ATLANTA --- Despite the fact that they are side-by-side in the report of a survey about politics on Georgia's campuses, the comments couldn't be more different. "I had a professor that hated George Bush and loved to talk about how much he hated him in class," the first one says. "I support George Bush, so I did not feel comfortable with him doing this." Another student had the opposite experience.
"I had an education teacher who basically said if you don't agree with me then you are wrong, if you don't support Bush you are dumb, get on the bandwagon folks!" this student said. "She was VERY closed-minded."
Different students, potentially on different campuses. And part of a survey that is the latest volley in a political battle over what is being taught in Georgia's college classrooms.
THE SURVEY was in part a response to persistent fears among some GOP lawmakers that college professors are pushing liberal views on students, trying to reach impressionable young adults and change their minds.
"Teachers should not take unfair advantage of the immaturity of students by indoctrinating them with their own opinions before the students have had an opportunity to examine other opinions," said one failed bill that would have essentially ordered the University System of Georgia to conduct a study it instead did on its own.
But some see the efforts to encourage "intellectual diversity" as little more than a covert effort to insert conservative ideology in the classroom.
"In practice, (two common) proposals would place government entities directly into the academic process and inappropriately insert political decision-making into academic affairs," according to a 2007 report from the National Education Association's Higher Education Research Center.
THE SURVEY was conducted between April 17 and May 5. Of the 14,820 students asked to answer, about 1,220 filled out the questionnaire online. The margin of error was 2.8 percent.
For the most part, the university system sees the results as positive. Asked whether a professor had inappropriately presented his or her views in class, only 13.3 percent of students agreed, though Republican students were almost twice as likely as Democratic students to agree -- 17.1 percent and 9.7 percent, according to the survey.
Dr. Susan Herbst, the executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for the university system, cautioned against reading too much into those numbers. She noted that the survey included moderate and conservative Republicans in the GOP numbers and moderate and liberal students in the Democratic numbers.
Looking at the entire study left her without the impression that one particular viewpoint is being pushed on campuses.
BUT SOME SAY PARTS of the survey still raise troubling questions. For example, about 23.3 percent of students said they agreed or strongly agreed with a statement that they "personally had class where I felt I had to agree with the professor's views to get a good grade."
That's too high, said Charles Mitchell, the project director at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
"If that number is right, that's 50,000 students a year in your state who are encountering one of the most unprofessional types of behavior that you can pretty much think of in a classroom, that everyone agrees is wrong," he said.
Mr. Mitchell said the university system needs to repeat the survey and make sure campus grievance procedures are fair.
Reach Brandon Larrabee at (678) 977-3709 or brandon.larrabee@morris.com.
CLASSROOM AGENDAS
A look at how students answered some questions on a survey conducted by the University System of Georgia about political ideology on campus (answers are percentages):
Professors in my classes have sometimes inappropriately presented their own political views.
Strongly disagree 39.2
Somewhat disagree 31.3
Neutral 16.2
Somewhat agree 8.3
Strongly agree 5.0
Professors in my classes have sometimes inappropriately presented their religious views.
Strongly disagree 57.3
Somewhat disagree 28.8
Neutral 9.7
Somewhat agree 2.7
Strongly agree 1.5
Personally had class where I felt I had to agree with the professor's views to get a good grade
Not very much at all 44.9
Very little 20.2
Neutral 11.6
Somewhat 11.3
To a great degree 12.0
How important to you that instructors challenge beliefs in order to introduce new ideas
Unimportant 10.4
Not very important 9.9
Neutral 27.2
Somewhat important 28.5
Very important 23.9
Source: University System of Georgia Survey on Student Speech and Discussion
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010. All Rights Reserved.
Pretty low numbers for all you Reichpublicans who claim that the intelligensia are 'brain washing' our children in colleges across America huh? 5%, hardly an epidemic and remember, this is the OPINION of those who took part in the survey.
Of course most university professors lean far left so of course any attempt at intellectual diversity would be perceived as "a covert effort to introduce conservative ideology in the class room." By the same token, any professor is going to have personal views that enter into his relaying of information. It's only the professors that are fanatical about their beliefs and insist on indoctrination to qualify for a passing grade that are a problem. Most students grow up after college and, with life experience, realize that most of the smoke they have blown at them in school is just "academia waste".
And patriciathomas has just discovered that Biden is a closet Muslim. Who knew? I guess it's a National conspiracy. Don't pout though, Rush will be back Monday to tell the right-wing what to thnk and say.
Being of the 60's generation, this article reminds me of when students took the "active voice" on campuses such as Univ of Ca at Berkeley...Kent State, just to mention two. This informative article explains the diversity that continues to surface in American culture. We "ain't" seen nothing yet, folks.
8.2% bothered do give their opinion when asked. Margin of error was 2.8%. No confidence interval given which tells you just how confident you can be that the margin of error reflects errors due to chance or variations in sampling. Because this was an OPINION SURVEY, the survey takers typically drop the CI to 90%. A drug study would want close to 99%. Sorry, Brad. Your conclusions are nothing more than an opinion drawn from an opinion survey that failed to list what was an undoubtedly low CI. We must consider many factors. What time of day and when was the survey conducted? If it was conducted in the late afternoon, then it would be left-wing biased: most Republican students had to go to their work-study jobs in order to pay their college tuition and book costs. Most of the Demoliberal students were hanging around the student center sipping herbal teas and purchasing ivy league t-shirts with mom's and dad's money. If it was taken at night, then the Republican students were in the library studying after they finished their work-study jobs. The Demolight students were all over at a friend's well furnished home smoking pot, consuming mind-altering drugs, bashing Bush and taking surveys
Owens, can't you say anything about people who disagree with you politically without trying to make a not so cute play on words that accuses them of being nazis?
LoL ..........Isn't biden a plagerist ?
Owens, I would like to see the same survey at some of the ivey league schools where liberalism is not only taught but a way of life on campuses. If opinions are so "diverse" why is it that leftists can speak at these schools but those on the right are assaulted?
shivas, we all realize you don't have the intellectual ability to comprehend what Rush has to say when exposing the left/Obama, et al for what they are. Lemmings like you had rather listen to Moyers or that other "analyst" Daniel Schorr who is so far to the left he crabs that way when he walks on National Propaganda Radio (NPR).
Karma, Biden is my second favorite plagerist as MLK is my #!.
Who is the quote calling the students imature from? I would hope that college students could be looked at as in a formative age vs. "imature". Afterall, for whatever reasons they are in college - imature is a judgement that should be rendered on an individual basis - some folks are imature at any age. Among the subjects learned in college, hopfully a person's point of view is expanded. Academics have always genrally leaned left (probably always will) - the thought that any type of legislation and government intervention in classrooms will help is just ludicrous. I'm conservative but think this legislation is a foolish waste of time.