Google Informs Me That People Think I’m Wrong

by Andrew Gillen

The online world seems to get along fine without me most days, so imagine my surprise when google alerted me to not one, but two blogs attacking something I’ve written.

The first turns out to be a repost of an old Higher Ed Watch blog. With the assistance of Scott Fleming, I’ve already dealt with that one.

The second says I’ve made an “instructive error” by saying “Students and legislatures need to know employment outcomes so they can properly evaluate the effectiveness of the billions of dollars we funnel to colleges.”

It’s not entirely clear in the post why I was so wrong to say that, but I think he is under the impression that what I said translates into

Thus a degree program that is successful at obtaining entry-level placements is more effective than one that is successful at preparing graduates for leadership roles in industry, government, the law, and the academy, but only with a lag?

I’ll let you be the judge of the validity of that particular leap.

One thing that seems particularly relevant was that my post, and the proposed rules it refers to were for vocational programs. I’ll grant that that was not explicitly clear from my post, but that’s why I link to things, so that I don’t have to rehash everything.

Lastly, on a personal note, given my compulsive need to respond to every online utterance about me, no matter how wrong it may be, I’ve decided to take advantage of the google opt out program.