California is home to 23 California State Universities. “I am a Phoenix” has never been in any of the students vocabulary. William Tierney, professor of higher education at the University of Southern California has thought-up a far fetched proposal that students attending the CSU school system will one day say, “I am a Phoenix.”
And get this, the whole CSU school will only be worth 2.3 billion to buy.
According to dictionary.com a phoenix is a person or thing of peerless beauty or excellence. According to the University of Phoenix, being a phoenix will get you anywhere you need to be in life while still living your life and attending school part-time. Hmmm…. Interesting thought. The University of Phoenix lacks tenure for professors, most classes are taught online and the debt for students will be a lot higher when compared to other universities.
How does phoenix mean beauty again? Being a “phoenix” is a little sketchy. If CSU students wanted to be a phoenix, wouldn’t they just attend The University of Phoenix?
Tierney’s proposal is mind-boggling. It actually makes my blood boil a bit just by thinking about it. Its actually a little insulting. Lets be honest, most of the classes that are taught in this so-called “university” are online. Ok ok! So what if it gives you freedom to do your work when you want to, but how exactly are students learning?
Getting an education shouldn’t be easy. It takes hard work and effort. Just sitting at a computer and not doing anything hands-on shouldn’t be considered as receiving a degree.
Is being more in debt and acquiring an easier degree really worth being a phoenix? What about the 16 percent graduation rate? Whoa! That is pretty darn low! 16 percent graduation rate seems like there is some sort of a problem. Excuse me, there must be a big problem!
The University of Phoenix is known for its part-time professors, instructional shortcuts and recruiting abuse. I would want to drop out too if I had to be put through such lousy education.
Of course since most classes are taught online, the course work is cut shorter. If you think about it, attending The University of Phoenix is like attending summer school year around. For any of you who have attended summer school, you know what I’m talking about. You have to cram a lot of information into your brain in a limited amount of time. Its stressful right? You rush to get the work done and can’t do as great as a job because everything is in such a hurry. Now why would you want to do a half job when receiving a degree?
The 23-CSU campuses are homes to 450,000 students. Why in the world would Tierney even think that they all want to say, “I am a Phoenix?” The school system is going through some tough times right now, but what isn’t? The economy is bad, but many students are still proposing themselves somehow to attend school and achieve a real degree.
I think I much rather say, “I am a CSU, I worked hard for my degree.”
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The writer puts together some interesting arguments over the notion of selling the CSU to the University of Phoenix, though it would be stronger if she explained the idea a little more fully.
ReplyDeleteThat said, there is a problem at the outset with her dictionary.com definition of a phoenix. While it might say "a phoenix is a person or thing of peerless beauty or excellence." the most common understanding is from Greek mythology.
The University of Phoenix is likely more interested in the ancient Greek connection than the one cited by the author.
The last sentence is probably the best in the piece - and upon rereading the column, might have made for a better lead from a reader standpoint.
The column topic obviously hit nerve with the columnist... and it shows.
Regarding the definition of a Phoenix...
ReplyDeleteDictionary.com does list the definition as quoted by the author. But it is the third of four definitions. This suggests the obvious: why did the writer choose the third definition over the others?