By's Musings – Page 6

April 2, 2019 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

KPI – Part VIII: European Roots of American Higher Education

This illustration is the photograph of a colored lithograph by J. Wolf. The photograph is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Image courtesy of J. Wolf and Wikimedia Commons.

Higher education has been around in some form for over two millennia. American higher education is not quite 400 years old. Why does American higher education get all of the hype and publicity instead of our older European, Middle Eastern, and Asian brothers and sisters? How did the younger sibling grow up to be the 800-pound gorilla?

First aside: Q – “Where does an 800-pound gorilla sit?” A – “Anywhere he wants.” The problem with this joke is that most gorillas are less than 6 feet tall and weigh less than 600 pounds. Phil, an Eastern Lowland Gorilla raised in the St. Louis Zoo, is the only recorded gorilla in captivity weighing in at more than 800 pounds.

The courtyard and fountain of the Qarawiyyin Mosque and Fountain. The photograph was taken by Mike Prince and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Image courtesy of Mike Prince and Wikimedia Commons.

Second Aside: I must apologize for a mistake I made in my previous post KPI – Part VII: Historical Development of Higher Education, Condensed View. I fell into a trap I was attempting to battle: the myopic view of the world centered on Western Civilization. My error was listing the University of Bologna, founded in 1088, as the oldest, continuous existing, degree-granting university in the world. That title rightly belongs to the University of Al-Karaouine, also written as al-Quaraouiyine and al-Qarawiyyin (in Arabic: جامعة القرويين), located in the Moroccan city of Fes el-Bali. It was founded in 859 by the young Arab heiress, Fatima al-Fihri, to honor the city of her birth and to serve and educate the community that welcomed her and her family as emigrants.

Aside three: Surprise! Surprise! As I wrote this post, I found that I couldn’t condense the history of American higher education into 1,000 words. Thus I will deal only with its European foundations in this post. I will use my next post to pick up the story on American shores with the founding of the “Colonial Colleges.” That story will start with Harvard College in 1636. I may be able to use that post to get us to the 19th Century. From there I will need at least one more subsequent post to carry us to the higher education scene in America today.

One of the drumbeats of proponents of modern American higher education is the constant encouragement for students to attend a university to obtain a broader vision of the whole world. Students are bombarded with advertisements urging them to spend a semester or year abroad to break down the insular barriers isolating them from other cultures.

View over Trinity College, Gonville and Caius and Clare College towards King’s College Chapel, seen from St Johns College Chapel, Cambridge (UK). On the left, just in front of King’s College Chapel, is the Cambridge University Senate House. Photo by Bob Tubbs, 1997, the copyright holder of this work. Tubbs has released this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Image courtesy of Bob Tubbs and Wikimedia Commons.

It may be ironic that American institutions of higher learning trace their education model and form of organization to a single archetype. In doing this, they are ignoring the traditions of most of the world that they are commending to their students.

The sole archetype is a system epitomized by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the European form embodied by the University of Bologna and the Sorbonne (or University of Paris). In this system, faculty with similar interests gather themselves into colleges in order to stimulate each other to create new knowledge, organize existing knowledge into understandable formats, and disseminate that knowledge as widely as possible.

These colleges recruit and admit students to their ranks based upon students’ identity with the interests of the faculty. The colleges provide academic facilities for the faculty, such as classrooms and offices. They are also responsible for providing housing and boarding facilities for the students, and some faculty.

In their earliest years, the British colleges required students to commit themselves fully to their education. This meant that students had to “live” in the residence halls and be available on a 24/7 basis. Everyone, students and faculty, ate formal meals together. This permitted extended academic discussions to take place over the course of the meals. Many faculty lived on campus which meant that education could occur around the clock.

Photo of Keble, College Dining Hall, Oxford University. The Hall was built in 1878 to resemble the dining halls of the 13th Century. Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0. Image courtesy of David Iliff and Wikimedia Commons.

The separate colleges established a collective, called a university. Whereas colleges set their own curriculum and courses, the university set some minimal standards for degrees and conferred those degrees. Students could take courses in other colleges to complete their education. Most likely, only one college within the university offered music courses and programs. It was also likely that religion and philosophy courses were consolidated within one college. The disciplines of science, mathematics, humanities, literature, social sciences, law, and medicine would have had their own specialty colleges.

The interior of Christ Church Cathedral, on the campus of Christ Church College of Oxford University. Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0. Image courtesy of David Iliff and Wikimedia Commons.

Right from their earliest days, religion was an integral part of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. All faculty had to be communicant members of the Catholic Church. Students were required to attend religious services and receive instruction in religious matters.

