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Meredith Viera, "msnbc.com video: 2009's best value colleges."
MSNBC.COM Today : News on the Economy, (January 8, 2009).
Retrieved on January 23, 2009 at 12:12AM PST.
MSNBC.COM Today : News on the Economy, (January 8, 2009).
Retrieved on January 23, 2009 at 12:12AM PST.
The comments from other members of my LinkedIn® Group Network were strikingly negative. Many people had a lot of really awful things to say about the state of affairs at the College of William & Mary today, and about the changes that have taken place in the administration of the faculty, students, facilities and financial aid system in the past ten to twelve years. Although, a few of the remarks were positive, I was rather disappointed by the negativity of the majority of the comments as I originally intended in posting this article to the Group Page to strike a cord of pride amongst Alumni members of the groups, not adamant, vehement negativity.
The first comment to the article, which I responded to immediately after its posting, is listed in its full text here below. I was struck my the snide aloofness and snobbery of this comment that I had to respond myself; in effect, emphasizing my integral pride in my Alma Mater and my faith in its admirable reputation and immense, unique history & traditions. I'll follow the text of the first comment with my own response.
The first comment to the article, which I responded to immediately after its posting, is listed in its full text here below. I was struck my the snide aloofness and snobbery of this comment that I had to respond myself; in effect, emphasizing my integral pride in my Alma Mater and my faith in its admirable reputation and immense, unique history & traditions. I'll follow the text of the first comment with my own response.
Something about this just strikes a nerve.
As an alumni, I look back and see how much W&M has become such a "catch-all" institution over the last 8 years or so since I graduated and how much it was moving inthat direction even while I was there. A friend of mine and I recently visited the campus, and it just feels like it's lost that "unique" something that made it the "public ivy school" that it is considered. Now its getting to the point where it has so many programs and offerings that there is nothing that really sets it apart from any other state-funded school, other than it's "rich history." I sort of liked when the school had more stringent standards of admission, more focused ona liberal arts degree, and it felt like it meant something to be part of the privileged theat were chosen to attend. With the shift in strategy and direction, it just feels like another school now, to the point that its a "best value." Just smacks of a retail & sales strategy.
It's not Walmart; it's the College of William & Mary.David Brin,
"W&M featured on Today as a Princeton Review Best Value!: Comments"
LinkedIn® College of William and Mary Alumni Network Group,
(January 13, 2009). Retrieved on January 23, 2009 at 12:33AM PST.In regards to David Brin's comment 40 (or so) mins ago:
I remember quite well that when I applied for William & Mary undergraduate way back in 1997, the College was also then ranked highest amongst public universities in the nation: Number One Small Public University, by the US News & World Report. So things haven't changed much, except that W&M is climbing in its rankings.
I still believe that the College holds the same stature and reputation for being a forbearer of all things good about the public liberal arts university education, albeit it's history does make it unique.
I was just remarking in a message to my W&M Alumni/Faculty Connections on LinkedIn® sharing the article with them, that the College has far different a reputation on the West Coast as it does on the East Coast. Had I stayed on the East Coast upon graduating from W&M in 2002, I would have easily been employed by a top notch organization or business, but alas, I chose to venture out to the Fog City (i.e., San Francisco, CA) to start anew, and few employers then recognized my outstanding, sterling academic credentials when I was first looking for work.
Californians are all about CAL and Stanford and USC and UCSD and UCLA; they don't pay much attention to things happening on the East Coast, and they certainly don't value deep-seeded history of old ivy league (or "public ivy league") institutions of higher learner. They focus on the new...on frontiers...on innovations. A liberal arts degree from the number one small public university in the nation doesn't mean much in the eyes of the West Coast employer.
That's just a matter of fact, and where I'm stuck now in my career development path. The transition or continuation into a graduate level of study will be an important decision for me, based on the California university that I am able to attend, because that academic credential will be regarded as highly important by potential West Coast employers.
That's just a little of my two cents and my experience! Thanks for your comment, David. I'd simply say, "Buck Up!" And Have still some profound pride in the stature and reputation, the character and aplomb of your Alma Mater! "William & Mary loved of old, hark upon the gale! Hear the thunder of our chorus! Alma Mater hail! Cheers! — Matthew
Matthew Blanchard
mblanchard79@yahoo.com
mblanchard2002@wmalumni.com
Community Development /
Advocacy Professional
San Francisco Bay Area
[January 13 at 08:32AM]Matthew Blanchard,
"W&M Featured on Today as Princeton Review Best Value!: Comments"
LinkedIn® College of William and Mary Alumni Network,
(January 13, 2009). Retrieved on January 23, 2009 at 12:50AM PST.
In responding to David Brin's comment, I sought to promote a sense of pride in him that seemed he was lacking, but also to be realistic, by explaining my experience coming to the West Coast and witnessing the diminished, often ignored reputation of The College of William & Mary amongst employers. For graduate & post-graduate institutions of education, I believe that the reputation still holds. Let's hope! For I do intend on continuing my education sometime in the next few years. Alas, my remarks went mostly unconsidered by proceding commentators, as they continued to thrash the College for the divisive changes that have taken place over the last ten or twenty years. Still some people had positive remarks to share, and I appreciate them. What follows is a sampling of some of the comments from this news article posting.
