NEO University?

[ZippyRulz]

Can't's Education College is better than Akron's

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/11/teacher_education_programs_lac.html

[ZippyRulz]

A merged Akron-Can't would be a directional school (UNEO) with 50,000 students. We would be UCF. We might be able to get into the AAC and compete with Cincinnati for 2nd fiddle in Ohio. Seems like a lot of drama for incremental gains.

[ZippyRulz]

What is going to really suck is when, in the absence of this consolidation happening proactively with our interests in mind, this happens by legislative fiat. That came close to happening a few years back--UA was about to be folded into, and under, CSU for gods sake.

Why didn't it happen? The status quo has been sustained for 5 decades and counting. It seems there is great resistance to change at some level.

Edit/update: It seems there is some pressure coming from the top..

http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/nov/16/tressel-charts-a-course-for-ysu-that-rec/

[LosAngelesZipFan]

Total speculation, but I think it didn't happen a few years back because Fingerhut, who was the head of Ohio's university system, had never really set foot on Akron's campus. Dr. P arranged for him to tour UA, quickly rolled out a $500 million campaign, showed a $60 million brand new stadium and transformed campus that doesn't look like a commuter school. I think he decided that there was alot more "there there" than he thought. He talked at the time of moving NEOUCOM to Cleveland, and CSU isn't even really a part of it, so that reveals what he would default to doing.

Dr. P said at the time (reported in the Buchtelite) that there was "no status" in the current current quo-- which is to say, things are going to have change eventually because the current situation-- with 4 large-ish, not particularly distinguished universities competing for a shrinking pot of students and resources-- is not a recipe for success.

I think it would be great if at least UA, Can't State, and YSU consolidated the back office stuff and truly worked for an integrated academic approach. If that worked well and made more resources available, then the logic of spending tens of millions on separate sports identities would sort itself out over time.

I just want UA to be in the driver seat so whatever happens is something good for Akron. What almost happened a few years ago would have made UA a branch of CSU. The status quo is not sustainable which means things can either change for the better for UA or the worse. We can either become the center of a much larger, more capable institution with national/global reach and aspirations or we can eventually become a branch campus of some other institution trying to do that.

[Balsy]

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/11/teacher_education_programs_lac.html

From the article you posted:

"NCTQ relies largely on inputs (e.g., examinations of syllabi, student teaching manuals) as opposed to focusing on outcomes, such as what teacher-preparation candidates actually learn, how well they perform, and how well their students perform," spokesman Eric Mansfield said in an email. "For example, we require a 3.0 for entry into teacher education. So we believe the survey is misleading and misrepresents our true success."

...

The National Council on Teacher Quality has been writing critically about teacher prep programs for nearly a decade, Inside Higher Ed reported. Many of its papers associated with its national review of programs have been widely denounced by colleges.

Organization widely denounced:

But the council's methodology and findings continue to raise hackles -- and not just from the teacher ed schools whose work the group is lambasting.

“It’s disappointing that for something as important as strengthening teacher preparation programs, NCTQ chose to use the gimmick of a four-star rating system without using professionally accepted standards, visiting any of the institutions or talking with any of the graduates,” said the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, in a statement. “While we agree with NCTQ on the need to improve teacher preparation, it would be more productive to focus on developing a consistent, systemic approach to lifting the teaching profession instead of resorting to attention-grabbing consumer alerts based on incomplete standards.”

...

NCTQ used, Levine said, since the data were incomplete and focused on documents rather than observing classrooms or teacher candidates.Leaders of teacher preparation programs complained that the review relied almost entirely on syllabuses, course

[Balsy]

A merged Akron-Can't would be a directional school (UNEO) with 50,000 students. We would be UCF. We might be able to get into the AAC and compete with Cincinnati for 2nd fiddle in Ohio. Seems like a lot of drama for incremental gains.

I don't think anyone involved is even considering merging athletic departments. They're considering not competing with each other in other aspects, which makes sense and I've been saying since I went to college. Why should UA and Can't compete for the same students. There's potentially huge gains for all universities.

Keep separate athletic departments keeps Alumni (hopefully) engaged.

[tboned]

I've been involved in several corporate mergers. It's never a merger of equals. Someone wins, and someone loses.

It sounds simple and easy, but egos, personalities, and politics will inevitably get in the way.

Athletics may be the easy part of a merger.

Will there be two business colleges? Will there be two engineering colleges? Will a student have a class in Akron at 8:00 and a class in Can't at 10:00?

There are many issues that would be very difficult to resolve.

Let CSU become an Akron branch campus, and let YSU become a Can't branch campus.

[LZIp]

Interesting topic and some great discussion so far.On the face, I am totally against it for obvious reasons, but am willing to listen since LA Zips fan obviously knows some things about this.

I guess some initial questions would be very similar to what tboned had in his post above mine. Logistics, resources, who would make out better, ulterior motives, etc seem like all tough issues to tackle. As well as, has it ever been done before in say...the past 30 years? Seems both Universities are way past the point of no return with what they have invested. I come from a small high school who had one of the oldest buildings in the state when I attended. There was constant threat or consolidation, and it made sense. Closing an old building that should have been closed decades ago and building one new building is a pretty easy transition. Merging two campuses with 20k+ enrollment each seems near impossible.

[Balsy]

Interesting topic and some great discussion so far.On the face, I am totally against it for obvious reasons, but am willing to listen since LA Zips fan obviously knows some things about this.

I guess some initial questions would be very similar to what tboned had in his post above mine. Logistics, resources, who would make out better, ulterior motives, etc seem like all tough issues to tackle. As well as, has it ever been done before in say...the past 30 years? Seems both Universities are way past the point of no return with what they have invested. I come from a small high school who had one of the oldest buildings in the state when I attended. There was constant threat or consolidation, and it made sense. Closing an old building that should have been closed decades ago and building one new building is a pretty easy transition. Merging two campuses with 20k+ enrollment each seems near impossible.

Good post. But I think we need to stop thinking of it as a "merger" and more of a "non-competition". It makes no sense for UA, YSU and Akron to compete for the same talent pool, in almost all areas. Get specific schools to specialize in specific areas.

I think the conversation about Athletics though, is one we don't even need to worry about. Any proposition that would merge athletic programs would never work.