More USSWORD and Nuclear Research in the Starphoenix

Last week, in response to Janet French's article about USSWORD and the potential conflict of interest on the presidential search committee, the StarPhoenix published an editorial criticising USSWORD's stance:

The StarPhoenix: Hopkins seeks open process

Then earlier this week, the StarPhoenix also revealed the details of a research partnership between Hitachi and the government of Saskatchewan, including plans for the University of Saskatchewan:

The StarPhoenix:Saskatchewan, Hitachi partner on nuke research. By Jeanette Stewart

Nuclear Research Centre, Cameco, and the Next President of the U of S

The following is a link to the update posted by Sandra Finley earlier this year, summarizing the government contribution of funding to the university for a nuclear research centre, the involvement of Cameco, and the search  for the next president of the University.  It includes a summary of the situation up to that point, as well as analysis and commentary:

The Battles: Discussions by Sandra Finley

USSWORD in The Star Phoenix

On Wednesday, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix published an article outlining the presidential search controversy. The following is an excerpt:

"Senators want board chair to step aside
By Janet French, The StarPhoenix August 17, 2011

A handful of University of Saskatchewan senators are calling on the chair of the board of governors to step aside because of her ties to one of the world's largest uranium producers.

The senators also say lawyer Nancy Hopkins's position as a board member for Cameco Corp. puts her in a conflict of interest chairing a search committee for a new university president."

Read more: 
http://www2.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html?id=df82baea-a6c5-43bd-bdc3-26214c577bdd

USSWORD in The Star Phoenix

Today the Saskatoon Starphoenix printed an article summarizing the presidential search controversy thus far:

Senators Want Board Chair to Step Aside

In the article, Mary Jean Hande says:

"I think it would be very difficult to maintain that public research goal and vision of the university if it was run by somebody who was working in the corporate sector as well."

Selling Out: Academic Freedom and the Corporate Market by Howard Woodhouse

Check out the following book by a faculty member at the University of Saskatchewan :

Selling Out: Academic Freedom and the Corporate Market by Howard Woodhouse
How Canadian universities are abandoning their intellectual independence by capitulating to the interests of big business.
McGill-Queen’s University Press (2009)

In a powerful defence of the values that define education, Howard Woodhouse uses concrete and vivid examples to show how universities in Canada have been engulfed by the market model of education and how administrators have done little to resist this trend. 

Selling Out demonstrates that the logics of value of the market and of universities are not only different but opposed to one another. By introducing the reader to a variety of cases, some well known and others not, Woodhouse explains how academic freedom and university autonomy are being subordinated to corporate demands and how faculty have attempted to resist this subjugation. He argues that the mechanistic discourse of corporate culture has replaced the language of education - subject-based disciplines and the professors who teach them have become "resource units," students have become "educational consumers," and curricula have become "program packages." Graduates are now "products" and "competing in the global economy" has replaced the search for truth.

Challenging the current orthodoxy that the market model is the only way forward, Woodhouse argues that governments have a responsibility to fund universities, recognizing that they are the only places in society where the critical search for knowledge takes precedence.

Cloth (0773535802) 9780773535800
Release date: 2009-09-01 
CA $39.95  |  US $39.95

Order by mail / fax : Order form

Professor Woodhouse is a professor of educational foundations, University of Saskatchewan.

To read an excellent synopsis of the salient arguments in Professor Woodhouse's book, from a review by Patrick Keeney in THE NATIONAL POST, December 26, 2009, click on the link below:[http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/afterword/archive/2009/12/26/book-review-selling-out-by-howard-woodhouse.aspx]

Welcome to the USSWORD blog!

USSWORD is concerned to the point of taking action against the corporatization of the University of Saskatchewan.

We believe that the University is the knowledge base for the Saskatchewan community. It is intended to serve all of society; it should be funded and supported publicly without strings attached.

The gradual reduction in public funding in recent years has opened the door for the University to seek out, and thereby become beholden to, corporate funding and corporate interests.

