Several at UW-Madison have had success transferring university research to the private sector. Stem cell research pioneer Jamie Thomson and colleagues from UW-Madison, for instance, founded Madison-based Cellular Dynamics international, a company that develops stem-cell technologies for drug testing and personalized medicine applications.

Gopher wishes University of Minnesota

were more like UW

From Madison Campus Connection:

While it's easy to disregard compliments of Wisconsin's flagship institution or the state's business climate when they come from internal cheerleaders, it's a little harder when the one singing the praises is a rival.

"Wisconsin as a state has done far more to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that can really support the innovation that comes out of the university, help convert it to jobs and products, and help keep them in the state," Tim Mulcahy, the University of Minnesota's vice president for research, told the Star Tribune. "I'm afraid the business climate, in terms of incentives for small companies to either relocate or start up here, are not as strong here as in Wisconsin. So even though both states have strong public research universities, I think the impact in Wisconsin is greater because the field is more fertile there in terms of state public policy around job creation and entrepreneurship. And that's something we need to correct in Minnesota."

The Star Tribune of Minneapolis/St. Paul quoted Mulcahy in this editorial, which applauded the University of Minnesota for its $683 million in research and development expenditures in 2008, according to a report from the National Science Foundation. That puts Minnesota ninth nationally in those NSF rankings.

UW-Madison ranks No. 2 on the NSF's list of top research institutions, with $882 million in expenditures in 2008. The University of California, San Francisco, ranks No. 1 with $885 million in expenditures.

If you're wondering how Mulcahy knows so much about Wisconsin, it's because he was lured to the Twin Cities in 2005 after spending 20 years at UW-Madison, where he was associate vice chancellor for research policy his final three-plus years on campus. Mulcahy also was named one of four finalists to become UW-Madison's next chancellor in the spring of 2008. Mulcahy withdrew his name from consideration for that post before it went to Biddy Martin.

Glad Tidings in Minnesota (Acta.org)

Just in time for the holidays, the University of Minnesota has provided some “tidings of comfort and joy” to all of us who think college students should be taught how to think, not what to think.

In a letter to our friends at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, the university’s general counsel has promised that no “policy will ever mandate any particular beliefs, or screen out people with ‘wrong beliefs’ from the University.”

This comes after FIRE’s objections to proposed changes to the College of Education and Human Development’s teacher training program, ACTA’s letter to the Board of Regents regarding the apparent litmus tests for would-be teachers, and national publicity.

ACTA will, of course, be watching to ensure these glad tidings are actually reflected in the university’s policies in the New Year.

Hold your FIRE:

Victory for Freedom of Conscience

as University of Minnesota

Backs Away from Ideological Screening

for Ed Students

December 23, 2009

Today's press release reports that the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities has backed away from its plans to enforce a political litmus test for future teachers.

As Torch readers know, the plans from its College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) involved redesigning admissions and the curriculum to enforce an ideology centered on a narrow view of "cultural competence." Those with the "wrong" views were to receive remedial re-education, be weeded out, or be denied admission altogether. In a letter to FIRE, however, the university's top lawyer has now promised that the university will never "mandate any particular beliefs, or screen out people with 'wrong beliefs' from the University."

The proposal, initiated by the college's Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group, sought to require each future teacher to accept theories of "white privilege, hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity, and internalized oppression"; "develop a positive sense of racial/cultural identity"; and "recognize that schools are socially constructed systems that are susceptible to racism ... but are also critical sites for social and cultural transformation." They were to be judged by their scores on the Intercultural Development Inventory, a test of "Intercultural Sensitivity." In one assignment, they were to reveal a "pervasive stereotype" they personally held and then demonstrate how their experiences had "challenged" it. They also were to be assessed regarding "the extent to which they find intrinsic satisfaction" in being in "culturally diverse situations."

FIRE wrote University of Minnesota President Robert H. Bruininks about these plans on November 25. In response, General Counsel Mark B. Rotenberg promised that "[n]o University policy or practice ever will mandate any particular beliefs, or screen out people with 'wrong beliefs' from the University."

Greg says in the press release: "We are relieved that the University of Minnesota has finally committed itself to upholding the freedom of conscience of its students. Prospective teachers will keep the right to have their own thoughts, values, and beliefs. FIRE will continue to monitor the situation to make sure that the university does not define 'cultural competence' or 'dispositions' requirements in a way that interferes with individual rights."

