Uva president Scott Beardsley’s sketchy “doctorate”

[Anonymous]

Paywalled but basically his “doctorate from Penn” is a two year Ed.D. from a cash cow, pay to play program

https://richmond.com/opinion/column/article_a6df09e0-5d84-411c-a780-c6416e28ddd3.html

There’s already a lot of prejudice towards ed schools and EdDs in elite academia (as in, the EdD is not the terminal degree unless it’s from Harvard Ed school or Columbia Teachers College) but a two year program made up of classes once a month, plus a week or two per summer, seems pretty skimpy. Definitely sets him apart from the presidents of the actual Ivies, AAU, or T20 schools. Not a great for UVa, besides all of the political issues with the appointment.

[Anonymous]

What terminal credential do you possess, OP?

[Anonymous]

Would you all prefer Claudine Gay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you all prefer Claudine Gay?

Considering she had to resign I’m not sure what your point is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What terminal credential do you possess, OP?

OP is not leading an academic institution, much less a top one!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paywalled but basically his “doctorate from Penn” is a two year Ed.D. from a cash cow, pay to play program

https://richmond.com/opinion/column/article_a6df09e0-5d84-411c-a780-c6416e28ddd3.html

There’s already a lot of prejudice towards ed schools and EdDs in elite academia (as in, the EdD is not the terminal degree unless it’s from Harvard Ed school or Columbia Teachers College) but a two year program made up of classes once a month, plus a week or two per summer, seems pretty skimpy. Definitely sets him apart from the presidents of the actual Ivies, AAU, or T20 schools. Not a great for UVa, besides all of the political issues with the appointment.

Another poster envious of UVA and grasping at straws. Give it a rest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paywalled but basically his “doctorate from Penn” is a two year Ed.D. from a cash cow, pay to play program

https://richmond.com/opinion/column/article_a6df09e0-5d84-411c-a780-c6416e28ddd3.html

There’s already a lot of prejudice towards ed schools and EdDs in elite academia (as in, the EdD is not the terminal degree unless it’s from Harvard Ed school or Columbia Teachers College) but a two year program made up of classes once a month, plus a week or two per summer, seems pretty skimpy. Definitely sets him apart from the presidents of the actual Ivies, AAU, or T20 schools. Not a great for UVa, besides all of the political issues with the appointment.

Another poster envious of UVA and grasping at straws. Give it a rest.

I’m not the OP. But any decent academic institution is led by someone who has experience doing true academic research and has been established academically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you all prefer Claudine Gay?

Yes. How is this even a question?

[Anonymous]

VT president had a PhD in engineering from Berkeley.

[Anonymous]

Academic here: the best college administrators are not always the best scholars. Managerial skills and brilliant scholarship are not one and the same; often they don't co-exist. I can be as snobby about degrees as the next person, but for me the key to a great university president is not what they've published but how they handle students, faculty, parents, fundraising, community-building, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VT president had a PhD in engineering from Berkeley.

Rocket scientists don’t necessarily make the best administrators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Academic here: the best college administrators are not always the best scholars. Managerial skills and brilliant scholarship are not one and the same; often they don't co-exist. I can be as snobby about degrees as the next person, but for me the key to a great university president is not what they've published but how they handle students, faculty, parents, fundraising, community-building, etc

How do you feel about the fact that he lied about publishing 70 “peer reviewed” articles? https://augustafreepress.com/news/vanishing-act-how-uvas-presidential-search-missed-what-took-us-an-hour-to-find/

I work at a university (in admin, not as faculty, fwiw), and I think scholarly credentials matter. Universities are places of knowledge creation; yes, you want a president who is a strong manager, fundraiser, etc., but to credibly lead an academic institution, you first need impeccable academic credentials.

(And if you’re going to sell yourself as a CEO-type, fine—but don’t lie about the academic stuff.)

[Anonymous]

I really liked Jim Ryan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VT president had a PhD in engineering from Berkeley.

Rocket scientists don’t necessarily make the best administrators.

At least he had a real degree.

[Anonymous]

I honestly know very little about him but I know one of his whole things is his non-traditional background, and I think he was clear that the education degree was about stamping a required box and not his primary study or qualification.