Somewhat surprisingly in their formative years, the continental universities were not tied formally to the church. They also did not have housing for students. Students lived in the community, which resulted in many conflicts with the “townies.”

In both the British and European universities the faculty were the formal masters of the organizations. Every major decision was decided either by consensual agreement or a vote of the faculty. From this arrangement, American higher education derived its ideal of faculty governance.

A photograph of the 14th Century fresco by Spinello Arefino of Frederick I Barbarossa submitting to Pope Alexander III. The fresno is displayed at Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. The photograph was transferred to Wikimedia Commons by Naudefj. Image courtesy of Naudefj and Wikimedia Commons.

When the University of Bologna was founded, it was established as a school that was free from ecclesiastic control. In 1158, Frederick I Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, issued a writ which became known as the Privilegium Scholasticum. Among its provisions, this law declared that every school should be a group of students overseen by a master (dominus). This master teacher was to be paid through monies collected from the students. These payments were the first tuition charges.

The submission of Frederick I Barbarossa, protector of the University of Bologna, to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, in order to secure his position as the Holy Roman Emperor, began two centuries of political wrangling among the faculty of the University of Bologna. It only subsided with the establishment of the School of Theology in 1358. For the next five centuries, Roman Catholicism was an integral part and a significant player in the life of the University.

Another provision of the Privilegium protected faculty and students in their pursuit of knowledge from the intrusion of all political authorities. This was a fundamental event in the history of the European university. The University has legally declared a place where research and new knowledge could develop independently from any other power. This was the beginning of the concept of academic freedom.

Finishing off this post, I will take leave of the palaces, halls, cathedrals, colleges, and universities of Europe and migrate to shores of the New World in North America. In my next post, scheduled to be published on Friday, April 5, I will look at the early development of American higher education

March 30, 2019 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

KPI – Part VII: Historical Development of Higher Education, Condensed View

So many books; so little time. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

There have been many books written about the historical development of American higher education, particularly its colleges and universities. Much less has been written about higher education in the rest of the world, especially prior to the fourteenth century. This brief 1,000-word synopsis can’t touch on everything. It is meant only to highlight what I believe to be the most pertinent phases in the evolutionary process which has given us today’s higher education enterprise in America and our modern universities and colleges.

I begin with a definition of education: Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, habits, and culture. From that starting point, what are the various levels of education? In particular, what is higher education?

Throughout most of today’s world, education is associated with schools and the process of schooling. Since 1945 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has attempted to standardize the definitions of educational levels in order to collect, organize, and analyze education statistics on a worldwide basis.

In pursuit of this goal, UNESCO issued its first classification system in 1970 and has revised it several times. The most recent revision of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) was published in 2011.

In the United States the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), a subdivision of the Institute of Education Science (IES), is charged by the federal Department of Education with keeping tabs on educational statistics in the United States and reporting that data to UNESCO.

NCES uses a slightly different format for reporting U.S. data than ISCED recommends. However, the two formats can be reconciled using the following crosswalk equivalencies:

ISCED/IES Educational Level Crosswalk Table of Equivalencies. Information gathered from the ISCED and IES websites by the author of this website.

Conceptual display of ancient family unit in Hong Kong Museum. The photograph was by Musestress and posted on Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Image courtesy of Musestress and Wikimedia Commons.

From the above chart, it is obvious that education is clearly being tied to organized schools and the formal process of schooling. This has not always been the case. From historical legends, archeological records and anthropological observations of primitive peoples and tribes, it is believed that the earliest education of young children was the responsibility of family units as illustrated in the picture to the left. This education consisted primarily of simple survival skills. Young children were also taught the rudimentary communication skills of gesturing and the oral language of the parents.

The next phase of education coincided with the coalescence of families into communities and tribes. As families joined together with other family units, education evolved into a communal activity involving the whole community. In addition to more intricate survival and communication skills, social integration skills on how to live in groups were necessarily included in the education of the young.

These additions brought about the need for more specialized instruction which was satisfied by the appearance of master teachers. These master teachers were excellent communicators who could help the uninitiated acquire new knowledge, skills, beliefs, and values. They developed reputations and became much in demand.

A photograph of the Rosetta Stone, which contained the same passage in three forms of writing. The top script is Egyptian hieroglyphs, 2nd is Demotic Egyptian commercial script, and the 3rd is Greek. Photograph is from the Christian Theological Image Library. All of such works are in the public domain. They were scanned from out of copyright books, or photographs by individuals who offer their work to the public.

About this time in history, communications took on a new twist. The oral transmission of knowledge and culture was susceptible to transmission errors. Mankind began to transform oral language and gestures into symbols which were carved or pressed into stone or clay tablets. These symbols morphed into a written language which was inscribed on animal skins, tablets, or papyrus scrolls. The teachings of the best of the master teachers were transcribed and preserved for posterity.