Indeed, the next version of the college's plans must reflect the university's promise. To learn about other cultures is one thing, but the college may not demand that future teachers hold certain moral and political "dispositions" or specific views about pedagogy. The college should understand that not all great teachers have the same views about politics or education.

If you would like to contact President Bruininks about this case, you can call his office at 612-626-1616 or e-mail him at upres@umn.edu.

Then Regent Metzen, Prof. Hagstrom,
and President Bruinks (right)
during two week expedition to China in 2004

College Graduation Rates in Lake Wobegon Country

Not All Above Average

The usually astute Lori Sturdevant has a thought-provoking article on this topic in today's Sunday Star-Tribune:

[My comments are in blue.]

College: It's for, not by, degrees

It's vital for Minnesota to push students through to completion.

"Minnesota has done a fabulous job over the years in providing access to college," said David Metzen, the former high school superintendent who heads the state Office of Higher Education. "The next big push is going to be, and ought to be, college completion. I am on a mission to improve completion rates."

It should be noted that Metzen is also a former University of Minnesota regent who served for twelve years - even as chair (2003-2005). So he was present during the dog days of lousy graduation rates. With a background in education, master's and doctorate in educational administration, as well as serving as a school superintendent for eighteen years, one might think that graduation rates would have been important to him back then?

However, Dr. Metzen was also a gopher hockey player. Perhaps he had more pressing issues back then during his twelve years as a regent? Such as athletics at the U? Such as the House that Bob Built and Muscoplat's Folly [aka UMore Park]?

"Regent David Metzen said he thought the future of the project [Umore Park] is the most important decision to face the University in the last 15 years." (Daily - 6/13/08)

And who can forget his righteous indignation over alcohol in the House that Bob Built? I was present at the Regents Meeting when the unofficial Regent for Athletics excoriated his colleagues for daring to suggest that there should be no booze in the House, because of a sacred commitment made to the athletic department that they would be allowed to make money to support themselves. Obviously then-Regent Metzen felt that alcohol, either free or for sale, was a part of the deal. Several Regents - to their credit - disagreed.

His hockey playing friend, governor Pawlenty, has recently appointed him to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, where it is now finally fashionable to be concerned about graduation rates.

Dr. Metzen continues to serve as a speaker (at $2000 - $5000 a pop)

"When it comes to hiring the right speaker, you need a proven leader and motivator. Dr. David Metzen will get you the results your organization is striving for."

Some listed inspirational topics:

Leaders are Learners

Change or Die

Building a Learning Organization

How Great Boards Work

It’s All About People

You Can’t Win Without Teamwork

Inspiring and Motivating Your Staff

Barriers to Change

Moving out of your Comfort Zone

To which can now at last be added:

Get Those Graduation Rates Up!

The numbers show that there's room for improvement. While Minnesota has consistently rated among the 10 top states in enrolling recent high school graduates in college, the state's subsequent graduation rates aren't much to brag about.

To put it mildly...

But Inver Hills leaders think they've found effective ways to change that story. It springs from the notion that college success isn't just a student's responsibility. It's the institution's as well.

Now there's a novel concept. The Morrill Hall crowd seems to think that the only answer is jacking up admission requirements at the U and admitting more highly credentialled students from out of state - witness their latest tution/fee strategy.

The most-recent retention rates kept by the state's student-counters are for fall 2007, the year after Inver Hills kicked off its "Finish What You Start" campaign. Inver Hills' rate jumped from 45 percent to 56 percent in that one year.

Gasp... And what is the U's grad rate? See below.

Its "success rate," combining retention, transfer and graduation rates 18 months after enrollment, grew from 53 percent in the spring of 2004 to 63 percent five years later. Among learning-community students, fall-to-spring retention rates for the past three years have been 10 to 12 percent higher than for other Inver Hills students.

Cough, cough.

Minnesota needs a surge in college completion in the next few years to maintain its longest and strongest economic advantage -- its well-educated workforce. The progressive think tank Growth & Justice recommended a 50 percent increase by 2020.

It's needed because the best-educated generation in Minnesota history is the one that's about to retire. Replacing baby boomers with as many -- or preferably more -- well-educated workers means getting a bigger share of younger Minnesotans through college.

And it means more money, spent smarter.

A new national survey of 22- to-30-year-olds, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, found that the leading reason students drop out of college is financial.

In the Midwest, Indiana is demonstrating what's possible. Its "Reaching Higher" strategy, enacted earlier this year, involves directing new money to colleges not based on the number of students they enroll but on the number who successfully complete courses. Institutions that increase their output of graduates (particularly those with low incomes) and accelerate the time needed to achieve a degree also are in for a state aid reward.

