Hire Lernin’
An Idealist’s Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education
by Victor D. López
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© 2021 Victor D. López
No portion of this copyrighted work may be reproduced, transmitted, or posted in any form for any purpose without the express written consent of the author
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With love always for some of the as yet unacknowledged friends and family who have seen me at my best, at my worst, and have always loved me through it all, being there when it counted:
Manuel Zapata
Robert Zapata
Thomas and Maricarmen Gonzalez
Louis and Valentina Gonzalez
Gabriel F. Gonzalez
Elizabeth Gonzalez
Maria Olga Naveira Ambrosio
(And Michelle, Frank, Melissa and Pedro)
William Raynor
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With special thanks to my friend, trusted colleague, and co-author
of several law-related articles, Eugene T. Maccarrone,
who was the first to read and comment on the first draft of this book.
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Author’s Note
This novel is a work of fiction. Although it was born out of my slightly more than one-year experience as the dean of a proprietary, for-profit business school in my first academic posting early in my career in a manner and circumstances similar to the protagonist, the characters, locations, and situations are not based on nor intended to represent any actual persons or places. Alas the issues raised directly and indirectly about the failings of both for-profit education and increasingly traditional higher education are far from fictional. Indeed, for-profit education has grown exponentially since the 1980s and is no longer limited to small, closely-held corporate entities. And some segments of traditional higher education today—both public and private—have come to mirror the same bottom-line-driven ethos of the proprietary, for-profit market with its primary emphasis on maximizing tuition revenue, minimizing cost, and imposing ever-increasing burdens on faculty with a constant call to “do more with less” until they are expected to do practically everything with nothing and forced to work in an environment where academic standards take a back seat to student retention providing students with an education of questionable worth. But that is a matter for another novel—one I also hope to eventually write.
I should make it clear that all proprietary, for-profit education is not necessarily bad. There are and have always been good and bad players in this arena just as in any other. The one I served in my first posting was not as good as some and much better than others. I will always be grateful for lessons learned there—and for some of the wonderful people I got to work with. It was there, not in any classroom, that I learned to lead by example, to effectively manage professionals through honest, open communication and consensus building, and to use entrepreneurial leadership to successfully attain goals others said were unreachable. These skills served me well throughout my life as both an administrator and twice-tenured full professor in the public and private colleges and universities I have been privileged to serve. They serve me well still, for which I am grateful beyond words.
Victor D. López, J.D., Esq.
Coram, New York
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Chapter 1: Dreamers Dream Until They are Awakened
Dan peered out of his Jackson Heights second story apartment window hoping to spy the letter carrier’s cart on the sidewalk below bearing good news. He had risen as usual at 8:00 a.m., showered, dressed and was at his desk by 9:00 a.m. ready to face the world, which these days largely meant waiting for the mail to arrive or the phone to ring with an interview offer while working on a book about public domain software that he had begun writing. A classic overachiever, Dan was undaunted by the fact that he had settled into this routine two months ago and was still waiting for a reasonable job offer that he could actually accept. No matter, he would persevere and everything would be fine.
Success had always come easily to Dan. He completed middle school in two years in a special progress class, graduated from one of the best High Schools in the country, Brooklyn Technical High School, with honors, and excelled not only in the traditional college-level math, science and technical courses that formed the foundation of his pre-engineering curriculum, but also in the humanities and social sciences. College had been more of the same. He looked forward to every class, never managed his GPA by dodging hard courses or dropping courses in which he was not maintaining an A average, never cut classes, and graduated with high honors. Both his I.Q. and LSAT scores qualified him for membership in Mensa, an organization he had absolutely no interest in joining. He coasted through law school, though his grades were only average as he was frustrated and bored by the emphasis on memorization and regurgitation of facts, issues, holdings and rationales for cases in the traditional case method employed by the law school he attended (and most others for that matter both then and now).
Dan had decided to go to law school to help people, to make a difference, and to promote justice—actually believing these clichés with the fervor and innocence possible only for recent arrivals from faraway galaxies and people whose only exposure to the law and lawyers is derived from romanticized Hollywood movies, novels, and television shows. His delusions did not survive the first week of law school. He knew almost immediately that he would not practice law as a career, at least not as his primary occupation, but stubbornly decided to stick it out for no better reason than he had always completed anything he started and law school would not be the exception. So, instead of leaving law school after a week, a month or even a semester as any rational person faced with the clear evidence that he had made a terrible mistake would have done, he plodded onward. He could have pursued a Ph.D. in political science, English, philosophy or any of the half dozen other fields that were of real interest to him in the humanities and social sciences where he could have found a fulfilling career as an academic. Instead, he chose to stay in law school and use his law degree to obtain a non-legal corporate position in human resource management, government compliance or one of the many other areas in business in which knowledge of the law and the ability to give legal advice are essential.