The most well-known master teachers became legends: Confucius (China); Buddha (India); Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Archimedes, Pythagoras, and Thales (Greece); Muhammad, Hillel, and Gamaliel (Middle East). Potential disciples traveled many miles to sit at their feet and listen to them in order to soak in their wisdom. Their teachings were recorded by these disciples and are still studied today. This was the higher education of the ancient world.

Jesus teaching His disciples while traveling through Judea. Photograph of original 19th century art work in Brooklyn Museum. Image courtesy of James Tissot, photographer, and Wikimedia Commons

The master teacher who really changed the world lived in the Middle East and taught for only three years. Jesus began His ministry by selecting 12 unlikely individuals as his disciples. He spent three years traveling around Judea, healing the sick, raising the dead, doing other miracles, and teaching his disciples and many other followers. His death and resurrection formed the basis of Christianity. Eleven of His original disciples, along with a later convert, Saul of Taurus (also known as the Apostle Paul), spent 60 years after Christ’s ascension into heaven evangelizing the known world. The effects of their labors, some twenty centuries later, are still being felt.

For the first millennium after Jesus, it almost seemed that higher education went into hiding. Master teachers were harder to find. Those, who lived and taught, have been mostly forgotten in the passage of time. The period of time from the Fall of Rome to the Renaissance evidenced an apparent absence of serious intellectual activity in the Western World. This may be the reason that this era is known as the Dark Ages.

In Western Civilization, higher education was on life support during the Dark Ages. It was kept alive by nobles, the elites, and the wealthy, who hired tutors to teach their prodigies sufficient knowledge and culture so that they could maintain their family place in the ruling scheme of things.

An 1890 sepia depiction of the Library at Alexandria. This photograph is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

In the remainder of the world, higher education was kept alive by the noble families, organized religion, and a few cities or states. Judaism had its yeshivas. Islam had its madaris. Hinduism had its mathas. Buddism had its schools for monks. In general, Eastern Civilization was more amenable to an open system of higher education than the West. A number of cities had schools which made education available to all worthy and deserving individuals, not just the wealthy, elite or connected few.

The Seal of the University of Bologna. Since the seal is hundreds of years old, it is not copyrighted. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

With the Rennaissance came the rebirth of higher education in the Western World and the founding of universities. The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the oldest university in continuous operation. Unfortunately, I have reached my self-imposed 1,000-word limit, so I will pick up the story of American higher education this coming Tuesday. Until then, class dismissed.

March 26, 2019 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

KPI – Part VI: Difference Between Governance and Management

Many within higher ed think management theory is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, trying to sneak into the sheepfold and devour the sheep. Image courtesy of Dreamstime, ID 28175702 © Debspoons | Dreamstime.com

In this post, I return to looking at Key Performance Indicators in a higher ed setting. While this gentle approach may seem innocuous to most individuals outside of the insular world of higher education, it is sure to raise the hackles of many of my higher ed colleagues. They will accuse me of trying to sneak the wolf (management theory) dressed in sheep clothing into the sheepfold (the university) through a back door.

Welsh Corgi working as sheepdog with a flock of sheep. Image courtesy of Dreamstime and Natalia Yaumenenka. ID 104389610 © Natallia Yaumenenka | Dreamstime.com

I am going to be bold enough to take that next step and publicly declare that I do not see management theory as a wolf trying to devour the sheep. I believe it can be viewed more like a sheepdog, herding the sheep to safety through the one and only door of the sheepfold. The sheepdog then lies down at that entrance and guards the fold and the sheep against all predators.

Education is a process that can’t be measured in financial returns. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

Many of the most familiar performance indicators are business-oriented outcome measurements. How many widgets were produced? How much did it cost to produce each widget? How much income did the firm make from the sale of those widgets? Higher education for years has claimed that since education is a process, we shouldn’t focus on or speak of educational outcomes, especially financial ones.

As I noted in my post K PI Part III, A University Should Be Managed as If It Were a Business Milton Greenberg in his seminal essay “The University Is Not a Business (and Other Fantasies)” published in EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 39, no. 2 (March/April 2004), argues forcefully and persuasively that a university should be managed as if it were a business.

Very early in his essay, Greenberg proclaims, “ Presumably, a ‘business’ involves the hierarchical and orderly management of people, property, productivity, and finance for profit.” The primary counterarguments of academicians to Greenberg’s position hinge on three concepts in this sentence.