That is, they were, explained Indiana's associate commissioner of higher education Jason Bearce. Then came a budget deficit. (Sound familiar?) Now those same criteria will be used to spread a $150 million cut among Indiana's colleges and universities.

Indiana's idea, evidently, is to spend higher-education dollars strategically, no matter the amount. Clever of those Hoosiers, eh?

Strategically? My goodness doesn't that word have a familiar ring? We have a Strategic Planning Initiative here at the U, I understand. Sadly, it appears to be more of a propaganda initiative.

I have been hammering away at the financial burden of U of M undergrads for several years. President Bruininks maintains that all of this is being taken care of by new funds for scholarships. Even his own CLA dean does not believe him, apparently.

The U leads the BigTen in student debt at graduation which, in round numbers is $25 K. And this is only an average. The sad fact is that the debt at Macalester is only, on average $17 K. Something is very wrong about these numbers. Dr. Bruininks, don't you agree?

The last three presidents at the University of Minnesota have made graduation-rate improvement a priority, and the numbers have climbed out of the cellar as a result.

Actually they are still in the cellar, compared with our competitors. Given the disgraceful baseline - 25% in the not too distant past - recent presidents have had a difficult task in defending themselves. Claiming that things are improving doesn't mean much when our competition is doing significantly better. I note that the current president has been an administrator at the U for a very long time and he has a background in the education business. He bears more than average long term responsibility for this situation.

But at 45 percent after four years for the class that enrolled in 2004, the grad rate at Minnesota's higher-ed powerhouse is still low compared with its peer institutions.

Low? We've got the bottom slot nailed down.

So let's briefly recap.

Inver Hills Community College can significantly raise their graduation rate and the U of M can't? We have this great College of Education and Human Development that is on the forefront of teacher re-engineering and we have a president whose Ph.D. is from George Peabody Teacher's College (now absorbed into Vanderbilt University) and we still can't do it?

Where are your real priorities, Dr. Bruininks?

"Bruininks said he didn't know of a university in the United States that was doing something [MoreU Park aka Muscoplat's Folly] as 'courageous and innovative.'" (Daily - 6/13/08)

Why don't you do something really courageous and innovative like dropping this "ambitious aspiration to be one of the top three public research universities in the world [sic]" nonsense and returning to our true land grant mission: education, research and service to the citizens of the State of Minnesota?

Our first priority should be an excellent and affordable education at the U. Promise this - and deliver - and you might be surprised at the reaction of the legislature.

As the student newspaper, the Minnesota Daily, put it earlier this semester:

"As for commitment to quality education at an affordable cost? Meaningless drivel. The administration has flatly failed on its promises of excellence and affordability." Daily (13 Oct 2009)

Ohio State University has had no tuition increases in the past three years, no lay-offs, and staff will get a 2.5% increase in compensation. A lot of this has to do with their president, Gordon Gee. Maybe President Bruininks should talk to him for a little advice on how to get along better with the state legislature? Obviously, a high tuition, quasi-public model is not the only one possible.

Leadership matters.

Time for a change?

Bach McStabber knocks out another
inflammatory piece about free smoothies
for faculty on Fridays.

[His parrot - Dr. Polly - lends moral support]

• Subject: Bruininks ousted in coup by blogger
• Date: 12/10/2009 2:59:30 PM Central Standard Time
• From: mraiker@mndaily.com

[From the University of Minnesota Daily Finals Week Edition...]

After an unexpected uprising by a disgruntled University of Minnesota blogger threatened the destruction of TCF Bank Stadium yesterday, University President Bob Bruininks has forfeited his title.

Professor Bach McStabber entered Bruininks' office in Morrill Hall around 9 a.m. He forced all those present in the office into a back room and locked the door, according to a source inside the office who spoke on the basis of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

The source said Bruininks bravely refused McStabber's demands until the professor pulled out a remote car starter and said he had planted high-powered explosives in the stadium, strategically placed to demolish the entire structure.

University police arrived shortly after McStabber seized the office. Deputy Chief Mus Tache said Bruininks demanded they leave for the safety of the stadium.

"We could hear [McStabber] threatening to push a button," Tache said. "Bruininks asked us to back down."

Two hours and 15 minutes after he entered the office, McStabber released his hostages.

Curiosity drew a crowd of about 52,000 faculty, staff and students outside Morrill Hall, about 100 feet behind a wall of UMPD officers in riot gear. Bruininks announced he had given up his position as president.

