A Perfect Storm...

So as the first thunderstorm of Spring (yes! I love storms.) is brewing outside, I came across an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education that offers a critique of college in America. It was a very interesting read, and I highly encourage you to check it out.

I was happy to notice, though, that so many of the things that the author Thomas Benton (a college professor) pointed out as flaws with American universities just don't apply at Transy, while other critiques of culture in general are valid, I see Transy as a college that does everything it can to counteract the perceived flaw.

For instance, Benton discussed the changing forms of literacy in students entering college. I definitely agree with this statement. I came into college and considered myself a very good writer (I had received the highest score in my school on my Kentucky writing portfolio, and distinguished in On-Demand writing). The thing is though, writing for a standardized test, I quickly learned, is much more superficial and generic than writing, say, a well thought out research paper. Transy understands this knowledge gap, and because of that we have the Foundations of Liberal Arts program -- a two part program taken during first-year that teaches you how to write for college.

Benton also mentioned an alienation from professors that college students face. Honestly, this is a completely foreign concept. I sometimes find myself wishing I could be more alienated from professors (Full disclosure: I was behind and skipped a class last week, and hour later the professor saw me. Totally busted!). Transy professors are insanely available; I've even called one at 7p.m. and felt perfectly comfortable in doing so.

Another concept, declining academic engagement, also doesn't seem appear at Transy, and perhaps this is just among my circle of friends. I find myself discussing class topics, current events, and other academic matters much more often than I find myself discussing the latest episode of "Glee" (though I do love Glee...). Any time I watch T.V. I find myself thinking "That would make a great artifact for a rhetorical analysis", or "Wow, that commercial reinforces the gender dichotomy present in the western world...".

I'm not saying Transy is perfect, but when looking at the list I think Benton might reconsider some of his points.