There are now programs in place to allow anyone who gets good grades at VA community colleges to attend The College after a year or 2 and come out with a degree marked "William and Mary". I think that fundamental change has cheapened the degree in a sense.
Not to generalize or to sound arrogant by any means, but some of those students who have taken advantage of said program have a distinctly different level of academic capability which is noticeable to their classmates. This is especially noticeable in such a setting as team-oriented business school courses.
I've heard this fear echoed by my fellow classmates and maybe I'll be one of the few who actually brings it up at the risk of being labeled an elitist or intolerant, non-PC, or something else along those lines.Christopher Crook,
"W&M Featured on Today as Princeton Review Best Value!: Comments"
LinkedIn® College of William and Mary Alumni Network Group,
(January 13, 2009). Retrieved on January 23, 2009 at 01:06AM PST.I am an alumnus from the class of 1990 and I spent 6 1/2 years on the faculty. I was surprised at how little had changed at the College between 1990 and 2002 -- the time from when I graduated and the time I began as an Assistant Professor. The biggest thing that changed is that grades became inflated. My colleagues tell me that the average GPA went up by about .3. From teaching in the School of Education I found there really were no academic standards to speak of -- when we on the faculty are told that 90% of the grades on the School of Ed are As, where are the standards?
"Best Value" is no great honor though. It is code language for being way underfunded, at least compared to most other colleges. That was another big change between 1990 and 2002. The state funded roughly 60 some percent of W&M's budget in 1990. It now funds somewhere around 19% or so. The big shift occured when Jim Gilmore decided it was a good idea to cut taxes and freeze tuition at all Virginia Colleges. In all honesty I believe that decades from now when we all look back at the history of the College we will see that as the beginning of the fall of the College from which we never recovered. Believe it or not, I'm an optimist. I'm also pragmatic. When you freeze tuition for 4 years, you can't keep a strong institution moving forward. Other institutions moved forward nationwide. We stayed still, then a bad economy hit, then we had a presidency filled with turmoil and questionable financial management.
The College became much more diverse while I was there as a faculty member. You could literally watch it happen. I view that as a great thing. I don't agree with many of the sentiments expressed in the messages that come before my post. I think W&M has been enhanced by the added diversity provided by all students who are admitted during the regular admission and transfer student admission process.
I will say that I got tired of being lied to at W&M by administrators who kept saying "we will raise faculty salaries to the 60th percentile of our peer group" and seeing our salaries continue to drop and reside somewhere in the 30th percentile or there abouts. I don't use the word lie lightly. They knew we wouldn't get there. They even told us of a plan to raise salaries a few percent a year for a few years to get up to 60% -- assuming every other school would stay flat. An insult to our intelligence.
So after I received tenure I did a national job search and left. Was it due to salary? No. But more competitive salary would have helped. One of the sad things about change at William and Mary right now is that faculty are leaving. I saw them leave each year, and more and more keep leaving. And to be quite honest, many who are replacing them are not nearly as reputable as those who are leaving. I had many reasons to take an offer elsewhere -- work climate pushed me out and a great offer pulled me in to a great place. Were I one person it wouldn't matter. What concerns me is that many faculty are leaving and that is one of the things I do remember about my William and Mary experience -- great faculty. We've reached the point that good ones have left and continue to leave. The financial situation has been so bad for so long and morale among so many faculty so bad that getting top people to come teach at W&M is not going to be the easy task it once was.
Are there things about W&M that are special? Of course. Are there memories that we as alums can always cherish? Definitely! Has W&M changed? Without a doubt. Some of these changes have made it a better place. Others have been beyond the institution's control. Others have just been bad choices. In the end, W&M will always be a good institution. Pragmatically speaking, I honestly believe as a scholar of higher education administration that we've seen our best days.John Foubert, Ph.D.,
"W&M Featured on Today as Princeton Review Best Value!: Comments"
LinkedIn® College of William and Mary Alumni Network Group,
(January 11, 2009). Retrieved on January 23, 2009 at 01:19AM PST.Wow! I did not think that I would be hearing so much negativity as I am from this crowd.
I have the benefit of my in-laws living in W'burg so I have witnessed the transformation gradually as it was happening since I graduated in 1995. What we have at The College now are World Class facilities sprinkled into a still very accessible campus community that is actually smaller and more focused with the elimination of the Dillard residence complex.
The caliber of students are still the same, it is just the dorms have been upgraded, the new Graduate School of Business looks and will behave like a Top 50 program is supposed to, and the individual schools have been given the right tools and buildings equal to the caliber of the professors. Let's be honest here - new campus was really sore on the eyes in comparison to the rest of Old and Ancient campus and the upgrades have have transformed really tired and crummy PPE.
