Is it Time to have the Schlissel Discussion? (Beyond Football)
Seems like the University is a bit of a mess right now. Multiple student/outside labor groups have been voicing their displeasure in the administration's planning/preparation for a return to courses this fall vis-a-vis the new COVID-19 environment. A few of note:
RAs are striking
GSIs and some construction workers are striking
Personally, I understand and am all for increased measures to focus on campus safety (shift to hybrid/online classes and *ugh* no football) in an attempt to keep the University as academically viable as possible, but to justify those measures you need to display competency and preparedness. Based on everything that I've read, the administration is really struggling with this, to the point that I've read rumors that the Faculty Senate are pondering a vote of 'no confidence' in Schlissel.
I'm not in the 'we must have football' camp, but it's a bit disappointing that a large reason why it seems we're sacrificing even an opportunity to make that happen is to create a watered-down academic environment that will likely go kaput in a few weeks/months anyway.
Have to say, of all schools' COVID response up to this point, in my opinion MSU has been one of the absolute best because they chose to just bite the bullet.
September 9th, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
It's definitely time to have the "are we prepared to invest in secondary education again?" discussion because that's at the root of all this bullshit. But yeah, the University's handling of COVID has been not even half measures that guarantee the problem gets worse. So it's an indictment of leadership.
September 9th, 2020 at 2:46 PM ^
Couldn't say it better.
September 9th, 2020 at 3:41 PM ^
Agreed!
The wife and I changed our "college" savings fund for our children to more of a "post high-school advancement" fund. We are starting to detach ourselves from promoting college as a the most viable destination after high school. We will definitely not push college onto them, rather allow them to explore things (i.e. gap years, community college, etc.) before making the major investment in a major university.
September 9th, 2020 at 4:26 PM ^
You and your wife get concerning higher education. It's not just COVID where you are not getting the bang for your buck but how higher education is being taught these days. There are now so many convoluted things you can major in today that won't fit with the real world and obtain that desired occupation.
September 9th, 2020 at 4:55 PM ^
It’s exposing one of the biggest misconceptions there is in higher education today: the idea of “job in major”. That was never the purpose of higher education when our institutions were created.
September 9th, 2020 at 5:13 PM ^
The institutions were also not charging anywhere near a year's worth of income for the average person per academic year even adjusted for inflation.
And college was pushed by parents and schools as the best way to "get a good job" for millenials growing up.
So either drop the price or stop the misinformation.
September 9th, 2020 at 5:27 PM ^
They were created to form a class of white men learned in a wide range of fields so they could take their place in the new American aristocracy that was being created.
It was never intended for the hoi polloi to use it to make something of themselves.
September 9th, 2020 at 5:22 PM ^
Secondary education receives huge sums of money. It is among the last places we should be investing in.
Invest in K-12 education, anti-poverty programs, mental health programs, family stability programs, etc.
We need to invest in communities, not institutions.
September 9th, 2020 at 5:31 PM ^
secondary education is k-12 and we fund our k-12 schools more than almost everyone in the world. Need to allocate those resources better
September 9th, 2020 at 8:15 PM ^
Well, it's more like 9-12
September 10th, 2020 at 4:22 AM ^
"k-12" is "primary education" generally required by law. Secondary education is college+.
And there's a discussion to be had about why property taxes are not a great vehicle to fund primary education but probably not the time or place, so carry on.
September 9th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
on top of all of that
- RAs walked off the job today..which is no big deal because Frank Jr said that he never met his RA anyways.
- Frank Jr's classes are recordings from last year.
- Dining hall has served chicken fingers and french fries as their main meals for the last 5 days. it seems as if they have given up as well
Some of you can get mad over this, but lets be honest...OOS people will not be flocking to UM next year as a result.
September 9th, 2020 at 11:49 AM ^
Dining hall has served chicken fingers and french fries as their main meals for the last 5 days. it seems as if they have given up as well.
I don't see the problem here?
September 9th, 2020 at 12:01 PM ^
yes, the dining halls have a way with fried processed chicken parts.
