how to ruin public higher education

[regentrude]

1. Pass state law that eliminates corporate franchise tax

2. Watch corporate tax revenue fall by 30% in a year

3. Cut $82 million in public higher education funding

Oh, and there is also a law that tuition must not increase.

WTF?

 

 

 

 

[maize]

Maximizing corporate profit is clearly more important than investing in the state's human capital.

 

Duh.

Edited January 18, 2017 by maize

[Miss Tick]

Presumably any federal funding dried up ages ago.

 

Your institution is probably additionally under pressure to increase the four-year graduation rate?

 

How does any of this make sense?

[chiguirre]

1. Pass state law that eliminates corporate franchise tax

2. Watch corporate tax revenue fall by 30% in a year

3. Cut $82 million in public higher education funding

Oh, and there is also a law that tuition must not increase.

WTF?

 

4. Start recruiting full pay students from abroad. State residents will just have to go out of state, private or be content with huge waits to get into CC classes.

[regentrude]

4. Start recruiting full pay students from abroad. State residents will just have to go out of state, private or be content with huge waits to get into CC classes.

 

and once they leave, the best of them are not going to come back and contribute to the economy.

 

But hey, nothing beats low taxes, right? Taxes are evil, and who needs a college education anyway - damned elites.

 

And then there is the representative who proposed a bill to eliminate tenure. Yeah, like that is going to attract talented faculty to the underfunded state universities.

Edited January 18, 2017 by regentrude

[kiana]

And then there is the representative who proposed a bill to eliminate tenure. Yeah, like that is going to attract talented faculty to the underfunded state universities.

 

Pfft we'll just hire a sub. It's not like you need any sort of special training for this sort of stuff right? 

[goldberry]

Pfft we'll just hire a sub. It's not like you need any sort of special training for this sort of stuff right? 

 

Yeah, you can pay those subs dirt cheap!  It's probably just "extra" money for them anyway...

[justasque]

and once they leave, the best of them are not going to come back and contribute to the economy.

 

...

 

And they will head the overseas businesses that will compete with ours.  

[Guest]

and once they leave, the best of them are not going to come back and contribute to the economy.

 

But hey, nothing beats low taxes, right? Taxes are evil, and who needs a college education anyway - damned elites.

 

And then there is the representative who proposed a bill to eliminate tenure. Yeah, like that is going to attract talented faculty to the underfunded state universities.

 

The whole tenure elimination baffles me to no end. So they can what, replace everyone with TA's and GA's and pay a slave wage so they have to teach at six different places to be poverty level? Meanwhile the experienced published profs go..... where? And then have to tow a political line if they do happen to land a FT position somewhere? What's the point once it gets to that? The tenure elimination thing needs to change, and I saw it start happening here not even due to taxes. It's more like they're doing it because they CAN. UT was making that move back when I was a GA and it was bad then. I can't even imagine how much worse it is now. Sorry you are under attack on multiple fronts. That has to suck. I wish more parents were more informed to stand up to the schools and let their pocket book speak for them. 

Edited January 18, 2017 by texasmom33

[regentrude]

 I wish more parents were more informed to stand up to the schools and let their pocket book speak for them. 

 

I wish more people realized what these developments do to the state and let their ballots speak.

But we all know how unrealistic that is, especially in the current climate of anti-intellectualism.

Edited January 18, 2017 by regentrude

[Guest]

I wish more people realized what these developments do to the state and let their ballots speak.

But we all know how unrealistic that is, especially in the current climate of anti-intellectualism.

 

From what I read in the local papers, people only seem to be concerned with the University Boards of Regents and such as to how it affects football divisions and standings around here. That's what makes the papers.  It's sad. 

[kiana]

The whole tenure elimination baffles me to no end. So they can what, replace everyone with TA's and GA's and pay a slave wage so they have to teach at six different places to be poverty level? Meanwhile the experienced published profs go..... where? And then have to tow a political line if they do happen to land a FT position somewhere? What's the point once it gets to that? The tenure elimination thing needs to change, and I saw it start happening here not even due to taxes. It's more like they're doing it because they CAN. UT was making that move back when I was a GA and it was bad then. I can't even imagine how much worse it is now. Sorry you are under attack on multiple fronts. That has to suck. I wish more parents were more informed to stand up to the schools and let their pocket book speak for them. 

 

What most of the people who are "for" this envision is a fat cat professor sitting there collecting a princely salary and deigning to instruct a class or two here or there while churning out vacuous papers saying nothing at all in long sentences of longer words. 

