Nice editorial on the UW 2-year/4-year merger proposal

[sybylla]

http://www.wisinfo.com/sheboyganpress/news/archive/opinion_20355456.shtml
Commentary: Students are the big losers under UW merger proposal

By Mary Beth Emmerichs

This is the official mission statement of the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan: The University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan is a public post-secondary institution that provides the first two years of a quality liberal arts-based general education that is accessible and affordable and prepares students for success at the baccalaureate level of education.

What does that statement mean for Sheboygan County residents? UW-Sheboygan exists for high school seniors who want a university degree but can’t afford to spend the whole four years at an institution with high tuition and residential costs. We exist for single moms who want to improve their and their children’s futures, but who also have to pick up their kids at daycare at the same time everyday. We exist for the students who need personal attention in order to prepare for college-level work. We exist for workers who want jobs in the ‘knowledge economy’ but still need to work second shift while they earn the credentials.

Unless the aspiration for a baccalaureate degree is going out of fashion, I can’t believe that anyone could consider our mission obsolete. State Rep. Robin Kreibich, R-Eau Claire, has implied that we are obsolete by proposing that the UW Colleges be reinvented as satellites of nearby UW four-year schools. Nearby? UW-Milwaukee is 52 miles away; UW- Green Bay is 64 miles away; UW-Oshkosh is about 59 miles away.

Though Rep. Kreibich has presented no concrete details to flesh out his proposal, he has said that “nucleation” of each UW College with a four-year university will save money.

For whom?

<snip>

Finally someone tackles the proposal. Though apparently Kreibich is keeping the details secret, this commentary very nicely addresses the problems with any such proposal.

[ewagner]

1. Nice rebuttal

It exposes the Republican rhetoric at hollow and simplistic.

I like this response :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: