I teach at a land grant university. These were universities
created originally under the 1862 Morrill Act. The Act gave the states land to
create colleges that taught agriculture and mechanical arts. If you are
interested in the history of land grant colleges, it can be found here: https://www.nap.edu/read/4980/chapter/2.
I started thinking about this because United States
universities have lost their way. They have become very expensive. When
students graduate with over $100,000 in student debt, there is something wrong.
What is wrong is very apparent when you look at the organization of the
university. 50 years ago, the primary purpose of the university was education. Yes,
I can speak authoritatively about this because I graduated with an engineering
degree 50 years ago next month. Students were expected to do homework and were
given work that would require two to three hours of effort for every hour in
class. But the biggest difference is the number of administrative employees of
the university. 50 years ago, the ratio of administrative and staff employees
to teaching faculty was 1:1 or less. We had more faculty than staff and many
administrators taught classes. The college deans taught classes. I took a class
that was taught by the head of the math department.
Today, Deans attempt to raise money from alumni and don’t
teach. The ratio of administrative personnel to faculty is more than 3:1. The
administrative structure is very hierarchical, meaning that oftentimes, an
administrator has only two or three direct reports. Thirty years ago, industrial organizations started working toward a flat organization. The result was each administrator/manager had
8 to 12 direct reports. The flatter organization gained by giving the people
doing the work the authority to do the work with minimal oversite. There were
significant cost savings. More tomorrow on the cost of higher education.
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