We need to dig further into the idea of “Hierarchical Management” and the difference between governance and management. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

In this post, I will begin to address the first of these counterarguments, the concept of “hierarchical management.” To understand the problems created by the use of the term hierarchical management we need to have some familiarity with the difference between the general concepts of governance and management. We also need to look at the typical governance structures of colleges and universities, and the usual management formats of colleges and universities. These two topics are too involved to address in depth in this one blog post. I will take each of them up in subsequent posts. This idea will require more in-depth excavation.

Governance refers to the relationships among people in an organization. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

The origins of the two terms automatically set the stage for a huge battle in the academy over their applicability to higher education. The term governance historically came from the disciplines of social and political sciences. Without digging into the finer points of the definition, this ancestry would usually imply that it must primarily deal with relationships.

Governance has many definitions, but most center on two related ideas. The first idea concerns how decisions are made. What are the processes of decision making within the organization? Who has a voice in making decisions? The second changes the focus to how those decisions are implemented. How is power or control exercised within the organization? What is the locus of authority within the organization?

The typical view of the concept of management is to get employees to work harder to make more money for the company. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

On the other hand, the term management originated within the realm of the business world and was then fine-tuned within the disciplines of economics and business. This ancestry automatically makes it suspect to the academy, which believes that given its origin, it must naturally deal with productivity and finances. These concepts are antithetical to many citizens of the academy.

The four tasks of management. Image courtesy of the author, created by using ClickCharts.

Most modern definitions of management view it as a process of four interwoven tasks. The first of these tasks is Planning, the selection of appropriate organizational goals and the best array of actions to achieve those goals. The second task is Organizing, the establishment of assignments and an aura of authority that encourage and allow people to work together to achieve the organization’s goals.

The third task is Leading which involves motivating, coordinating, inspiring and energizing individuals and groups to work together to achieve the organization’s goals. The fourth task is Controlling which has two primary aspects. The first is assessing situations by establishing accurate systems of measuring and monitoring how well the organization has achieved its goals. The second is redirecting the course of operations when it is apparent that the organization is not achieving its goals.

Modern universities consist of four major groups of individuals. These groups are students, faculty, administration, and governing boards. In subsequent posts, we will examine the historical development of these groups, their relationships with each other, and their roles in governance and management.

From the definitions of governance and management, we see much common ground with one major difference. The major difference is their primary focus. Governance focuses on relationships, while management focuses on tasks. In subsequent posts, I will deal with the idea of shared governance and hierarchical management. I hope to convince you that the two concepts are not mutually exclusive.

To get to the point of being able to discuss these topics, my next post will be this Friday, March 29. It will be a short history of the development of the modern university and the four major groups of individuals that comprise the university.

March 19, 2019 By B. Baylis 2 Comments

What would you do with an extra 10 years of life?

Celebrating my 73rd birthday was very special. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

In my previous post, I originally announced that this post would be entitled “What would make a 73rd birthday special?” However, as I wrote this post, I decided on a new title. The essence of the post is unchanged, but I thought the new title would challenge both me and my readers more.

This past week I observed the 73rd anniversary of my birthday. It was a very special day for me. The 73rd birthday is usually not one that is wildly celebrated. What would make a 73rd birthday special? My 73rd birthday represented ten extra years of life that most people, especially medical experts, didn’t expect that I would have.

In the early afternoon of March 16, 2009, less than a week after my 63rd birthday, I was milling about the university’s conference room, having coffee with colleagues and discussing the agenda for our upcoming business meeting, my last scheduled cabinet meeting as provost of the university. Suddenly, without warning, I suffered a traumatic brain episode. A cerebral aneurysm burst triggering the implosion of a previously undetected, benign meningioma, which was attached to my right frontal lobe.

The headache was excruciating and I was almost completely incapacitated. Due to this experience, I know what the “10” on a pain scale feels like. Everyone in the meeting, except me, thought that I was experiencing a stroke. They immediately called 911. The EMTs arrived within five minutes and loaded me on their gurney for transport to the hospital.

I remember asking someone to call my wife Elaine to let her know what was happening. However, before the EMTs could wheel the gurney out of the conference room, I lost consciousness. I was in a coma for the next four days. My next memory after that request for someone to call Elaine was when I woke up in an ICU hospital bed with gauze bandages all over my head and wires everywhere.

The attending nurse called the on-duty neurologist who just happened to be the surgeon who had performed emergency surgery on me, the evening of that March 16. He rushed to my room and explained what had happened to me in the conference room and the first full day at the hospital. He didn’t pull any punches with a graphic description of the explosion of a cerebral aneurysm and the resultant implosion of a benign meningioma. Twice in the 30 minutes or so that he spent in my room, he spoke the same words: “There are no scientific or medical reasons to explain why you are alive and so alert.”

