New Series: A Look at the College/University

I don’t talk about my work on my blog, and when I do, it’s usually to say that I don’t talk about my work on my blog. There are two reasons for this; the first being the most important: I never want to discuss something that might violate student privacy law (FERPA). I work with graduate students at my job—I am their advisor. I am on the front lines. I advise from the time they apply to the program through to their commencement. I answer questions of every sort and variety—some of which are completely non-academic in nature. I never want to compromise the students’ trust or my university’s trust in me. The second reason is also important, though not nearly as important as the first: I do not want to present a conflict of interest to my job on my blog. I never want to be construed as giving insider or false information as to how things are done.  By working at a public institution of higher education, I am a state employee, and there are certain responsibilities that come with being a state employee.

Both of these things, in my mind, are more than enough reason to never discuss my work outside of my office. I don’t even share much of what I do at work with my husband, except in the broadest of terms.

Yet… You knew there was a “But,” coming, right? I was disturbed last week when I watched the President’s State of the Union Address. He made an off-handed comment about how higher education keeps charging higher and higher tuition and hurting American families and the nation. It received a standing ovation, if I remember correctly. It smarted to hear him say this, since the university I work at is currently in a budget battle with our state’s governor. Then again, we’re always in a budget battle, it seems, with the governor and the state legislature.

The long and the short of it is this: I believe that state schools do not receive enough money from the government to actually run the schools, in today’s economic climate. I’ll make my case to this point later, because it’s important to issues like higher tuition rates. My contention is that if we received the governmental money, there would be less discussion of tuition hikes.

This belief, combined with some alarming stories I’ve been hearing from friends who work at universities (I’ve worked at three in my life—a top tier research institution, a private school of some renown, and a large second tier state school) and the troubles their campuses face has led me to think that most Americans truly have no concept of what goes on in administering a university. This is troubling to me for three reasons—first, the vast majority of us have either attended college and graduate school, or we plan to send our kids to college and graduate school. The second reason is that we all pay taxes that support higher education. The third is that the professionals that we rely on each and every day (our doctors, our children’s teachers, our lawyers- when we need them, our tax preparers) have received their education and preparation for their job at a college or university.

The university is an important place. If Americans understood what is going on, I have to think that they’d be more likely to support higher education. As it stands right now, colleges and universities seem like the go-to for politicians who are looking to bash something during an election year, and they can do this carte blanche because the public is not as informed as they could be.

I feel as if I am in a unique position to shed some light on the subject of the university, since I’ve worked at three different institutions in varying capacities and also am preparing to send a kid to college in a couple of years. Yeah—that’s right—a couple of years. Close enough to be discussing the ACT and college visits, and letters of rec and first choice schools and all the rest.

Plus, I want to shed some light on the subject. There are a lot of things that occur at a university which are irreplaceable. Education is one of our society’s greatest social institutions.

So, my goal is to present you with some common knowledge—no insider trading, but common knowledge, you could look it up on Google or the news if you really wanted to—so that you understand the challenges that universities face in education and the challenges parents and students can face in attaining higher education. One of the first things I want to discuss is where all the money comes from. The next would be to give you a general idea of where all the money goes and why. Then we can talk about the difference between different types of institutions, and the responsibilities of a faculty member, and the like. I like to think that what we do is very important, worthy of respect and support, and I hope that I can convince you of that, too.