All Over Albany

I just feel compelled to mention something that I heard over the weekend from the horses mouth (or other end, depending on your opinion of George M. Phillip...) that all students currently in the programs, so probably declared major or minor students, would be able to finish their degrees. He also mentioned that although the majors and minors will be going away, the classes won't all go away.

Yeah, I spent a bunch of time at the Alumni/Homecoming weekend events. And I got both of my degrees from there. Also, I talked a bit with George. So, perhaps the party line is coming out a little filtered/smoothed, but meh... It's all marketing these days anyway ;)

I guess the takeaway is the sky is still falling, but not all the way. ;) There was a lot of stress on the fact that the school as a whole would have suffered a death of a thousand little budget cuts if they hadn't done these cuts, and has been suffering these cuts for years.

... said Andy on Oct 12, 2010 at 7:15 PM | link

It's not just the students who will suffer when these disciplines disappear (and, Andy, they will eventually disappear), but in the case of theater, everyone whose life was enriched by attending the theater performances. I remember back to my college days (at SUNY Binghamton, when it was called that) when I was first exposed to live theater. I still remember seeing Brecht's "Mother Courage." Theater and the arts were not part of my upbringing so college was the beginning of a life long love of culture. The student body--and the public in the Capital District--will be poorer when the arts and humanities at the University at Albany) withers as U. at Albany pursues its goal of becoming a vocational school (high tech, public administration....) The art, music, and literature depts. (inc. the NYS Writers Institute) should be quaking with fear.

... said chrisck on Oct 14, 2010 at 10:31 AM | link

hmm..having a hard time crying over this one, and that's coming from someone with DOUBLE the useless humanities majors: English Lit undergrad, English M.A.

At what point does an educational institution have *some* obligation to prepare their alumni for a viable career option, with just an undergraduate degree? Try to get hired with a philosophy or theater degree, right out of college. Or even get a teaching job these days. I'm not saying the courses themselves need to be discarded, just discard the choice to major in English semantics, or the French New Wave. I don't know that many people have the luxury of majoring in the humanities simply to be a better critical thinker without acquiring a practical skill set. The Age of Enlightenment this ain't.

Now that I'm on the other side, I really don't buy into the whole "must..go..to..college" notion. I'm really believe it's this myth perpetuated on the middle class. Business Week.com did an interesting article on the ROI (return on investment) for many small liberal arts colleges, and it was pretty sad (not even 5% in many cases). I look at the money I "invested" on a post-college, post-graduate school vocational degree and the phrase "no brainer" comes to mind. Ask your friendly local plumber or electrician what the chances are of their jobs being outsourced..IF you can get them to return your call. They're busy!

... said Rebecca on Oct 14, 2010 at 11:41 AM | link

@chrisck - I'm not saying that these things are happening without consequence, but maybe this slow decline will give other places, like st rose, sage, siena, or any other educational institution in the area that doesn't start with an S the chance to grow into these programs. The takeaway that was focused on was that UAlbany was going to be able to focus on making what it's good at better, and not making everything equally less good. Granted, that doesn't make people who are trying to get a degree in the classics, theater or languages any happier. Getting out of the business of being everything to everyone will probably be beneficial in the long run for the school, and hopefully those areas of study will come back stronger for it. I didn't exactly change my life with 2 semesters of Russian classes, but it was interesting! :)

... said Andy on Oct 14, 2010 at 12:51 PM | link

@Rebecca

I think there is a gross misconception out there about learing practical skills in college. From my experience, anything you learn in college - including graduate school - that is supposed to be practical and useful on the job must be relearned when you start working. Everyone seems to end up being re-educated on the job.

A liberal arts education, however, provides you with the critical thinking experience that allows you to adopt to any new position or job.

I'm sorry, I just dont' buy the technical training thing. I see far too many recent graduates that are technically proficient, great test-takers, but can't think or analyze squat!

... said Jay on Oct 15, 2010 at 10:08 AM | link

Rebecca, let me see if I have this straight. Some fields in the liberal arts are very narrow, have very few employment opportunities, and thus are very competitive, with only the best of the best (or, arguably, the best connected) able to survive. Because of this, education, especially postgraduate education, in those fields should just be done away with; basically, why even try.

Yep, that sends a great message to kids thinking about college... or any demanding career path.

... said B on Oct 19, 2010 at 4:27 PM | link