What has been dismissed or understated with the former comments is the dynamic change that has happened since most of us were there. We have witnessed a complete revolution in regard to IT / IP / and access to information. The world has become completely global and the way that William and Mark has to market, yes I said market, and position itself among other world class institutions has changed. The upgrades and modifications were necessary to continue to draw the best teaching faculty (no offense to the previous post) and students we have come to expect from William & Mary.
Lastly, in regard to reputation, I live and work in the Mid Atlantic / Greater NYC area and whenever anyone hears I went to W&M they all say what a great place it is and how tough it is to get into. Regarding the transfer students (from what I hear - still aren't that many)...W&M and CNU have always had a deal to allow transfers and unless things have changed, the workload and the demands of the W&M professors are still ridiculous. So, if those individuals are able to do well enough their Junior and Senior years to graduate - they deserve the same benefits as any other graduate.
I have to say that, coupled with the continued success of its graduates, all of the effort that William & Mary has been going though the last 10+ years has only increased the value of our degree. Based on the passion, well thought out and the well written responses - The College has done a bang up job.Larry B.,
"W&M Featured on Today as Princeton Review Best Value!: Comments"
LinkedIn® College of William & Mary Alumni Network Group,
(January 10, 2009). Retrieved on January 23, 2009 at 01:36AM PST.
I was particularly struck by the former faculty member and alumni of the College, who commented on the decline of faculty standards and affairs at the W&M. Below are my final remarks to date. I'm curious to know of the Gene Nichol debacle that was mentionned in a comment that might not be cited here, so I ask for more information on that topic in my final comment. I also beg the commentators and any viewers of the article link to maintain and I guess, in a way, salvage their sense of pride in the College of William & Mary, for the University is still a sterling, stalwart institution with a distinct history and set of traditions and still yet a focus toward the future in its present administration.
My primary intention in posting this news article link to the LinkedIn® College of William and Mary Alumni Network Group Discussion Board, viewable only to members of the group, was to promote and encourage a sense of pride and respect and faith in the reputation, standards, traditions and history of our College. I hope I was able to acheive that in my commentary.
My primary intention in posting this news article link to the LinkedIn® College of William and Mary Alumni Network Group Discussion Board, viewable only to members of the group, was to promote and encourage a sense of pride and respect and faith in the reputation, standards, traditions and history of our College. I hope I was able to acheive that in my commentary.
It's taken me about two weeks to return to this discussion and to view the previous comments, and I am also struck with a deep and wounding blow by the negativity that everyone has expressed in their remarks on the dynamic changes instituted at the College in the last ten or twenty years, and that's coming from someone who has already spoken of the diminished reputation of the College on the West Coast.
I'm not familiar with the Gene Nichol debacle, so I can't comment on how the issues there have affected the standards and stature of the College. Would someone kindly inform me of who Nichol is and what he has done to negatively affect the College.
Is change always progress? That's what I believe these comments asks of us all. I haven't been back to the College since I graduated in 2002, so I have no experience with how the College has transformed in the last 7 years, but I hope that the transformations have been positive, despite the economic crisis the country faces and that in due affects W&M administration. I'm glad to hear of facility improvements, which when I was a student at the College were already all long over due.
I must say that I find it quite a shame what the former W&M faculty member and alum had to say about that state of affairs for faculty administration at the College. I have noticed that many of my most beloved and well-reputed professors form the College have left in recent years, going on to change their institution of employment or their career focus entirely. This disappoints me tremendously!
I hate to see the College suffer in that way! And I wish that economically, W&M could afford remunerating their prodigious, elite faculty and candidates for tenure with higher, more competitive salaries. They truly deserve it! We all know that! Perhaps with more private funding in future years, the College will be able to improve the standards of faculty salaries while also improving facilities and maintaining a strong financial aid system.
These are just hopes for progress! Change can happen in so a many ways, from the most minute, quotidian swaying of traditions, to the birth of new monumental edifices and classrooms of learning, dining halls or dormitories. I just wish for the best! And I believe that is what the current administration of the College is striving for: positive, progressive change in full respect of our hardy traditions and stalwart, immense history!!
I wasn't expecting such vehemently negative responses to this news article I posted, and I appreciate the positive remarks immensely. I hope that despite the negativity that herein lays, we all still are able to hold a true sense of pride in our Alma Mater. That was my true intention when I posted the news article originally.
Please inform me on the Gene Nichol issue! And I'd love to hear in more detail of how the College has developed its facilities in the last seven years.
Thanks to everyone who has responded to this news article. I appreciate hearing all of your comments. They have helped broaden my perspective on the College as a relatively recent alum. I still only wish that W&M had quite nearly the same reputation on the West Coast as it does on the East Coast amongst employers. Kudos to you all for sharing so thoughtfully on the the topic! Cheers! — Matthew
Matthew Blanchard
mblanchard79@yahoo.com
mblanchard2002@wmalumni.com
Community Development /
Advocacy Professional
San Francisco Bay Area
[01.22.2009 @ 11:36PM PST]Matthew Blanchard,
"W&M Featured on Today as Princeton Review Best Value!: Comments"
LinkedIn® College of William and Mary Alumni Network Group,
(January 22, 2009). Retrieved on January 23, 2009 at 01:48AM PST.
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