he said about this…
Couldn’t have said it better.
Dr. Innes answered that question in two parts, however. I think he misinterpreted the question in the first part — yours came second. He said he didn’t believe schools should be homogenized, because otherwise we would lose an aspect of what makes Gallaudet unique. The question was referring to educational standards, and I believe Dr. Innes was referring to something else. Pardon my fuzzy paraphrasing of ASL.
Doesn’t sound like Allman is a fan of Innes. That’s OK. I’m not a fan of Innes and the MOTS pablum he’s peddling.
SIM, were you at the presentation as well?
Careful, don’t put words in my mouth :) It’s not that I don’t like him… if my post sounds critical, it’s because I felt his presentation just wasn’t as substantial as it could have been.
I only heard of Jay Innes this week… I even introduced myself to him. He seemed like a nice guy, and I have absolutely nothing against him.
You may not have said it explicitly, but you did imply rather strongly that there was nothing substantial about his presentation. In contrast, Marshall presented a stronger presentation, judging from what you wrote. I will be interested to see what you think of Innes.
Of course, what you see may not be what other people see, especially the stakeholders, i.e., faculty, administration, and students.
He just wrote what he thought of Innes.
Perhaps you meant to say what he thought of Steve Weiner, the third and final candidate?
Right you are! I mistyped that one. I’ll be interested in what he has to say about Weiner.
SIM, I’m asking again…. Were you at the presentation? The reason I ask is because you explicitly say “I’m not a fan of Innes and the MOTS pablum he’s peddling.” Are you basing that comment entirely on Josh’s observation, or do you have a personal bias against him? If you’re not a fan of Innes, care to elaborate why?
I wasn’t at the presentation and, yes, I’m basing my comment on Allman’s observations and the fact that I’ve met Innes a couple of times.
Let’s leave it at that.
SIM, MOTS?
More of the same = MOTS.
I know what Dr. Innes meant “re-conceptualize” divisions like Gallaudet Researwch Institute (GRI). He feel strongly about some divisions to be largely ineffective and pointless to be existed or pretty wasteful with money.
Innes is more “hand-on” individual, who would inquire someone with face value than just absorb any sayings.
RLM
Curiously, where is Jane K. Fernandes now? What is she doing now? How many students attend Gallaudet University this year?
Does it really matter where JKF is right now?
I bet over the next two or three years Gallaudet University will see less and less students applying for Gallaudet. Even if the accreditation comes out unscathed. Like everybody is saying, they got some work cut out ahead of them.
It may not matter to you, but people are entitled to wonder. There are some people out there who care about JKF’s whereabouts. What she went through isn’t easy nor was it painless for her, I’m sure.
Matt asked a simple and perhaps an innocent question as to how many students attend Gallaudet University this year. You are so quick to badmouth Gallaudet from left to right.
*kissing Gallaudet’s hallow campus* :)
As for the question about enrollment into Gallaudet, I heard from a good friend that works at Gallaudet that the number of students applying to Gallaudet didn’t decline–but INCREASED, instead. I wonder why? Davila? Perhaps because a lot of people know of his reputation and character. So I guess he helped in a way whereas JKF couldn’t do what Davila did?
Interesting fodder here.
Josh, thanks for this ongoing series of reporting the candidates’ presentations. I look forward to reading about Dr. Weiner’s later. The reporting makes me feel like I have been there.
This is kinda taking a side road here, but as long as we are discussing Gallaudet…
One of my sign language students was asking how much it costs to attend Gallaudet? I was a student back in the late 70’s and the cost was relatively cheap back then… but I am sure it has gone up since.
More to the point, what WOULD the actual cost of an education at Gallaudet be, if each student had to bear that cost for themselves? I have been told that if not for governmental subsidizing of the university (I’m talking direct funds to the campus, not individual funds of students such as VR)… tuition at Gallaudet would be comparable to the cost of such at an Ivy League college such as Harvard or Yale - which of course are known for their expensive degrees.
