Colette A. Frayne wrote on 03/12/10 7:55 PM

Paul Orfalea has a distinguished career as an entrepreneur and he has been a very generous donor to the Orfalea College of Business at Cal Poly. He may indeed be qualified to teach certain topics within the College of Business curriculum. He undoubtedly has many interesting lessons that he can convey to students.

However, the college is an accredited institution of higher education, which is a valuable and hard-earned distinction. The college of business is also part of the broader university and the California State University system. As a result, it is mandatory for the college to maintain explicit policies and procedures to ensure that certain content is delivered to the students and in an appropriate manner, where appropriate assessment of learning is conducted and grades, course credit and degrees are appropriately awarded.

In the case of Orfalea’s class at Cal Poly in Fall 2009, a broad range of these policies and procedures were violated and there have been concerted efforts to avoid having a thorough and unbiased examination of why and how these violations occurred, including instances of bullying and intimidation directed at those who have requested such an inquiry (“Faculty complain about Orfalea course,”?March 9).

While Orfalea may not have been aware of many of these academic requirements, clearly the college’s dean and other administrators should have known and were responsible for ensuring that requirements were met. On this dimension they failed and it appears that Orfalea’s status as a major donor may have had a major role in decisions to allow these failures to occur and to escalate.

The pages of this newspaper have previously discussed the potential negative consequences of allowing major donors (like the Harris Ranch Beef Company) to influence program design, staffing decisions, course content and delivery and other elements that represent the foundation of a university’s mission and integrity.

It is very unusual that The Tribune has now chosen to cast a blind eye to a series of egregious violations with respect to curriculum delivered in conjunction with a major donor to the Orfalea College of Business.

If this represents an effort by individuals to avoid responsibility for major failures in overseeing academic programs, it is reprehensible. If this represents a case of money and power influencing behavior of editors as well as academics, then that is indeed a powerful lesson for students and a sad statement about Cal Poly and its integrity as an institution of higher education. Dr. J. Michael Geringer is a professor of strategy and international business for the Orfalea College of Business.
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Last Updated: March 12, 2010

Colette A Frayne wrote on 03/12/10 8:01 PM

Paul

No one ever questioned the WAY you teach. I only wish I would have known you were going to teach this course.

Hello, handshake, I watched you in the hall one Tuesday Night. I am Colette Frayne and I am the Concentration Coordinator for IB. I was hoping to say hello that night and ask if I could attend your course. Dean Christy would not allow me to attend your course.

And so while you might think that me and others had a problem with your presence, you are so mistaken. Dean Christy violated rules. And, ironically, Paul, you are now in a situation that all the money in the world cannot copy you out of.

This is a very very serious situation that we face. There is nothing humorous nor political nor light about it and I welcome the chance to converse with you about it.

BR, C

Brian McIntosh wrote on 03/15/10 1:21 PM

Wow, I would love to have had Paul for a teacher.
I am 35, and recently went back to school and earned a B.S. and a MBA

Unfortunately in many of the classes it was not about being able to think and solve problems, it was about regurgitating information.

No teacher ever challenged me and taught me to think.

I was fortunate to have previously worked for a small company where the owner challenged me every day, played devils advocate, that was where I learned to think, really learned how business and the real world works.

There is a huge divide between the worlds of business and academia. The academic bureaucrats and rule makers need to be replaced or at the very least have their ranks augmented with people like Paul Orfalea.

Sean wrote on 03/15/10 1:52 PM

Sounds like someone dared to violate the RULES of the union.
And I thought education was about teaching.

Note that this is not a very very SERIOUS situation. An earthquake in Haiti or a tsunami in Indonesia are very very SERIOUS events, not annoying some mid-level bureaucrat. Please wake up and consider the world outside of your ivory tower.

From the essay above it's quite easy to judge whether the student would learn more from Mr. Orfalea or a bureaucrat faculty that admits that Mr. Orfalea is probably qualified to teach, but should not be allowed to until the union monopoly is bowed to.

OCOB student wrote on 03/18/10 3:46 AM

The most useful, relevant, honestly engaging and nonetheless demanding class I have yet taken at Cal Poly was indeed your class. No one can quite understand the class until they have taken it for an entire quarter, and even then the perplexity of it still amazes me. Learning to shake hands, make eye contact, be confident, and ask questions has benefited my classes this quarter and my life in general. I only hope the Orfalea College of Business faculty members can see the positive light to this class (It was by NO means an easy A as we read International Business related readings, were tested multiple times each class period, and so forth) and allow Paul to grace our halls yet again to benefit another class.
Thank you for all your hard work Paul!

Colette Frayne wrote on 03/20/10 11:37 AM

Hi Sean

I am sitting in Helsinki as I just finished a seminar with a team of executives from a leading cell phone company. As part of the global leadership seminar, I shared with them the fiasco at the OCOB in an attempt to get a mature, seasoned and veteran viewpoint of the situation.

Any time funds are misappropriated, state law is violated, AASCB accreditation is in jeopardy, and discrimination occurs, we have serious issues.

After we combed through the myriad of responses, one executive said it best and I quote.."no wonder you are losing the war on global talent."

As for being testing multiple times, etc. We have yet to find any materials to support your claims except the geography quizzes that were left in the classroom. If any of you want them, do stop by my office. If I were you, I would most certainly want them for my learning experience.

