Lauren Velasquez & Max Probstel
A03
Week 4 Section Presentation: The Corportization of Higher Education
Many critics of the structure of higher education are claiming that American universities are being “corporatized.” Not “corporatized” in the sense that the university is incorporating more brands and sponsorships into their athletic programs and daily life, but in the sense that the university itself has turned into a corporation structure. University jobs have become more of a corporate ladder climb, and less of a collective faculty. Fredrik deBoer describes in his article, Why We Should Fear University, Inc. observes that “colleges now… employ more senior administrators than professor” (deBoer, 2015.) deBoer is describing how university administrators are taking precedence over professors. He acknowledges that, in every university, especially large-scale ones, there are many essential functions that university administrators perform, but “try imagining a high school with more vice principals than teachers” (deBoer, 2015.) deBoer makes this point, because he feels that it is important to have the “ungroomed, the weird or the wild” campus life, and that it adds to a campus personality that he believes is a critical element in universities. When students come to university, learning and studying isn’t the only things they do; students are supposed to gain worldly experiences that will shape their life and create who they are. Compared to the structured learning setting of high school, college is supposed to be able to offer emphasized curriculum, rather than just standardized math, science, and history courses.
Another predicament that comes out of corporatization of universities, is the protection of the university’s image, and the hasty scapegoating and finger-pointing methods that universities use to deflect criticism. UC Davis is consistent offender of this. The article, A Tale of Two Campuses, compares the Occupy movements that occurred at UC Berkeley and UC Davis. When the Occupy movement occurred on the Berkeley campus, UCB administrators listened to the demands of the students. UC Davis administrators accused “its students of causing $8,500 in expenses,” and shortly after the article was originally published, “...images and some of the more egregious comments by the UC-Davis administration were removed from the article” (Markow, 2011.) This situation reveals the corporate attitudes of the UC Davis administration. Public universities should recognize their students for being progressive, demanding relief from their economic struggles. Instead, UC Davis administrators tried to paint their students as vandals and delinquents that trashed school property.
This is not the only time that UC Davis had tried to protect their image. UC Davis infamously paid $175,000 to professionals to remove the pepper spray incident of the Occupy movement. The reasoning for this? UC Davis official found it critical that “Increased investment in social media and communications strategy has heightened the profile of the university to good effect” (Parvini, 2016.) Again, like a corporation, UC Davis refuses to own up to their mistakes and tries to erase the past. Lucky for us, the internet never forgets. The corporate university is so focused on their image, it shows no remorse for the students and their classmates the terror they went through during this event. As Markow mentioned in his article, UC Davis’ response to the Occupy movement “seems tone-deaf” (Markow, 2011.)
Lastly, layers and layers of bureaucracy are used in many universities--Davis among many others are guilty of this. One example that is easily seen on campus is hiring a contractor, like Sodexo. The article, The Corporatization of Higher Education, observed that for universities, “Hiring through a contractor allows them breathing room, when… their workers complain about their wages and benefits… The schools can then promise to deal with the contractor while insisting that they are caught in the middle of a crisis not of their making” (Mills, 2012.) Hiring contractors for food-service work gives university administrators one less thing to worry about. While this may look good on paper, it also gives the university a layer of protection and one less thing to be blamed for; a way for universities to say, “It’s out of our control!” This is very consistent with UC Davis’ non-acceptance of wrongdoing and corporate attitude. However, this is understandable, because many of university administrators are board members of outside corporations anyway, and these administrators benefit greatly from being part of outside corporations; In Linda Katehi’s case, Katehi benefited from a corporation with conflicting interests of the university, which sparked outrage of faculty and students that ultimately led to her resignation as chancellor of UC Davis.
The minority populations of universities are indirectly affected by this type of university management. They are the ones who get caught in the system, and their minority programs are the one who end up paying for it. When universities are focused on making their institution the highest ranked on US News, “Best Colleges,” they are willing to give up money to renovate every single section of the university to keep a modern image. University administrators are constantly trying to have the most competitive sports programs, programs that could potentially rack in revenue for their schools. However, administrators are not motivated to improve minority programs, because it doesn’t generate the same income as sports programs does. A good example of when minorities suffered from University, inc. is the Occupy movement. The movement was about the MCap program that was designed to help the middle class and lower university fees, yet UC Davis paints their protesting students in an ugly light. Protesters suffered from unnecessary pepper-spraying, and the university disrespects their struggles by trying to cover up the situation. Instead of looking for solutions to help the students, university administrators are only interested in themselves and their ranking on “Best Colleges.”
In Germany, universities do not include facilities such as gyms, pools, or other recreation centers. Universities in Germany are pure academia The public universities are very cheap compared to the United States. Furthermore, going to college is such an integral part in United States culture. With a high percentage of high school graduates attending higher education, it is understandable how universities have to advertise themselves to receive a higher application rate. In Germany, going to university after high school is not as common. For middle-class income jobs, such as an electrician or a middle school teacher, it is more common to do an apprenticeship, then take tests, but this usually takes a maximum of two years. In this way, it is harder for universities to make as much money off of students compared to US universities, due to high tuition rates and high application number of students.
As university students, we must work together to create a community that reaches out to support each other in this corporatization of universities. We must listen to each other wants and needs and figure out what is the best way to make campus life less of an individual uphill battle, and more of a communal problem-solver approach. In the corporate world, life is tough and competitive; you are on your own, thrown into the lion’s den of competition, but university shouldn’t feel that way. As a student trying to achieve a higher education, it should feel like we are discovering new passions and talents, discover the meaning of what community means to us, and building ourselves to become open-minded and educated people.
The image below describes the differences between a “public university” and a “corporatized university.” Some significant points that stand out that was consistent with deBoer’s message, is the collegial, shared governance vs. top-down managerial hierarchy. Instead of there being a collaborative curriculum with classmates, there is a competitive nature with classmates.
ALL CAPS Design. (2015, September 1). Higher Education's Silent Killer [Digital image]. Retrieved April 22, 2017, from https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/higher-educations-silent-killer
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
Markow, Alan. "A Tale of Two Campuses: Berkeley and Davis respond to Occupy movements." IVN.us. N.p., 22 Dec. 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.
Mills, Nicolaus. "The Corporatization of Higher Education." Dissent Magazine Fall 2012: n. pag. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.
Parvini, Sarah. "UC Davis Defends Paying to Remove Pepper-spray References from Internet." Los Angeles Times 15 Apr. 2016: n. pag. Print.
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