What's wrong with the California State Universities?

[Lionel Mandrake]

This just in from the Irascible Professor (Mark H. Shapiro):

"The number of administrative positions in colleges and universities in general, and in the California State University system in particular continues to grow at an obscene rate that far outstrips the growth in the number of students or the number of faculty and support staff members."

and guest commentator Ralph D. Westfall:

"... the number of full-time faculty in the whole CSU system rose from 11,614 to 12,019 between 1975 and 2008, an increase of only 3.5 percent. In the same time period the total number of administrators rose 221 percent, from 3,800 to 12,183. In 1975, there were three full time faculty members per administrator, but now there are actually slightly more administrators than full-time faculty."

Read more: http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-07-14-11.htm

The administrators have the biggest paychecks, the nicest offices, the best parking slots, and other perks to show how important they are. They are not exactly overworked. It's hard to tell what most of them do, if anything, except to soak up money and resources.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. So, just how do those well-padded administrators get those perks?

Do they hire each other? Is there no oversight?

It sounds like an awfully counterproductive situation to me.

Do normal folks like us have any say in how the CSU are run?

[Lionel Mandrake]

2. Rudyard Kipling might have written something about that.

Just-So Stories:

How the Whale Got His Throat — explains why the big whale eats such small prey.
How the Camel Got His Hump — explains how the idle camel was punished.
How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin — explains why Rhinos have folds in their skin and bad tempers.
How the Administrator Got His Perks — explains why administrators are overpaid and underworked.

Or maybe not.

Seriously, there is a board of trustees which provides oversight. They are all powerful. They control hiring and compensation of the top administrators, who in turn hire as many subordinates as they can, in accordance with Parkinson's Law, which is

"a mathematical equation describing the rate at which bureaucracies expand over time. ... purportedly scientific observations supporting his law, such as the increase in the number of employees at the Colonial Office while Great Britain's overseas empire declined (indeed, he shows that the Colonial Office had its greatest number of staff at the point when it was folded into the Foreign Office because of a lack of colonies to administer). He explains this growth by two forces: (1) "An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals" and (2) "Officials make work for each other." He notes in particular that the total of those employed inside a bureaucracy rose by 5-7% per year 'irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done.' "

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_Law


Do normal folks like us have any say in how the CSU are run?

'fraid not.

[shanti]

3. follow the money....

never fails. i also want to know more about these "trustees" and how they are chosen.

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. More About Trustees and How They Are Chosen

Board of Trustees

The California State University is administered by the 25 member Board of Trustees ... composed of:

16 members that are appointed by the Governor of California with the consent of the Senate

two students from the California State University appointed by the Governor

a tenured faculty member appointed by the Governor selected from a list of names from the Academic Senate

a representative of the alumni associations of the state university selected for a two-year term by the alumni council of the California State University

5 ex officio members:

Governor
Lieutenant Governor
Speaker of the Assembly
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
the CSU Chancellor


Current members

Ex officio trustees:
Jerry Brown, Governor of California
Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor of California
John Pérez, Speaker of the Assembly
Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Charles B. Reed, CSU Chancellor

Appointed trustees:
Roberta Achtenberg
Herbert L. Carter
Nicole Anderson
Carol R. Chandler
Steve Dixon
Debra S. Farar
Kenneth Fong
Margaret Fortune
George G. Gowgani
Melinda Guzman
William Hauck
Raymond Holdsworth, Jr.
Linda A. Lang
Bob Linscheid
Hsing Kung
Peter Mehas
Henry Mendoza
Lou Monville
Glen Toney
Thyrone Antonio

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_University#Board_of_Trustees

[shanti]

5. thank you

time to do some googling :hi:

[Lionel Mandrake]

7. You're welcome.

Happy googling. :-)

[somone]

6. The administrative bloat is driving up college costs everywhere

Get rid of those bullshit administrators and bureaucrats.

[Lionel Mandrake]

8. I agree, but ...

it is very difficult to get rid of entrenched bureaucrats (especially if you are not the governor of California).