Snowflakes: Better Not Tell them They Can't Read, or they might cry.

Universities admit students who are 'almost illiterate', lecturers warn  

Camilla Turner, Education Editor 

16 February 2017 • 7:09pm 

Universities are admitting students who are “almost illiterate”, lecturers warn as they complain that dropping entry requirements has led to a generation of undergraduates who cannot read, write or speak proper English.

Almost half of academics (48 per cent) do not think that students are adequately prepared for university study, according to a Times Higher Education (THE) survey of over 1,000 academic staff.

Many academics believe that slipping standards are to blame, with one lecturer from a red brick university telling the survey: “Each year, the entry requirements for undergraduate programmes are reduced, meaning we get a high number of students who are almost illiterate.”

Another senior lecturer in nursing at a university in northern England, said: “We can now see a whole generation of registered nurses who cannot read critically or write coherently but who have somehow passed a degree – this is worrying”.

A third (33 per cent) of academic staff felt that international students do not have adequate language skills to study at university.  One lecturer at a London university told the survey that they wondered “how some of our [postgraduate] students got their first degrees, as the quality of their written English is really poor”.  

Plagiarism remains a concern, according to the survey, with 60 per cent of academics saying that they have caught students cheating at least once, and 28 per cent saying that they “regularly suspect” undergraduates of cheating.  

A number of lecturers also felt that the National Student Survey (NSS) gave students “too much power”, with academic rigour suffering becoming a secondary consideration.

“Many universities have shifted their focus towards student satisfaction at the expense of academic quality,” one academic told the survey.  

The Higher Education and Research Bill, championed by Universities Minister Jo Johnson,  includes plans to place student satisfaction at the heart of a new ranking system for universities.  

The bill outlines the proposed Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), where universities will be awarded gold, silver or bronze medals on the basis of a range of factors including student satisfaction, teaching excellence and preparation for the world of work. Universities are currently ranked based on quality of research output.  

Education leaders told The Telegraph earlier this year that they fear the bill, which is currently being debated in the House of Lords, will lead to a "fantastically dangerous" culture  where university staff are forced to pander to the demands of students which could undermine quality.

The answer is not to grade them based upon preparing students for work, that would actually dig the hole deeper.  Rather, one cannot grade on what is needed - responsible critical thinking skills. Personal experience - at a university ranked in the top 15 in the world, this is an issue! It was during my time there and that is over 10 years ago.

Creating white groups on campus "alienates minorities" - WIsconsin

Students: Chancellor failed minorities on pro-white agitator

Associated Press
1:51 p.m Friday, Jan. 27, 2017  
 

MADISON, Wis.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor's response to a student trying to set up a pro-white group on campus further alienates minorities as they struggle for a better campus experience, student leaders said Friday.

The student's effort to set up a campus chapter of the American Freedom Party — whose platform includes "prioritizing white supremacy values," according to its Facebook page — has raised questions about how the university should respond and comes as the white nationalist movement as a whole has been emboldened by Donald Trump's presidency.

Student government representatives urged Chancellor Rebecca Blank in a letter to denounce the AFP as racist. They said her statement Thursday saying that expressing objectionable viewpoints isn't illegal was weak.

"Chancellor Blank's statement is a testament to how administrators outwardly show a lack of verbal and systemic support for students of color or minority identities," the letter from Associated Students of Madison Chair Carmen Goséy, ASM Representative Brooke Evans and Student Activity Center Governing Board Chair Katrina Morrison said.

Blank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Adding to the students' concerns is that the man who's recruiting for the AFP chapter, Daniel Dropik, served almost five years in federal prison for racially charged arsons against churches in Milwaukee and Michigan. Dropik, 33, says frustration over the university's efforts to improve the experiences of minority students led him to start a local AFP chapter.

Blank said in her statement that the university is monitoring the group for threats but that expressing hateful viewpoints is legal and within campus policies. She added that she would ask regents to revisit the University of Wisconsin System's policy of not considering criminal records in the admission process.

Goséy, Evans and Morrison wrote that Blank is focusing on admissions policy rather than acknowledging the threat Dropik poses.

Doctoral student Walter Parrish III, who's studying higher education leadership and policy, said Blank's response failed to address minorities' discomfort given Dropik's criminal history. Parrish said Blank's response suggests the university doesn't have a plan in place to protect minority students.

"As a black student on campus, I'm wondering what does this mean? Who is to say something extreme won't happen?" Parrish said.

AFP national chair William Johnson said in a phone interview that Dropik told him Friday morning that the backlash against his recruiting efforts has been overwhelming and that he fears for his safety.

"On college campuses, there is a great deal of pushback whenever someone wants to a start a pro-white group," Johnson said.

Johnson said he knows of at least one college AFP chapter that operates "under the radar," but he wouldn't say where and wouldn't say whether there were more colleges with chapters. He said Trump's presidency makes recruiting efforts easier.

"When people hear you're a nationalist, they used to say, 'Oh, you're like Mussolini?' Now they say, 'Oh, you're like Donald Trump,'" he said.

Trump's disavowal in late November of white supremacists who have cheered his election hasn't quieted concerns about the movement's impact on the White House. His strongest denunciation has not come voluntarily, only when asked, and he occasionally trafficked in retweets of racist social media posts during his campaign.

In their letter, the student government leaders also took Blank to task for not strongly denouncing a man who wore a costume of former President Barack Obama with a noose around his neck to a football game in November. University officials made the man remove the noose but allowed him to stay at the game.

Blank said the noose was unacceptable but that the university must resist the urge to censor political dissent.

The students want Blank to participate in a cultural competency program so she can create policies that directly address racism on campus. A group of students are planning a march to protest Dropik's group Tuesday.

Over the top!

What to say/write about Trump.  I don't know.  I am very disappointed he was the choice and became president, BUT I prefer him over the alternative.  Just to make clear I would never have chosen him, do not like him, do not believe he is the best possible ... but he is leagues above the alternative.

So he has invoked God a dozen times in last few days and in last 18 months hasn't invoked Him that many ... so what?  Obama didn't put his hand over his heart when he was campaigning whenever pledge was said nor during national anthem ... and he didn't want a flag pin.  That took some work on someones part to get him to use it.  His church attendance was probably as good as Trumps.  Don't whine about Trump and God ... not when you never ever gave a sigh let alone critique of Obama.

Oh but Obama didn't invoke God all the time ... which is exactly why you are offended.  Not that Obama never attended church, but that Trump invokes God.  Pretty clear actually, to anyone who tries to be objective.

So ... Trump has said things (I do not disagree he has said them), but given the generalizations of him that are categorically false, I have to take a position and say - what Trump said, has almost entirely been taken out of context, but what his detractors have said about him, are pretty obvious - lies.

Liars all.  And you all believe it.  That's the saddest part.  And you create a cause out of lies.  And lots of women join that cause - one built on lies and hate.

The biggest revelation of the last few weeks is just how unqualified so many people are to do very much.

You think Trump is a threat to democracy ... just watch the protestors.  Mindless twats who would sign up for a fascist as long as that fascist was in the Democratic party and or supported a women's right to have an abortion.

We are closer to a dictatorship than you are aware, but it comes from those protesting Trump, not those who support him.

Take some time and think on it.  Maybe a day, maybe it will take your brain forever to figure it out.