A panel of higher education experts discussed ways to combat what they consider the deteriorating educational quality of UW-Madison and universities around the country Thursday.
The panel included former UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, UW-Madison Professor Sara Goldrick-Rab and Cary Nelson, the president of the American Association of University Professors.
Wiley said a problem UW-Madison faces is that the administration has little control over money management. He said the university has a specific pool of money for each project, which is nontransferable. This, said Wiley, prevents the school from transferring one project's extra money to another in need of additional funds.
To curb universities' deteriorating quality, Nelson said they must allow faculty certain rights.
One priority, according to Nelson, is ensuring professors' job security by granting them tenure, which is meant to protect those with controversial opinions or research from losing their jobs.
""The people responsible for teaching your children have a special need to be protected from capricious dismissal,"" Nelson said.
According to Nelson, universities should permit faculty to voice controversial views and challenge students to question their assumptions.
While tenure does not guarantee teachers will utilize this allowance, it protects those who do, Nelson said.
Nelson said another problem in higher education is the common belief that humanities programs have little importance.
Recently, he said, society placed more value on science programs, leading to the cutting of many humanities programs.
According to Nelson, these national struggles are long term and will not change overnight or even within the next year.
""Huge educational efforts need to be made by the public, and it's not going to pay off anytime soon,"" Nelson said.
While universities continue to struggle, Goldrick-Rab said shared governance can help them achieve a high educational standard.
She said although shared governance is a large time commitment, universities should not forget its importance.
""This is your school and your teachers are your greatest allies. Student power is needed to transform how we provide education,"" Golrick-Rab said.
