Faculty knows better at COD

There is no joke about the College of DuPage having difficulties between their board and president and the faculty. What COD “sells” is a quality education, one that some students use to stand out in their chosen field, or that prepares them for the next half of a four-year degree. It is not the president that they sell, with his $400,000-plus salary, large dollar arboretums he created, underused high-end restaurant or buildings that pop up like zits on a teenager. COD sells a quality education from quality faculty.

There is a reason why a higher education model, first started at Harvard College in 1636, put faculty in charge of the college. Faculty know more about what and how to teach than any president or board, all who are farther away from the basic premises of higher education than the janitorial staff that sweeps the floors.

If you have ever been in a lab class, you know it was there that all the lectures became solidified. Lab classes are where students, with the help of faculty on a one-on-one basis, make sense of what they learn in lectures. The board and administrators’ implication that there is less value in a lab class, or that some departments should receive more compensation for their labs than others, is a slap in the face to those that would not receive as much compensation. The board goes down that slippery slope to say that students in one field of study are pursuing a better field of study. Why devalue programs?

Readers, do not be taken in by the devaluing of your community college by those at the top. You are as much a part of COD as anyone, as its quality comes from your taxes. Insist that the board make the right decision. Make some noise that DuPage deserves quality education and quality faculty.

Jeff Edwards

Wheaton