4 ms·
- increasingly top-heavy administration (hey, let's add another $300K Assistant Deputy VP of Student Diversity, etc) providing a path for faculty to 'advance' i
by glesica 13y ago
- increasingly top-heavy administration (hey, let's add another $300K Assistant Deputy VP of Student Diversity, etc) providing a path for faculty to 'advance' in their careers
I'd like to point out that much of the administrative bloat has occurred because of new (bipartisan) laws forcing colleges to provide more services. There are services for veterans, services for the disabled, services for victims of crimes, oversight services for grants and such, etc. My girlfriend works for a university, and much of the administrative hiring they do is directly correlated to new requirements, laws, and administrative rules passed down from the federal or state governments.
So I think you're right, but don't place all the blame on the schools, just as much belongs to the political parties that like to use universities as a battlefield for whatever agenda they've got at the moment.
Edit: It is especially wrong to think that the faculty are driving administrative bloat when, in fact, the faculty are the biggest opponents (and literally stage rallies against it at some schools) because every dollar the university spends on an administrator is a dollar they don't spend paying a faculty member).
- RyanZAG 13y ago" When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. "
- Fomite 13y agoThe vast majority of people have no aspiration towards being an academic administrator, and academic administrators aren't exactly a powerful voting block.
- smm2000 13y agoBut disabled veterans are a voting block and they vote themselves extra services on campus and those services come with administrator. Repeat this process with every disadvantaged group and you have tremendous bloat.
- Nrsolis 13y agoYou could make the argument that disabled veterans are the MOST important voting block and with good reason. Please refrain from reducing veterans to a political action committee. They deserve much more than they currently get under our system. Try and get through the red tape at the VA and then tell me how you feel about the outsize effect that the veterans are having on the benefits debate.
- ludston 13y agoIs it so unreasonable to believe that non-conscripted veterans deserve exactly the same financial status as their equivalent non-veteran counterparts? (Disabled or otherwise). This argument comes from anti-nationalist, pro-equality-of-opportunity values.
- Nrsolis 13y agoYes. I believe it's WHOLLY unreasonable. Veterans who go to war come back bearing terrible scars. They are routinely subjected to horrific conditions that would make you cringe. They are asked to do terrible things to terrible people and still maintain a standard of professional conduct that civilians cannot maintain. SO I do believe it's unreasonable to treat war veterans, who volunteered to sacrifice themselves and their lives to defend our way of life, just like any other citizen who needs some governmental support. Veterans who have no obligation to serve but do so anyway deserve our utmost respect and admiration. And on the list of people who contribute to the safety, security, and greatness of this country, they are at the very top.
- kd0amg 13y agoOne might argue that in decisions about how to allocate a university's budget, they are the most powerful voting bloc.
- glesica 13y agoI don't know that it has anything to do with voting since, as I pointed out, the bloat-causing rules come from both parties.
- sp332 13y agoVoting doesn't always (or even usually) mean choosing Democrat vs. Repulican. Here, it means choosing between passing a law and not passing a law.
- glesica 13y agoTrue, but then you're talking about legislative votes, so more important than voting is action by pressure groups. Maybe it's accurate to say that they are "lobbying" themselves money.
- theorique 13y agoGood point. My comment snarked at the faculty a bit, but I'm sure the rank-and-file don't love the top-heavy bloat either. It's great for the mid to late career faculty member who wants to take the next step and become an administrator. It's less so for those whose areas of interest are lower priority and must tighten belts.