P.S. Just did a little internet research - maybe an Ivy League education ain’t so expensive after all… according to a Forbes February 2007 report, the most expensive tuition is just down the street at George Washington University - $37,820. Neither Harvard nor Yale made the Top Ten list. Vassar, Columbia, and Wesleyan did, as well as the University of Richmond.
http://finance.gallaudet.edu/f.....hedule.pdf
Thank you for this information, but it does not answer my question. This only tells us what the student is being billed for in terms of what they themselves would have to pay.
I suspect the actual cost of an education at Gallaudet would be significently higher than what the students themselves are paying, correct? After all, Gallaudet IS a federally funded university, and I’m sure those funds are subsidizing a considerable portion of the actual tuition fee.
Yes, I am sure that tuition alone does not subsidize the full cost of a student’s education at other campuses either…but I would assume that a student attending George Washington University is paying for a much higher percentage of his education out of her/his own pockets (say…maybe 60% - 70%?)
You can’t tell me that the actual cost of a Gallaudet Education (for US students) is only between 5-6 thousand per semester. I’d expect it to be at least twice that, if not three times as much. Someone’s picking up that tab, folks.
The point I am trying to make (and which does bother me, even though I am a Gallaudet graduate myself and do hold the campus in high esteem) is this - at a time when we are concerned about accreditation and students are talking about possibly transferring to other campuses in order to assure that their degree is actually worth something…
What are these provost candidates saying in their speeches that can convince not only us, but those funders subsidizing a considerable portion of that education (who are just as important stakeholders as the faculty, staff, students, alumini, etc.) that continuing to do so is in their best interests, just as it is ours?
Here are some interesting stats from the Gallaudet website. So about 70% of their funding comes from the Federal government.
I believe Gallaudet receives in excess of $100mil/year in federal funding. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong.) You can do the math from there. According to Dr. Marshall, they are allowed to draw about 4.5% from the endowment annually, which stands at $165mil. He also has said he’s going to request a 1.25-percentage point-increase in endowment drawing, at least until Federal funding picks up.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for the information, Josh.
Hmmm…interesting. This does raise a couple of new questions in my mind -
1) On what grounds does Dr. Marshall intend to argue for the increase in endowment drawing? You can’t just simply say “we need the money.” You’ve got to justify that it’s going to be money well spent, and right now - judging from what I’ve seen and been reading - people are questioning the value of a Gallaudet diploma, and the investment their time, energy, AND money into the university.
2) What happens if that increase is refused? What will be the impact on the campus?
3) “Until Federal funding picks up.” What exactly does this mean? Are we losing federal funding? Are the Feds considering cutting back on funding? Are they concerned (and perhaps rightly so) about investing dollars into a campus that appears to be undergoing some serious creditability issues?
I’m not trying to be antagonistic here, but I am trying to get at some hard-hitting facts, and wondering if we’re all looking at the bigger picture here. As a former Executive Director myself, when I put together a plan of action (call it a Strategic Plan, if you wish) on how I intend to administer the organization, I’ve got to convince not only my constituents, but my funders as well. After all, it’s their money that is going to allow me to carry out those action plans.
Granted, the university President is the individual who really has to bear this responsibility, but if I am understanding correctly, the Provost plays an important role in assuring that the campus is living up to its academic potential, and that students are indeed getting the greatest bang for their buck… a buck that for the most part is being supplied by other sources.
Gallaudet is in serious financial trouble. Our numbers are WAY down. Many students left as a result of the protest. There is absolutely NO truth to the statement that there has been an increase in enrollment. You can check Gallaudet’s own website for enrollment figures. Fewer students means less income. Plus, our federal appropriation was the same as last year, although everyone got a 2% cost of living increase plus a 1% one time only increase. Corporations that have been generous financial donors in the past are giving their money elsewhere and have withdrawn internship opportunities. The Feds are canceling training grants to the ed dept. Many graduate education majors are transferring to other schools because they no longer have scholarships. Things are so bad that there is a spending freeze until October 1 (the start of the fiscal year). All travel has been cancelled, no spending for equipment, or even food. Morale is at a new low. Many people are currently job searching.