Friday, March 20, 2009

How should the university be run over?

One of the most interesting topics that is covered in "Academic Keywords" by Cary Nelson and Stephen Watt is whether the universities should have an open or closed budget and the results that it can bring. I disagree with the current system that has a closed budget because I think that everyone who is part of the university should know where their investment is going or from where their income is coming. Although I am not suspicious about it, I think that it would in some way "help" the administrators to be more "honest" and fair otherwise it would cost them to lose the prestige and reputation of their business. This would make people also more confident and convinced about the instituion where they are living and earning their living. But anyway some of the administrators may claim that they are choosing a closed budget for concurrence reasons.
Another attractive topic was the investment that the pentagon is making on research at the universities. I totally disagree with this policy because it is only exploiting the students and the faculty but is also interferring with the universities' moral values. I believe that politics has to stay away from education, so that it does not become biased. The pentagon may argue that the research at university is cheaper and that the students and the faculty are serving the country, but after all these claims are definitely political goals.
One of the most taugh topics covered there is the payment of teachers. Although some of the surveys are trying to show that teachers are paid more than they deserve by stating that the universities who pay teachers less earn more, I strongly disagree with this claim and believe that the teachers should be valued more according to their contribution that they are giving to the university.
I also believe that a cooperative university would be more prolific because eveyone who is part of the university would be encouraged to do their best in front of the others.
I find the statement of the president of Phoenix to realistic and that there nothing wrong with it. He states that the students of his university are attending this college not because of knowledge or education but to help their future. Most of the students attend college thinking about their future profession and not because of adhering to moralistic values that seem somehow utopic in front of the reality that waits for them. As stating in this article students truly understand that a college degree means a safer future.
I am also supportive of the commercial university because this goal "helps" them to meet the requirements and needs of the students more. Someone may find it unfair because it includes facts such as a basketball coach paid more than the president of the university, but this is the best way to help the students who are the real " owners" of the universities.

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