Idaho’s Higher Education Earthquake?

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | May 22, 2020 | Scott Yenor

[karpov]

Higher education reform will only come from the outside, probably from political reform. Or so we thought. Along came the coronavirus, also an outside force, that is upsetting the status quo in higher education. State universities are now preparing to cut budgets in the face of inevitable funding reductions from states and drops in student enrollment.

The inevitability of cuts does not make reform inevitable, however. Left to their own devices, universities are likely to prioritize diversity over excellence and bureaucracy over faculty and student needs. Governors, state legislatures, and state boards of education should, as John M. Ellis argued in his new book, encourage reform using state monies and regulatory power as leverage.

Haranguing universities about alternative programming or viewpoint diversity/free speech (while not unhelpful) does not get to the heart of the problem. Universities will tolerate such actions and work around them, dragging their feet to subvert them. Only budgets can get to the heart of the problem. Where universities put their money is where their heart is. Legislatures have leverage on budgets, and state universities cannot so easily ignore or deceive those who write the checks.

Idaho’s state legislature, together with a newly engaged state board and Governor Brad Little, has made an issue of the spiraling higher education costs. Tuition increases have fostered expansions of bureaucracy and mission creep, and such expansions demand ever-greater tuition revenues.

In June 2019, for instance, Boise State University (BSU) interim president Martin Schimpf sent a letter to Boise State faculty and staff boasting of BSU’s accomplishments in promoting diversity and inclusion. He promised more to come, including scholarships for DACA students (illegal under Idaho law), graduate fellowships designed for “underrepresented minority students” (which BSU then did), and the hiring of a chief diversity officer (which BSU also pursued).

[familyop]

Let it continue then, until they know that the customer is always right. Same with their incompetent and socially perverted business partners. It’s time to invent and innovate for the purpose of hardening our economy and nation against worse foreign hitchhiking diseases to come. What will the next one be? Flubola?

[econjack]

I taught at a Big Ten university for over 10 years and during that time (approx 2000-2010), faculty averaged about a 2% salary increase. However, tuition rates quadrupled that rate. Where did the money go? Administrative salaries. It wasn't so much they got bigger raises (they did, at about double our rate). The increase was eaten up by new administrators. And I don't have hard data to prove it, I'd guess half of those were hired to oversee the paperwork that made Federal grants possible. Very little of any tuition increase directly benefited the students.

[mewzilla]

No mention of pensions.

Can’t leave those out...

[youarekillingme]

I appreciate hearing your perspective. My daughter just graduated in 4 yeas with a stem degree from a state college. She worked hard. It was challenging. She spent 100k. I am not kidding. I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to help her pay for most of it just so she has a fighting chance. I’ll probably have to take it out of my 401k when I retire. My son in law (same University), was placed on mandatory online classes due to covid19 and the college promptly started charging online students 3% more for the online tuition rates. All the while telling the media they were doing what they could to “help” students. They both received very good grades. He’s an engineer. There are no grants and scholarships for the likes of us.

[V V Camp Enari 67-68]

Despicable, but hardly surprising.

[cgbg]

If you pay a prof 100K and they get a 5M federal grant (some of which goes to the university) it is a no brainer for the university.

Cut out the federal grants and the nonsense stops in a hurry.

Eisenhower nailed it in the paragraph of his "military industrial complex" speech that discussed the impact of federal grants:

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp

Excerpt:

A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.

[Grampa Dave]

A year ago one of our younger relatives was graduated from an excellent private high school, and he ripped the SAT’s and was accepted at 9 supposedly top engineering schools.

One was Boise State. He and his parents went up to check it out. His dad is an executive practicing engineer in two areas.

They left the campus after a couple of hours. They joked that it was closely following UC Berkeley re its PCism.

His Dad could not believe the PC crap changes.

His son is very conservative and had a physical run in with an off campus liberal at the Cal State school, where his Dad attended. A video showed that he didn’t start the confrontation. He ended it with a beautiful body slam on the liberal rectum, who started the “discussion”!

During his recent governor Gruesome study at home break, he has participated in a major protest at Sacramento and a minor one near him.

[Borderline]

My son just finished sophomore year at Idaho State Univ in Pocatello. I was very impressed with the lack of PC at that school. Very nice calm atmosphere with little to no BS.

He decided to transfer for the next fall to Univ Idaho in Moscow, I think I am going to be less impressed as they have a open dedication to PC. The difference is stark and UI is known as a ‘party school’. Isn’t that just PC.

The problem is the focus that comes, or doesn’t, from those high paid administrators. I hope the legislature slaps some of this crap down.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for this data.

Do they have a school of engineering?

[Grampa Dave]

What state was/is this in?

[Borderline]

“Do they have a school of engineering?”

Yes. My son is an mechanical engineering major. Not sure how ‘good’ the school of engineering is when compared with the big names. It was priced right and was what he picked. Being a resident and having a bucket full of scholarships, he get Idaho university tuition at very low cost. I was totally impressed with the atmosphere of calm study. Almost no political BS being acted out by the students. They in fact seemed to be really nice kids, all. I usually just say I loved ISU :^) That was yesterday, now I gotta learn to like UI, which is much more local. All my neighbors are alumni.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks, I have sent this to our grand kid and his parents.

“I think that good universities near California can take away a lot Cali kids.”

They have just helped him to get a paying summer internship, which not an option in March/April. He starts the day after Memorial Day.

Now, they are saying his engineering classes and nursing classes may not be the best classes to teach on line.

These are positive changes since the first of this week.

There is so much B$ going on for these kids and their parents.

[Borderline]

“There is so much B$ going on for these kids and their parents.”

No kidding. I’m a Kalifornicated reject. Don’t miss it. Moved out when my sone was 3. No way he was going to school there.

Best of luck and success for your grandson. Nothing more important.

Rick