Aaron Seitz Week 4 Blog

Aaron Seitz

Section A03

Week 4-Monday April 24

Response to “Unmaking the Public University: The Forty-year Assault on the Middle Class.” By Chris Newfield

            The reading for this week connected to the theme of “Corporatization of the University” by describing the shift that took place in public universities from a focus on broad education to more of a focus on specific topics that will directly result in money coming back into the university. The reading also relates to the weekly theme by exploring the different ways in which public universities found to make money after state funding was cut dramatically. These key ideas along with others mark what many consider to be the conversion of public universities into corporations. The first idea that stood out to me in this reading was the idea that “middle class” can refer not to people’s income but rather their education and potential future careers. I have never thought about “middle class” like that but I think that might be a better way of describing it. Whether students from low-income families realize it or not, by them going to college, they are setting themselves up to have careers that most likely will put them in what we normally consider “middle class.” I remember when I was applying to colleges I was told by an academic advisor at one university that I was in what they called the “screwed” category. He was referring to the fact that I was not considered low-income enough to receive financial aid but I was also not wealthy enough to pay for college outright. This however was referring specifically to what we consider “middle class” which is the household income alone rather than considering opportunities people have as well. Another point this reading made that I thought was important was its explanation of the interest of universities to find external funding after state funding was cut. A great modern example of this at Davis is our new Mondavi performing arts center and Mondavi school. These are examples of how our university has used external funding to continue the growth of our school despite minimal state funding. I would also argue that our school puts more of an emphasis on STEM classes that are seen as more directly profitable as opposed to social science courses. Whether we like it or not, we are part of a public university turning corporate.

Question: What does the ratio of public to private funding look like for our university and how does that compare to other universities in the country?

 

This image illustrates how in the world we live in today, public universities seem to be selling any services they can offer in order to bring in funding.

Resources:

Newfield, C. (2008). Unmaking the public university : The forty-year assault on the middle class. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

[The Role of Governments in Corporatizing Canadian Universities]. (2016, January 18). Retrieved April 22, 2017, from http://www.academicmatters.ca/2016/01/the-role-of-governments-in-corporatizing-canadian-universities/