Check out PHENOM in Inside Higher Ed this morning, discussing the release of the 3rd Vision Project report.
…
One group of faculty, staff, students and alumni, which calls itself Public Higher Education Network Of Massachusetts, or PHENOM, praised efforts to get tens of millions more each year, but worried the higher ed system was too focused on workforce development training and performance-based funding.
One of its leaders, Max Page, an architecture professor at UMass Amherst, says the liberal arts could be undermined if higher ed advocates rely on industry needs to ask for more money so the state can train more people for job openings.
“That’s only one purpose of public universities and colleges – and that’s our big concern and we worry it skews the curriculum to continued underfunding of some areas,” Page said.
The group also worries about performance funding, which is already being used in the community colleges. “If we want to increase graduation rates for minority students at a small community college, depriving the campus of funds for failing to reach certain benchmarks will not enhance the college’s ability to achieve its goal,” the group said in a statement.
…