Academics Are More Likely to Uphold Education’s Best Practices as College Presidents
A situation like this played out recently at Mount St. Mary’s University when the president, a former private equity financier, asked faculty to identify freshman who were not initially succeeding — so he could encourage these freshmen to leavebefore their departure would decrease the school’s federally reported retention rate, and harm its national rankings. Faculty refused to comply, recognizing that their primary obligation to struggling freshmen was academic guidance and support.
The president’s plan may have made sense for a businessman cutting his losses and gaming the system, but it would have done nothing to support students.