Comments on: Adequacy and its Discontents

By: Timothy Eddy

Timothy Eddy — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 03:32:40 +0000

“And when we win that award, we’ll know for sure we’re winners and not just settling for adequacivity.”

We don’t have to wait ’till we win that award…. Through thoughtful reflection, and careful discussions with our fellow faculty, we already know that we’re not settling.

By: Hope Benne

Hope Benne — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:27:41 +0000

Salem State College is to the modern day North Shore what a monestary or convent was to Christians of the Middle Ages; a source of enormous regional pride and a place of intellectual and spiritual growth. When we publicize our events such as the Darwin Festival, Earth Day, theater productions, concerts, and celebrations for peace, and invite everyone to attend, we provide, not only SSC faculty and students, but people from all across the North Shore a chance for personal and intellectual growth. Our goal should be to maintain the many meaningful and substantive programs we already have in place. But, if Chris wants us to, let’s apply for the Theordore M. Hesburgh award so we can prove to the world we have “programs that enhance undergraduate teaching and learning.” And when we win that award, we’ll know for sure we’re winners and not just settling for adequacivity.

By: Jim Gubbins

Jim Gubbins — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:57:10 +0000

Responding to Chris and Dan, I can say two things. First, about 70% of students in higher education are in public higher ed. If we can get public higher ed. just right on this campus, we provide a model for a huge swath of institutions in higher ed. A second and related point, if we can carefully match the education we offer with the students that we accept, then we can be assured of performing the excellence that counts, excellence in teaching. So it does not matter whether the bulk of our students’ SAT scores (to pick one kind of measure) are 50 points higher or lower. What matters is providing the best kind of education possible for who our students happen to be. Furthermore, as a public institution whose mission is in large part to spread education broadly among the populace and to build up the next generation of citizens, I would hope that we’d want to include those future citizens who don’t have a shot at more elite, more distant, and more expensive 4-year college educations. It’s my firm conviction that each person is of equal worth–that is, of near infinite worth. So there is no difference in privilege whether we’re teaching at Salem State, a high school, or an elite university. However, the special privilege we have at Salem State when we take on a student who shows promise for completing a 4-year degree and yet who is less prepared due to language, poor prior schooling, etc. is that we have to opportunity make an enormous impact for the good in that student’s life in terms of lifelong income, job opportunities, health, and all the other positive indicates associated with completing a 4-year degree. I want us to be a better Salem State, the Salem State that I know we can be. I don’t want us to become another school, a much more competitive school serving only a set of students who are highly prepared and highly motivated for college, and who will do just fine no matter where they end up.

By: Dan Albert

Dan Albert — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:12:35 +0000

I am of two minds here: on the one hand, a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for. I worry that some might let things slide with the feeling that, “It’s only Salem State” (a version of “close enough for government work).

On the other hand, I’m not convinced that given the storms in higher education generally and the changes afoot at SSC, we have an accurate measure of what excellence would look like. The biggest question I have is whether there is a trade off between excellence and inclusion.

By: Chris Fauske

Chris Fauske — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:35:02 +0000

We are ready to become the academic beacon of the North Shore, absolutely. But why settle for that? Why not aim to be a beacon for a far broader and disparate audience?

By: Jim Gubbins

Jim Gubbins — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:11:40 +0000

Here’s a secret. I never did a true national search for a tenure-track position because my wife said, “There are so many ugly places to live in the country, and I don’t want to be stuck in one of them.” Plus as a liberal, female minister, there weren’t lots of places in the country where she could work. I was left with a clear shot at New England and the Northwest from San Francisco up to the Canadian border. Luckily, I found a position here, but from the time of our discussion 15 years ago or so, as we’ve driven across the country on various vacations, I’ve noticed all the colleges and universities that just don’t compare to Salem State in terms of their location, history, social and econominc environment, interesting and diverse students, accomplished faculty, effective administrators, and so much more. My wife was right–why settle for less? By various measures, yes, we’re in the middle, and yet, so many students, faculty, and others in the SSC community have planted themselves, heart and soul, into this place. There are great things quietly happening all over the campus, and still, I think we are ready to take off. Hard times require hard decisions about what we value and who we are; and once we’ve made our choices clear, those choices can become rallying points for building up what’s already good, starting new endeavors for which we’re at the threshold, and letting the past go, letting what doesn’t work well go. We’re ready to become the academic beacon of the North Shore, and that’s saying alot.