After graduating from law school, he took and comfortably passed the grueling New York State bar exam, though he would not receive the results until December and would not be admitted to practice until the following spring, just like everyone else who passed the bar exam. In the meantime, he had worked on Wall Street for a year hating the experience. Once admitted to practice, he prepared his resume and sent out application letters, neatly typed and appropriately listing his educational experience and competencies seeking to find more satisfying work. With no relevant work experience, however, responses were not what he had hoped for that summer. He received perhaps one interview for every ten or fifteen application letters sent out. This was actually much better than average, especially since he was not applying for work as an attorney. He should have expected three to five interviews for every 100 letters sent out, but he did not know that. Accustomed to success and with an unrealistic notion of his marketability and value, he was disappointed at getting at best a couple of interviews a month and was even less enthusiastic about the salaries offered for the entry level administrative and consulting positions for which he interviewed and which he was offered.
But this week would be different. In researching positions for which he would qualify as someone with a law degree, he had learned an interesting fact: more college deans hold a Juris Doctor degree than degrees from any other discipline. This appealed to him and he had instantly decided that rather than accept any of the unsatisfying offers like the ones he had recently received, he would concentrate on obtaining a dean’s position at an academic institution. The fact that most college deans are highly experienced academics or accomplished professionals before their ascension to administration is something that completely escaped Dan’s less than comprehensive research into the subject. Thus, his mind made up about a career choice that would after all vindicate his decision to obtain a law degree, he readjusted his resume, developed a new cover letter, and began to apply for deans’ positions from The Chronicle of Higher Education. And, not knowing any better, he also kept reading The New York Times classifieds hoping to find those types of positions listed there as well.
Within a few days of making this new life-altering decision, he had sent out a half dozen new application letters to community colleges in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut tri-state area from the Chronicle and one to Practical Entrepreneurial Management Training Institute (PEMTI), a local business school Dan had never heard of. The cryptic ad in the classified section of The New York Times read: Academic Dean. Leading business school with branches throughout the tri-state area is searching for an Academic Dean for its Queens campus. Competitive salary and benefits. Master’s Degree required; Doctorate preferred. The only other information was an address for PEMTI at Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens, an area not too far from Dan’s apartment. He then waited for a call he was sure would come, oblivious to the fact that the lag time between the submission of an application for a dean’s position and the search committee selection of candidates for preliminary phone interviews and, eventually, on-campus interviews takes months at traditional academic institutions, even at lower-level community colleges and baccalaureate institutions. But ignorance is bliss, and Dan eagerly expected a call or letter inviting him to an on-campus interview within a week of having sent the application.
It is said that even broken clocks are right twice a day—well, at least that’s true for the old-fashioned analog ones. And this morning, just three days after mailing his application, his phone rang.
“This is PEMTI calling. May I speak to Daniel Amor?” The woman’s husky, southern accented voice gave Dan a sudden adrenaline surge as he quickly responded, “This is he.”
“Good morning, Mr. Amor. I’m calling with regard to your application for the dean’s position. Will you please hold for the director, Mr. Lantz?”
“Yes, thank you.” Dan tried to keep his voice calm as his heart rate sped up further. A click on the line was followed almost immediately by the mellow voice of a man exuding cheerfulness.
“Dr. Amor?” The voice queried.
“Yes sir, good morning” Dan answered.
“Good morning. I’m Marvin Lantz, the school director. We received your application for the dean’s position and would like to bring you in for an interview. Are you available this week?”
“Any time this week is fine with me, Dr. Lantz,” Dan retorted without the usual response he knew he should give about having to consult his schedule in order to not appear overeager and unattractively unoccupied.
“Call me Marvin, please. I’m an MBA, not a Ph.D. or Ed.D. Can you come in tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.? We’re on Queens Boulevard about two blocks from the courthouse on the fourth floor of the Wang Office Building. Our school is actually on the fourth and fifth floors.”
“I know the area and have your address. I’ll be there at 10:00 a.m. Thank you. I look forward to meeting you, Mr. Lantz.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting you as well. See you then,” Marvin replied and hung up the phone.
Dan smiled widely. Finally he had an interview he could really look forward to. He called his girlfriend, Linda, as soon as he got off the phone, eager to give her the good news.
“Morning babe,” he said as soon as she picked on the phone. “I have some great news!”
“Hi Dan. What is it?”
“I just got called in for an interview at a local business school for a dean’s position.”
“Yeah, and I just got crowned Miss Universe,” she scoffed.
“I’m serious!”
“You told me you sent out applications for deans’ positions a few days ago. How can they possibly be interviewing already?”
“I guess they know quality when they see it,” he quipped.
“Joke all you want, but be careful. I see a huge red flag popping up here.”
“Gosh, Linda. You’re such a damned pessimist. Why are you perpetually raining on my parade?”
“Because I love you and someone has to protect you from yourself. You always see the glass as half full, and even if someone takes the time to make you see it’s actually completely empty, you’ll point to rain clouds in the horizon and argue it will soon be full again.”
