Anna Koop

…we have this Making Light post quoting this article.

Doing the academic integrity survey (here, go do it if you’re a UofA student) was interesting. Every now and then I’m surprised by my own naiveté. I was expecting there to be more shades of grey, but almost all of the suggested things I think of as really dreadful cheating (falsifying research data, claiming someone else’s work as your own, copying without citing).

Anyway, the article mentioned above is about a professional custom paper mill. Apparently there’s quite a bit of money to be had, writing assignments for desperate/illiterate/lazy students. I could never have afforded school that way. And, you know, I’m actually here to learn.

There’s a lot of blaming going on in the comments: it’s the ghostwriters’ fault—no, it’s the professors’ fault—no, the administrators’—no, the system—no, the cheaters alone. It does seem like something is broken, and I don’t know that there’s any one person to blame for the whole problem.

One interesting point. It’s bugged me for quite a while that a university degree is considered prerequisite in inappropriate jobs. Obviously it’s relevant for some positions. But I have seen retail manager postings wanting university degrees. Surely four years of retail experience would be more useful? Or some other people-related interaction? Volunteer work? On-the-job training?

It simultaneously over-values and under-values the degree. It means the piece of paper is more important than the education. It means the piece of paper is more important than related experience.

I wish everyone could get a university education. But I don’t think everyone HAS to. I want there to be a place for practical trades learning, for broad academic grounding, for entry-level jobs with growth potential, for specialization of all kinds. These are different. They serve different needs and different kinds of learning. Smooshing everything into “Require a 4 yr bachelor’s degree” is not helpful.

I love academia, I love being a student, I love research, I love teaching, and I absolutely adore learning. At times this seems completely at odds with the perceived role of universities.