As universities nationwide are implementing the corporate model, faculty need to deal with issues of how the model is spreading to many aspects of university life and is negatively impacting students, especially first-generation students.
Consider the following reflections:
Issue 1: Boards of trustees are reorganizing the university structure and redirecting its policy toward a business model. Upper-level administrators are then hired as “business” leaders and are often rewarded with bonuses and promotions based on their ability to cut positions and to make greater demands on those who survive, resulting in a less-than-desirable environment for effective teaching and learning.
Issue 2: Deans of schools are often not on a tenure track and therefore are beholden to carry out the dictates of upper-level administration. Their survival depends on this loyalty, so if administration dictates cutting programs that benefit students, non-tenured deans are likely to comply.
Similarly, many faculty hires are not on a tenure track, so their existence hinges on adhering to corporate rules. This usually involves top-down demands to engage faculty in extra services that take time away from supporting students’ growth and development.
Issue 3: Department chairs are becoming middle managers. Traditionally known as academic leaders, chairpersons are now expected to produce corporate results. In today’s context of consolidation, a chair’s stresses are even greater as she or he works collaboratively with faculty in reorganizing larger departments as well as attending to departmental details.
The more chairs serve as middle managers, the less time they have to be instructional leaders who model and support effective teaching and learning.
