4 ms·

I attended UCSC on and off over a period of 10 years. The level of blatant corruption in the administration, both at the school and among the broader UC system

I attended UCSC on and off over a period of 10 years. The level of blatant corruption in the administration, both at the school and among the broader UC system and regents, is something you would have to experience to believe. For years the administration has been squeezing the life out of UCSC’s academic programs (both grad students and instructors) while simultaneously awarding administrative staff with new positions, titles, huge raises and lavish lifestyles. This is an incremental win for a very hard-working and talented group of staffers, but hardly even a chip in the armor of the bloat and waste that is the UC administrative complex. I’m actually low key ashamed to have a degree from them.

hirundo 6y ago
> This is an incremental win for a very hard-working and talented group of staffers There is a large, high paying labor market for very hard-working and talented staffers, about 40 minutes north on CA-17. I went directly from a UC campus to a private Silicon Valley company, and learned more there, more broadly and more quickly. I'd recommend it to those that feel the sacrifice to work in academia is too high.
- lgessler 6y ago
  There are some kinds of careers and questions that can only be pursued in academia, so advising that grad students abandon ship really isn't a satisfactory answer in general. Academia needs to be reformed.
  - zentiggr 6y ago
    "Academia progresses one funeral at a time"? Not sure how apt a rephrasing that might be, never progressed past community college.
    - zentiggr 6y ago
      It just seems like there's an old guard of administrators that have grabbed onto this huge source of money and are lining their pockets, and nothing substantial will change until enough bodies swap out that the people who actually want to provide a good affordable education are in the right seats. Not suggesting the administrations get culled.

hirundo 6y ago

> This is an incremental win for a very hard-working and talented group of staffers There is a large, high paying labor market for very hard-working and talented staffers, about 40 minutes north on CA-17. I went directly from a UC campus to a private Silicon Valley company, and learned more there, more broadly and more quickly. I'd recommend it to those that feel the sacrifice to work in academia is too high.

lgessler 6y ago
There are some kinds of careers and questions that can only be pursued in academia, so advising that grad students abandon ship really isn't a satisfactory answer in general. Academia needs to be reformed.
- zentiggr 6y ago
  "Academia progresses one funeral at a time"? Not sure how apt a rephrasing that might be, never progressed past community college.
  - zentiggr 6y ago
    It just seems like there's an old guard of administrators that have grabbed onto this huge source of money and are lining their pockets, and nothing substantial will change until enough bodies swap out that the people who actually want to provide a good affordable education are in the right seats. Not suggesting the administrations get culled.