March 18, 1997
Steve Albrecht, President-Elect
Department of Accounting
Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah 84602
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Dear Steve,
I wish to encourage you to actively involve the AAA in the fight to stop the post-tenure review bandwagon from crossing the U.S. This is merely a subtle attempt to eliminate tenure.
As accountants, we must realize that no tenure plus the use of student evaluations of teaching (SET) data will destroy higher education quickly.
The widespread use of SET data is an accounting control system that is out of control. We should know that students are not customers -- they are inventory. No other profession allows inventory to control the hiring or firing of employees. Most accountants are aware of the research on earnings management. Many professors are merely managing SET scores, which has caused massive grade inflation throughout the U.S.
AAA can make a difference. But you must act now. AAA must not remain neutral and on the sideline as legislatures and presidents force a corporate system upon higher education. If you or any of your executive members are unsure of the dangers of the use of students to fire professors, please attend my Guerrilla Teaching Tactics seminar in Dallas on August 17.
How do we measure and evaluate professors? I suggest that the best professor is the one that teaches his or her students the most quality material -- not the teacher who merely maximizes the satisfaction of the students.
I am sending you some material. Please put a hot button (a link) on the AAA www page to my Society for a Return to Academic Standards.
How do I get two proposals before the AAA membership for a vote (as soon as possible)?
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Society for Return to Academic Standards Migrant Labor
Last Updated: 20 March 1997
