Why is higher education so inefficient, to the detriment of its own people? It’s like we all collectively agreed on the worst solutions and maintain them as norms. I provide two examples, but feel free to share your own. Example 1) reimbursements; Example 2) #Academic Job search.

1) We follow a system of reimbursement - which serves no one. Most academics, especially graduate students make so little money, that fronting costs for travel, and to even conduct research off a grant is cost prohibitive at best, and punitive at worst.

Some may not even have enough money to pay up front and forgo attending conferences. Others may go but suffer potential losses. Delays in getting reimbursed? You pay interest on your cards. Lose a receipt or never get the correct one? You eat those costs.

Proposed solution: Pre-loaded debit card assigned to project members, or upfront travel card with set limit. Why is this hard? What’s preventing this system? Or if those don’t work is there a better one? Travel and research accounts for each employee? Leaders! Make this better!

2) The academic job search is time consuming, demoralizing, and overall wasteful. Not just for the applicant but for letter writers, and hiring committee members as well. Having to tailor multiple components of an application for hundreds of institutions is a full time job.

Proposed solution: central application system in each faculty discipline where applicants showcase their hiring portfolio. As institutions post new jobs applicants select specific ones as they come up as to whether or not they want to be considered by the hiring committee.

Hiring committee looks at pool of interested applicants and select the few they want supplemental materials from. From there they can select an even smaller pool of interview candidates. This opens the door to more applicants up front, easing access to the application process.

Why can’t we do this? Or what are even better approaches? I think if even one discipline like Ed Psych can put our minds together we can improve more of our processes so we can spend more time and resources on what really matter.

What are some processes or problems you would like to see improved?

I would add - that some of these changes may need to come from committees not at institutions but organizations in the field, and granting agencies. Like the rule of a grant can include prepaids for grants.