Scott Walker's Plans For University Of Wisconsin Are Epically Stupid

[mfcorey1]

Gov. Scott Walker plans to cut $300M from the budget of the University of Wisconsin and, if he has his way, will alter its mission from a “search for truth” to “meeting the state’s workforce needs.” These steps are so fantastically at odds with what the business community, economy and state need from its public university system that no synonym for ‘stupid’ is too strong.

What the Workforce Needs in 2015 is the Ability to Think

I sit on the Executive Advisory Board of the University of Wisconsin’s Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management within the Business School. I have lectured students at the University on a number of occasions and have a daughter in the freshman class right now. I love the University of Wisconsin and admire its breadth of thinking, depth of teaching and commitment to developing young people who can reason and lead. Graduates of the Grainger Center program are thriving in jobs at great companies like Cisco, GE Healthcare and Intel.

I also direct research and content development for SCM World in London, an organization that provides talent development for strategic leaders in global supply chain management. Our community includes some of the most respected companies in the world from Samsung to Amazon to Caterpillar. In our research on the people needs of companies like these we have found consistently and decisively that workforce requirements lean toward problem solving, lateral thinking and intellectual agility rather than functional technical skills.

The world of supply chain management is grounded in basics like materials handling, inventory planning, logistics modelling, and purchasing. Much of the technical foundation is well established and available inexpensively from professional associations like APICS, ISM and the CSCMP. All offer courses and certifications that are recognized and respected by employers.

What these bodies don’t do is teach young people how to think ahead about trends that may one day make all the difference.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinomarah/2015/02/22/the-epic-stupidity-of-scott-walker/

[Scuba]

1. "Epically stupid" is an accurate description of most of Walker's work.

The rest is just regular stupid.

[Ford_Prefect]

2. The Kochs appear to have similar plans for the UNC system in North Carolina.

[Enthusiast]

3. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

[daleanime]

4. Major K&R

[Vinca]

5. More proof the GOP's worst fear is an educated voter.

[AllyCat]

6. Walker has ruined our state. This is a HUGE example of how