Book - Wannabe U: Inside the Corporate University

After six years of research, a socialogist publishes a book (keeping the name of the campus confidential, but it's probably the University of Connecticut) about campus culture and faculty-administrator rifts. Scott Jaschik, in Inside Higher Ed, writes a lengthy discussion of the book

:Most administrators haven't seen it yet.

But one who has -- James C. Garland, the retired president of Miami University, in Ohio -- gave it a mixed review in two posts on his blog. He praises the perspective Tuchman provides as one who is not a decision maker on campus. "Wannabe U made me squirm at times, because many of the examples paralleled my own experiences. And therein lies the book’s value. I hope my administrative colleagues will read this book, not because they will agree with it, or even because it is, as the dust cover asserts, 'an eye-opening expose of the modern university.' They should read it because people in power seldom understand how their actions are viewed by others, and why their good deeds and intentions often provoke suspicion and mistrust," he writes in his first post.

Stimulus Money Helps Colleges Avoid Slashing Budgets Now, but Big Cuts May Loom

Yes, the stimulus funds are helping, but few expect state budgets to be in much better shape after that money runs out. So, what happens in 2011? "We have a lot of administrators who are talking about retiring by 2012; they don't want to go through whatever's coming."

"This year was bleak for state higher-education budgets. But college leaders are even more worried about what comes next.

The billions of dollars in federal stimulus aid to plug shortfalls in state education budgets have helped limit the damage this year, but the money hasn't prevented all of the cuts to college budgets. Most states are spending the bulk of the stimulus money they are receiving for education on elementary and secondary schools, and roughly 20 percent on public colleges. In one state, Wisconsin, none of that federal aid is going to higher education.

And the situation could get worse. Many states are spending all of their education stimulus money to fill gaps in the current and next budget years, leaving nothing for 2011, when many of their economies are still expected to be suffering from the recession.'

Read the full article here:
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i39/39a02501.htm