Balderston 5

Chapter 5: Academic Organization

This chapter exposes the realities of running an educational institution as a business. Balderston emphasizes the importance of cohesion within departments and colleges in a voluntary educational structure. Without cohesion, curriculum could not work together to create collective student outcomes. If students succeed after graduating, that brings more prestige to the institution and department specifically. In this voluntary scheme, assessment helps to keep faculty and staff disciplined as far as wanting to achieve goals.

We also learn about the political tensions between departments as far as the quest for funding and credibility. Even if department members regard eachother as equals in achieving student success as a whole, each professor is competing for funding, course credibility, departmental space... in short individual reputation within the collective reputation. This seems to go directly against the fundamental values of the university, as isolation does not contribute to communal goals. It may be difficult for general departments to promote the goals of the specialized subject.

Academic departments may be the most difficult to create change. This may be why of all the factors of education, teaching has remained the most conservative. Dr. Tierney discussed the changes in diversity overtime. Student populations have changed, yet faculty diversity lags. Student perceptions change, yet teaching style remains overwhelmingly lecture driven. Perhaps too much emphasis has been placed on the "academic man" as Rudolph discussed, than on student outcomes.