Uva president Scott Beardsley’s sketchy “doctorate”

[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.

What do you expect when the MAGAs picked him? The faculty are not happy! This alum isn’t either.

MAGAs did not pick him. I don’t know a single member of the Board of Visitirs who ws or U.S. MAGA. The Board had been unhappy with him for over a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No dog in this race as I'm not DMV. I agree that Ed.D. is weak sauce for a t25 president. Most public high school principals have Ed.D., at least where I'm at (Midwest). And his career experienceu is nothing extraordinary. UVA can do a lot better than that.

You missed the MBA and the Masters from Oxford in A.I.

[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.





That’s the author’s guess. It’s a minimum 36 months and includes standard dissertation. From U Penn. Not a walk in the park. https://www.gse.upenn.edu/academics/mid-career-doctoral-program-educational-leadership-edd

On top of an MBA from MIT and now Masters from Oxford

[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.

And, yet, that’s the degree Jill Biden got from podunk University of Delaware and you scream if she’s not addressed “Dr.”. You can’t have it both ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No dog in this race as I'm not DMV. I agree that Ed.D. is weak sauce for a t25 president. Most public high school principals have Ed.D., at least where I'm at (Midwest). And his career experienceu is nothing extraordinary. UVA can do a lot better than that.

You missed the MBA and the Masters from Oxford in A.I.

If he is any C-level executive, sure that's impressive. But he is LEADING a t25 that aspires to go up or at least maintain its current position. Of all the current college deans/provost/vice-provost/VPs at UVA, no one is more qualified than him?? Pedigree matters in academia, unfortunately. Also the Master's in AI that he is pursuing is an online part-time program no different than Harvard Extension School in terms of prestige and exclusiveness. Again, UVA can do better, much better than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No dog in this race as I'm not DMV. I agree that Ed.D. is weak sauce for a t25 president. Most public high school principals have Ed.D., at least where I'm at (Midwest). And his career experienceu is nothing extraordinary. UVA can do a lot better than that.

You missed the MBA and the Masters from Oxford in A.I.

If he is any C-level executive, sure that's impressive. But he is LEADING a t25 that aspires to go up or at least maintain its current position. Of all the current college deans/provost/vice-provost/VPs at UVA, no one is more qualified than him?? Pedigree matters in academia, unfortunately. Also the Master's in AI that he is pursuing is an online part-time program no different than Harvard Extension School in terms of prestige and exclusiveness. Again, UVA can do better, much better than that.

+1
I took an online Harvard extension school program during the pandemic. It’s no big deal.

[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.

And, yet, that’s the degree Jill Biden got from podunk University of Delaware and you scream if she’s not addressed “Dr.”. You can’t have it both ways.

Is she president of UVA?

[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.

She has lot in common with phony call her "doctor" Jill and her on-line Ed.D.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Gee, OP, maybe if you had given your post a thought before posting …. Or bothered to research the people and issues involved.. you might have realized you had it wrong:

1) the article you cite is not the opinion of the paper (and just a Richmond paper at that) but an editorial by a single guest author.

2) this author is a professor of education (yes, same degree you are making of) and has an axe to grind because her field is the diminishing one of race, diversity and DEI in education.

3) As a young academic, she needs to make herself relevant so wrote this trash to keep current with publications. Note it’s in a Richmond paper, not even Charlottesville or a national paper.

4) if you had bothered to even read up on Scott Beardsley’s background you would know he has: (direct from Wikipedia) “Beardsley graduated from Tufts University, where he earned a BS in electrical engineering. He subsequently earned an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He earned an EdD in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015. As of 2024, he is completing a part-time master of studies in practical ethics (artificial intelligence) in the Department of Philosophy at Pembroke College, University of Oxford.”

5) the info in wiki is old. I believe Beardsley the Oxford MPhil degree now -so he has a hard science undergrad and three graduate degrees.

6) had you bothered to check in what people at UVA think (where I am now), you would have learned that the Presidency of any University is primarily that of fund-raiser and that Beardsley is renowned for what he has already accomplished in that area at UVA. No one is unhappy with his pick. Now you might find some liberal Spanberger types who try to trash him but so far nothing has stuck - and they are uniformly off grounds people (like the author of this piece) who don’t know what they are talking about.

7) the article you cite is old and was never picked up by any major publication for the reasons given above.

If no one is unhappy why did[b] the faculty write a letter?

Why do “some” not “all” faculty get involved where they are not wanted every time there’s an issue on any camous? Because they are protesters by nature and because they never have all the facts. You haven’t heard from that segment of the faculty since then, right? Of course not, they’ve gone off to protest something else. Also many were turned off by Ryan’s embarrassing self-serving 12 pages of excuses and whining. I was embarrassing for him. He actually admits in it that he shoukd not be held responsible for the discrimination at the Medical School in hiring and firing. Post the SCOTUS case. If not him, the. Who? That was his job. It was his job to deal with DOJ on the five discrimination cases but he failed to do that too. And he failed to bring UVA in line post-SCOTUS.

Go read the articles by the Jefferson Council. That’s actually what happened.

So you are with the Jefferson Counsel LOL

[Anonymous]

I hope the snowflakes that pushed Ryan out are happy. This thread is an example of the cloud of controversy that will hang over UVA for the foreseeable future. The snowflakes won the battle but UVA will lose the war.

[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

It’s true that the best university administrators may not be the best scholars. In fact, many scholars prefer not to be university administrators. But a college president has to have done true academic research and has established in academia to earn the respect of faculty and understand what faculty are going through. People like to say the most knowledgeable may not be the best teacher. But you also can’t teach when your knowledge is utterly lacking!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really liked Jim Ryan.

Me too. Pushing him out was a catastrophic mistake.

[Anonymous]

This is a little like right wing shitheel Christopher Rufo passing himself off as a Harvard grad when he only went to the extension school.

https://thenationaldesk.com/news/americas-news-now/harvard-prof-walks-back-criticism-of-extension-school-degrees-this-still-isnt-an-apology-jennifer-hochschild-christopher-rufo-claudine-gay-corey-deangelis-university-cambridge-massachusetts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.)

I wish there was a “superlike” button for this post!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

True, which is why not every Nobel prize winner should pursue admin…in fact, they should prob just stick to research. (Some of them prob shouldn’t teach)

That said, in the t25 and esp the Ivies, they want the whole pkg. The respected scholar who also has good admin experience as a provost or a dean usually. That’s part of why Jennifer Mnookin’s appt is lauded at Columbia, she has sig admin experience (dean at ucla law before wisconsin prez) AND she’s a top notch scholar. Ditto Drew Gilpin Faust at Harvard previously, esp.

Once in awhile you do have someone with an sig record of public service who wasn’t an academic, like Janet Napolitano at the UCs and John King who heads the SUNYs. (Interestingly, both systemwide vs institutional presidents)…so there’s an exception of you were a former cabinet secretary, which is kinda a big deal. Same as the prez at William and Mary, cabinet secretary, though he has a legit PhD from Yale. Recently you have the new president of USC, who is not an academic (former general counsel) but of course has a Harvard undergrad, Harvard JD. He also has the public service record, though not cabinet secretary level. But USC is kinda Hollywood (vs UVA “public ivy”/wants to be compared to the Ivies).

The article’s point seems to be that Beardsley presents his advanced degree as a “doctorate,” which it technically is, but any real academic wouldn’t call a two year executive program a real doctorate.

Janet Napolitano is the president of UC, but each individual UC has a chancellor who functions like a university president.