Post by trojan2003 on Sept 21, 2019 4:36:25 GMT -6
** Referring to a previous post in another thread discussing Troy University and its academic programs **
^I mostly agree but several factors you need to consider here: Graduate vs undergraduate education, purpose, level of tuition.
Troy is serving its community, regionally. The purpose is to educate the workforce living in the Southeastern region incl Greater Atlanta and not the national elite. Many other “directional universities” ranging from Boise State to Southern Miss have the same purpose but with increasing investment and publicity, they are moving up. These universities are now lower tier 2&3 national universities. Another example, some national universities (such as TCU) are raising tuition/fees mainly because higher tuition is associated with better education, this is a disservice to the community however. Do we really want to do this? It’s a strategic decision.
Many universities are ranked highly because of their graduate level programs and overall research output. These universities maintain expensive medical schools, law schools, etc and because of this they are ranked higher and it also reflects on their undergraduate schools that benefit from these rankings, even though it shouldn’t be the case. So should we also invest in these kind of “enterprises” or rather invest further into undergraduate and basic graduate level programs and serve the community.
Years ago, I transferred out from Troy because I wanted to study Economics and Troy didn’t offer an Economics program, just some individual classes. So I transferred to a major research university and double majored in Economics&Marketing (think GA Tech, Carnegie Mellon etc). I found that many topics covered were similar (in Marketing at least) but at a somewhat higher level (but not that much higher), most importantly the exams were much much tougher. Of course, in addition, you also had more advanced classes to chose from but some of these were not mandatory in order to graduate. Basically, I could have received maybe a slightly higher level of education (just with tougher exams) if I had decided to go the easy route. Also, I had the opportunity to specialize in the area of Economics (Econometrics) which is very beneficial in today’s data driven world. There is no reason why Troy could not offer these special sub-programs, making these optional, not mandatory. You would have to invest in your staff but you don’t need expensive equipment, much more space etc.
This is was Troy can do realistically, and we are doing some of it already or at least we are planning to:
1 Start an Honors College (so expand the Honors program) within the university for talented undergraduates
This is already in the works and I think Shackelford Hall will house the Honors College. Find a sponsor and give it a real name. Marketing is important.
We need to do this right, higher admission standards, scholarships and also offer some unique programs
2 Generally, offer more scholarships for talented undergraduates
3 Publicity: The Football team is our best Marketing engine, we need to invest further. Boise St is also growing because of its FB program. It is also a great way to stay connected with your alumni base. I have coworkers who graduated from small nationally known liberal arts schools. Many of them somehow regret not having attended schools with major athletic programs, they do not feel really connected to their respective alma maters. Apple CEO and Auburn grad Tim Cook is being featured in Auburn ads and occasionally attends Auburn FB/BB games - this is huge publicity for Auburn.
4 Academic facilities: We need a new state-of-the-art library and a Technology hub
5 Technology: Everything is Tech nowadays, offer graduate level programs combining underserved areas such as Journalism, Sociology, Political Science, History with Data and Tech. Universities such as USC, GA Tech are doing this but still many universities do not offer these programs.
6 Add more Phd programs
7 Specialization: Decide which areas to invest further. For instance, Journalism, Environmental and Climate studies, Data analysis, etc, you don’t need too many expensive equipment and space. George Mason U for instance, a pretty good school but not exactly an Ivy League level school. Years ago, somehow they managed to produce a Nobel Prize laureate in Economics who decided not to leave George Mason but to build up its Economics department. They are now leading in the area of Experimental Economics, globally. Our Journalism school was ranked highly a few years ago (Top 10 in the US, right there with Columbia, Missouri, etc), we have produced some famous Journalists (even CNN news anchors). We should put a lot of money into this and start some interdepartmental programs. USC has a very cool Journalism school, they have their own CNN-type newsroom, and a (very expensive) Data Journalism program, etc. Investing in Data Analysis and PR/Advertising/Journalism is expensive but not as expensive as buying a Law school. Journalists and PR Experts with Tech degrees find jobs at Google, Facebook, Politico, etc, its not just traditional newspapers, local tv stations, broadcast networks anymore. Anyways, even in the news world, Data Journalism is important, because most scandals and big stories are based on data nowadays (Wikileaks, Snowden, etc).
