Synthesis 1

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I struggled with my map because I wasnt completely sure how I could create a simplistic but
informative map, especially with the recurring themes from many of the authors. I played
around with popplet for a while but after my fifth try I realized popplet really wasnt what I was
going for, it looked busy and crowded. So instead I just started playing around on word and came
up with what I think is a simple, straight to the point map. Each article is in the top box and
under are the topics I found in the articles, the main topic being higher education. I color coded
the topics of each article to show the similarity between the different pieces. And although I
found many similarities in the articles, not all of the authors had the same opinion.
First I will share the topics I found in the article Obtaining Integrity by Adrianna J. Kezar. Kezar
identified several different ideas on the subject of higher education such as a devaluing of
education to maximize corporate profits. Many ideas converged with the other articles. I think
the center of attention in this particular piece is that universities are focusing more on profits than
the education of their students. The university is becoming more of a large business than an
institution of higher learning. Kezar shares that there are advantages to this like an increased
amount of funds allowing for university expansion while conversely there are also disadvantages
such as staff and professors being unappreciated. Much of the staff is not aware of any finance
information regarding the university and many universities are cutting their full time professors
and replacing them with adjunct professors or undergraduate students.
Bob Hanke and Alison Hearn authors of Out of the Ruins, the University to Come, support
Kezars thoughts on unappreciated staff. Hanke and Hearn share many of the same ideas as
Kezar but they are also strong supporters of topics like the benefits of crucial studies, the affect
the change in higher education has on students, and corrupt research. Destructing Academe: The
Birth of Crucial University Studies written by Jeffrey Williams focuses on many of the same
topics as Hanke and Hearn but Williams also touches on the idea of complex thinking.
Williams analyzes the benefits of crucial studies, he shares that learning promotes complex
thinking which is also an idea shared by Sylvia Hurtado in her article, Linking the University
with the Educational and Civil Missions of Higher Education. Hurtado shares that students can
struggle because of the lack of diversity and complexity of our universities. She then discusses
that working with the same race is beneficial to the students democratic skills and some campus
practices can help students integrate their learning and combine experience with knowledge.
Hurtado states that diversity leads to more community involvement mutually benefitting the
community and university. Coincidently this supports her primary belief that diversity increases
quality education and should be promoted.
In Research and The Bottom Line in Todays University by Sarah Bonewits and Lawrence Soley,
both authors touch on some of the topics that are in other articles like the university becoming a
business. Bonewits and Soley state that although yes there are benefits, allowing business in the
university can sway the results of research and even be thrown out because it doesnt benefit the
funders. This idea also links back to Out of the Ruins, the University to Come. Hanke and Hearn
tell us that research is killing the university; it is no longer a place of education. The authors of
both articles agree that it is not beneficial for research to be done if it is not being used for
educational purposes. The research is more focused on corporate involvement than in benefiting
students. This also plays in to the way higher education is affecting students. Students are
missing out on the opportunities that research proffers because of corporate involvement and the
universities want for funds. Hanke and Hearn think it is absurd that students have to fight for
their right to be educated. Going back to Kezar's argument that the center of attention for
universities has become money, colleges make students less of a priority because they dont
match corporate contributions. Corporate involvement has corrupted the purpose of higher
learning.
In conclusion, all of the articles share the same main topic of higher education and many of the
articles evaluate on the same sub topics like the effect on students. The return exchange rate of
the cost of a college education versus its overall financial benefit is devalued with heightened
educational costs. Students pay thousands of dollars and rack up burdensome debt that extends
well into adulthood in order to gain a college degree. Each author has a strong argument but
overall money has become the priority and as Kezar shares there are advantages of corporate
involvement and the money that comes with it such as university expansion but according to
Williams there are also disadvantages like corrupt research. There is plenty of evidence to show
that universities arent nearly as focused on the education of their students as they once were.
Research is not used as it should be, professors are being replaced by undergraduates, and
students receive less quality education and increased debt due to the inflation of college tuition.
Students and faculty need to become the main focus once again.

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