Our University Part 2 (New changes to the old one)

[JoeBulls]

hmmmmm...

[Belle of the Bull]

also - if you skate by and barely graduate USF or UF or wherever - you should NOT be expected to get into the best law school or get the best job! Same thing..(well, almost!)

[Belle of the Bull]

The quality of education one receives is a function of the instructors we can hire. Currently, we can not compete with other universities in hiring because our faculty and instructors are so poorly-paid.

You can either have a USF with a ****** reputation or a USF with a good reputation. If you want USF to have a good reputation, you need to be able to hire decent faculty members. Only money can do that. Seriously, if you're trying to decide between making $40,000 at USF and $80,000 at (for example) Alabama which one would you choose?

I will say though that some departments know this - comm studies (currently ranked at #10) just hired the 2 best new professors on the market last year. And they are in a position to turn down some of the best applicants in the country. I had a friend apply for a tenure track job this year - he was very very very qualified . They turned him down.   and went with someone else that is also very very very qualified.

Sad for him but it shows that they had options.

It could be like that for every department. Lets face it - we have a lot to offer:

Its in Fl

Good weather

a good balance of an intellectuals and regular business people

nice people

and smart (hopefully in the next few years -smarter) students

Profs should be begging us to take them. If departments were smarter with hires - and the state would allow us more funding so we can pay them-- we would be sittin pretty right now.

[Bobcat99]

The quality of education one receives is a function of the instructors we can hire. Currently, we can not compete with other universities in hiring because our faculty and instructors are so poorly-paid.

You can either have a USF with a ****** reputation or a USF with a good reputation. If you want USF to have a good reputation, you need to be able to hire decent faculty members. Only money can do that. Seriously, if you're trying to decide between making $40,000 at USF and $80,000 at (for example) Alabama which one would you choose?

I will say though that some departments know this - comm studies (currently ranked at #10) just hired the 2 best new professors on the market last year. And they are in a position to turn down some of the best applicants in the country. I had a friend apply for a tenure track job this year - he was very very very qualified . They turned him down.   and went with someone else that is also very very very qualified.

Sad for him but it shows that they had options.

It could be like that for every department. Lets face it - we have a lot to offer:

As a doctoral student in the comm department, I can attest to our being a bit of an anomaly compared to the university as a whole :-)

[Bobcat99]

You are talking to a HCC Hawk ...

I resent your close the loophole...

Yes, and your spelling and grammar do not belie your education.

[Belle of the Bull]

The quality of education one receives is a function of the instructors we can hire. Currently, we can not compete with other universities in hiring because our faculty and instructors are so poorly-paid.

You can either have a USF with a ****** reputation or a USF with a good reputation. If you want USF to have a good reputation, you need to be able to hire decent faculty members. Only money can do that. Seriously, if you're trying to decide between making $40,000 at USF and $80,000 at (for example) Alabama which one would you choose?

I will say though that some departments know this - comm studies (currently ranked at #10) just hired the 2 best new professors on the market last year. And they are in a position to turn down some of the best applicants in the country. I had a friend apply for a tenure track job this year - he was very very very qualified . They turned him down.   and went with someone else that is also very very very qualified.

Sad for him but it shows that they had options.

It could be like that for every department. Lets face it - we have a lot to offer:

As a doctoral student in the comm department, I can attest to our being a bit of an anomaly compared to the university as a whole :-)

Absolutely!!!!!

I talked to gil (well when he was there) and eric about that all the time -- my point was that ALL the departments could be like that!  the b-school just got iowa's dean. I think that is a step in the right direction. I assume you met Gronbeck when he came to speak a few weeks ago then... hes my adviser- would LOVE to hear what you thought of him....

Took a PhD seminar in another department at USF over the summer a few years ago- the difference was astounding.  I hope comm at  USF keeps getting better and better. BTW: What track are you in? Do you like it? Did ya'll ever higher a heath comm person?

you can PM me if you want (i want to spare these poor people from our discussion as much as possible as it can be interesting only if you are interested in gossip in the field of comm studies) :-/

[Belle of the Bull]

and bobcat - i see you went to Ohio... Did you work with Raymie McKerrow? Taught a class on Foucault last semester at iowa. GREAT GREAT guy....