8 Find niche programs and pursue unique collaborations. For instance, not many universities offer War studies, at Southern Miss you can study War&Society at a graduate level and they have unique programs partnering with elite institutions such as Sandhurst (the British equivalent to West Point). We should also consider which programs produce the wealthiest graduates, maintaining Engineering programs is expensive but Data/Tech is not. Big Tech needs an enormous amount of talent and they are hiring numerous employees from China, India and other countries (many with US Masters and PhD degrees) but they still can’t find enough talent. There is a huge demand in Big Tech and many more start ups coming in the future. They are also hiring talented / amateur coders who don’t even have degrees in Computer Science, etc. I work for a FAANG company, I see this everyday.
Also, I am not sure if an Engineering school is such as prestiguous and marketable anymore when compared to Data/Tech. Many (electrical) engineers work in tech now, anyways. My alma mater is well known in traditional engineering but recently preferred to award Almuni of the year awards to graduates succeeding in the Tech world, eg Head of Google Search, Head of Pixar Animations, etc. This is probably more marketable to the next generation of students.
9 Be aware, our competition is not just other regional universities but the corporate world as well. I work for a major Fortune 500 company and we have extensive in-house education programs. I am looking into graduate schools at the moment but technically I could study everything here for free. So what can universities do, how to offer a better education than the corporate world?
10 International partnerships: Extend our collaboration effort with Chinese/Asian universities. The future world will be divided into USA and China, both countries will divide and run the world. China is very innovative nowadays, and they are are producing a lot of research output. Offering programs in Chinese studies which will be in high demand could be another niche for now, at least first mover advantage always helps.
Building a hospital and starting a medical school or buying a law school is extremely expensive and should be pursued once everything else is in order.
Troy should still serve the region and incl Metros such as Greater Atlanta, we need to make sure that we are serving the demands in the region.
^I mostly agree but several factors you need to consider here: Graduate vs undergraduate education, purpose, level of tuition.
Troy is serving its community, regionally. The purpose is to educate the workforce living in the Southeastern region incl Greater Atlanta and not the national elite. Many other “directional universities” ranging from Boise State to Southern Miss have the same purpose but with increasing investment and publicity, they are moving up. These universities are now lower tier 2&3 national universities. Another example, some national universities (such as TCU) are raising tuition/fees mainly because higher tuition is associated with better education, this is a disservice to the community however. Do we really want to do this? It’s a strategic decision.
Many universities are ranked highly because of their graduate level programs and overall research output. These universities maintain expensive medical schools, law schools, etc and because of this they are ranked higher and it also reflects on their undergraduate schools that benefit from these rankings, even though it shouldn’t be the case. So should we also invest in these kind of “enterprises” or rather invest further into undergraduate and basic graduate level programs and serve the community.
Years ago, I transferred out from Troy because I wanted to study Economics and Troy didn’t offer an Economics program, just some individual classes. So I transferred to a major research university and double majored in Economics&Marketing (think GA Tech, Carnegie Mellon etc). I found that many topics covered were similar (in Marketing at least) but at a somewhat higher level (but not that much higher), most importantly the exams were much much tougher. Of course, in addition, you also had more advanced classes to chose from but some of these were not mandatory in order to graduate. Basically, I could have received maybe a slightly higher level of education (just with tougher exams) if I had decided to go the easy route. Also, I had the opportunity to specialize in the area of Economics (Econometrics) which is very beneficial in today’s data driven world. There is no reason why Troy could not offer these special sub-programs, making these optional, not mandatory. You would have to invest in your staff but you don’t need expensive equipment, much more space etc.
This is was Troy can do realistically, and we are doing some of it already or at least we are planning to:
1 Start an Honors College (so expand the Honors program) within the university for talented undergraduates
This is already in the works and I think Shackelford Hall will house the Honors College. Find a sponsor and give it a real name. Marketing is important.