After the neurologist left I had the first opportunity to talk to Elaine. She told me a tale of terror for her. When she got the call from the university that I was on my way to the hospital, she was too upset to drive herself. She called our pastor who rushed her to the hospital.

By the time she got there, she was not allowed to see me. I was already being prepped for surgery. The ER doctor that she met at the hospital entrance didn’t do much to calm her nerves. She told Elaine to gather the family together. This would be a difficult task since both of our daughters with their families lived in Pennsylvania, a ten-hour drive to where we were living in Western Michigan.

When Elaine asked why she should alarm the family, the doctor indicated that if I survived the operation, which was doubtful, I would never be the same. The doctor said if it were her family she knew they would appreciate the opportunity to say goodbye.

The intervening ten years between March 2009 and 2019 is a tale of roaring firestorm after firestorm and miracle after miracle. During those ten years, I had dozens of medical setbacks. However, I am still alive and able to walk somewhat awkwardly and write somewhat haltingly. Due to my medical problems, I have interacted with scores of doctors who have all said essentially the same thing: “There are no scientific or medical reasons to explain why you are walking and talking.” They all use the same two words to describe me and my conditions: miracle and enigma.

I believe the story of those ten years is one that is crying to be told and I intend to do just that. I am currently working on a separate book-length manuscript which I have tentatively entitled Has anyone seen my life? It was here a minute ago.

The purpose of this post is three-fold. The first is to celebrate an extra 10 years of life that no one in the medical profession expected me to experience. The second purpose is to offer you a dozen of the many lessons that I learned or relearned during the extra 10 years that I have been given. The third and final purpose is to challenge you with the significant question: “What would you do with an extra 10 years of life?

Since this posting is special, I am going to dispense with my self-imposed 1,000-word limit just for this post. I trust you understand my desire to put it all out there in one shot instead of doling it out small piece by small piece.

Due to my medical problems I had to retire from full-time academic employment. This break from 50 or 60 hour work weeks gave me much time to reflect and write. What follows are a dozen of the many lessons that I have learned or relearned through this experience, intensive study, and much contemplation and reflection.

1. God is in control.

There are four scriptural passages that I have kept returning to during this past decade. I challenge you to reflect on each of them and how they apply to your life.

¹⁷And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: (Revelations 1:17, KJV)

²²And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. ²³The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. ²⁴Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? ²⁵And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? ²⁶If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? (Luke 12:22-26, KJV)

¹⁰Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isaiah 41:10, KJV)

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. ²Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; ³Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. ⁴There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. ⁵God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. ⁶The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. ⁷The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. (Psalm 46:1-7, KJV)

2. Retirement is not necessarily in God’s plan for us.

Our modern view of retirement is just that – a recent idea, historically speaking. It was introduced to America in the mid-1930s with the passage of the Social Security legislation. Most of the heroes of the faith found God’s calling to ministry to be a lifetime enlistment. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, John the Baptist, John the Apostle, Peter and Paul all were faithful servants until they were called home. I can find only one scriptural passage that directly speaks of retirement.

²⁴This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: ²⁵And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more: ²⁶But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge. (Numbers 8:24-26)

The Levites were charged with serving the people of Israel by caring for the tabernacle, preparing and administering the sacrifices, packing up, moving and reassembling the tabernacle. This was extremely heavy labor and was reserved for the young and strong. The older Levites were given the task of ministering, guarding and advising the younger Levites who were doing the heavy lifting that required the strength of young bodies.

3. There is a special place in God’s economy for seniors.

Beside the Numbers passage above where the senior Levites were called to minister, guard and advise the younger Levites, there are other passages that indicate what the elders in the congregation should do.

¹⁷O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. ¹⁸Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. ¹⁹Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee! ²⁰Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. ²¹Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. (Psalm 71:17-21, KJV)

¹²The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. ¹³Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. ¹⁴They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; ¹⁵To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Psalm 92:12-15, KJV)

³Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: ⁴And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar [gray] hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. ⁵To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? (Isaiah 46:3-5, KJV)

4. Obey the scriptural commandments and commissions.

It matters not how old we are, God expects us to obey all of his commandments. However, there are some that are very special and deserve our utmost attention.

³⁵Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, ³⁶Master, which is the great commandment in the law? ³⁷Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Great Commandment – Matthew 22:35-40, KJV)

¹⁸And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. ¹⁹Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Great Commission – Matthew 28:18-20, KJV)

²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ²⁸And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Creation Mandate – Genesis 1:27-28, KJV)

5. Watch carefully. Always be on guard.

You need to constantly take stock of your surroundings. Know your friends, coworkers, and enemies. Praise them when they do something right. Admonish them when they are wrong. Be patient with everyone in all circumstances. Pray without ceasing and give thanks without regard to your condition.

