Never dull... an epic online commentary from last year by local - Demian Hammock pictured here with his Dad Virgil Hammock at their favourite coffee shop hangout "Black Duck Inn" ... these two are well known vocal locals.
Declining Enrollments at Mount Allison University.
Why Liberal Arts Universities in Canada like Mount Allison University have Now Passed the Point of No Return.
Mount Allison University and the majority of universities have gotten wrong and what they don’t understand. Or perhaps in just plain old denial.
Pumping out too many Liberal Arts Degrees.
Liberal arts universities pumping out too many degrees in the wrong areas, sometimes this is referred to as the
‘College Bubble’
“while college tuition payments are rising, the supply of college graduates in many fields of study is exceeding the demand for their skills, which aggravates graduate unemployment and underemployment, which in turn increases the burden of student loan defaults on financial institutions and taxpayers.” Wikipedia as result, liberal arts degrees hold no real value.
Canada and Undergrads e.g. Liberal Arts Degrees Economic Value a Ticket to Poverty?
“We are number one when it comes to university and college enrollments, but we are also number one in the number of people with university degrees that live in poverty,” said Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist with CIBC World Markets.
Liberal Arts Degrees not Valued by Employers.
“One survey question asked hiring managers what degrees they preferred. Only 1.6% said liberal arts. “Forbes New Study Is No Degree Better Than A Liberal Arts Degree?
Liberal Arts Degrees Skipping the Basics.
No more core curriculum at liberal arts universities for the most part. Every university in the liberals arts should have a ‘Foundation Year’. Liberals arts degrees are nothing more than a hodgepodge of useless microaggressions served up buffet style these days.
Universities/Liberal Arts Programmes Not Acknowledging New Models of Education & Disruptive Innovation.
Universities now no longer have Proprietary Ownership of knowledge & Distribution. Big problems.
The internet/massive open online course Massive Open Online Course (MOOC’s) are just a buffet of information. Well so is a liberals art degree at this point as well. Except for an internet connection and MOOC’s lot cheaper than the cost of a liberal arts degree.
MOOC’s are an example of Disruptive Innovation: “is an innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market-leading firms, products, and alliances.” Wikipedia
To be fair MOOC’s with the help with places like Google and best of the best universities in the World like Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are starting to get good really really good in their consistency and great price points also open 24/7. So Canadian History #101 brought to by Google University which is basically already here will be far more valued. Let’s face it if one gets a History degree from MTA and from the University of Saskatchewan it is all over the map. Universities for the more part have totally gotten rid of core curriculum standards e.g. core readings altogether. BIG MISTAKE. But Google GETS IT!
Brick and mortar universities are simply too expensive vs. online education degrees, especially liberal arts degrees where one does not need for example a lab .This also beats the crap out having to move somewhere else and be in a cramped classroom.
Career Services at University are a JOKE & Out Dated !
If your university does not make Career Services, Internships as part of their core budget and is not part of their main mission statement. Find a university that does! Career Services not part of MTA core budget.
Only 17 percent of recent graduates say career centers are ‘very helpful.
“Recent college graduates were more likely than those in prior decades to visit a career center while in college but are less likely to view their interactions as “very helpful,” according to the newest data from an annual Gallup-Purdue University study of college graduates.” Looking for Career Help, Inside Higher Ed
The Best People not being Hired also a Big Problem at Universities e.g. Collective Agreements.
‘Collective Agreements’ and how they work and why the best people many times do not get the position they deserve. This means a lot of times people get promoted even though it not in the public best interest. Though it is the public paying for these salaries. There no such thing as Collective Agreement online, meaning the student shop around for the best course and degrees taught by the best people in that field.
Atlantic Canada also has way too many duplications of programmes for an area with such a small population.
A New Generation at Universities.
The new generation going to universities now is Generation Z.
Generation Z is the new generation and has replaced Millennials as students in universities.
Generation Z born are Generation Z (1995–2009) very different than Millennials they are perfectly fine with credits and degrees online. They grow up their entire lives with the internet.
Every generation before has seen the traditional liberal arts degree as means of upward mobility except for this new generation, Generation Z.
Generation Z prefer – On-Demand Learning/Apprenticeships vs Formally Educated methods.
Universities are Closed Minded.
Universities are now one of the most Closed Minded places in the Country.
Universities and Safe Spaces/Trigger Warnings.
Safe Spaces. ” a place (as on a college campus) intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations” Merriam-Webster
Trigger Warnings”a statement at the start of a piece of writing, video, etc., alerting the reader or viewer to the fact that it contains potentially distressing material (often used to introduce a description of such content).”Dictionary Online
The concept of Safe Spaces is to protect students from ideas they might find offensive. The whole idea of going to university is the opposite it about hearing idea’s that you might find upsetting and challenges you. It’s not about living in an ‘Echo Chamber’.
Why Space Spaces & Trigger Warnings are a Bad Ideas.
“John Ellison, Dean of Students at the University of Chicago, wrote a letter to incoming students. In this letter he states, “we do not support so-called trigger warnings, we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial and we do not condone the creation of intellectual safe spaces where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.” This view is also shared by Pres. Obama.
What are Safe Spaces & How are Campuses Using Them? Campus Answer
Student Debt is Not Worth it for Liberal Arts Degree Now.
The debt load people with degrees do make more than those who don’t. Though it depends on the degree. What happens in a lot of cases someone gets liberal arts degree can’t get a job and pay off the student loan at the same time then they decide to upgrade their education to something completely different than their liberal arts degree maybe something like healthcare and that point they get a better job. Though in fact did not need undergrad at all to take their upgrade. The only their undergrad did is ruin their credit and make it impossible to buy a house and car etc… It, in fact, that liberals arts degree did the complete opposite of what a liberal arts degree did in the past and that is upward mobility.
Let’s Go Over the List Why Liberal Arts Degree and Four Year Programme is Now a Thing of the Past.
The Liberal Arts Degree List !
Liberal Arts Degree, Gone – Core Knowledge.
Liberal Arts Degree, Gone – Upward Mobility.
Liberal Arts Degree, Gone – Liberal Arts Degrees no longer being viewed as Unique too many being Pumped Out.
Liberal Arts Degree, Gone – Being open to new Ideas e.g. Safe Spaces & Trigger Warnings.
Liberal Arts Degre, Gone – No more Proprietary Ownership and Dispersion of Knowledge. Online Education MOOC’s etc…
Liberal Arts Degree, Gone – No Perceived Value, especially by Generation Z and now the general public and employers. Now that the public has decided Liberal Arts Degree has No Perceived Value the End is Already Here and Everyone Knows It !!!
For Mount Allison University to survive the College/Univesity Bubble in the near future, it will probably have to be amalgamated with a bigger post-secondary institution to survive. Welcome to Mount Allison the campus of university X.
Demian Hammock, Diploma of Advanced Studies Human Resources Management.
Sackville, NB Canada
Also Reachable on LinkedIn"
Comment was made at Bruce Wark's website warktimes.com .. find out more about Demian and his advocacy on Facebook.