We need to do this right, higher admission standards, scholarships and also offer some unique programs
2 Generally, offer more scholarships for talented undergraduates
3 Publicity: The Football team is our best Marketing engine, we need to invest further. Boise St is also growing because of its FB program. It is also a great way to stay connected with your alumni base. I have coworkers who graduated from small nationally known liberal arts schools. Many of them somehow regret not having attended schools with major athletic programs, they do not feel really connected to their respective alma maters. Apple CEO and Auburn grad Tim Cook is being featured in Auburn ads and occasionally attends Auburn FB/BB games - this is huge publicity for Auburn.
4 Academic facilities: We need a new state-of-the-art library and a Technology hub
5 Technology: Everything is Tech nowadays, offer graduate level programs combining underserved areas such as Journalism, Sociology, Political Science, History with Data and Tech. Universities such as USC, GA Tech are doing this but still many universities do not offer these programs.
6 Add more Phd programs
7 Specialization: Decide which areas to invest further. For instance, Journalism, Environmental and Climate studies, Data analysis, etc, you don’t need too many expensive equipment and space. George Mason U for instance, a pretty good school but not exactly an Ivy League level school. Years ago, somehow they managed to produce a Nobel Prize laureate in Economics who decided not to leave George Mason but to build up its Economics department. They are now leading in the area of Experimental Economics, globally. Our Journalism school was ranked highly a few years ago (Top 10 in the US, right there with Columbia, Missouri, etc), we have produced some famous Journalists (even CNN news anchors). We should put a lot of money into this and start some interdepartmental programs. USC has a very cool Journalism school, they have their own CNN-type newsroom, and a (very expensive) Data Journalism program, etc. Investing in Data Analysis and PR/Advertising/Journalism is expensive but not as expensive as buying a Law school. Journalists and PR Experts with Tech degrees find jobs at Google, Facebook, Politico, etc, its not just traditional newspapers, local tv stations, broadcast networks anymore. Anyways, even in the news world, Data Journalism is important, because most scandals and big stories are based on data nowadays (Wikileaks, Snowden, etc).
8 Find niche programs and pursue unique collaborations. For instance, not many universities offer War studies, at Southern Miss you can study War&Society at a graduate level and they have unique programs partnering with elite institutions such as Sandhurst (the British equivalent to West Point). We should also consider which programs produce the wealthiest graduates, maintaining Engineering programs is expensive but Data/Tech is not. Big Tech needs an enormous amount of talent and they are hiring numerous employees from China, India and other countries (many with US Masters and PhD degrees) but they still can’t find enough talent. There is a huge demand in Big Tech and many more start ups coming in the future. They are also hiring talented / amateur coders who don’t even have degrees in Computer Science, etc. I work for a FAANG company, I see this everyday.
Also, I am not sure if an Engineering school is such as prestiguous and marketable anymore when compared to Data/Tech. Many (electrical) engineers work in tech now, anyways. My alma mater is well known in traditional engineering but recently preferred to award Almuni of the year awards to graduates succeeding in the Tech world, eg Head of Google Search, Head of Pixar Animations, etc. This is probably more marketable to the next generation of students.
9 Be aware, our competition is not just other regional universities but the corporate world as well. I work for a major Fortune 500 company and we have extensive in-house education programs. I am looking into graduate schools at the moment but technically I could study everything here for free. So what can universities do, how to offer a better education than the corporate world?
10 International partnerships: Extend our collaboration effort with Chinese/Asian universities. The future world will be divided into USA and China, both countries will divide and run the world. China is very innovative nowadays, and they are are producing a lot of research output. Offering programs in Chinese studies which will be in high demand could be another niche for now, at least first mover advantage always helps.
Building a hospital and starting a medical school or buying a law school is extremely expensive and should be pursued once everything else is in order.
Troy should still serve the region and incl Metros such as Greater Atlanta, we need to make sure that we are serving the demands in the region.