Failing Forward

I ran across potentially the best geek love poem I’ve ever seen the other day while slacking off on Stack Overflow (from this thread).

Roses are #FF0000,

Violets are #0000FF.

All my base are belong to you.

The president of the University [at which I'm a senior] this morning broadcast an email to the student body outlining some details of a budget deficit.  Long story short, over the next five years or so, revenues are expected to increase an average of two percent while expenditures are expected to rise an average of six percent.

In response, several academic departments are on the chopping block.  The electronic media, nursing, philosophy, and theater programs are all under “review” for “possible restructuring.”  The saddest part of this email, though, came next.

Though final decisions have not yet been made, I want to assure you [The University] is committed to providing the proper resources, capabilities and staffing to allow you to graduate within your chosen program or field.

And then the president continues later on with this nugget:

Our options to balance our budget are very few — we must reduce our personnel (both faculty and staff) and our programs.  It is clear we have never faced anything of this magnitude or longevity in recent history.

This, to me, is an abysmal attitude for a number of reasons.

1. I take issue with the use of the term “allow.”  How very generous of the University to allow the affected students to hold the institution accountable for it’s obligation to provide an education, as agreed upon when said students first enrolled.
2. The term “graduate” here bothers me as well.  We’re not here to learn?  We’re not here to stretch ourselves?  We’re not here to better society?  No… evidently we’re here only to graduate.  This is merely a diploma factory.  The fact that this administrator believes the mission of the institution to be “graduating” it’s students is indicative of sub-par thinking and poor vision.  This announcement was uncannily timed, as just this afternoon I read an article on TechCrunch about three qualities of leadership that I found fairly well written.
3. Who cares when this has happened before?  What are you going to do to keep it from happening again in the future?  Cutting a few programs is a temporary patch; it only cures the immediate symptoms and does nothing (expressed or implied) for the future.  Revenues will always drop, and expenditures will always grow over the long term, unless you do something about it – that’s business.

Now, all this was bad enough, I thought.  Until the president continued to say:

Again, I want to reiterate that students enrolled in the programs under review will be able to complete their degrees. We will also be working hard to protect our core academic programs and providing the excellent education for which we have become so well known over the years.

1. You should not be working hard to protect your core academic programs.  You should be working extra hard and extra smart to advance them.  To better and improve them.  To continually refine the process.  As an academic institution, first of all, your core programs are your life blood.  Their integrity should never come to question.  Ever.
2. Second, the entire concept of protection – as used here – is defensive, reactionary.  Sometimes things go wrong, and that’s fine.  Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn.  But I don’t want a reactionary, apologetic memoir when things turn South and tough calls need to be made.  You made a mistake?  Fine.  Own it and move forward.  When you tell me about it, tell me short and long term solutions, not some non-deterministic crap about how the world works and by how much pensions will increase by 2014.

All that having been said, though, I do commend the administration for identifying those programs which were “core” to it’s strategy (their hedgehog concept), and seeking to eliminate other departments.  At least they got that right.

A big disappointment, overall.  And on Pi Day, to boot.

Art Williams’ speech, “Do It,” (from 1987) will never get old.  Here’s part one and part two.

I’m just a glutton for punishment.

I decided this evening to undertake the vaguely daunting task of learning the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout.  It’s already been a trip and a half, let me tell you.

After researching the topic (I’ll admit predominantly on StackOverflow) after a conversation with a friend (a DVORAK user himself), I’m hoping to be at least quasi-proficient by the end of next week… or at least enough so that it doesn’t take a year and half to write a follow up message!

Update: Follow-up post