4 ms·

not to be too cold about the real people hurt by the mischaracterization, but... My local ferrari dealership basically implies my life will be perfect (all the

not to be too cold about the real people hurt by the mischaracterization, but... My local ferrari dealership basically implies my life will be perfect (all the pretty women will fawn over me!!) if I just buy one of their cars. America made these institutions into for profit companies. We have to stop giving them the goodwill we'd afford to altruistic/idealistic academic institutions. Yes USC has a "not for profit" label, but just because the label says "water" doesn't mean there isn't gasoline in that bottle -- use some common sense and call a bird a duck by it's quack.

vgeek 5y ago
Exactly. I used to consider academia as a separate entity from the private sector, thinking it was full of altruistic individuals wanting to further the knowledge of humanity. Then I started seeing that most colleges operate as tax-exempt businesses with different marketing strategies, products and target consumers. They're just layers of bureaucracy while those delivering the most value (professors) regularly get treated rather poorly (pay, job security, responsibilities, etc.) while the administrators soak up all of the benefits. How do the objectives get shifted back towards learning rather than building new stadiums and student centers?
- netizen-936824 5y ago
  In my experience its split within the university itself, with most of the actual academics being lower paid and about furthering knowledge and teaching. The other administrative departments are the ones with questionable utility and motives, its like they're being taken over by MBAs
  - ishjoh 5y ago
    It's not just MBAs it's M*, I have a close friend who works in the administration for a well known university, her department administration will not hire any junior person that doesn't have a masters degree, it doesn't particularly matter what masters degree they have, just as long as they have one. In addition to requiring a masters degree, my friends admin department is way over staffed, having come from private industry my friend is shocked at how little people do. My friend has a boss whose screen they can see, and estimates that the boss puts in roughly 15mins of work per day and spends the rest of the time on Twitter & Facebook. My friend estimates that the headcount is roughly 3 times more than it would be in private industry
mrits 5y ago
Your Ferrari dealer at least has a point though. You also can get most of your money back if you decide to sell later.
- YetAnotherNick 5y ago
  But you don't get to use it. You could drop off in the first semester by that logic and it would have saved most of her money.
  - 999900000999 5y ago
    You can also file for bankruptcy 3 years after driving the car off the lot.
    - rsj_hn 5y ago
      Do you get a low interest rate loan guaranteed by taxpayers when you bought that car? With provisions that payments would only be required after you got a job and that they would be capped as a percentage of income? And did you know that the loan was non-dischargeable when you took it out? If you can say yes to all of the above, then you shouldn't be able to discharge it in bankruptcy, either.

vgeek 5y ago

Exactly. I used to consider academia as a separate entity from the private sector, thinking it was full of altruistic individuals wanting to further the knowledge of humanity. Then I started seeing that most colleges operate as tax-exempt businesses with different marketing strategies, products and target consumers. They're just layers of bureaucracy while those delivering the most value (professors) regularly get treated rather poorly (pay, job security, responsibilities, etc.) while the administrators soak up all of the benefits. How do the objectives get shifted back towards learning rather than building new stadiums and student centers?

netizen-936824 5y ago
In my experience its split within the university itself, with most of the actual academics being lower paid and about furthering knowledge and teaching. The other administrative departments are the ones with questionable utility and motives, its like they're being taken over by MBAs
- ishjoh 5y ago
  It's not just MBAs it's M*, I have a close friend who works in the administration for a well known university, her department administration will not hire any junior person that doesn't have a masters degree, it doesn't particularly matter what masters degree they have, just as long as they have one. In addition to requiring a masters degree, my friends admin department is way over staffed, having come from private industry my friend is shocked at how little people do. My friend has a boss whose screen they can see, and estimates that the boss puts in roughly 15mins of work per day and spends the rest of the time on Twitter & Facebook. My friend estimates that the headcount is roughly 3 times more than it would be in private industry

mrits 5y ago

Your Ferrari dealer at least has a point though. You also can get most of your money back if you decide to sell later.

YetAnotherNick 5y ago
But you don't get to use it. You could drop off in the first semester by that logic and it would have saved most of her money.
- 999900000999 5y ago
  You can also file for bankruptcy 3 years after driving the car off the lot.
  - rsj_hn 5y ago
    Do you get a low interest rate loan guaranteed by taxpayers when you bought that car? With provisions that payments would only be required after you got a job and that they would be capped as a percentage of income? And did you know that the loan was non-dischargeable when you took it out? If you can say yes to all of the above, then you shouldn't be able to discharge it in bankruptcy, either.