“So shoot me for always looking at the bright side, Ms. Perpetual Party Pooper! For me the glass is always half full, true; for you it is always completely empty, dusty, cracked and lying in the middle of the Sahara Desert under six feet of sand,” Dan said with a tone of exasperation, yet knowing full well that she was right.
“Just be careful, Dan. Congratulations on getting the interview, but be wary.”
“I will, Linda. Have some faith in me, won’t you?”
“I have always had complete faith in you—it’s your judgment that worries me.”
“I’ve gotta go,” Dan said. “I’m off to the library to do some research. We can talk tonight,” Dan said, giving the receiver a kiss and hanging up the phone.
He knew Linda was right—she almost always was. He could be impulsive and allow his enthusiasm to cloud his judgment. Nevertheless he felt some annoyance at Linda’s harping on the negative rather than exploring the positive. She was a realist who looked at the positive and the negative in every situation and parked herself somewhere in the middle. Dan was an idealist who had a hard time accepting any reality he found unpleasant or unfair and would look for a rainbow in the middle of a hurricane, even if it killed him.
After getting off the phone, he did what he did best: turn to the task at hand and devote his full attention to it. He needed to get as much information as possible about PEMTI in preparation for the interview with little time to do so. In the days before the Internet, a library’s holdings were the only effective way to research a prospective employer, so he headed for his car to take a quick trip to the St. John’s University library to find out anything he could about PEMTI. Unfortunately, it was a trip that would prove fruitless. The same was true of his trip to his public library.Returning home that evening, he avoided going to see Linda as he knew she would harp on his need for caution and make him miserable. Instead, he called her and they chatted on the phone briefly. He also called his parents who were much more enthusiastic about his good news knowing nothing about the usual process involved in a dean’s search and, therefore, offered Dan only the encouragement he craved.
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Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins
The next morning, Dan got up early, put on his best suit and gathered his leather portfolio, placing extra copies of his resume and undergraduate and graduate transcripts in it along with three glowing letters of reference from professors who knew him well and could vouch for his intellectual acumen and skill set. Rather than take his car into an area where parking would likely pose a problem, he opted to take the subway, leaving his home at 9:00 a.m. for what should be at most a half hour trip door to door. Nothing beats the NYC subway system for getting around cheaply and quickly, especially during rush hour when bumper-to-bumper traffic moves at about the same rate as the average lethargic slug. Traffic flow is further impeded by traffic lights whose timing sequence seems to be set by particularly perverse, sadistic children during breaks from biting their baby siblings, torturing puppies and singeing the tail feathers of caged songbirds on sunny windowsills with magnifying glasses when their parents are not looking.
As he neared the ten-story office building that housed what might become his first academic home, he slowed his pace as he was nearly a half hour early and knew that he should not arrive earlier than fifteen minutes before his scheduled interview. He walked slowly past a variety of small shops, that included a Chinese restaurant with about a half dozen small tables visible through the front window, a pizzeria, a check cashing place sporting a prominent “Payday Loans” neon sign in its window, a bagel shop, a tattoo parlor and several bars. He continued past the office building towards the courthouse, enjoying the glorious early fall day. As he approached the courthouse, he could see dozens of lawyers going about their business, many of them accompanied by their clients chatting on their way to court or holding impromptu conferences. He smiled at the realization that it was often hard to distinguish criminal lawyers from their clients as they moved side by side on their way to and from the criminal courthouse. The lawyers, of course, could be discerned from their ubiquitous bulging leather briefcases, but seemed every bit as shabby, shifty and untrustworthy as their charges and wearing similarly rumpled off-the-rack suits and sports jackets. Even his criminal law professor in law school fit that mold—there was too much of the streets about them, a greater affinity to their clients than to the polish and eloquence that used to be associated with the legal profession in the days when lawyers were not free to hawk their services on commercials during television shows aimed at the terminally unemployable members of society with loud, obnoxious, misleading commercials. These echoed all the finesse and professionalism of local used car salespeople hawking their wares to individuals with toxic credit histories in the wee hours of the morning.
“Have you been injured by a slip and fall? Did the police find a kilo of heroin in your car after a traffic stop motivated by racial profiling? Is the IRS hounding you because you’ve never paid taxes? Is your son doing poorly in school because he was slapped too hard on his fanny by the obstetrician at birth? Were you denied employment or a promotion because you are an unqualified drug user with a bad attitude, body odor and perpetual absenteeism caused by Chronic Lethargy Syndrome? You may be entitled to compensation. Call 1-800-SHEISTER and a lawyer will come to your home to discuss your case. No injury is too small or frivolous for us to pursue. The law firm of Sheister & Sheister is always on your side.” These commercials should come with the following rapidly-scrolling disclaimer in small print (but do not–a testament to the political clout bought by the very generous campaign contributions of trial lawyers in the United States):
“Disclaimer: we only take cases we know we can win with a minimum of effort, and then only on a 50-percent contingency fee basis. We routinely file cases with little or no merit knowing full well that judges will seldom throw them out on pretrial motions, and count on our ability to settle almost any claim for its nuisance value of $10,000 or less as the average litigation will cost defendants $25,000 in lawyer’s fees and it is cheaper for them to pay us $10,000 to go away than it is to win a Pyrrhic victory in court and have to pay their attorneys $25,000. After paying for court fees and some ancillary expenses off the top from the $10,000 nuisance judgment, we get about $4,500 for little or no work beyond basic motions filed by our underpaid paralegals, and you get $4,500 for any injury real or imagined that may have been caused by anyone you choose to sue. God Bless America, the only country on the planet in which lawyers have succeeded in maintaining the sanctity of the American Rule that prevents losing parties from having to pay the legal expenses of the prevailing party.”
