Small: Debacle at OU underscores higher ed’s flaws

Debacle at OU underscores higher ed’s flaws

By Jonathan Small

University of Oklahoma officials recently announced a graduate assistant was “arbitrary” in flunking a student for stating there are only two sexes.

Still, the incident highlights the degree to which a college education is becoming a joke.

OU students were asked to read an article about gender-nonconforming children and write a short essay in response.

Samantha Fulnecky wrote that she “strongly” disagreed with the idea that “encouraging acceptance of diverse gender expressions could improve students’ confidence,” calling it a “lie that there are multiple genders.”

Course instructor Mel Curth gave Fulnecky a zero, declaring it a “fact” that “every” major medical association “acknowledges that, biologically and psychologically, sex and gender is neither binary nor fixed.” In short, Fulnecky was expected to deny reality to get an A.

Because the assignment did not require research or citation of outside sources, many felt it beneath the expectations of a credible college course. That’s true, yet it appears such “easy A” assignments were the norm for this online class.

Further, the instructor’s arbitrary decision to flunk Fulnecky makes one wonder how many students self-censor to avoid similar discrimination.

That the instructor was not a real professor, but a graduate assistant, is also alarming. Given what students pay to attend OU, they deserve better. Over a decade ago, a study commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs estimated that 20 percent of OU professors taught 60 percent of classes – other professors contributed little but still drew large salaries. If most faculty were as productive as the top 20 percent, it would have saved nearly $100 million annually at OU, about $3,000 per student, and $82 million at OSU, again about $3,000 per student. One suspects those figures are much larger today.

While some professors are wildly overpaid, others are underpaid – such as in nursing schools, making it difficult to hire staff and train nurses despite strong market demand for those workers.

Unfortunately, federal student-loan programs fuel this madness by providing significant college revenue regardless of quality.

While OU regents recently eliminated low-enrollment programs, they need to do much more.

Sadly, many faculty believe colleges exist to serve the faculty, rather than staff being employed to serve students.

The American Association of University Professors launched a petition objecting to OU suspending  Curth, declaring, “Principles of academic freedom entail the ‘right of faculty members to select the materials, determine the approach to the subject, make the assignments, and assess student academic performance in teaching activities.’”

Put simply, petition signers believe instructors have the right to arbitrarily discriminate against students, or “academic freedom” is lost. I suspect most Oklahoma taxpayers are willing to make that trade to ensure their children get a college education worth the price of admission.

Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.