¹¹Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. ¹²And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; ¹³And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. ¹⁵See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. ¹⁶Rejoice evermore. ¹⁷Pray without ceasing. ¹⁸In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. ¹⁹Quench not the Spirit. ²⁰Despise not prophesyings. ²¹Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. ²²Abstain from all appearance of evil. ²³And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Watch carefully – I Thessalonians 5:11-21, KJV)

6. Equip yourself for the coming battle.

Whether we are talking about a job, a ministry, or even just everyday living, it can and will at some point become a battle. We need the whole armour of God to fight the battle.

¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ¹³Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; ¹⁵And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: ¹⁸Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; ( Whole armour of God – Ephesians 6:11-18, KJV)

7. Memorize and meditate on scriptures.

The only offensive weapon in the listing of the armour of God was the scriptures. Always have it handy. Be ready to depend on it in every circumstance.

¹⁰With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. ¹¹Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. ¹²Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes. ¹³With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. ¹⁴I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. ¹⁵I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. ¹⁶I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. ¹⁷Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. ¹⁸Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. ¹⁹I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. (Memorize and meditate on scriptures – Psalm 119:10-19, JKV)

8. Give yourself to God, since He gave himself for you.

We must present ourselves as a sacrifice, willing to do anything we are asked to do. It is our reasonable service.

¹I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. ²And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Be a living sacrifice – Romans 12:1-2, KJV)

9. Do everything as unto the Lord.

Whatever we do should be done as if we were doing it to honor and praise God.

¹⁴And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. ¹⁵And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ¹⁷And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Colossians 3:14-17, KJV)

This is not just meant for our “religious life.” It carries over to our everyday life. Translating it into “plain English” I believe the message is simply

- Work hard
- Play hard
- Eat well
- Sleep well
- Watch carefully
- Listen intently
- Be accountable
- Give credit where credit is due
- Love deeply

10. Be where you are until you leave.

I wish I could take credit for this saying, but I can’t. Christ used a similar statement in instructing his disciples.

⁷And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; ⁸And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: ⁹But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats. ¹⁰And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. ¹¹And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. (Mark 6:7-11, KJV)

Christ was trying to teach his disciples not to go from house to house seeking better accommodations, but to be satisfied with what they had. I first heard it from a wealthy Christian businessman, financier, and philanthropist, who was known as a generous but demanding boss. When he used it, he was suggesting that people in a given position should do the job they were hired to do until they left for another position.

I met this gentleman only once. The occasion was at a luncheon given in his honor by a college for which I was serving as the chief academic officer. In addition to honoring this individual for his service to the Christian community, the college was also asking him for a significant donation.

When we were introduced at the luncheon, the first thing he said to me was, “I’ve heard about you, and I like you.” I must have had a perplexed look on my face because he continued by saying, “You follow what I have tried to teach all of my employees: “Be where you are until you leave.”

As a college administrator and cabinet officer, I have always served at the pleasure of the President of the institution I was serving. I changed institutions four times during my career and was in the midst of a fifth change when I had the traumatic brain incident in March 2009. For each change, the president and I were on different sides of at least one question.

When the president and a subordinate disagree, the subordinate never “wins.” Even if the president loses, the subordinate doesn’t win. With each change, I had the privilege of continuing to serve the institution for a period of time until I could find another position. While I remained at the institution from which I was departing, I always did my job to the best of my ability. Every one of the presidents that I served commended me for that quality. The Christian businessman, in his due diligence of checking out our institution as a prospective recipient of one of his gifts, had asked two of those presidents about me.

Wherever you are, do the job that God has given you until He assigns you another task. It is the right thing to do. At some time in the future, you will be rewarded for your diligence.

11. Leave people or a place better than you found them.

There are many forms of this quotation. One form attributed to the legendary football coach Vince Lombardi is the following:

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.

Jesus always left those with whom he encountered in a better place or position than when he first met them. Consider the woman at the well, the woman taken in adultery, the blind beggar, Zaacheus in the tree, the 10 lepers, the woman with the issue of blood, Jarius and his daughter, the demon-possessed man named Legion.

The parables of the talents and the unjust steward help us understand that we need to be faithful in the little things.

¹⁰He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. ¹¹If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? ¹²And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? (Luke 16:10-12, KJV)

12. Help fellow pilgrims along the road.

We are called to minister to others and help them find the straight and narrow way. The apostle Paul in writing to the Christians in Rome let them know that they should follow Christ’s example. They were definitely called to be “their brothers’ keepers,” just as we are.

