Howard Segal, professor of history at the University of Maine, presented harsh criticism of the Kellogg Commission, a group of current and former university presidents who study the future of land-grant universities, in a lecture Wednesday night at the Memorial Union.

Segal said the Kellogg Commission, of which Iowa State President Martin Jischke is a member, is wrong in its belief that technology shapes society, a theory held by few historians.

The Kellogg Commission places a high priority on rapidly changing technology, touting this moment in history as unique in its high rate of technological development, but during the Civil War this also was believed to be true, Segal said.

Segal also said the commission is wrong in its belief that life-long learning is a new concept.

“The Kellogg Commission says everything is unprecedented,” he said.

The commission also is strongly in favor of online classes and distance learning, but their consequences are not being properly considered, Segal said.

“I don’t see any real reason for people to come to campus [if all classes are online],” he said.

Another issue addressed by Segal was university professors who emphasize conducting research more than teaching students.

“Not enough quality teaching” is going on in universities today because of the focus on research that started in the ’50s, Segal said.

“Faculty should appear as peers, fellow learners, in a learning community,” he said.

Without so much research, the way most universities grant tenure would be affected, Segal said.

“It would not surprise me if, over time, schools do not have tenure [for faculty],” he said.

Segal said university administrators today view students as consumers, not individuals, and the Kellogg Commission is strengthening that trend by influencing many institutions to do the same things at the same time.

“The Kellogg Commission assumes the institutions … should become ever more alike,” he said.

Segal said the goal of the commission members should be to help universities, but first they need to realize what actually goes on in classes.

“My point is the seeming lack of knowledge of what goes on the classroom,” he said.

Patricia Swan, dean of the graduate college, said Segal brought up a lot of issues the ISU administration needs to consider as administrators plan the future of the university.

“Everyone should be thinking about it,” she said.