Academic Supply & Demand

In the real world, businesses expand when profits do. In academia, colleges and universities, such as George Washington University, just expand. “In an effort to improve its widely criticized academic advising system, the University announced plans Friday to double the number of undergraduate advising staff in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences; create an advising committee with representation from all undergraduate schools; and speed up the implementation of a degree auditing system,” Matt Rist reported in The GW Hatchet Online. “The changes will cost a total of $700,000, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald Lehman said Friday.”

“Compensation for nine new professional advisers will cost GW around $500,000 and an estimated $200,000 will be spent speeding up the implementation of a degree auditing system, he said.”

Meanwhile, “More than seven months into the fiscal year, the University has raised less than a third of its annual fundraising goal, a member of the Board of Trustess said last week,” Emily Cahn reported in The GW Hatchet on February 18, 2010. “The University has set lofty goals for fundraising this year, pledging to raise $131 million by June 30.” “But seven and a half months into the fiscal year—which began July 1—the University has only raised $43 million, said Nelson Carbonell, the vice chairman of the board. University President Steven Knapp said this was the first year the University set its fundraising goal ‘using a bottom-up process.’”

It looks suspiciously like they used a “bottoms-up process.”

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