Post by Bornthrilla on May 2, 2008 9:13:35 GMT -5
May 1, 2008, 11:52PM
Tougher TSU admissions get mixed reaction
Plan favored by some; others fear it will discourage more than help
By JEANNIE KEVER
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
The first public meeting on plans to raise admission standards at Texas Southern University drew agreement on Thursday, even if some of it came grudgingly.
"I think if you expect students to rise to the standard, most of them will," said James Wilson, a 1995 graduate who came to show support for the school.
But other people warned of the consequences of discouraging students, and many told campus president John Rudley that unprepared and disinterested students are only one of the school's problems.
Their list included burned out teachers and broken equipment. Carroll Robinson, a former city councilman who teaches at TSU, said the faculty needs support from administrators.
"You want the top-notch students," said Niki Williams. "You have programs here that aren't even accredited."
Williams attends the University of Houston. But as a member of the Black Student Network, she praised TSU's open enrollment policy — it admits any student with a high school diploma or GED — as "true democracy."
Rudley, on the job just three months, said he was listening.
"We're going to start one brick at a time, repairing the damage," he said.
Vote comes May 9
The admissions proposal includes:
•Requiring all entering students to have a 2.0 grade-point average in high school.
•Requiring that they take either the SAT or ACT, although no minimum score has been set.
•Students who don't meet the standards would have to attend a summer program; if they don't successfully complete that, they will be referred to community college but accorded status as students at both TSU and the two-year school. TSU would provide counseling and their community credits would transfer to TSU, said interim Provost James Douglas.
•The best teachers would be shifted to freshmen classes, and all students would be required to attend class.
The school's governing board will vote on the plan May 9.
Rudley and Douglas offered a panel to support the plan, including James Hefner, former president of Tennessee State University; Mary Spangler, chancellor of Houston Community College; and James Royster, past president of the TSU National Alumni Association.
'Quality attracts'
People worry that raising admission standards will hurt enrollment, Hefner said. But when he did it at both Tennessee State and at Jackson State University in Mississippi — like TSU, both are historically black universities — enrollment rose, he said.
"Quality attracts," he said. "Parents want their children to be affiliated with an institution of quality."
Several students conceded that higher standards would get rid of students at TSU only to draw financial aid or because they lack other options.
"We do have students who come for the financial aid hustle or because they only have two choices: school or jail," said Natia Simon, a senior set to graduate May 10.
Some alumni worried that the proposal will change the school's character, a move that chemistry student James Lott said could be good.
"You don't see what goes on here," he said. "Some students here ... their purpose is not education."
Other suggestions
As for the faculty, he said, too many should not be teaching. His two best professors left mid-semester, he said.
Robert Muhammad, southwest regional minister for the Nation of Islam, drew applause as he said he will support the standards only if other criteria are met, including a plan to track all students turned away.
He called for higher faculty pay and a new culture where law school faculty routinely file friend-of-the-court briefs for U.S. Supreme Court cases dealing with poverty or racism.
The sociology department should focus on "fixing black family life, not just reporting the statistical nightmare," he said.
Professors "who no longer have fire in their bellies" should be fired, he said.
That will take money, Muhammad acknowledged.
"We buy the best cell phones," he said. "But we want education on the cheap."
jeannie.kever@chron.com
Tougher TSU admissions get mixed reaction
Plan favored by some; others fear it will discourage more than help
By JEANNIE KEVER
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
The first public meeting on plans to raise admission standards at Texas Southern University drew agreement on Thursday, even if some of it came grudgingly.
"I think if you expect students to rise to the standard, most of them will," said James Wilson, a 1995 graduate who came to show support for the school.
But other people warned of the consequences of discouraging students, and many told campus president John Rudley that unprepared and disinterested students are only one of the school's problems.
Their list included burned out teachers and broken equipment. Carroll Robinson, a former city councilman who teaches at TSU, said the faculty needs support from administrators.
"You want the top-notch students," said Niki Williams. "You have programs here that aren't even accredited."
Williams attends the University of Houston. But as a member of the Black Student Network, she praised TSU's open enrollment policy — it admits any student with a high school diploma or GED — as "true democracy."
Rudley, on the job just three months, said he was listening.
"We're going to start one brick at a time, repairing the damage," he said.
Vote comes May 9
The admissions proposal includes:
•Requiring all entering students to have a 2.0 grade-point average in high school.
•Requiring that they take either the SAT or ACT, although no minimum score has been set.
•Students who don't meet the standards would have to attend a summer program; if they don't successfully complete that, they will be referred to community college but accorded status as students at both TSU and the two-year school. TSU would provide counseling and their community credits would transfer to TSU, said interim Provost James Douglas.
•The best teachers would be shifted to freshmen classes, and all students would be required to attend class.
The school's governing board will vote on the plan May 9.
Rudley and Douglas offered a panel to support the plan, including James Hefner, former president of Tennessee State University; Mary Spangler, chancellor of Houston Community College; and James Royster, past president of the TSU National Alumni Association.
'Quality attracts'
People worry that raising admission standards will hurt enrollment, Hefner said. But when he did it at both Tennessee State and at Jackson State University in Mississippi — like TSU, both are historically black universities — enrollment rose, he said.
"Quality attracts," he said. "Parents want their children to be affiliated with an institution of quality."
Several students conceded that higher standards would get rid of students at TSU only to draw financial aid or because they lack other options.
"We do have students who come for the financial aid hustle or because they only have two choices: school or jail," said Natia Simon, a senior set to graduate May 10.
Some alumni worried that the proposal will change the school's character, a move that chemistry student James Lott said could be good.
"You don't see what goes on here," he said. "Some students here ... their purpose is not education."
Other suggestions
As for the faculty, he said, too many should not be teaching. His two best professors left mid-semester, he said.
Robert Muhammad, southwest regional minister for the Nation of Islam, drew applause as he said he will support the standards only if other criteria are met, including a plan to track all students turned away.
He called for higher faculty pay and a new culture where law school faculty routinely file friend-of-the-court briefs for U.S. Supreme Court cases dealing with poverty or racism.
The sociology department should focus on "fixing black family life, not just reporting the statistical nightmare," he said.
Professors "who no longer have fire in their bellies" should be fired, he said.
That will take money, Muhammad acknowledged.
"We buy the best cell phones," he said. "But we want education on the cheap."
jeannie.kever@chron.com