The challenge for the University is to develop a base of support among citizens that will lobby for more satisfactory public funding and a University that serves the public interest.

This USSWORD blog site is your opportunity to get actively involved with us on these important issues.

Please take just ten minutes right now with a few simple actions that will start the process of immediate, meaningful change at the University of Saskatchewan:

• Familiarize yourself with the fundamental issues by reading the pages in this blog site
• Write a letter to the University Presidential Search Committee expressing your concerns and your vision for future leadership at U of S [must be submitted by August 31, 2011]
• Consider letting USSWORD post your letter to the Search Committee on our blog site

Drop USSWORD a few lines (confidentially if you wish) letting us know about your experiences, both positive and negative, at the University. (Your input will greatly help us Senators to raise issues in future Senate meetings.)

Corporatizing the University

The Corporatization of the University: Part I — Guest Post By Agnes Larson

Published by Briggs at 7:52 am under Culture

Agnes Larson is a long-time university insider. This article is Part I of a three-part series. Read Part II, Part III

Background

As early as 1918 Thorstein Veblen bemoaned the fact that the American university had been taken over by businessmen. No longer was a college a place of higher learning, but a specialized jobs-training workshop to prepare people for ready-made careers. Such specialization, argues Veblen, widens “the candidate’s field of ignorance while it intensifies his effectiveness within his specialty.”¹ Veblen would not be astonished to see today’s university, which is run for a most part, like a corporation. He expected nothing less.

For our purposes, the phrase “corporatization of the university” means that the university is taking on forms and structures that hitherto had been in the realm of for-profit organizations. American universities have always worked hand in hand with wealthy supporters. Often successful businessmen were sought after and appointed to the board of trustees. Walking through any campus one is bound to encounter the equivalent of Cornell University’s Sage Chapel and McGraw Tower—not named for notable faculty but for notable funders. Up for grabs these days are auditoriums, stadiums, and individual programs. Another dimension of what is loosely defined as corporatization is that presidents of universities profitably sit on boards of directors of corporations.²

Globalization

One feature of the 21st-century corporation is its often transnational nature. Universities are traditional brick-and-mortar institutions with typically one location. Land-grant universities frequently maintain some kind out outreach activity that supports their core mission, but it is not typical for these outposts to offer degree programs. This kind of university presence is different from the satellite campus—miles away from the alma mater, such as University of Michigan-Dearborn or UM-Flint. In sparsely populated areas, the community college is increasingly becoming the home of the four-year degree. The community college itself does not issue the diploma, but one of their partner schools. A student in Petoskey, Michigan can earn a bachelor’s degree in information technology from Southfield-based Lawrence Technological University without leaving town.

Another feature of the modern university is its international reach. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 671,616 international students, both graduate and undergraduate, were enrolled in American institutions for the 2008-09 school year. US institutions desire international students because they will pay full tuition and not require/be eligible for financial aid. As a bonus, the home school has no obligation to provide job placement. The understanding is that the students will go back home upon completion of their coursework and their job prospects are someone else’s problem.

Universities are reaching outside of the US, with mixed results. Michigan State had to close its campus in Dubai in the summer of 2010. Originally, the plan was to enroll 100-200 students into each graduating class. Cornell has more success with its outpost of the Weill Cornell Medical Center in Qatar. In 2001, President Hunter Rawlings announced that Cornell would establish the Weill Cornell Medical Center in Qatar. Cornell has made many partnerships with colleges in China. Former Cornell president, Jeffrey Lehman, is chancellor and founding dean of an American-style law program at Peking University.

There is a quieter debate than in the past regarding should an American university pursue and agenda in another country. Some try to say that the homegrown academic offerings will be diluted. Others see opportunity and more tuition dollars—through both credit and non-credit certificate programs

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¹Tellingly, the title of Veblem’s work is The Higher Learning in America: A Memorandum On the Conduct of Universities By Business Men, 1918.

²Goldschmidt, Nancy P. and James H. Finkelstein. “Academics on Board: University Presidents as Corporate Directors.” Academe. 2001. URL: