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For those who think higher education is slipping away: 1. it is. 2. It's been happening over the course of the last 40 years. 3. The pandemic has tipped longstanding structural problems over the edge. 4. We can do something about it. 5. I try to explain: https://beltpublishing.com/products/sustainable-resilient-free-the-future-of-public-higher-education
I get frustrated of stories of decline that have so many higher ed folks discussing how to best manage the next phase of austerity. This is a trap to be escaped from and there is a door that could be opened, but for whatever reason, that view is outside the mainstream discussion.
I know that we can fund public higher ed with public money because it used to be the case. We can return to that world. It's a choice, not even a particularly hard one as long as we consider mission and values first, operations and revenue second.
This @chronicle article is a great ex. of the trap of looking at the problem through operations. The recovery is not "uncertain." It's impossible under the current model and structures. We need new structures, which are more like old structures, renewed. https://www.chronicle.com/article/higher-ed-faces-a-long-and-uneven-recovery-ratings-agencies-warn?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in
As I try to articulate in this blog post for my company, schools have a FUNDING problem, not REVENUE shortfalls. We have to start looking at the problems in a fundamentally different way. https://willowresearch.com/existential-threat-public-colleges-and-universities/
Looking at saving institutions through recovering or increasing revenue is doomed to failure if the goal is to actually carry out the purported mission of the institution. Sure, do what you can on that front, but you also have to pivot to a new reality.
