The Nanny State

The Nanny State

Plains (guest) 29 Sep 2015 18:02

I'm a new faculty member, just got out of a new-faculty-orientation meeting from our Student Services people.

Here is how we support our students. We have an 'invisible' hotline where anyone can report anyone who is causing trouble, or just seems to be in trouble. It is anonymous, and students, faculty or staff can alert the agency of anyone who is not doing well.

We have academic warnings that we are supposed to give out in cases of low attendance, misconduct, bad grades, and any other actions that seem odd. I give these out alot, since I teach at 8 AM, so I get many no-shows.

We have protocol set up for any allegation (or, even hint at allegation) for sexual assault. As you know, we are mandated reporters.

We have a counseling center that does pro-active interventions based upon another warning system - someone seems depressed, they get reported, then there is followup.

We have residence life, which can 'intervene' in a variety of ways in cases of conflict or stress. The speaker gave the example of two students who were arguing over smoking cigarettes in the dorm (this is not allowed). Apparently, one of the two was uncomfortable with raising the issue, so he used the invisible network, and then residence life intervened. They shook hands afterwards.

There is more, I just can't remember it all. The basic idea is that we will go to every effort to insure that the students are safe and protected. Those two words were used alot.

I asked the group whether the students every object to the big brother system we have in place (I asked tactfully). They said yes, but that "those students get over it".

It strikes me that we at the college end are reiterating the sort of helicopter parenting that these students have enjoyed all their life. The counselor rep started off his talk on the increasingly high rates of mental disorder among college students … but never discussed whether the nanny state we have created may be contributing to the students' inability to cope on their own.

I know most of you are liberals, and so you might have an immediate gut rejection to this thread. But I'm just wondering if any of you have similarly been weirded out by such outreach efforts.

BIGNANNY (guest) 29 Sep 2015 18:51

I FIND YOUR POST OFFENSIVE TO MY PERSONAL BELIEFS!!!!! I AM CALLING THE INVISIBLE ACADEMIC GESTAPO ON YOU!!!!!!

Kidding.

But check out recent writings on the debate around including "trigger warnings" in classes or on syllabi for a similar argument.

anon (guest) 29 Sep 2015 22:12

Wow…I'm at a liberal arts school and we don't have any of this. If we do, faculty are unaware of it. Sounds to me like it's lawsuit protection, which everyone is so afraid of nowadays.

Trigger warnings. Ugh, don't even get me started on that.

Plains (guest) 01 Oct 2015 17:32

Good to hear, anon.

My guess is that the motivation is at least two-fold.

First, the faculty have a 'good-hearted' desire to help, and feel that coddling is the best way to support the students. Their thinking, in this regard, is shallow and short-sighted.

Second, administration has a vested interest in preserving their business model, which emphasizes getting as many students to stay in the school as possible. Insofar as these students have been coddled all their life, schools that offer a nanny state will be viewed as attractive to concerned parents, and will decrease the likelihood of students withdrawing.

Oddly, these two factors operate from differing political ends of the spectrum: the first as liberal kindness, the second as capitalistic hunger. Yet they go so well together. Could this be a model for our fractured political landscape?

Plains (guest) 05 Oct 2015 13:38

Not to beat a dead horse, but ….

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/05/us/four-legged-roommates-help-with-the-stresses-of-campus-life.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0

Also this quote is great:

"Joanne Goldwater, associate dean of students and director of residence life at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, is not concerned about objective evidence."

teachingprof (guest) 08 Oct 2015 15:46

I would be THRILLED if these procedures were in place at my institution which has a large percentage of first-generation and underserved students. To the typical instructor who teaches 18-22 year olds who are continuing-generation college kids, much of the above seems like a no-brainer and you assume the students have that knowledge… so you seem like it's hand-holding or helicopter behavior. That's a huge assumption of privilege.

If you're the first to go to college, you have never been exposed to these assumptions — the HIDDEN CURRICULUM of how to navigate seemingly simple things related to being an advocate for yourself. It requires suspending your own privilege of what you went through and had to "figure out". If a student never knew how to navigate certain institution systems, it's not hand-holding — it's teaching.

Check out this Chronicle article (which requires subscription)
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Unwritten-Rules-of/233245/

Re: The Nanny State

anonld 08 Oct 2015 16:01

I personally LOVE our institution's academic warning system. I taught over 150 freshmen/semester in an Intro Psych course so it makes it easy to reach students that could get lost in a large class. Many people flagged by me in the system got the push they needed before it was too late. Many (definitely not all) saw they were failing and took proactive steps to meet with me about it - many drastically improved their grades after we talked. I didn't nanny them or chase them down, but I did make sure they stayed informed about their progress throughout the semester. The system also let advisors see if they were failing in multiple courses and could advise them to drop classes or take other steps to manage their schedules. And I agree with teachingprof that this was especially helpful for students who did not have family support in navigating the rules of college.

anon (guest) 08 Oct 2015 18:42

Giving out warnings for possible failure is different than monitoring and reporting suspected behaviors. We also have midterm reporting and I ALWAYS use it for those who are at-risk. I encourage them to drop or get their sh!t together.

Anon (guest) 08 Oct 2015 20:40

I am quite tired of hearing the label of "first generation students." this creates a stigmata and students fit themselves into the roles. A better way is to tell ALL students, no one is born to know everything, we are all here to learn, learn to be a better self, day-by-day.