After walking past the courthouse killing time and thinking these dangerous, subversive thoughts that would get him immediately voted off the island by his brothers and sisters of the bar, he turned around after a leisurely seven-minute stroll and slowly walked back. He made his way to the fourth floor at precisely 9:45 a.m.
“Dan Amor to see Mr. Lantz,” he told the smiling receptionist. “He’ll be with you in a moment.” She picked up the phone, punched a button and announced “Mr. Amor is here to see you.” She then turned to Dan and said sweetly, “Please sit down. He’ll be right with you “
Before Dan had a chance to take a seat, a smiling, short, thin man in his late thirties with short hair in an almost perfect horseshoe pattern around a gleaming, bald head opened the inner door to the right of the reception area and offered Dan a broad smile. “Good morning, Dan. Please come in. I’m Marvin. It’s good to meet you.” Marvin extended his hand to Dan who shook it firmly, saying “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for seeing me.”
Marvin held the door open and asked Dan to pass through. Dan noted what appeared to be a metal detector as he walked through the threshold, while also noticing another metal detector on the wider door to the left of the reception area that must lead to the classrooms given the number of young people carrying books that he saw walking through it. Unlike today, metal detectors at a school in the 1980s was something Dan had never seen before and found curious. Marvin pointed to the end of the hallway and said, “My office is just down the hall, please follow me.” On the way to Marvin’s office, Dan saw several small offices with people busy at work at their desks, and a large office just before Marvin’s door that looked like a phone bank with a half dozen people working the phones in diminutive cubicles.
As he walked inside Marvin’s office, Dan noticed a short man with mid-length hair staring out the large picture window at the traffic below on Queens Boulevard. The man’s shirt, though clean and of apparent good quality, was rumpled and looked slept in. The man turned his attention to Marvin and to Dan when he heard them come in. Unlike Marvin’s conservative blue tie and a pressed shirt, the man’s tie sported a cacophony of discordant colors that could have been designed by a chimp of subpar intelligence on an acid trip supplied with finger paints in all the primary colors for its hands and feet. The man immediately walked towards Dan with his hand extended in the style of life insurance salesmen, car dealers and televangelists the world over.
“Good to meet you, Dan. I’m Jerry Mason, Vice President for Administration of PEMTI,” the man said, enthusiastically shaking Dan’s hand. “Marvin and I will be interviewing you today and appreciate your coming to see us on short notice.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Mason. Thank you for granting me this interview,” Dan replied meeting the man’s smile, though not quite matching it’s size or intensity.
“Call me Jerry. We Don’t stand on ceremony here, plus I don’t hold a doctorate, just an MS in Marketing. Please, sit down,” he added, pointing to one of two padded leather chairs in front of a massive mahogany desk. ”You too, Marvin. I’ll just stand if you don’t mind.” Marvin smiled and took the seat, but not before offering Dan a cup of coffee or tea, pointing to an elegant side table with freshly brewed coffee, china cups and saucers, a matching sugar bowl, and silver spoons. The office smelled pleasantly of vanilla and fresh brewed French roast coffee. Dan waved off the offer with thanks and sat down, opening his leather portfolio on his lap.
“Would either of you like a copy of my resume or letters of reference?” He asked, looking at both men. “No thank you,” Marvin replied. “We both have a copy and have reviewed it carefully,” he added. Jerry leaned back on the windowsill behind Marvin’s desk and studied Dan while Marvin spoke. “Why don’t you begin by telling us a little about yourself and why you want this job,” Marvin added with a pleasant smile.
Dan covered the basics about his education, training and commitment to higher education. He emphasized his ability to learn almost anything quickly, his legal training and adaptability. He touched on his academic credentials and eclectic competencies as well as his ability to work well both in groups and in self-directed projects. He closed by explaining that he was a young attorney who did not wish to practice law but instead had chosen to pursue a career in higher education, preferring the intangible rewards and self-satisfaction that career offered over the pecuniary rewards available to a competent young lawyer, with native-language proficiency in Spanish in a city with an insufficient number of attorneys that could effectively serve the needs of a growing Latin American community. Dan knew but did not mention the insultingly deficient “bilingual attorneys “ whose inability to effectively communicate orally or in writing in Spanish was at once amusing , dangerous and insulting to the clients they targeted through the Spanish-language media.
