Empire of Academic Administration

In a recent blog, Professor Aaron Barlow argues that, on the culpability over who is responsible for exploding costs in higher education, the faculty is not to blame. He may have a point.

“But the insanity of modern higher ed isn’t ours,” he argues.” It stems from institutions whose goals have little to do with education even though that is their purported duty.”

“This has led to a schizophrenia that is likely to tear them apart.” As it happens, the Almanac of the Chronicle of Higher Education contains some interesting information on higher education:

• For example, while everybody else was taking cuts in pay and benefits, executive pay went up 4.9 % in colleges;
• 3 presidents at public colleges, including Penn State’s Graham Spanier, made more than a million in 2010-2011.
• 36 college presidents made more than one million dollars in 2009
• In that same issue of the Chronicle that contained the above information, the want ads featured 15 pages of faculty jobs, 9 pages of administrative positions and another 3 of “executive positions.”

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

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