SCUP Scan: Wednesday, 12-16-09

Some quick links from our daily environmental scan of higher education media for information of potential interest to SCUP members:

Wisdom, Intelligence, and Creativity Synthesized: A New Model for Liberal Education, Liberal Education: WICS is a model for liberal education that takes into account why it might be that a highly successful individual got a "C" grade in Psychology 101 as an undergraduate.

Portrait of a Multitasking Mind, Scientific American: This is an intriguing report on "multitasking" and college students: "Those who engage in media-multitasking more frequently are "breadth-biased," preferring to explore any available information rather than restrict themselves."

Evicting Cascadia Community College From Its Campus?, HeraldNet (Washington State): Cascacia and UW Bothell share a campus. A plan is being floated where UW Bothell takes over the entire campus and Cascadia then merges with Lake Washington Technical College. Some busy planners up there.

Education Is Always a Political Act, Getting to Green Blog, Inside Higher Ed: "The truth of the matter is that education is always a political act. If what's being taught enhances critical thinking, then the possibility of political change appears. If what's being taught is merely training at a mechanistic level, then the possibility of political change is suppressed."

Interview with Authors of What They Didn't Tell You in Graduate School, Career Advice Blog, Inside Higher Ed: "Being an ABD is an exciting new level you reach when your proposal is approved. But if you don’t complete and defend your dissertation, being an ABD becomes one of the lowest forms of academic life."

Holyoke Community College Builds on Its Transfer Tradition, The Chronicle of Higher Education: "This Massachusetts institution not only sends its students on to four-year colleges, but also helps them attend elite liberal-arts institutions nearby."

Art College in Boston Will Share 21-Story Residence Hall and Its Health Center,

Buildings & Grounds Blog, The Chronicle of Higher Education: Three schools—Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wentworth Institute of Technology—will share parts of the building.

Is Your Facility a Part of Your Faculty?, Healthcare Design: "At this school, they look at the buildings on their campus as being an extension of their faculty . . . The Board of Directors of the school considers the buildings themselves to be a part of the faculty that is teaching the student and leading by example about conservation, sustainability, and responsible architecture."