Dan did not try to address what he anticipated the interviewers would ask as his weakness—lack of experience—was obvious, and he preferred not to raise any negative issue until he was asked about it. The second question, however, he did not anticipate, and it came from Jerry.
“How do you feel about for-profit education?”
Dan answered honestly and immediately. “I really have not given the matter much thought. However, I believe that college is not for everyone, and that there is a very real gap in career training that community colleges are increasingly failing to meet. Most have turned away from their original job-training mission and become feeders for four-year schools. A majority of graduates with associate degrees lack any real marketable skills and are prepared almost exclusively to transfer to a four-year institution that too often will offer similar bachelor degrees of little use for those seeking employment.” Both Jerry and Marvin nodded, smiled, and looked at each other as Dan said this.
“I have an uncle who learned typing skills from one business institute or other in Manhattan that saved him from an infantry position when he volunteered to serve in Korea” Dan continued. “He served very near to the front lines, but in a clerical position that kept him out of the infantry because of his office skills. He is a writer now and a retired high school teacher. I envy him the touch-typing skill which served him well and could have earned him a living as a clerk in any number of companies if the G.I. Bill had not allowed him to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees through the City University of New York and NYU. I also have two very good married friends who trained as beauticians and own their own salon. He is a construction worker who helps out during the winter off season, and she is someone who survived radical cancer surgery in her late teens that left her with physical disabilities that would have precluded her from holding many jobs for which she was otherwise qualified. Both are successful, productive and very happy in their work which would not have been possible other than by attending a proprietary school in NYC. I support for-profit education because I have seen it work, as long as it is offered at a reasonable cost and provides good practical training for individuals that for whatever reason cannot or choose not to go to college.” All of this was true, and it was very well received by both Jerry and Marvin.
“You would be surprised to learn how many people disagree with that point of view,” Jerry said, smiling broadly once again. “But of course we completely agree with you, and we do provide an excellent education at a fair price. We also provide graduates with job placement assistance when they graduate, free of charge and for as long as they need it, not just help in getting their first job after completing their training.”
“That sounds terrific,” Dan said, again meaning it.
“We don’t have any other questions for you at this time, Dan. Is there anything you’d like to know about PEMTI of the position in question?” Marvin said. Dan was very surprised. He knew he had not said or done anything wrong, and the vibes he was getting from both Marvin and Jerry were all very positive. He wondered whether this was this really the end of the interview, or just a subtle test to see whether he had some intelligent questions to ask before they moved to more probing, meaningful questions of their own. No matter, he did have some questions he would like answered. Of course, he could not ask about salary or benefits; he did not need the few books on the employment communication cycle he’d consulted as soon as he started his job search to tell him that, though they dutifully had. But salary and benefits were not nearly as important to him as finding meaningful work. If they were interested in him, they would shift the interview to selling him on the position in due course and would offer as much of that information as they could to entice him to take the job anyway.
“I do have a few questions that I would like to ask. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so. First, I could not find any information about PEMTI at my local library. You are not listed on any of the resources I consulted. Can you tell me a little about the organization?”
“Happy to do that, Dan,” Marvin said, beaming. “It is a family-owned closed corporation that has been in existence for about twenty years. We have six business schools in the Tristate area, including this Queens branch, a branch in Midtown Manhattan, one in the Brooklyn Heights area, one in the South Bronx, one in Philadelphia and one in Paramus, New Jersey. Our flagship branch is in Manhattan, where the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Melamed, make their corporate home as President and Executive Vice President of the organization.”
“Is there a provost or academic vice president to whom your deans report?”
“No, the deans report directly to the school director in each school and the senior dean serves as chief academic officer, assisting with recruitment, training and support of the faculty, along with coordination of the curricular development and assessment. Each dean is also responsible for supervision of the faculty and class scheduling, as well as coordination with the State Education Department on matters relating to program development, faculty credentialing and program assessment. The director handles the day-to-day operations of each school and the deans handle all matters relating to academic affairs. They are the second in command for each school, just as the Provost or Vice President for Academic Affairs at traditional colleges and universities.”
“What is the governance structure at each school and for the corporation?” Dan asked.
“There is no governance structure at the local level beyond the director and dean. The third in command is the marketing director who works closely with the director and usually not at all with the dean. You would have complete autonomy to recruit, hire, and assign your faculty subject only to my approval as far as hiring/firing decisions. We are not a union shop, and there is no tenure system or long-term contracts. We hire strictly at will, so the only restrictions on hiring our faculty is that imposed by the State Education Department as to their credentials, training and the maximum hours that they can teach. I would more or less rubber stamp your decisions in these areas. My primary responsibility is the financial side of the house.” Marvin said, smiling both at Dan and at Jerry who had abandoned his window perch to half lean against/half sit on the corner of Marvin’s desk as the latter spoke.
“Are you on a semester system or quarter system, and how long do your courses run?”