¹We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ²Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. ³For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. (Romans 15:1-3, KJV)

These are some of the lessons that I have learned or relearned in the extra 10 years that I have been given. I hope and pray that at the conclusion of my life on this earth, I will be able to echo the words of Paul to the young Timothy:

⁵But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. ⁶For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. ⁷I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: ⁸Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (II Timothy 4:5-8, KJV)

In conclusion, what would you do if you were given another 10 years of life? How would you spend that precious time? By’s Musings returns to its regular publishing schedule next Tuesday, March 26 with a post entitled KPI – Part VI: Hierarchical Management.

March 15, 2019 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

KPI – Part V: Scoring Rubric for Guiding Principles Factor

Scoring Rubric for Baylis/Burwell VMI. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

This post is a continuation of my previous post [KPI – Part IV: Guiding Principles]. It will describe the scoring rubric we selected to use to assign points to institutions on the Guiding Principles Factor of the Baylis/Burwell Vitality/Morbidity Model.

Two different approaches to building our scoring rubric. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

There are two different directions which we could have taken to develop our scoring rubric. The first way was an ultra-quantitative, spreadsheet approach attempting to measure the quality of the statements of institutional Mission, Vision, and Core Values, and the institution’s efforts to live out those statements in their actions.

This type of approach is typically called the objective approach. However, if by objective you mean “not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts,” this direction is far from being truly objective. There are many points of subjectivity present in the quantitative scoring of the various components and in the weighting factors used in combining component scores to obtain a final score, where the raters’ biases and opinions enter into the equation.

A panel of higher education experts weigh the evidence and make judgments on each aspect of a particular factor. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

The second approach is a more holistic approach which is typically labeled as a subjective approach. It relies on the use of higher education experts, who have had years of training and experience in the field of higher education, to evaluate the institution in a number of ways.

The first thing these experts are asked to do is to read the institution’s published documents and judge whether they believe the institution has selected values and behaviors that represent those of a quality institution of higher education. The institutions are scored on the following three-point scale:

Is the institution a stellar citizen of the higher education community or a devil in disguise? Image courtesy of Presenter Media

-1 Totally inadequate for a quality institution of higher education

0 Barely adequate for a quality institution of higher education

+1 Describes a high performing institution of higher education

The higher education experts are then asked to judge whether the behavior of a given institution matches its stated beliefs using the following scale:

In the opinion of the higher education experts does the institution’s behavior match its stated values. They will weigh the evidence and make their decision on their training and experience in higher education. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

-1 Behavior doesn’t come close to its stated values. The institution fails to meet its own stated standards

0 Behavior barely meets its stated values or standards.

+1 Behavior exceeds the expectations set by its stated values.

A quality institution of higher education should be beyond reproach. In light of this, the panel of higher education experts is asked to make two more judgments. The first judgment involves the institution’s track record with those entities and agencies to which the institution is responsible. Does the institution meet all of its required reporting deadlines and fulfill all obligations to federal and accrediting agencies? Institutions will be scored on the following scale:

The institution has done everything it could to move it to the top of its class. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

-1 The institution has failed to meet more than one reporting obligation or legal requirements.

0 The institution has met all requirements and obligations but has occasionally been late or hesitant in making results public.

+1 The institution has gone of out its way in meeting requirements and obligations. It has made been completely transparent in all of its operations.

The final area of concern for the panel of experts deals with the reputation of the institution. The panel will judge whether the institution is held in high esteem by various entities such as higher education as a whole, the general public, students and prospective students, and employers of the institution’s graduates.

Is the institution a stellar citizen of the higher education community or a devil in disguise? Image courtesy of Presenter Media

The scoring scale for this area of concern is as follows:

-1 The reputation of the institution is tarnished in a number of areas with a number of groups.

0 The reputation of the institution is considered “run-of-the-mill.” It is not outstanding in any area.

+1 The reputation of the institution is stellar with all groups with which it deals.

To determine a factor score for Guiding Principles, the sub-factor scores are summed. Total scores are assigned as follows:

If the total sub-factor score is -3 or less, the assigned factor score is -1. Any institution in this area should be considered in trouble and possibly dying.

If the total sub-factor score is -2 to +2, the assigned factor score is 0. An institution with a score in this area is just hanging on and should be considered just surviving.

In institution in this category is considered a top-tier or elite institution. It is truly thriving. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

If the total sub-factor score is +3 or more, the assigned factor score is +1. An institution with a score in this area is doing well and should be considered to be thriving.

With the institutions we have examined we have found a predisposition away from the thriving side of the scale. It should not be surprising. Most observers will readily say that the overwhelming majority of colleges and universities are either in trouble or just surviving. There are few elite, or top tier institutions that are really thriving.

