Ok, I think they are just looking for investments that increase their value on paper, basically almost anything other than investing that back in their workforce in the form of higher wages, benefits, things that might improve the world in some way, whatever. A school can raise money for new campuses or sports facilities that bring in more customers (er students), but not to keep certain departments around or expand them. Those things don't increase shareholder value, impress donors who want their names on buildings and they aren't assets that can be sold off when someone else acquires the company, they arent things that generate passive income in the form of rents or tuition, etc.
Just a quick view of UF's MBA programs shows that they have a South Florida Weekend option that is 24 months long and costs $66k. It is held at the Miramar Tech Center. Not sure how many people would feel about attending a UF program at that center. Weekend Professional Two-Year South Florida - MBA What I think Sasse is looking to do is develop something like UVA's Darden School of Business has done in DC. Establish a "campus" on several floors of a great building in Miami and offer a wide range of offerings (MBA, Executive Education, Masters in BA) to potential students and companies in the Miami/Dade area. So now UF is a player in the largest metro market in Florida when it comes to business and business schools.
I’m not inclined to agree with your view that all labor in the world including university labor is underpaid and exploited but I will agree expanding for expansion sake isn’t always appropriate, especially for a state university. I will grant you that sometimes graduate/phd students are arguably exploited when they do actual valuable research work and don’t get paid crap for it. I’m not sure what the case is for having a UF in Jacksonville or South Fl. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Let’s not forget grad students on stipend aren’t subject to the Federal Wage and Hour laws. You can work ‘em like a rented mule and not pay overtime. I got a lot of research done this way. Volunteers, interns & grad students
I didn’t see much of a vision at least based on the article. Though it was telling that he had to walk back talk of eliminating depts. I wonder if his talk of rankings not being a north star was anticipatory.? Funny thing I agree about rankings. But that’s because I think tend to pervert understanding more than elucidate
While the schools are in quite different positions, I'm not sure I want a vision necessarily, that's typically bad news. Like Gordon Gee at WVU, the only vision those cretins usually have is cutting jobs and promising gains at some point in the future that never materialize. We are pretty high up in the rankings as public schools go, so it makes sense that there is really only one way to go, and that's down, maybe its expectations management.
Whatever Sasse's vision is, he’s at least smart enough to understand that you can’t just run roughshod over the school. I tend to think he’s anticipating a drop in the rankings not because there is no other way to go but due to RD's attacks on academic freedom. Similar thing occurred when Scott Walker was governor and UW-Madison ended up tumbling in the rankings.