[Belle of the Bull]

OH - and i might add - that USF Communication Studies is a top 10 program BECAUSE they have the  $$$$$$ to hire big fish that stick around. Grad Students wont come to a department that is always in flux. In the 90s - there was a big push nation wide for PhD programs in communication and in leadership. USF was awarded a PhD program by the Board of Regents and because it has faculty that publish (not sit on their A$$es like some other departments I won't mention) and teach well.  The college of Arts and Sciences has consistently funded comm studies and as a result they were able to hire some relatively big fish, keep em happy and fund their doctoral students.  

Its not hard. Just takes proper funding, a good hiring committee and fair tenure requirements.

ALL departments have the potential to become top 10 departments. Its really very simple.

perhaps thats why its so frustrating.

when I think about how funding among departments is handled at usf it makes me sick.

having worked in admin at usf for a bit - and being in higher ed - i see how things are handled at usf (well for the arts and sciences anyway) vs other schools and all i can think is "why"??????

Hopefully things will get better within the next 10 years.

[USFan]

New update...

College Presidents Compare Tuition Increase To Cup Of Coffee

Skip directly to the full story.

By ADAM EMERSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 18, 2007

TAMPA - Presidents from three of Florida's largest universities say that for the price of a cup of coffee paid daily for one semester, they can graduate more students in four years.

But The ability to do that rests with Gov. Charlie Crist, who has said he may veto a plan to boost tuition at the University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of South Florida.

The state House and Senate approved a measure to raise tuition by up to 40 percent at UF and FSU, and up to 30 percent at USF.

Leaders from those schools spent the past week on a traveling show touting the higher tuition as a boon for their undergraduate students, not just an extra expense.

USF President Judy Genshaft, along with presidents Bernie Machen of UF and T.K. Wetherell of FSU, visited The Tampa Tribune's editorial board Thursday to say the money would reduce class sizes by paying for more faculty.

With more professors, the university presidents say they can add the class sections undergraduate students need to graduate on time.

"We all believe the driver of education is not the buildings; it's not the football team; it's the faculty," Machen said.

Florida's public university graduation rates lag far behind the schools' peers nationally, Machen said. For instance, 52 percent of UF's students graduate in four years, compared with 84 percent at the University of Virginia, he said.

Machen and his colleagues say their peers have more money to spend. "You're not going to build a world-class university system on kindergarten tuition," Wetherell said.

Florida's public university tuition is among the least expensive in the nation. Undergraduate tuition for Florida residents is the same - about $74 per credit hour without fees - whether students attend UF or New College, the state's smallest.

The higher tuition, upon Crist's approval, would cost a student taking 12 credit hours at USF about $68 more per semester during the first year, or about $5.66 more per credit hour. Tuition at USF could increase by up to 30 percent after three years.

The Bright Futures scholarship, which covers 75 percent to 100 percent of resident tuition and fees, would not cover the increased tuition. Students who qualify for Florida's Prepaid College Program would be exempt from the fee, and those the federal government considers financially needy wouldn't have to pay more out-of-pocket.

Because the next fall semester is looming, Genshaft and Wetherell said they would delay raising tuition until fall 2008, even if Crist signs off on the bill. Machen said the increase would go into effect at UF next fall; for months, he has pushed for such an increase, and he has had the student government's blessing.

He added, though, that he would delay the increase for a year if it meant winning Crist's signature.

Crist has threatened to veto the bill, saying earlier that he didn't believe "that higher tuition anywhere is good." He has 15 days to decide whether to kill the plan once he receives the bill.

Millions are at stake. In the first year, the tuition boost at the three universities could raise an extra $3.6 million. By the fourth year, the fees would draw about $73.6 million, with $20 million of that for USF.

According to the bill, the money must be spent on faculty and academic counselors.

http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBALKI3U1F.html

[nukebull]

I have never understood why we saddle kids with 30K dollars worth of debt so that they can get a college degree.

It just makes zero sense economically.

How many students at USF actually pay for their own education? I have paid for my children's through the prepaid fund when they were born.

I have seen studies that show most of the debt of students is from their lack of credit management skills and spending on non education items with credit. My entire time at USF I do not recall anyone who paid or were responsible for 100% of their tuition, most had parents, grants, scholarships, or like myself Army college fund.

The stuff about students not voting well shame on them. higher education is not a right it is a privilege and with the Bright Futures and other grants the student must take some responsibility for their future by actually getting good grades in High School.