Next Tuesday, March 19, I will take a break from this series of post on Key Performance Indicators and publish a special post inspired by the scores of birthday wishes that I received this past week. It may be unusual to throw a big celebration for someone’s 73rd birthday. However, after a series of traumatic brain incidents more than a decade ago, scores of doctors wouldn’t have given you a plug nickel that I would make my 73rd birthday. Thus I will publish a post celebrating an unexpected decade of extra life. What would you do with an extra decade of life?

March 12, 2019 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

KPI – Part IV: Guiding Principles

We want our college built upon a rock solid foundation so that it will withstand all the storms that come its way. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

In this post, the fourth in a series on Key Performance Indicators, I continue my consideration of the eight factors of the Baylis/Burwell Vitality/Morbidity Model. This post focuses on the factor Guiding Principles (GP). The Guiding Principles of any organization, particularly Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), form the foundation upon which that organization is built.

The Guiding Principles of an organization are the basis of the blueprint for its current and future success. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

However, Guiding Principles are not just the foundation. They also provide the basis for the plans and blueprints on which a thriving organization can be built. The current and future success of any organization is dependent on that organization staying committed to the foundational principles upon which it is built.

Typically, the foundational principles of an organization are bound together as a set of three statements which form the pillars which support the organization. The three pillars consist of a Mission Statement, a Vision Statement, and a list of Core Values. Although closely related, these three statements are distinctly different in their purpose, format, and point of view. In what follows, I will address these three pillars in a university setting.

Mission Statement

A Mission Statement articulates a university’s reason for being, or raison d’être. A mission statement looks outward and justifies the existence of the university based upon its external environment. A university can only survive and thrive if it has a reason to exist within its environment.

A good mission statement should be simple and concise but at the same time elegant. It must be well-publicized internally and externally. Everyone in the university should recognize and accept the mission. This includes the board, the administration, faculty, staff, and students. It should be easy for individuals outside the university, particularly prospective students, to find and understand the mission.

Vision Statement

A Vision Statement is an explicit announcement of what a university desires to be and what it wants to accomplish. It is a forward-looking proclamation of the university’s mid-term and long-term objectives. It is meant to serve as a guide or roadmap for internal decision-making. Strategic and tactical plans and initiatives should align with and adhere to the tenets of the vision statement. These include staffing, facility, programmatic, and budget decisions.

A good vision statement should be precise, concise, and most definitely memorable. All constituencies of the university should know and be able to recall the major points, if not the exact wording, of the vision statement.

A good vision statement should be aspirational. It should drive the university to reach beyond its current status. It should also be inspirational, pushing all constituencies to action on behalf of the university.

Core Values

The Core Values of a university are the fundamental beliefs that the university collectively holds. They are derived from the university’s mission statement and they dictate how the university behaves. Core Values look inward and describe the nature of the organization.

The expression of a core value should be a descriptive statement of a collective belief of the university. Core values serve as self-guiding principles that dictate how the university should act and behave as an organization. As collective values, it is expected that all constituencies individually give assent to and agree to conduct themselves accordingly.

It is important and imperative that individual and collective agreement with the beliefs and behaviors included in the core values be verifiable. The university should have the ability to demonstrate that, as an organization, it is upholding its core values. For all individuals who chose to align themselves with the university, the university is entitled to expect that they will abide by and exhibit the stated core values. This includes the board, administration, faculty, staff, and students.

Examples of common organizational core values include honesty (tell the truth), integrity (know and do what is right), respect of others (treat others as an individual would like to be treated), and accountability (willingness to take responsibility for one’s own actions). Examples of common academic core values include scholarship (commitment to the creation, organization, and dissemination of knowledge), student centeredness (commitment to student learning and serving students by meeting their needs and desires), and service (meeting the needs of the various communities associated with and around the university).

Scoring Rubric

As I noted in my previous post, KPI Part III, A University Should Be Managed as If It Were a Business, each of the eight factors in the Baylis/Burwell Institutional Vitality Model would be scored on a three-point scale of THRIVING (+1), SURVIVING (0), or DYING (-1).

Please take note that I will be publishing a special post on Friday, March 15. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

Since I am fast approaching my self-imposed 1,000 word limit per post, I will postpone the explanation of my scoring rubric for this factor to my next post. Although I have been trying to stick to a Tuesday publication schedule, since the ideas are so closely tied to the content of this post, I will publish a post on the scoring rubric for the factor Guiding Principles this coming Friday, March 15.

I will return to the regular publishing schedule with a post on Tuesday, March 19 which focuses on the first of the three counterarguments, hierarchical management, raised by academics against Milton Greenberg’s argument that a university should be managed as if it were a business.