“Neither, actually,” Marvin replied. “We have a wide range of programs that run from six months to twelve months. Courses end on a Friday, we have a graduation ceremony for the graduates with cake and punch, and new courses begin the following Monday.”
“When do faculty take vacation time?” Dan asked, puzzled.
“They don’t, actually. If they want to take time off, they can, without pay. We call them unpaid sabbaticals.” Dan winced noticeably on hearing this. “But of course, you would get one month vacation a year and all federal the holidays, though it is best if you take vacation in four one-week segments as it is hard to be without a dean for a longer period than that since we have no backup position. Your tech assistant is eager to step in any time you ask him to, as he loves to crack the whip any chance he gets, but he is not qualified to do anything more than review time sheets and deal with any disciplinary issues of students that may arise” Marvin said, adding quickly “These are very rare, by the way.”
“I see,” Dan replied. He didn’t, not at all, but thought it would all fall into place soon enough. Then he added. “Since faculty are not directly involved in the governance process, what input do they have into crucial matters of curricular development, advisement, hiring and similar faculty functions?”
“That’s completely up to you, Dan. Keep in mind that this is not a university, and the faculty are not university professors either. We’re more like a . . . high school, yes, that’s a better model,” Marvin added thoughtfully. “Faculty are not content experts they’re . . . generalists, for the most part, with some notable exceptions, like the engineering tech faculty and nursing faculty who are really top-notch. They do not control the curriculum. We do. And, like high school teachers, they have to provide a comprehensive lesson plan for each class and must be monitored to ensure that they are following it.”
“Who monitors the content and in what way?” Dan asked.
“Why, you do, of course. The modality is completely up to you. At a minimum you have to collect and keep on file the lesson plans. State Ed will review these when they schedule a site visit. And they can do that at any time. You should eyeball these to make sure they meet reasonable rigor and stick to the actual course content,” Marvin said as Jerry was back to looking out the picture window, possibly worrying about traffic back to Manhattan.
“I have no expertise in this area. Law, English composition, philosophy, electronics, mechanics and computers I am very comfortable with. I’ve done some college-level teaching as part of an honors seminar while an undergraduate, and I’m very comfortable in front of a class. And I know I can support faculty in a collegial manner. But business courses and office technology courses I know absolutely nothing about.”
“No problem, Dan.” Marvin reassured Dan with a smile and wave of the hand, “One of the things that attracted us to your application is the depth of your skill set. You’re something that’s very rare these days—a true Renaissance man still in his 20s with really diverse competencies and interests. That will serve you well. The law degree helps too, in other ways, as you will need familiarity with HR regulations, the Civil Rights Acts, and other federal and state employment laws and regs in hiring and supervising faculty and support staff. You would also be responsible for counseling and discipline issues with students, so a law degree is a definite plus from a risk management perspective for us there, too.”
“I see,” Dan said again, a highly optimistic and less than accurate statement at best.
At this, Jerry turned away from his close examination of traffic patterns and turned to Dan. “We think you have all the skills that will allow you to excel here. Moreover, our Senior Dean in the Manhattan school is an Ed.D. and would be available to answer any specific questions you may have. In fact, if you were to be our next dean, you would spend a couple of days in our flagship school with Dr. Green for training.”
“That sounds good,” Dan said, brightening somewhat at the prospect of having some expert support to ease him into the transition if, as he was beginning to suspect, he were offered the job.
“Now to brass tacks.” Jerry continued. “The job offers comprehensive life, health, dental, eye-care and prescription drug coverage through Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Metropolitan Life. It is a self-directed POS plan where you can go anywhere you like, unlike some cheap HMO.” All of that was true, as Dan would eventually learn. “As to salary, we were looking to bring in someone at under $25,000, but because of your doctorate and credentials, we could offer you $30,000 plus a very generous pension plan that will match dollar for dollar your elected contribution up to 10 percent of your salary. Only our execs get the health and retirement plan, by the way.
The salary was more or less a joke, even in 1987. But for Dan, who through scholarships, part-time and summer work and fiscally sound planning owed only $10,000 in student loans for his entire seven year undergraduate and graduate education, money was not a major consideration. He was single, and had modest needs, and gaining valuable experience in a position where he could make a difference for others was a very appealing prospect. So he smiled and said nothing.
“We intend to make a decision shortly and would like to have a new dean in place within a couple of weeks at most,” Jerry noted. If we were to make you an offer, would you be available in that time frame?”
“I could start immediately,” Dan said, knowing that might make him appear overeager. But he did not like to play games and had no interest in giving the appearance that he was weighing other offers as that was not the case, or of using that appearance to exact a larger salary offer. He was sure that once on board any company, he would work hard and prove himself a valuable employee and would in turn be appropriately rewarded for his efforts in time. He was patient, confident and eager to begin a new career path where he could get the priceless intangible rewards of meaningful work.
“That’s just fine,” Jerry retorted as Marvin smiled benignly. “I need to leave now,” he added, “I’m sure Marvin will give you the grand tour. Good meeting, you, Dan, and we’ll be in touch,” with that, he shook Dan’s hand, nodded at Marvin and walked out the door with all the eagerness and grace of a third grader on a sugar high going out to recess.”
