Higher Ed Holdings backing out of discussions with University of Toledo “reflects poorly” on college
I started wondering after reading the Blade article where UT Provost Rosemary Haggett is quoted related to Higher Ed Holdings dropping out of discussions to help the University of Toledo provide a two online master’s degree programs in the UT College of Education:
It was still early in the conversations and the fact that the company had to back out at this stage “reflects poorly on our university” because they could not have a reasonable dialogue about the proposal, Ms. Haggett wrote in an e-mail Tuesday to the college of education staff.
“What could have been a truly compelling dialogue about opportunities to broaden the number of graduate education students benefiting from the expertise of College of Education faculty was never allowed to get under way by those who would seek to demonize those that disagree with them rather than debate what is best for the institution in a thoughtful and professional way,” the provost wrote.
This blog post on Center for College Affordability gave Toledo kudos, which will now have to be taken back, though part of the controversy regarding this issue was noted in a detailed article at Inside Higher Ed. Some selected information from that article:
Gregory Stone, an associate professor of research and measurement, said he’s worried about the implications of the partnership with the company, as well as the broader notion of running a public university like a private corporation. “The problem is education can’t be entirely run as a business,” he said. “It’s not as clear cut as making widgets and selling them, and unfortunately the notion of quantity over quality within the business world seems to be paramount.”
Apart from concerns about the model, faculty say they’re troubled by the choice of Higher Ed Holdings for a number of other reasons. Best, who runs the company and served as a major fundraiser and contributor for George W. Bush, endured charges of cronyism when he received lucrative contracts connected with the No Child Left Behind program. Voyager, one of Best’s companies, sold for $380 million after its program for remedial students was employed in Reading First, a $6 billion federal initiative designed to help low-income schools meet federal NCLB requirements. Charges of conflicts of interest plagued Reading First, particularly after a federal report demonstrated that participants weren’t reading any better than those who didn’t participate.
“We’re concerned about the quality of our educational programs, given that this guy’s first company, [connected to] Reading First, was pretty questionable,” said one Toledo education faculty member, who asked not to be identified.
If you read the Blade article, the blog post from Center for College Affordability, and the Inside Higher Ed pieces? You’ll have a more in depth look into this story…