 

Of course the reality is very different but there is no convincing them of that. 

 

They don't really understand research (especially outside of STEM areas) very well and think that it's like the "research papers" that they pumped through, but a bit longer and more esoteric. Therefore it's not really worth taxpayer's funding. The only real thing that's worth funding is full-time teaching and only if university professors teach as many classes as high school teachers. Oh, and sports. Those are definitely worth funding. 

[Guest]

The tenure argument is political. Mostly what they want is a faculty that represents the population, no more longevity of the wrong group. And of course scholarship and ability to teach is irrelevant. The declaration here heard more loudly than a whisper at the K12 level.

 

There will be an increase in fees when tuition is fixed.

[creekland]

1. Pass state law that eliminates corporate franchise tax

2. Watch corporate tax revenue fall by 30% in a year

3. Cut $82 million in public higher education funding

Oh, and there is also a law that tuition must not increase.

WTF?

 

It matches what's going on IRL.  The rich get more and more of the pie and the increasing number of poor... uh, let them eat cake?

 

I suppose they can always work for $15/hour (give or take) at these corporations... well wait... one needs a degree for that.

 

Ok, loans to get the degree and then jobs to pay off the loans - while they eat cake.

 

No tuition increase?  What's wrong with 500+ students in a class?  

[Mom22ns]

1. Pass state law that eliminates corporate franchise tax

2. Watch corporate tax revenue fall by 30% in a year

3. Cut $82 million in public higher education funding

Oh, and there is also a law that tuition must not increase.

WTF?

 

 

This is so frustrating to me. As a person (in your state) who has always believed you can get a decent education at a state university for a reasonable price, this looks like the beginning of the end to that truth. One of my kids ended up in a private university with good merit aid and we have no regrets. The other is in an OOS university that gave in-state tuition. It looks like our experience will become more and more common.

[Frances]

I think the anti-tenure bills are being seriously considered in at least 3 states now. Prepare for more. This sickness is just beginning.

My son was home from Germany for two weeks over the holidays and went twice to his old university to visit professors while classes were not in session. He said there were many faculty members there working during the holidays.

 

I think most people outside of academia have no idea how hard good faculty members work. After my husband left academia, he doubled his pay and more than halved his hours.

[kiana]

My son was home from Germany for two weeks over the holidays and went twice to his old university to visit professors while classes were not in session. He said there were many faculty members there working during the holidays.

 

I think most people outside of academia have no idea how hard good faculty members work. After my husband left academia, he doubled his pay and more than halved his hours.

 

Right.

 

And while you won't see me there over break, you'll see me sitting there at 7am and 7pm and logging in remotely over break. 

 

Financial analyst is sounding awfully tempting right now. 

[FaithManor]

The attitudes of politicians towards state universities is just insane!

 

That said, our public flagships - U of MI and MSU - is only about 16%. This really makes them private schools, not public.

 

Michigan is a PIT of evil when it comes to education. We have some great colleges, but Lansing does not CARE about college students, nor the constant big tuition hikes for tax payers who should be getting something for all the money they keep paying into the system. At this point, college costs are insane, state financial aid is less than pitiful, the infrastructure is crumbling, Detroit schools look like war zones, children in Flint and other communities are being lead poisoned, ......not a good state. Sigh

[brehon]

From what I read in the local papers, people only seem to be concerned with the University Boards of Regents and such as to how it affects football divisions and standings around here. That's what makes the papers. It's sad.

But, but, but!!! FOOTBALL!!!!

 

The entire reason UT exists. Because we're such a powerhouse and win lots of national championships, duh.

 

 

Oh, wait.

 

 

--brehon, a UT alum whose eyes just rolled right out of her head

[Reefgazer]

Virginia is also cutting state funding for colleges and limiting tuition increases, but it is because Virginia colleges have top-loaded their colleges with administrators and assistants to the assistant of the VP. So that's where the tuition limits are coming from here. Colleges should be adequately funded and Virginia does not do this, but there are no consequences here in Virginia for building and maintaining wasteful and bloated administration.

Edited January 23, 2017 by reefgazer

[Bluegoat]

4. Start recruiting full pay students from abroad. State residents will just have to go out of state, private or be content with huge waits to get into CC classes.

 

We've seen this kind of pressure increasingly here in Canada too - to attract international students to make enough money.

 

For a long time, the universities have been trying to push through more students to make ends meet, and now they've come to a place where there aren't more students.  So - they look elsewhere.

 

Someone is going to have to face the idea though that in the end, growing is not a sustainable way to solve the problem, that it never was.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Bluegoat