What If We Ran Universities Like Wikipedia? 380
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.'"
And we could call it (Score:3, Funny)
The South Harmon Institute of Technology.
It would be like this: (Score:4, Funny)
HR: "So I was told you were valedictorian in your graduating class?"
You: "Why yes, in both my Theoretical Physics MS and my Nuclear Physics PhD."
HR: "[citation needed]"
You: "Mods!!!!"
The teaching staff ... (Score:5, Funny)
Between the lines (Score:5, Funny)
That "nonmonetized benefit" is access to college girls with loose morals.
Re:Degrees (Score:3, Funny)
Sorry, your degrees were deemed to be non-notable and were flagged for speedy deletion.
Re:Degrees (Score:4, Funny)
Also: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1830262 [collegehumor.com]
I can imagine some kind of open university type setup catching on in a wiki like fashion.
As it stands there can be huge variations in graduates already.
A lot of the "validation" seems more like bluster.
I'm working with someone who graduated from the same CS course I did who can't even configure a wireless laptop on the network.
Others from my course are currently network engineers.
Personally I'd welcome hiring practices which focused more on testing the candidates actual skill rather than glancing at the name of the university which issued their degree.
Start with a Medical School? (Score:1, Funny)
An entire university might be a bit too much for a pilot project. How about just a medical school?
What would a graduate from a Wikiveristy be like (Score:2, Funny)
Nah, we decided not to hire him. At first he sounded like he knew a lot, but in the end we realized he simply rambled a lot, presented a bunch of irrelevant details, and he had a hard time sticking to the subject.
But, he certainly could go on and on about Dune...
Re:Uh... (Score:3, Funny)
*your