[Air-L] Coburn Amendment

[Richard Forno]

Yep, I'm sure many folks are involved/seeing discussions about this thing.  *headdesk*

I think it comes down to a belief by DC and many state governments that unless education or educational initiatives/research can be tied *directly* toward job creation in today's "hot new fields" it's a waste of time and funding. How much of that is a direct consequence of the national unemployment situation, I don't know.....or how much of it is shaped by political ideologies, for that matter. The cynic in me has all sorts of reasons why things like critical thinking, history, political science (ie, "how your nation is supposed to work") are being marginalised, but that's not an appropriate discussion for a lovely Friday afternoon.   /ducks

In my field (cybersecurity) I see a disturbing trend towards mixing 'technical training' with 'education' at the 4-year and graduate level with the goal of helping "develop the workforce" --- which often means getting people with technical SKILLS into places of vital employment.  Even government groups known for setting academic guidelines in this area are heading in that direction, too.  As a result, there is an ongoing discussion/debate over what constituties 'technical training' via professional certifications and the development of skills as a practitioner (generally offered in the non-credit realm) and more formal education (ie, for-credit, degree-seeking programs) that seek to produce well-rounded professionals who can advance in their careers over time.  

It's one thing to know how to build and configure a firewall, deploy a Windows network, or run various security tools to test your online security.  But IMHO that's technical training to produce specialists --- one friend even suggested those kind of hands-on-keyboard activities are the modern equivalent of blue-collar "jobs" of years past:  IE,  you've got Master Electricians and Certified Information Security Professionals;  you've got Journeymen Plumbers, you've got Certified Ethical Hackers, etc, etc.  I don't think he's that far off.  And we definitely need these people!!

But it's another thing to know how that low-level stuff fits into the bigger picture, understand context, think critically and independently, develop and communicate meaning, and be able to conceptualise more than your narrow slice of things -- THAT is where a broad and diverse education comes in, which most likely includes stuff drawn from the allegedly-useless humanities!!    These are necessary qualities on needs if they want to have a defined "career" instead of a series of "jobs" ---- and they come not from STEM-y disciplines but the humanities.  Through an appropriate educational framework, these folks can be exposed both to specialist knowledge as well as those 'soft skills' that allow them to take a generalist approach when needed.   Among other things, they can ask "why?" and not just focus on "how?"

That said, in my program, we've decided to split the difference to try and get the best of both worlds:  We recently built a 3-credit elective course around a popular technical training certification in the cybersecurity field.  However, rather than just lecturing and "teaching to the certification exam" (as many places do)  there are group projects, papers, presentations exams, and other assignments appropriate for graduate students, are academicly rigourous, and reflect what my program seeks to produce in its graduates.  We tell students that doing well in this course will prepare them for that industry certification (if they want to go that route) but that we are not teaching exclusively to that exam or restricting course content to just material related to the certification. (By contrast, other places offer 3 credits for what essentially is a "certification exam test prep" course.that could be taken at any commercial testing center or community college.)   

My apologies.....this turned into a long-winded screed saying that like many others I disagree with Coburn's Amendment and the overall trend of marginalising the humantiies to focus on STEM and worker skills development.  In my view, being an effective professional is both an Art and a Science.

-- rick

---
Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.


On Mar 21, 2013, at 4:37 PM, Katja Mayer <katja.mayer at univie.ac.at> wrote:

> http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/senate-delivers-a-devastating-blow-to-the-integrity-of-the-scientific-process-at-the-national-science-foundation-199221111.html
> 
> ???
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