McStabber, a professor in the Medical School, has taught at the University for 22 years. He operates a variety of blogs that are critical of the University's increasing tuition, construction projects, stance on light-rail transit and lack of free smoothies for faculty on Fridays.

The latest entry on McStabber's blog suggested his first changes as president would include cutting administrative salaries by 100 percent and severing the University's ties to UMore Park, a large slice of developing land the University owns in Rosemount, Minn.

Tache said no one expected the outspoken blogger had the capacity to stage a successful coup single-handedly.

Police said they don't keep up on McStabber's blog and therefore were not prepared for his actions.

"We'd never even heard of this guy," Tache said.

McStabber released a statement almost immediately after Bruininks surrendered. It stated the bomb threat was a bluff.

Bruininks helped police search the entire stadium anyway.

[Any resemblance to any blogger, living or dead, is purely coincidental.]

TERI Tweets

For the Twitter deprived...

wbgleason Ideological Screening for Ed Students? U of M Academic Freedom Committee Meets Friday - FIRE http://bit.ly/87FtAl #TERI #UMN #Minnesota

wbgleason MinnPost - Braublog: Correcting my Kersten criticism http://bit.ly/8NnKC5 #UMN #TERI

wbgleason MinnPost - Braublog: Fox's Stossel surprisingly unmoved by O'Reilly's Kersten crusade http://bit.ly/87HJmA #TERI #UMN

wbgleason Ennui and the U.S. News High School Rankings http://bit.ly/59oxfU No gold medal for #Minnesota? Flawed? Food for #TERI thought? #UMN

wbgleason RT @posttim RT @tomweber_mpr Warroad teacher-donated kidney to student - back to work http://j.mp/540EpD Is she culturally competent? #TERI

wbgleason "Mr. Brackett Wins At Life." http://bit.ly/8it9dE Is he culturally competent? #TERI #UMN [Facebook page - by students - for subs teacher]

wbgleason Is University of Minnesota Planning to Teach 'White Guilt' Class? http://bit.ly/7QG2SA Oh, boy... Transcript of O'Reilly/Stossel #UMN #TERI

wbgleason It's just another day in the culture wars, folks. http://bit.ly/7gyex3 City Pages on KK, #TERI and O'Reilly/Stossel #UMN #Minnesota

wbgleason You knew it was coming - #TERI makes O'Reilly http://bit.ly/PCRXn Nice job, CEHD. #UMN #Minnesota Teacher Education and Redesign Initiative

wbgleason Matching Teaching Style to Learning Style May Not Help Students - The Chronicle of Higher Education http://bit.ly/6oWgVe #TERI #UMN

AdamKissel O'Reilly, Stossel on #TERI teacher education scandal at #UMN: http://bit.ly/5y1Pos @wbgleason #tlot

wbgleason Pupils’ scores rate teacher training - Boston Globe http://bit.ly/7TV2L3 Bush grant also provides this opportunity? #TERI #UMN #Minnesota

AdamKissel I'm on Focus on the Family's Family News in Focus on #TERI scandal at #UMN: http://www.citizenlink.org/fnif/A000011661.cfm

wbgleason @matthewcw RT @wbgleason The Ends Don't Justify the Means http://bit.ly/7DAgVt #TERI at #UMN #Minnesota

AdamKissel RT [thanks for quoting me] @wbgleason The Ends Don't Justify the Means http://bit.ly/7DAgVt #TERI at #UMN #Minnesota #highered

wbgleason The Ends Don't Justify the Means http://bit.ly/7DAgVt #TERI at #UMN #Minnesota

wbgleason Katherine Kersten: Battle lines drawn against #UMN initiative | StarTribune.com http://bit.ly/7jjfMN #TERI #Minnesota

AdamKissel Hoping that @DianeRav will take a look at the #TERI scandal re teacher ed at U of Minnesota & weigh in.

wbgleason RT @AdamKissel Thanks! RT @matthewktabor FIRE's efforts to hold #UMN accountable is why my annual donations go to @TheFIREorg #TERI

wbgleason Read this document http://bit.ly/8EAs9i and tell me http://bit.ly/4XYNC2 that it is "just brainstorming" #TERI Clueless... #Minnesota #UMN

TERI in the news

A commenter on an earlier post asked about sources for commentary on the Teachers Education Redesign Initiative under way at the University of Minnesota.

