I was on the radio today (not that anyone probably heard me)! I was listening to South Dakota Forum on NPR, and the show was addressing South Dakota Governor Rounds' 2010 Initiative. This initiative hopes to increase the amount of federal research dollars obtained by South Dakota universities. It also wants to implement more Ph.D. programs in the state. Daniel Farrington, System Vice President of Research for the Board of Regents and Royce Engstrom, Vice President for Academic Affairs at USD, were the guests.
I called in to express my concerns about this initiative. All they talked about were science and technology projects and the economic development they may provide for South Dakota. Science and tech make up only part of one's education - social science and humanities are also important. Unfortunately, I'm afraid they don't offer much economic development. The guests answered my question with the expected answer - we have to start somewhere and those proposals offered significant economic development. It will be interesting to see where this goes in future years.
Interestingly, another caller echoed my sentiments. He argued that the projects discussed by the guests were glorified job training, and the projects neglected real education, like the liberal arts.
Posted by vanr0033 at August 3, 2004 4:34 PMIt was good that you called in and expressed your opinion. I agree that the liberal arts and social sciences are important to a quality education. Unfortunately, higher ed is SD has focused on the sciences at the expense of the other disciplines. By decreasing the # of credit hours for a BS or BA, and paying by the credit hour, students are reluctant to pay for more courses. Also, the results of doctoral researc
takes years to bring economic development.
I read the Thune article in Newsweek last night. You were correct about Brookings coming off bad. I visited with Robb and he was quoted correctly.
Posted by: Dad at August 5, 2004 2:39 PM