A question of qualification
To the Editor:
I write this letter in a condition of barely contained outrage.
As a College alumnus and as a current graduate student at the Fels Center of Government, I read with great chagrin the news that Michael Masch, the University's vice president of budget and management analysis, lacks a bachelor's degree. It is astonishing that someone without this credential has been hired by the University to fill such an important post.
My natural inclination is to question the standard of qualifications to which applicants for senior-level positions within the University's administration are held. I would hope that this hiring was the result of a mere oversight, but, unfortunately, the University's official response was that Masch's experience as the City of Philadelphia's budget director was enough to qualify him for the job.
I find it difficult to believe that this experience alone would be the standard for the hiring of someone in a similar position in any industry, much less at an institution whose core values lay within the realm of promoting educational advancement as leading to career enhancement.
Beyond the apparent low standards of qualification under which Masch was hired by the administration, he also occasionally teaches a graduate-level course at the Fels Center of Government. The fact that someone who does not even have a bachelor's degree is permitted to instruct Ivy League graduate students is appalling and is certainly well below the standards upon which I believe the University's reputation is based.
William Miller
Fels student
To the Editor:
The "news" that Vice President for Budget and Management Analysis Michael Masch does not possess a college degree is not news at all.
Masch is a distinguished member of the University community and a strong advocate for the city's children. He was appointed twice to the Philadelphia schools' governing body and spearheaded the district's development of a financial plan.
Masch has also taught at the Fels Center of Government, and as one of his students, I learned more from his vast expertise and perspective than from many professors with bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees.
As a community, we can also learn from Masch's integrity; according to all accounts, at no point did he misrepresent himself or his credentials.
Ian Rosenblum
Fels '01
To the Editor:
I am writing on behalf of the Fels Center of Government to thank Michael Masch for teaching budgeting in its Master of Governmental Administration program.
Our primary requirement for instructors is to be experts in their fields. Masch's mastery over the subject matter and long experience with public budgeting superbly qualify him for the role. This is confirmed by the consistent high praise that he receives from his students and by the universally high regard in which he is held by his colleagues.
Christopher Patusky
Deputy Director
Fels Center of Government
A team effort on film
To the Editor:
As one of the student coordinators of the screening of Trembling Before God ("Penn students view film about homosexual Jews," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 1/23/02) I wanted to clarify some points.
The primary sponsor, the Jewish Renaissance Project sought the co-sponsorship of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center in creating an accessible conversation about a pressing contemporary Jewish issue -- the challenging life of Orthodox gays and lesbians.
JRP arranged for the featured speakers at the dialogue, where over 35 students sat for hours engaged in frank and meaningful conversation.
Unfortunately, neither JRP nor the LGBT Center was mentioned in the DP; we are sure this omission was inadvertent, though it nonetheless does a disservice to JRP's mission of creating comfortable and interesting conversations for and with the Jewish community.
Julia Gottlieb
College '03