“Can I give you the nickel tour?” asked Marvin with his easy smile and somewhat glazed look.
“That would be great, thank you,” Dan said getting up. Marvin led the way back down the long corridor, this time stopping at the last office on the left just before the reception area. A bearded man with longish, thinning brown hair and gold-rimmed glasses stared up from his computer monitor as Marvin peered in. Bob, I’d like you to meet one of our dean candidates, Dan Amor. Dan, this is Bob Wiener, our Director or Human Resources and also our Placement Director. Bob got up, and extended his hand to Dan. “Nice to meet you, Dan.”
“Likewise,” Dan responded shaking Bob’s hand.
“We’re a small operation, so Bob does double duty. We’re lucky to have him,” Marvin said, smiling beatifically.
“Twice the work at half the pay, that’s the PEMTI way!” Bob replied as if reciting a jingle, chuckling, and momentarily making Marvin’s smile disappear, only to quickly and brightly return as the sun emerging from a fast-moving puffy cloud over a field of pretty red poppies.
“He’s such a kidder,” Marvin said. “But he is the best resource for our graduates, most of whom owe their jobs to his hard work and many contacts.” That was a true statement. And Dan immediately liked the man He also liked Marvin who seemed a genuinely nice person to him.
“That’s me,” Bob chimed in, “People pusher extraordinaire.” He chortled again good naturedly as Marvin smiled on. “I hope we’ll have a chance to work together, Dan,” Bob added. “Good luck!”
“Thanks, Bob. It was really nice meeting you. And I hope so too.”
With that, Bob went back to his desk and Marvin led Dan out towards the reception area to the hospital-style double swinging doors with the words “To Classrooms” stenciled in black letters above the small window in each door. They passed through to a long, fairly narrow hallway with windowed doors and extra-large windows that gave the place the look of an aquarium—or the large displays of giant octopi atop sperm whales and life-size dioramas of prehistoric humans hunting, building grass huts or just looking lost amid hip-high grassland at the Metropolitan Museum of Natural History.
“We’re lucky that classes are in session right now, so we can observe the faculty and students without the class change hubbub,” Marvin said. “To the left is our nursing-assistant training lab. They stopped by the large picture window and observed about a dozen students practicing catheterization on male and female practice dummies—anatomically correct partial mannequins of a male and female lower torsos cut off at the waist and about a foot above each knee, making for a rather gruesome but cost effective practice tool. Dan winced visibly as a student practiced inserting a plastic tube in the anatomically correct penis of the male mannequin under the guidance of the nursing instructor. All wore white lab coats and several looked up smiling as they noticed the observers. Marvin then moved on.
“To the right, you’ll see our electronics lab.” They stopped by the next picture window to see about twenty students circling around a large shop table, soldering components while a distinguished tall, thin gentleman in a dark business suit sporting a neatly trimmed beard lectured, pointing to a blackboard with a circuit board. “They’re building a regulated power supply that powers a D.C. motor,” Dan said smiling.
“How do you know that?” Marvin asked, puzzled.
“The diagram on the blackboard–It shows a step-down transformer and dual capacitors connected to a D.C. motor.” Dan said. “They may be making a personal fan or similar project. I hope they wound their own coils for the D.C. motor and created their own breadboard circuit, otherwise it’s not much of a learning experience,” Dan added with a smile.
“I don’t have a clue. But Mr. Singh is an excellent electrical engineer and one of our finest teachers. I’m sure they’re getting a lot out of the lesson.”
“Maybe it’s a power supply for a computer with a cooling fan. Yes, that sounds right. A good way to introduce them to electricity or to basic computer repair, for that matter. Is that what they do here?”
“We train electronic technicians that can work on the emerging personal computer technology as well as basic electronics repair. They are technician-generalists,” Marvin answered.
“Where do they get jobs?”
“Bob can answer those questions for you in detail in due course. But I believe he places these graduates in electronic assembly companies and, more recently, in the emerging computer manufacturing and repair industries. He has been able to place almost all graduates from this program to date—the same as our nursing-assistant students, as these are both growth fields.”
“How long are there programs?”
“Both of these run for 12 months,” Marvin answered.
“They can get real job training that leads to good jobs in just one year?”
“They sure can. And they qualify for federal student loans and TAP and PEL grants, so it is an affordable investment for them,” Marvin said, adding, “The remaining classrooms are traditional classrooms, typing labs and computer labs.”
They continued past several classrooms, stopping briefly to see students listening to lectures on Business English, Accounting, Business Math and Business and Personal Finance. Each room held approximately 30-40 students. Next came two typing labs with I.B.M. Selectric typewriters, the preferred business typewriter of its day, and two labs of Apple IIe computers. Even in 1987, these were not state of the art. Dan could not help but ask, “Why are you using the older Apple IIe computers instead of the new Mac or IBM PC computers?”