Back in my day, my hallmates and I kept tabs on which dorm was serving chicken patties that day. . . that's where we did lunch.
September 9th, 2020 at 12:09 PM ^
I miss dining hall food.
September 9th, 2020 at 12:28 PM ^
I had no problems with dorm food until I found a roach in my upside down cake. Not one of my better East Quad memories.
September 9th, 2020 at 1:19 PM ^
It being East Quad, by "roach" did you mean the insect or the marijuana-joint remains?
September 9th, 2020 at 2:27 PM ^
In my time there (late 90s), we had the Half-Ass, which was in the basement of East Quad. Despite its name, the food there wasn't bad and a great alternative to the main food hall dining options.
September 9th, 2020 at 2:31 PM ^
I found a roach baked into a piece of corn bread when I was at East Quad in the 90s. Guess I wasn't the only one who experienced this type of horror.
September 9th, 2020 at 12:09 PM ^
Our thing was Texas sheet cake. Very underrated dessert option.
September 9th, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
My record for a single meal was 6 chicken patty sandwiches. My metabolism has slowed since then.
September 9th, 2020 at 2:05 PM ^
are you one of my college roommates?
September 9th, 2020 at 12:29 PM ^
Probably can't use the waffle makers though, which would have been brutal for me.
September 9th, 2020 at 1:05 PM ^
Well if it's supposed to be chicken broccoli bake day, then yes it is a problem. A big one.
September 9th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^
I LOVED chicken broccoli bake day. That was probably my favorite dining hall meal.
September 9th, 2020 at 4:13 PM ^
The home edition straight from the source.
September 9th, 2020 at 5:49 PM ^
I went to a MAC school in Ohio and this was one of our favorites dishes too. Loved the chicken broccoli bake.
September 10th, 2020 at 4:29 PM ^
The freshman 15 wasn't because the dining hall food sucked.
Loved the chicken patty sandwiches. The though of eating one now makes me want to gag.
September 9th, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
That we actually increased the cost of tuition this year is embarrassing. Talk about tone deaf.
September 9th, 2020 at 2:56 PM ^
I had the George Foreman grill and would take entire loaves of bread and a bunch of cheese and cold cuts and tomatoes from the cafeteria up to my room and grill for the hall. Luckily had a cool RA that enjoyed the home cooking.
Great memories
September 9th, 2020 at 3:21 PM ^
Some of the faculty members have too much entitlement, if your salary is based on your teaching obligation, get out and teach, and wear whatever PPE that make you feel safe, if that does not work, take unpaid leave.
September 9th, 2020 at 4:25 PM ^
A lot of the faculty’s salary isn’t based on teaching, it is based on research, which they can still do, and still brings a shit ton of money to the University.
September 9th, 2020 at 10:57 PM ^
This isn’t exactly true. Most Faculty are generally required to teach 3-4 classes an academic year and mentor students. Only if you do above average research can you shift your obligations.
September 10th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
Faculty who cover their salary partially with research grant have reduced teaching load, but vast majority of them need their postdocs and graduate students in their labs IN PERSON.
September 10th, 2020 at 8:49 AM ^
So to me, said RAs (my son’s RA was in absentia in 2017-18 as well) who walked of the job should get a bill for room and board at the single rate today.
GSIs should be charged for tuition and have their stipends reduced for everyday they are off the job. This should start with a bill for the whole semester today and letter explaining the proration with a date by which they have to pay it or be dis-enrolled.
I would bet there are other students who would gladly take a free single room in this environment, or work for free tuition plus a stipend.
Seriously, there are a lot of people working at-risk with precautions in this world - including my son who worked at a grocery store that desperately needed workers when his internships were cancelled because he needed money to pay for tuition, room and board.
Why do people who signed an RA, assistantship, or fellowship contract knowing full well the University intended a “Covid informed semester in residence” feel they have a right to having cake and eating it too?
September 9th, 2020 at 11:48 AM ^
MSU chose to bite the bullet a week before in-person classes were supposed to start. Face it, no school has done a great job...
