I just saw a new tv commercial for the University of Phoenix, an entirely online university which relies on a hypercasualized, hypercontingent labor force of teahcers and graders who never meet their students. This commercial utilized the chorus of the New Pornographers' "Bleeding Heart Show," specifically the innocous-sounding "Hey-Na" part.
There's obviously some serious irony here. Beyond that, I'll leave off deeper analysis in favor of reader interjection. So, dear reader, I ask you, WTF?
Actually, it does have physical campuses, at least in Arizona. Saw them last time I was out there. But that's just a minor point, courtesy your Washington fact-checker.
ReplyDeleteI've seen those buildings from the highway between PHX and Tucson, but I was never sure if that was actual clasroom space or just administrative/corporate office space.
ReplyDeleteThere's an interesting bit in the NY Times at the moment about the U of Phoenix. Apparently they've opened 50+ physical campuses in the last few years, in addition to the online courses. And their faculty is more than 90% part-time. It's worth a read.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/education/11phoenix.html?hp&ex=1171256400&en=ae4355a2c3e42afd&ei=5094&partner=homepage
ReplyDeleteand i guess i was working off outdated info, so I'll apologizse for that.