Universities and colleges: characteristics and distinctions

Universities and Colleges.

It has been suggested that colleges and universities are poorly run, but highly efficient

"What sense do you make of that statement and do you agree or disagree based on your own prior experiences in higher education?" agree absolutely -- the college admissions process alone is testimony to the veracity of this statement. Colleges and universities 'pitch' themselves to a wide array of students, to encourage them to pay their admission fee to apply. This generates revenue for the university, and improves university ratings on the College Board site and in U.S. News and World Report, as it can turn away more qualified applicants and seem more selective. Then, students come to the university with only an unclear idea of what university life may resemble. The students proceed through classes that are often large and taught by professors with more of an interest in research than teaching.

Students must overcome considerable obstacles to get into smaller classes, fulfill major requirements, and receive an enhanced educational experience, the kind advertised in college view books. The university efficiently turns out graduates with 3.0 averages, but not necessarily students who found their education meaningful or interesting or made intellectual connections with friends and professors. Thus the university is poorly run because it does not accomplish its stated mission of providing a true education for all, it often merely turns out students with diplomas.

Part 2

Universities and colleges have been described as 'loosely coupled systems...'

"What does this mean to you based on the readings?" loosely coupled system is one that only occasionally works, and sometimes produces unpredictable results. Given the disparate goals and social elements of the modern university, a university is clearly such a loosely coupled system. Students come wanting a degree to get a good job and may have to take liberal arts courses they dislike, professors who want to research must teach students with little interest in deeper, critical thinking about life, the university community is diverse and brings together teachers, students, and administrators with different backgrounds and views of the purpose of life and education -- and sometimes students, faculty, and administrators use their position for social change, other times college is simply a place to 'fill time.'