September 9th, 2020 at 11:51 AM ^
Yeah that's a fair point, but at least they didn't try to half-ass solutions once everyone got there. They did send out an email (as I'm sure many schools have done) that justified why they're still keeping their tuition prices the same through all of this. As the first comment on the thread alluded to, due to loss of state funding for colleges/universities that led to schools building their own financial infrastructures, these schools are basically stuck with having to charge people insane amounts because they have no other way of staying financially viable.
September 9th, 2020 at 7:40 PM ^
Pretty hard to justify tuition prices for an inferior product, with faculty who won't teach and $12+ billion endowment.
September 9th, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
I think it depends on the size of the school. My son's school, which is around 2000 people, has done well so far. No active cases on campus that they know of right now. One case did pop up two weeks ago and they contact traced and everyone in close contact was quarantined in a separate dorm for a week and retested. Kids are following the rules, which are stay on campus, mask wearing in public, social distancing. Some classes are in person, some are online. Students can choose. It's a very small town, so that helps to keep everyone in place. I get why big schools have such a hard time doing it. My son's school and the town it's in are like their own bubble.
September 9th, 2020 at 6:09 PM ^
WendyK5,
That is encouraging. Dare I hope for great baseball updates this spring?
September 9th, 2020 at 11:49 AM ^
Piston Blue, your post reeks of what I used to see on MLive (i.e., it's one of those "This is what _I_ think!" posts). In light of what Brian posted yesterday, it's also redundant.
September 9th, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
I didn't want this to be a football-based discussion, as I thought was kind of the point of Brian's post. I'm more trying to draw attention to some actions of rebellion amongst core student and faculty sources at the University because I haven't seen a ton of discussion about how the actual campus is doing with these changes.
September 9th, 2020 at 11:49 AM ^
But I thought being an epidemiologist makes his opinions infallible?
September 9th, 2020 at 12:10 PM ^
It seems your point is that him being an "expert" doesn't make his opinion infallible, but then you throw the curve by saying he's an epidemiologist (and he isn't, he specializes in immunology). Is that some Inception level sarcasm (sarcasm within sarcasm)?
September 9th, 2020 at 12:21 PM ^
Sorry, immunologist. Functionally the same thing as it relates to the point I was making.
September 9th, 2020 at 12:38 PM ^
As a noted immunologist, I'm sure his conclusions on the subject are quite sound. But he does not appear to be a strong leader capable of riding herd on a bunch of disparate factions and getting everyone pulling in the same direction. When times are good he is fine...probably better than fine. When times are tough and require a firm, politically astute hand, not so much.
September 9th, 2020 at 12:40 PM ^
Being an epidemiologist would be much more relevant than being an immunologist.
It seems a lot of people seem to think of them as being the same, but immunology is focused on the immune systems of individuals and how they react and respond to things like allergens or viruses. Epidemiology is concerned with populations and disease spread through populations.
An immunologist could tell you all you want about covid and antibody response and how to treat a patient. They are not generally trained to understand how to manage macro a public health crisis due to a virus. That's what you want an epidemiologist for.
Even if he were also trained as an epidemiologist, it's not like the president of a university is going to be sitting in their office running simulations of viral spread on campus. They are going to rely on input of the experts that have the time to focus on such things.
September 9th, 2020 at 3:16 PM ^
As an immunologist married to an epidemiologist, I co-sign this post HARD.
99% of people think we are the same...we can barely have work convos with each other.
September 9th, 2020 at 5:30 PM ^
I would strongly consider an ER Physician’s opinion who treated Covid during its most overwhelming time and also has played and has son who plays Big Ten football.
I’m also not so sure we should have pitchforks out for Schlissel right now. He needs to step up his crisis management and that includes better communication. Not everyone is prepared for something of this magnitude.
September 9th, 2020 at 1:14 PM ^
Sorry, I wasn’t sure the point you were making. I thought your joke might be that he was “only” an immunologist and shouldn’t be making decisions like an epidemiologist.