What happened to "academic advisors"?
Back-in-the-day they were the link between what students did in the classroom, the classes they took, the academic tracks they followed and the "market" for graduates.
There is a huge amount of angst as new college graduates cannot find jobs. Not only that but recent graduates are among the first to lose their jobs as A.I. starts doing the least complex tasks; tasks that are typically assigned to less experienced employees.
Even in the 1980s it was understood that the "degree" you graduated with was not a guarantee nor was there any promise that "your" profession would exist unchanged for any meaningful amount of time.
Ergo, the better academic counselors told their students that they should not just be preparing themselves for a single profession but should be thinking in terms of transferable skill-sets.
It is my perception that students are locking-onto a single goal. They decide as freshmen that they are going to be "an actress" or something similar and then never consider any other possibilities. They refuse to consider any other job that would make substantial use of their learned skill-sets and their innate talents. They would rather be an "actress" working at Starbucks than a salesperson making $99k a year.
They are INSULTED if you "kill their dream" by suggesting that the odds of actually making a living as an actress is a very long shot. After all, magical thinking is entirely dependent on "Believing it intensely enough" and casting any doubt on that belief poisons the magic.
Discipline
I suspect that the reason that many academic advisors are missing-in-action is that they have an improper view of discipline. They think that offering honest guidance to a student is disrespectful even though it is what they are paid to do.
Consider these words from Hebrews Chapter 12:
“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.”
Sharing harsh truths in a loving way is a form of discipline. Failing to do so is to program your student to fail in life.
Colleges are confused as to who their customer is. They think the students are the customer so we get 'rate my professor' garbage, easy courses, lax grading, and a competition who can provide the most luxurious experience. And all the excess and academic fluff is fully paid for by federal student loans.
ReplyDeleteTheir actual customers are the companies that hire their graduates measured by employment rates. What majors lead to jobs in their field, and what majors lead to being making coffee?
A 'xxx studies' major may be easy to complete but it won't lead to a decent paying job outside a few niche employers.
ERJ: your selection of scripture has caused me to raise my hand and ask...
ReplyDelete"If you are without discipline, in which all have shared, you are not sons but bastards." with another take from NIV (same spot): "If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all."
Sobering perspective (hoping I am wrong) - "..not true sons and daughters..." sure seems that salvation is lost, the way I read it, doesn't it? By accepting Jesus we become children of God, yet that translation sure reads that we lose that relationship by not accepting the discipline of our Father...
I would read it a little differently. We become joint heirs with Jesus thru salvation, so we should expect discipline when we rebel. God gives discipline, and as the Perfect Father, the discipline is tailored. If we refuse to repent, He will increase the heat. I reckon He may even beat the recalcitrant to death at some point (Samson?), but His child is His child. Salvation is too expensive to waste, so He disciplines the saved. He is able to save to the uttermost, those that come to Him. My point of view from my studies, and I may be very wrong. We'll know more after our Graduation Day.
DeleteI was struck by the secular word "bastard". In common usage, a bastard lacks social skills involving the intricacies of honor, respect, relationships and shades-of-gray.
DeleteIn soccer we strive to teach the player to have many, soft touches on the ball to always keep it close to their feet. A child growing up without discipline is launched ballistically from one harsh, unmitigated consequence to the next. It is a brutal way to grow up. It is a brutal way to live as an adult.