Article published March 03, 2009
Company drops discussions with University of Toledo after faculty outcry
A rainbow lands behind University Hall at the University of Toledo.
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THE BLADE
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BLADE STAFF
The private company that the University of Toledo was in discussions with to provide two education master’s degrees programs online has stopped talks with the university after faculty rejected the idea.
Higher Ed Holdings decided to defer the partnership because leadership and faculty were not on board together, according to an e-mail the company sent to UT Provost Rosemary Haggett.
"As you know one of the critical success factors for our proposed partnership is having leadership and faculty aligned with the mission and goals of the partnership," wrote Tom Evans, executive vice president of Higher Ed Holdings. "Although some of this exists, the partnership must have better alignment within University of Toledo so that its mission can be achieved."
The university and Higher Ed Holdings had been discussing a partnership in which two master’s degree programs in the UT College of Education — curriculum and instruction and educational leadership — would be offered online through the company.
The curriculum would be UT’s, but it would be modified to the fit the company’s five-week course model that is marketed as a less expensive and faster way for working teachers to get a master’s degree.
It was still early in the conversations and the fact that the company had to back out at this stage "reflects poorly on our university" because they could not have a reasonable dialogue about the proposal, Ms. Haggett wrote in an e-mail Tuesday to the college of education staff.
"What could have been a truly compelling dialogue about opportunities to broaden the number of graduate education students benefiting from the expertise of College of Education faculty was never allowed to get under way by those who would seek to demonize those that disagree with them rather than debate what is best for the institution in a thoughtful and professional way," the provost wrote.
Ms. Haggett said her goal was always about making the university’s high quality programs accessible throughout the state and positioning UT as a continuing leader in education.
Faculty have argued that quality would suffer under this new model and had concerns about the rush to contact with the company without a full evaluation.
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