Week 4 - Anika Troeger - Section A03

Anika Troeger

ASA 002

Section A03

Week 4: Corporatization of the University

I used to believe that University was a magical place. My parents instilled the idea in my head that University was the key to success, to happiness. In a way, it can be. Going to school opens up many opportunities for you to better your life circumstances, brings so many new experiences, and widens your world. However, the public university system has become a system that is for profit, not so much for education. Increased tuition fees have continued to frustrate students who can barely afford higher education through loans and grants, especially since new administrators continue to be hired and programs continue to receive less funding over time. Hiring so many administrators leaves little room (and money) for more professors, who are the ones actually teaching students and conducting valuable research. I don’t believe that administrators are particularly useless, as administration is essential to keeping the University organized, but does every corner need to have an administrator watching its every move?

When the university’s for-profit nature is exposed, (keep in mind, the profit goes mainly to administration, not so much professors and other faculty), those doing the exposing are penalized for daring to fight back. Amy Joy, a current professor at the University of California, Davis was faced with ridicule and had to be interrogated by police after exposing the misuse of grant fund and fraud. No one should have to face ridicule for doing the right thing.

Many people struggle with reporting issues happening in the workplace and in universities, for fear of losing their job, fear of expulsion or suspension, for fear of losing their livelihood. This is understandable, but fighting against injustices will improve the public university system so that it can be for education again.

Citation: Schmidlin (2015)

Question: How is it that the public education became run by corporations despite being meant for education?

References:

DeBoer, F. (2015, September 9). Why We Should Fear University, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/magazine/why-we-should-fear-university-inc.html

Preston, K. (2013). The Corporatization of Higher Education [Digital image]. Retrieved from https://attackthesystem.com/2013/01/25/the-corporatization-of-higher-education/

Joy, A. B. (2014, May). Ethics and "Breaking Bad": Developing and Practicing Ethical Skills. Compliance & Ethics Professional.

Schmidlin, K. (2015, October). The corporatization of higher education: With a system that caters to the 1 percent, students and faculty get screwed [Digital Image]. Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/2015/10/10/the_corporatization_of_higher_education_with_a_system_that_caters_to_the_1_percent_students_and_faculty_get_screwed/