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What If We Ran Universities Like Wikipedia?
Pickens writes "Do university bureaucracies still make sense in the era of networks? At the recent Educause conference, David J. Staley laid out the findings of a focus group he conducted asking educators what a college would look like if it operated like Wikipedia. The 'Wiki-ized University' wouldn't have formal admissions, says Staley; people could enter and exit as they wished and the university would consist of voluntary and self-organizing associations of teachers and students 'not unlike the original idea for the university, in the Middle Ages.' In addition, the curriculum of the 'Wiki-ized University' would be intellectually fluid, and instead of tenure, professors' longevity 'would be determined by the community.' Staley predicts that a new form of academic organization is emerging that will be driven by volunteerism. 'We do see some idea today of how "volunteer teaching" might look: think of the faculty at a place like the University of Phoenix. Most teaching faculty have day jobs — and in fact are hired because they have day jobs — and teach at the university for a nominal stipend,' writes Staley. 'If something like the Phoenix model is what develops in a wiki-ized university setting, this would suggest that a new type of "professorate" will emerge, consisting of those who teach or publish or conduct research for their own personal or professional satisfaction or for some other nonmonetized benefit.'"
I spent $80,000 back in the early 1980's going to college. Plus the lost wages from that time. In today's dollars that is a lot more. Ironically NOBODY has ever asked me for my degree or even if I had one. It has never made a difference in my income, my work or my life. I have advised my children that going to college is totally optional and probably a waste of time. There was a short span in history when it was a requirement for advancement but now it is a waste. You can get a fine education and do excellent work without it.
University of Phoenix is not a degree mill. Even wikipedia says it is not a degree mill.
I rest my case that it is, then. You've just provided all the proof needed.
They don't just hand you a degree just for paying the tuition.
Please pull the other one. And since you claim to be military, please realize that I mean the LEG, and not the other thing you spend far too much time pulling on.