Dear Cynthia,
Now you are really putting me in a corner, for one can either view the push toward economic development from a logical or a political perspective. Logically, that organization (i.e. campus) that views itself to be
most closely aligned with public goals will be most supportive of public goals. Working toward economic development not only serves public needs but also serves the needs of a public instition, since the institution is intimately connected to the government
that is (supposedly) serving the public. Private organizations can also serve the public good (and often do), but their primary focus must be on ends that are clearly related to the progress of the private organization, itself. For example, if selling off
lands that are owned by the college helps to fund the college activities, then the fact that this sale may eliminate certain public functions is of lesser importance for a private than for a public institution.
I would also suggest that the best engine for economic development is a geographically dispersed university. SUNY Delhi doesn't have nearly the resources of SUNY Binghamton, but if you run a small company in Delaware
County, I would expect that it will be somewhat easier to get program support from SUNY Delhi rather than SUNY Binghamton, simply because you are closer and more likely to know the people at SUNY Delhi personally.
Having appealed to logic, I must turn to politics, where the biggest pig in the litter is naturally going to try to hog as much as it can. This is human (and pig) nature. Since the biggest pig also has the most
weight to thrown around, the political reality (forgive the mixed metaphor) is that decisions will not be made on the basis of logic but on the basis of political power. Big campuses have more political clout with the system administrators than smaller campuses,
and so this fact is more likely to govern decisions than any logical analyses. There have been several efforts during my career for the major SUNY universities to claim a separate destiny and leave the rest of the system to go to hell. I played a small role
in beating back one such effort to separate the University Centers in the 1970s, and that success is still a source of considerable personal satisfaction.
How many of the university centers maintain SUNY in their names? With alll due respect to my colleagues at SUNY Binghamton (sorry, bad habit), I remember when
their professor of inorganic chemistry became ill and they had to cancel their senior level inorganic course because "there was no one qualified nearby who they could ask." When I asked if they had considered Jack Kotz, there was an embarassed silence. Obviously,
he was at a University College and so couldn't be considered, even though he wrote the textbook they were using in the class!
I find it to be very predictable that the political realities in SUNY Central (or Systems Administration, to use the latest descriptor) would favor the university centers. After all, this would give them the support
they need to create outstanding basketball teams that would demonstrate the intellectual prowess of the SUNY system. /smile
Cordially (with only a little bitterness),
Harry
Harry E. Pence
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus
SUNY Oneonta
Thank you, Harry. That was very helpful.
Here's another thought/question in the back of my mind as I continue to read and mull over the document:
How does this relate to the current discussion about privatization of campuses?
Cindy
Dear Cindy,
The idea of the knowledge economy has been kicking around for some time, and a number of books have used this term. As far as I know, the phrase was coined more than a decade ago by Peter Drucker, who described
it as the next step beyond the information economy. Not all writers seem to describe it in exactly the same way, but I think the common thread is that our society has become more dependent upon the creation of ideas, knowledge, and information, rather than
the physical objects that characterized the manufacturing age. I would guess that this particular reference is to a relatively new book entitled
The Indispensable University: Higher Education, Economic Development, and the Knowledge Economy, which as published by the American Council on Education. I haven't read it yet, but I would suppose that someone in Albany has read it and
was impressed. The book seems to be focused on the university as an engine of modern economic growth, and that would fit with the overall thrust of the SUNY plan. I have no problem with the phrase, but it is more of a vague generalization than a plan for
action. But then, I guess that's what master plans are traditionally all about, vague generalizations rather than measurable specifics.
Cordially,
Harry
Harry E. Pence
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus
SUNY Oneonta
I was also turned off right off the bat by the bolded committment at the beginning to
"be one of the most vital, resilient, and inclusive economies in the global marketplace."
Then later in the document it refers to the "knowledge economy." What IS a knowledge economy?
Cindy
I’d love to get into a discussion about the SUNY Strategic Plan if people feel it would be useful. I have a number of observations and comments about it.. so I’ll throw a couple
of them out and see if anyone takes the bait.
Overall I like much of what this plan says and I’m looking forward to reaching a lot of these goals. I worry that the State of New York and SUNY has waaaaay too much inertia to make any of this possible, but I continue to be hopeful. More specifically I
noticed:
In her introductory letter Dr. Zimpher brings up an age old SUNY issue when she says, “What we have not done as well is encourage our disparate parts to work together.” I have two main thoughts about this. One is, our funding model, it seems to me, lends
itself to competition. Additionally, my local campus responsibilities are already more than I can meet. I look forward to concrete initiatives out of her office that can mitigate these.
The focus of this entire plan seems to be economic growth. Why is this? I’m not against economic growth and being more involved with innovation, business, sustainability, etc... but should that be our plan? Aren’t we about the betterment of society, helping
individuals find meaning and happiness, etc. Has it been proven somewhere that economic growth is the road to those places? Are economic growth and sustainability compatible?
Who’s biting?
Mr. James B. Greenberg
Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center
Milne Library
SUNY College at Oneonta
Oneonta, New York 13820
blog: The 32nd Square at
http://32ndsquare.blogspot.com
wiki: The 32nd Square at
http://32ndsquare.wikidot.com
email: [log in to unmask]
phone: 607-436-2701
fax: 607-436-3677
IM: oneontatltc
Twitter: greenbjb
"Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever"
P
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From: Harry Pence <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Teaching Breakfast List <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2010 08:07:00 -0400
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Draft - SUNY Strategic Plan
OK, I did a search for the word technology and pretty much got zippo. Is there now a code word for technology in SUNY, or have we decided to ignore it?
Harry
P.S. Perhaps we are using some elegant euphasism for technology, perhaps George?
Harry E. Pence
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus
SUNY Oneonta
From: Teaching Breakfast List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Greenberg, James ([log in to unmask])
Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 2:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Draft - SUNY Strategic Plan
Hot off the press (see attached)
Mr. James B. Greenberg
Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center
Milne Library
SUNY College at Oneonta
Oneonta, New York 13820
blog: The 32nd Square at
http://32ndsquare.blogspot.com
wiki: The 32nd Square at
http://32ndsquare.wikidot.com
email: [log in to unmask] <UrlBlockedError.aspx>
phone: 607-436-2701
fax: 607-436-3677
IM: oneontatltc
Twitter: greenbjb
"Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever"
P
Think before you print! Please consider the environment before printing this email