'DOWNSTAIRS, UPSTAIRS' Dynamics of higher education

John A. Flower observes changes in students' attitudes toward college.
By THERESA M. HEGEL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
"Downstairs, Upstairs: The Changed Spirit and Face of College Life in America," by John A. Flower (The University of Akron Press, $39.95)
"Downstairs, Upstairs" is an erudite meditation of the ever-evolving dynamics of American higher education by a man who has spent more than half a century in the faculty and administration of that system.
Octogenarian John A. Flower is the president and professor emiritus of Cleveland State University. Prior to his years of service at Cleveland State, Flower served as a dean at Kent State University during the turbulent Vietnam War era and was a member of the administration when the tragic events of May 4, 1970, occurred. As an undergraduate and graduate student, he studied music theory and piano performance, and during World War II, he served as a combat pilot.
In "Downstairs, Upstairs," Flower identifies two widely divergent types of campuses in the United States: the "upstairs" or medallion campuses, which include private schools such as Harvard and selective public universities such as the University of Michigan; and the "downstairs" campuses, which are non-selective, have open admission and serve the mass market of students.
Flower notes that the upstairs campuses "control a predominant share of higher education's wealth" and "can control their own futures." However, the mass-market institutions that constitute the downstairs "must deal, sleeves rolled up and hard hat in place, with the grit, grime and untidiness of an egalitarian academic world."
Downstairs institutions
Many of the issues he discusses apply directly to downstairs institutions, precisely because they don't have the financial resources to insulate themselves from change, but the shifts he observes in higher education have some impact on the medallion campuses as well.
Students, many of whom don't fit the traditional college-student mold, often view higher education as a sort of business transaction. They place themselves in the role of the consumer and consequently demand convenient scheduling and vocational training. College is a place to gain job skills and a way to purchase a better, more financially comfortable lifestyle, not the bastion of esteemed scholarship and critical thinking it once was.
This has changed the curriculum at many campuses. It has also led to the rise of new types of institutions, such as the University of Phoenix, a for-profit university that features, among other things, an abundance of online course work. According to Flower, traditional campuses that are resistant to the changes are finding themselves left in the dust.
Other issues
Another issue Flower discusses is how open admissions has left many students ill-prepared for college work. This leads to remedial programs in college and a general dumbing down of curriculum. It also widens the gap between upstairs and downstairs institutions.
Other issues Flower mentions are the impact of affirmative action and special interest groups on campuses, the lack of civility at many schools and the rise of moral relativism. He discusses how colleges place a huge emphasis on diversity, often for its own sake and nothing else, in their hiring and admissions policies, sometimes ignoring individual diversity in background and achievement in favor of group diversity.
Some of the views Flower expresses in the "Upstairs, Downstairs" are controversial; however, whether or not you agree with them, they are all well-reasoned and articulately argued.
Throughout the book, Flower employs an autobiographical approach. This doesn't always work. When he's relating his experiences as a dean at Kent State or as president of Cleveland State, his anecdotes are relevant and add much to the text. On the other hand, the autobiographical information on his early life is barely more than a rough outline. It is as though he is ticking off items in the list of his life -- birth, school, armed service, college, marriage, kids ... check. It doesn't go deep enough to provide insight, nor does it have enough of a narrative feel to be interesting reading.
hegel@vindy.com