February 22, 2002
From the desk of Mindles H. Dreck:The Decline of the University
Two news items today point to the continuing decline of higher education as a viable enterprise.
First, after averaging tuition increases of "merely" twice inflation, tuitions are being hiked at three to four times the inflation rate. Price hikes like that make it clear that universities bucked the national trend of greater productivity over the last 15 years. Furthermore, after all the fancy talk about how their endowments were invested to withstand multiple bad years in the markets, the tuition hikes are explicitly justified by shrinking endowments:
"An economic downturn negatively affects every other university revenue source," said David L. Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. "It affects corporate and foundation giving, earnings from endowments and fund-raising from alumni and friends. Tuition is the one revenue stream over which independent universities have control."
"Control", eh? May I introduce Mr. Warren to the concept of price elasticity? Costs are something you might have "control" over.
The second development is the fact that unions are making substantial headway on campus (graduate students/teaching assistants) while going nowhere in the economy at large. The latest ridiculous campus unionization movement is covered in the Times today - Residential Advisors.
I was a Freshman Counselor, the equivalent of a Residential Advisor. The idea that this group of select volunteers needs a union is laughable. Of course, I could tell you stories of the incredible working environment hardships endured while preventing four freshmen from consuming a beerball.
UPDATE: Well said Mr. Yglesias, a union is a voluntary association for the purposes of negotiation, not a basic need to be granted from some higher authority. I must say, I don't see the R.A.-university relationship as an employer-employee relationship so I think the University can dictate the terms as they see fit, including recognizing any such association.
If I didn't say "need", the beerball bit would not have been so incredibly funny. Back to the land of the bean and the cod (and inferior precision marching bands) with you.
Posted by Mindles H. Dreck at February 22, 2002 8:37 AM | Technorati inbound links"); ?>