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New U of Iowa President

In the normal "prices increase because demand is higher than supply" situation, the root driver is that sellers charge more because they can, not because they need more to provide the product. So, are you saying that universities (specifically Iowa) charged more because they can? That's not the story they sold every time the tuition went it. It was always that they couldn't balance the budget with what they had, they needed more, more, more. Where is all the money going? Have salaries kept pace with the rate of increase in tuition? If so, I want one of those jobs as they've far outstripped inflation. Other costs should have kept pace with inflation...so where is all the money going that they're getting for tuition? Is the university making proportionally more profit now than they were?

If it's just more students, expenses should grow proportionally to the increase in students (though the number of students hasn't risen dramatically over the last 40 years...certainly not in proportion to the tuition increase).

Can you explain the mechanics a bit more here?

I truly believe that the "mechanics" of larger Universities (like Iowa) are flawed.

In business, people are valued and rewarded in some sort of formula like this - Ability (brains, knowledge, savvy) x Effectiveness (leadership, team building, inspiring others) x Productivity (hard work, decision making, communication skills) = Value.

At a University, it's more like - Reputation x Articles Published x Years of Service. The professors at major universities don't actually spend that much time teaching, and often they don't even lead a department. They are supremely knowledgeable about a subject and use that knowledge to do research and write articles. They use their status to attract faculty and students.

Thus, Universities become think tanks - valued for the credentials of their faculty rather than the quality and productivity of their teaching.

That's all fine and good, except that you don't see these geniuses until you start an advanced degree program. As and undergrad, which is most people, you learn from Grad students.

Is that bad? IDK. But if you go to a University to get a business degree, part of you're tuition is paying for is for exceptional brilliance of some folks on the faculty that you will never even meet.

So, tuition increases. But does the true value of an undergraduate degree really improve?

I do know that most students should probably start at Community College. These schools are filled with people that want to actually teach vs. doing research and writing articles.

The "market" should correct this. But when you are 18, often times the quality of the football team (and the bar scene) is more important than the quality of the education you will get. Kids make decisions based on emotion.

I have no idea how to change the model.
 
You made some good points about Harreld's background but lost me with your off-kilter screed about "like-mindedness" (you have obviously never been around the inner workings of a university, where there are as many opinions as there are faculty members) and hiring "academia snobs" (as opposed to, what, corporate snobs?) and the bizarre Girl Scout rant et al. A little too much right-wing talk radio perhaps?

In any event, we can agree to disagree on the merits of Harreld's qualifications for the job he was handed by virtue of favoritism vs. fitness. No one is dismissing his experience with Kraft Foods, etc. but that's exactly the point about hiring a successful sporting goods store manager to run the Hawkeye football program. I'm just guessing but I'll bet dollars to donuts there'd be more than a little outrage (me included!) if the Regents insisted that Ferentz's successor be the hand-selected manager of Scheels.
I have been around the inner workings, two of my neighbors were Republican professors at the U of I. I know all about the inner workings. I don't listen to talk radio - if you think the girl scout snip was anything other than current day rhetoric then I disagree. I appreciate your opinion though.
 
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To illustrate the point, should the athletic department hire a successful sporting goods store manager to coach the Hawkeye football team? Good business manager, right? Apples and oranges do not usually a good mix make.

Not the best analogy. Sporting goods store manager....Please.

Harreld earned his MBA from Harvard and was an adjunct professor at both Harvard and Northwestern. He's not just some guy who ran a company once and did a little consulting. He'd played the academic game before...in some pretty tall grass...in addition to working with a number of large corporations.

Harreld's biggest problem was that he wasn't part of "the club".
 
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Not the best analogy. Sporting goods store manager....Please.

Harreld earned his MBA from Harvard and was an adjunct professor at both Harvard and Northwestern. He's not just some guy who ran a company once and did a little consulting. He'd played the academic game before...in some pretty tall grass...in addition to working with a number of large corporations.

Harreld's biggest problem was that he wasn't part of "the club".
Harreld was sought after personally by Bruce Rastetter. That is a fact.

The 'transparency' of the hiring was a sham; of this, there is no argument. The hiring itself violated open meeting laws. There were several other highly qualified candidates who I believe would have done as good a job as Harreld, if not better for no other reason than significantly more cooperation from staff and faculty.

That being said, I like Bruce Harreld. He fully understood he was not a popular choice (I told him that in my first meeting with him). But, I believe he has always had the University of Iowa's best interests at heart. And, in conflict with the Board of Regents, he was never a 'yes' man as they had wanted. He is doing the right thing for Iowa by giving the Regents time to make a good selection, and perhaps even hire the new president before Harreld is officially gone so he can provide a bit of mentorship to him/her; something he never had.
 
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I've always said there are 3 types of University presidents. The ones who sees athletics as the best marketing tool,the ones who believes stay out of my way I'll stay out of yours and the ones who detest athletics. The University of Iowa needs one of the first two.

The one I like is Renu Khator at University of Houston. Although originally from India she said that athletics is the front page of the University. She is visible at FB games. She and her husband had mens BB season tickets last year and were at a good share of the games. I havent seen her this year but that may be because of limited attendance.
 
I've always said there are 3 types of University presidents. The ones who sees athletics as the best marketing tool,the ones who believes stay out of my way I'll stay out of yours and the ones who detest athletics. The University of Iowa needs one of the first two.

Rawlings was clearly the 3rd type. The visual of pointy goateed, tenured liberal arts professors sporting blazers with elbow patches, sipping chardonnay (or perhaps obscure craft beer in 2021) in the corner, arrogantly stumbling over each other to look like the most enlightened and intellectually superior one in the room while demeaning those of lesser station... is not a stereotype.

...and athletes...dear gawd, could there be anything more gauche and crude. How could we even allow that on our campus? Such neanderthals.
 
Harreld was sought after personally by Bruce Rastetter. That is a fact.

The 'transparency' of the hiring was a sham; of this, there is no argument. The hiring itself violated open meeting laws. There were several other highly qualified candidates who I believe would have done as good a job as Harreld, if not better for no other reason than significantly more cooperation from staff and faculty.

That being said, I like Bruce Harreld. He fully understood he was not a popular choice (I told him that in my first meeting with him). But, I believe he has always had the University of Iowa's best interests at heart. And, in conflict with the Board of Regents, he was never a 'yes' man as they had wanted. He is doing the right thing for Iowa by giving the Regents time to make a good selection, and perhaps even hire the new president before Harreld is officially gone so he can provide a bit of mentorship to him/her; something he never had.
Excellent points - image had the staff accepted Bruce from the get-go how much more they could have accomplished. Some of the best things come from shake ups, going away from "norm" to get results. I have been in meetings where the same people ask the same questions to the same groups and somehow expect different results... I thank Bruce for his time and hope that the new hire will not "EO" everything Bruce did.
 
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The one I like is Renu Khator at University of Houston. Although originally from India she said that athletics is the front page of the University. She is visible at FB games. She and her husband had mens BB season tickets last year and were at a good share of the games. I havent seen her this year but that may be because of limited attendance.
Live in Houston; would love that selection. Active, promotion oriented leader. Something that UI badly needs
 
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