“We feel it does not really matter what platform students use to learn the basic skills of word processing, spreadsheets or database management—or to practice typing on a computer. We are not training students who know WordStar, DataStar or Lotus 1-2-3, but rather students who are familiar with the basic word processing, spreadsheet and database concepts so that they can easily be trained in any current or future flavor of these programs by their employers. No matter what platforms emerge, the students will be able to adapt because they know the concepts. In a world where the average employee does not know how to turn on a computer, our graduates have a real leg up because they are familiar with basic concepts.” That seemed questionable to Dan who had recently build his own first IBM-PC compatible computer from parts and taught himself DOS, Word Star, DataStar, Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect without the benefit of formal training or user-friendly manuals. Knowing basic concepts was important when the PC and Apple computers were still in their infancy. But students should also know how to use the most current application software used in business in order to be truly attractive to employers, he thought. Word Perfect for DOS had overtaken WordStar as the DOS word processor of Microsoft Word for DOS had not yet been developed. The Mac was in its infancy and not generally used in business as yet, let alone the older Apple II computers. Dan did not want to press the issue. If he were offered the job, however, that is something he would immediately work to change.
“Our students learn more that is of use in the business world in six to twelve months with us than they do in any four-year baccalaureate degree,” Marvin continued. “Computerized Office Specialist program is very popular and is also our most profitable.”
“Do you offer any programs of short duration to train students in specific programs or platforms, such as WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS?”
“No, not at present. But that is something we would certainly be open to in the future. We’re not locked into the curriculum.”
That was a relief, Dan thought. There was certainly room for improvement just from what he could see in this very brief tour. “How many full time faculty do you have on staff right now?” Dan asked as they continued to walk and observe each classroom in turn.
“Fourteen,” Marvin answered. “And we’re proud to say that all of our faculty are full time—we have no adjuncts here.” That surprised Dan, and he took it to be a good sign.
As the tour came to an end, Marvin escorted Dan back to the reception area where he shook his hand and assured him that he would be in touch within a week, whether he was offered the job or not. Dan thanked him and left, uplifted by the possibilities of a new career, and thinking that he had an excellent chance of being offered the job at a place he knew he could make a real difference.
On the way to the subway station, Dan could hardly contain his enthusiasm. The salary offered was very disappointing, but the chance to change students’ lives for the better enormously appealed to him. He had always believed in the traditional mission of community colleges and technical schools of providing practical job training. Understanding the difference between Plato and Aristotle and their impact on all of Western philosophy for more than two thousand years expands the mind, as does reading, seeing or performing a Shakespeare play or spending a glorious semester reading the British Romantic poets. A liberal arts education is crucial for any well-rounded professional and can expand the mind and increase one’s appreciation of life in general in ways that are impossible to quantify. But introductory courses on American literature, sociology, poetry, music appreciation, and archaeology will not put food on the table. For someone who either due to lack of interest, lack of capacity or lack of funds cannot complete four or more years of college and must obtain marketable skills that allow him/her to furnish the essentials of life for themselves and their family, a liberal arts degree—especially a two year degree—is about as useful as teeth on a chicken. On the other hand, learning office skills, basic bookkeeping, business communications, business math, and application software used in business can help someone get a good office support position in relatively short period of time—two years or less. Likewise, learning a trade such as plumber, electrician, truck driver, hair dresser, carpenter, mason, welder, auto mechanic and any number of other blue collar jobs can provide an excellent salary and the ability to start one’s own business if one is so inclined. And it can also be done in two years or less for many of these trades—some of which will pay as much as $100 an hour even to newly minted professionals. Dan knew this because he had a cousin who today would have been diagnosed with ADD who struggled with truancy and serious behavioral issues throughout much of his school years and beyond, and, though he had poor reading and writing skills, he always made a good living thanks to his practical training that allowed him to have more work than he could ever manage as a private contractor working for himself. Dan wanted to give to others a similar opportunity at a good life of honest, well-paying work that could dramatically change lives for the better. And he was thrilled at the prospect of being in a position to facilitate that opportunity for others.
Victor D. López, J.D., Esq. 
On Crime
Fiction comes alive,
Dystopian visions thrive,
In Cities world wide.
A Clockwork Orange,
Lord or the Flies, Brave New World,
Nineteen Eighty Four.
Animal Farm and,
Fahrenheit Four Fifty One,
All have come to pass.
And they will perdure,
If we defend what’s clearly,
Indefensible.
Feed a hungry beast,
It will grow and it will thrive,
And eat you alive.
Likewise criminals,
Who thrive when no consequence,
Attach to their crimes.
When crimes are excused,
And criminals deemed victims,
What should we expect?
Poverty, racism,
Broken homes, addiction, vice,
Contribute to crime.
But crime’s true root cause,
Is immoral criminals,
And their enablers.
Moral compass lost,
Confident blind fools lead us,
On perdition’s road.
When did we forget,
That the road to hell is paved,
With good intentions?
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