Lauren Esterle wrote on 04/01/10 12:15 PM

Although I have only attended one lecture by Paul so far, I am excited to have a class where I will learn practical life skills. I believe that many classes focus too much on teaching only to tests and grades. It is nice to have a class where students' opinions and questions are highly valued. Already I have come to realize just how much I say "um or like" when speaking and am excited to work on my public speaking skills. What is clear to me is that this class has much more character than most. So long as all participating in the class are willing to open themselves up and learn from class embarrassment and being put on the spot, I believe the class will be a good learning experience.

Mark Coudray wrote on 04/01/10 1:45 PM

This whole fiasco is a perfect example of the challenge higher education faces in the new economic world we live in. As a Poly grad, honored Alum (CLA '99), and multiple advisory board member, I'm struck by the primary issue at hand. The old, industrial education model that churned out risk adverse, passive, worker bees for the corporate workforce is increasingly irrelevant. The rules based, strict academic protocol and disconnection with the reality of the market are examples of institutional education primarily focused on preserving its' own structure and is least concerned with serving the students and the recipients of Poly's graduates.

Knowledge expansion is now exponential and growing by the hour. The ability to continuously respond to a constantly changing terrain is crucial for the next generation of workers and leaders. The argument that it "takes time" to change the University is a massive understatement. Meaningful change at the academic level moves at geologic speed. How in the world do you expect to deliver graduates that must adjust their parameters on an hourly or at least daily basis?

I applaud Mr Orfalea for his exceptional approach and I'm only sorry this has turned into the bureaucratic mess it has. There was no need for it to happen, nor to be blown out of proportion the way it has been. Perhaps the lesson learned here is not the "very, very serious matter" Ms Frayne is so concerned about. Sean said it well and it was echoed in the executive assessment as relayed by Ms Frayne.

The irony of all this is that of all the universities I have visited around the world, Cal Poly is unique. The "Learn By Doing" philosophy delivers exceptional value for not only the graduates but the market and business overall. Nevertheless, it does not change the situation at hand. This is only the beginning of more disruptive situations that will develop as the gulf between the real world and the academic world grows increasingly wider.

Colette A. Frayne wrote on 04/04/10 6:14 AM

Mark

The fact you sit on multiple advisory boards does not give you the right, experience or arrogance to demean the situation at hand.

For your records, I am a donor at Poly, I have my own business and I teach full time in the OCOB. After reading your response, I am very happy that you are not one of my BOD members.

Dr. Frayne

Ehrin wrote on 04/11/10 1:18 PM

I am currently taking Paul's class at UCSB. My friend and I were in New York at the international Model UN conference for the entire first week of class. Upon arriving late (i.e. not ten minutes early, as the class rules ask) to class with my friend, Paul proceeded to grill us about why we failed to read the class rules, why we deserved to be in the class, specifics about the conference etc. After eventually allowing us to sit down and join the discussion, Paul proceeded to address individual students in the same direct manner. We were asked to analyze the causes and importance of current world events while speaking clearly and succinctly as if we were at a business conference. As an inexperienced college student of a few years ago, I would probably have resented Paul for putting me on the spot and forcing me to use my skills. However, one of the things I have come to understand about the college academic experience is that it is lacking in the ability to challenge students to act like professionals and leaders.

When I was seven and eight years old, I went to a Montessori-style school for two years. My teachers allowed me to learn materials that were of interest to me rather than following a curriculum. Those two years were by far the most valuable part of my basic education, including high school. Rather than being forced to learn material decided from on-high, I learned how to teach myself subjects that were intriguing to me. The idea that education should be based on a standardized system, at both the basic and university level, is flawed.

Paul demands that students use the knowledge granted to us through our educational opportunities. Similar to groups such as the Model UN, Paul pushes students to think critically while carrying on a professional discussion. I am not familiar with the specifics of the controversy at Cal Poly but from a student's perspective I know Orfalea's teaching method is much more valuable than the average monotonous lecture being given on campus.

Dean Zatkowsky wrote on 04/12/10 8:31 AM

Hello! I'm Dean Zatkowsky, moderator of this blog. Typically, moderating comments merely requires that I weed out spam messages that get past the automated filters. As regular readers must know, I do not edit comments to correct errors of diction, grammar and syntax.

Over that last couple of days, I've received several comments that put me in an uncomfortable position. I don't want to censor people's thoughts on this matter, but I don't want to publish personal attacks, either. I've probably been too lenient already, and for that I apologize.

If your comment has not appeared, but you still wish to be heard on this topic, please resubmit your comments without speculation on other posters' competence, intelligence, motives, or parentage. There are plenty of other forums for that sort of thing.

My own comment on this entry: I've had many, many teachers; professional and otherwise. Some were good and some were bad - but I didn't always know which was which for about thirty years. As some commenters wisely note, this blog entry has little to do with the controversy surrounding Paul's class. The primary concern is not Paul's teaching methods, but the circumstances that led to his teaching at Cal Poly, and that is a controversy I happily leave to the Cal Poly faculty.

TBasket wrote on 06/17/10 5:28 AM

If you ask me why I teach? I will answer you I teach because I want to make a difference in children's lives. I feel that I am playing a small part in making the world a better place for my children to grow up in. Teaching is not a easy job, it takes work, work at home, when your on vacation, when you should be sleeping. If your not dedicated you should fine another job, where you don't impact children's future and their concept of education.

Moviefreak wrote on 09/08/10 12:26 AM

No teacher ever challenged me and taught me to think.I was fortunate to have previously worked for a small company where the owner challenged me every day, played devils advocate, that was where I learned to think, really learned how business and the real world works.