Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Universities facing "unprecedented budget challenges" need to look in the mirror.

Did the university shoot itself in the foot?
Is it not self-sufficient? Is enrollment down below a benchmark that was supposed to trigger a special budget review, but did not?

Does it have contractors who are locked in for extended periods with cost-overruns?

Through one-time donations, did the university over-construct infrastructure that now requires unforseen massive annual infusions of funds to maintain?

In an effort to draw more students, did the university defer its core curriculum value system to teaching for popular high-paying jobs, despite the transient nature and out-sourcing risk of those career choices?

Why does the university have a competitive extra-curricular sports program? Doe it cost more than it's worth?

What kind of recruiters show up at job fairs hosted by the university? Are they Fortune 500, or minimum-wage paying part-time employers and insurance business pyramid schemers?

Is the university forced to recruit from great distances, and pay exorbitant six-digit salaries to high-level staffers, while maintaining a majority of professors as "Associate?"

What is the success rate of the university graduates? Does anyone know? Is it public information?

Perhaps universities facing "unprecedented budget challenges" are facing them for a reason.

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