From the Fire website:

Here's a list of the people and media (that I [Adam Kissel] know of) that have covered the case so far

Diane Macedo at FoxNews.com, quoting FIRE, in an article that was for several days the #4 most e-mailed item at FoxNews.com

Steve Jordahl for Focus on the Family's Family News in Focus (the audio is about twice as long as the news piece, including a FIRE interview)

Katherine Kersten's two pieces in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the first of which broke the story, and the second of which focuses on FIRE's intervention

Michele Tafoya's Michele Tafoya Show (WCCO 830, Minneapolis, MN), which interviewed me for the second of at least two pieces

On The Edge with Thayrone at WAAM 1600 (Ann Arbor, Michigan; at least two pieces, one of which interviewed me)

Bob Unruh for WorldNetDaily (with apt comparisons to FIRE's thought reform case at the University of Delaware—see our video)

Peter Schmidt for the Chronicle of Higher Education

Excellent investigative pieces on MindingTheCampus.com by KC Johnson and Mark Bauerlein (also see KC Johnson's piece on the mandatory values assessments proposed by the task force, and more analysis of his here)

Danielle Nordine for The Minnesota Daily

Many bloggers including Margaret Soltan for University Diaries and for Inside Higher Ed, the National Association of Scholars, and Bill Gleason for The Periodic Table (see also my colleague Peter Bonilla's "Bloggers Debate University of Minnesota's Teacher Education Redesign, But Some Miss Key Evidence")

An interview with me broadcast on KCXL 1140 AM and KCTO 1160 AM (Kansas City, MO) and WIFL 104.3 FM (Tampa, FL)

The December 21 issue of National Review

For updates, stay tuned to The Torch and FIRE's case page ...

TERI makes O'Reilly

[Note added: December 19 - MinnPost now also has this clip available on their site.]

The Teachers Education Redesign Initiative at the University of Minnesota has come to Mr. O'Reilly's attention. Here he engages in a discussion with someone slightly less hard-core - John Stossel - who actually has some nice things to say about the U.

It was only a matter of time...

Thanks, College of Education and Human Development.

Katherine Kersten on Cultural Competence, Part II

or

Teacher's re-education program at the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) under continued scrutiny.

The thinking person's Michelle Bachman has a piece up in the Sunday Star-Tribune:

Battle Lines Drawn Against U Initiative

Comment:

The Ends Do Not Justify the Means

Just because KK says it, does not mean it is wrong.

The beef here is the document: Race, Class, Culture... . People really ought to read this remarkable document.

It proposes that ALL teacher education courses to discuss issues of race, class, culture and gender. Students who DON'T meet the cultural competency guidelines, the plan calls for CEHD to develop remedial steps to teach students the material.

As Adam Kissel of FIRE - the new boogeyman apparently - put it:

“To learn about other cultures and cultural differences is one thing, but to say you’re not going to be considered an acceptable teacher if you don’t have these values and beliefs is unacceptable”

and

“As much as possible, we do want to defer to experts in the field to promote the views and values they feel are right,” he said. “But they cross the line when they say everyone should hold those views, especially when it’s an issue of genuine controversy.”

Come on folks, it is not just the conservatives who are against this.

University of Minnesota Spokesman

Makes Things Worse...

From University Diaries:

A University of Minnesota task force that proposes one-on-one remedial work with school of education students who fail to adopt mandated political views has attracted a lot of negative attention to that school. All sorts of people have pointed out that this profoundly anti-democratic initiative violates freedom of conscience.

Here’s the Minnesota damage control guy:

“It’s not at all what they’re suggesting — that it’s some sort of litmus test — it’s just making sure that teachers are prepared to deal with the different situations that they might have for each and every student — which has been a challenge in the past,” he said. “Teachers obviously come from one perspective, so if they’ve got 15 other people of different backgrounds in their classrooms it’s a completely different situation.”

No, actually teachers don’t come from one perspective. No one – except, it seems, the ideologues on the task force – comes at life from one perspective. Americans especially, for obvious historical and social reasons, tend in fact to be remarkably culturally flexible. It’s sickening and insulting that anyone in a position of responsibility would take what’s best in us, what’s made this country a success — our high levels of assimilation and tolerance, our ability to imagine our way into foreign worlds — and gut it on behalf of a witless reeducation program.

Instead of shoving Dan Wolter into the spotlight for flak-catching, President Bruininks and Dean Quam should admit that this TERI business is wrong and has been a public relations nightmare.

They should also explain what is going to be done to rectify this situation.

But no, President Bruininks persists in sloughing off the tough questions to Mr. Wolter who really should not be speaking for the university community on these matters.