Blame the institution and the student
Iwant to thank Jack Chambless, economics professor atValencia College, for having the courage to be honest regarding the pros and cons of having a college degree in today’s society (“Professor says: Maybe your child should skip college ...,” Orlando Sentinel, May18).
Many in academia share his views but have been reluctant to express them because of repercussions within their departments.
I have been saying the samewords throughout the years, but no one seems to listen. I can remember a student four semesters agowhothought that, because he was graduating, companieswould be knocking downhis door and offering a high beginning salary. This youngmanwas extremely upset withmewhen I told him that a fouryear college degree, today, meant nothing more than a high-school diploma did 20 years ago, besides the fact that everyone has one.
I sawthis youngmana few months ago. He apologized tomebecause he discovered that Iwas honest with him whenmany otherswere not. He has been serving tables at a local restaurant since he graduated, and every one of his peers had four-year degrees also.
The problem does not just lie in the learning institution but also in the student. The me-me-me generation expects anAor aB just for taking the class. There are also professors, instructors and adjunctswhoare more interested in getting a good rating on ratemyprofessor.comthan teaching the student.
Each semester I hope that the level of student knowledge or desire to learn gets better, but, unfortunately, many students have difficulty reading, comprehending, spelling and compilingwell-structured sentences. Whenthey are corrected, they get upset. If they do not like theway the course is structured, they complain.
Howcanwe solve these problems? Certainly not quickly, because these problems have been festering formany years.
I had lunch with a professorwhotaught a graduate class in English a few years ago. I discussedmy concerns andwas surprised when she said shewas not really interested in students’ writing skills; shewas more concerned that they had a grasp of the concept.
Silly, sillyme. Maybe the problem is that I amtoomuchold-school and not flexible enough to understand today’s college-education system, where sports seem to be the focus rather than the preparation for the real world.