In the corporate world, if you wrote a scathing criticism of your profession using a thinly veiled version of your own company as a case study, you probably would be fired before the publication date.
In academia, they might just throw you a launch party.
University of Connecticut sociology Professor Gaye Tuchman has written a book that might be considered an indictment of the business-like practices in place at many universities — with a case study based on what appears to be UConn.
Tongues have been wagging in Storrs about the true identities of the college presidents, provosts and professors mentioned in "Wannabe U: Inside the Corporate University."
"For me, it's kind of like reading a Russian novel," said Ed Marth, executive director of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, who said Wannabe U is clearly UConn with disguised identities. "Since I know everybody in the book, she did a very good job in terms of finding names that kind of capture the person. ...'
"All you've got to do is say, 'Oh, I saw you in the book,' and, you know, books will be flying off the shelves."
Tuchman said that, for ethical reasons, she isn't free to say where her case study is based or to reveal her characters' identities. "I'm never going to say this is about UConn," she said in a recent interview. "I am happy to say that I work at UConn and that it's a fine place to work."
What is the official reaction from the hallowed halls? Michael Kirk, spokesman for the administration, said the university has made "tremendous advances" in the past 12 years and is a "top-notch research university."
"Of course, not everyone is comfortable with change," he said, "and they are certainly entitled to their opinion."
And, oh yes, the university's bookstore is feting Tuchman on Thursday.
Thus the difference between the corporate and academic worlds.
A university with its tenure system "gives faculty the freedom to pursue provocative ideas, controversial ideas," said Davita Glasberg, who heads the sociology department at UConn. "If people were afraid to do that, we would not learn much about anything other than what serves the interests of the powers that be."
But Tuchman and others, as she writes in her book, fear that the support for free-thinking professors and for a university that is focused on learning and research is being jeopardized by corporate values that emphasize money-making and public image over a concern for real quality.
"Universities are no longer to lead the minds of students to grasp truth; to grapple with intellectual possibilities; to appreciate the best in art, music, and other forms of culture; and to work toward enlightened politics and public services," Tuchman writes. "Rather they are now to prepare students for jobs. They are not to educate, but to train."
Who is to blame? Partly it's the decrease in government dollars targeted for universities in recent years. But Tuchman focuses on professional administrators — "wannabe corporate managers" as the book flap calls them — who have been hired to boost the university's image and who, to that end, are always on the hunt for new streams of revenue.
In the book, she poses the question "What are universities all about?" and continues, "'It's all about money,' a central administrator told me, as we discussed Wan U's priorities."
It's clear from Tuchman's detailed and often witty ethnography that professors at Wannabe U do not think highly of the various provosts, vice provosts and other administrators who, like their corporate counterparts, jump from job to job.
"A department head said that the publications of one top administrator are 'weak at best,'" she writes.
Of another administrator, a different department head snipes, "When he wants to discuss research, he has to talk about his dissertation. He apparently hasn't done any research since then."
For those with a taste for scandal, there is a mention on Page 104 of a dean who had an affair with a female colleague in the home of another colleague. She also writes of a campus life so stratified that an observer can gauge the importance of a staff person being honored by the type of refreshments served: either tiny hot dogs, American cheese and fresh fruit or, for a higher-up, scallops wrapped in bacon, shrimp, and strawberries dipped in chocolate.
She writes critically of the collaboration between universities and the private sector, as Wannabe U, in this case, attempts to parlay scientific research into money-making arrangements.
Tuchman also writes of Wannabe U's preoccupation with improving its ranking in the U.S. News & World Report's college issue, resorting to the use of "innovations" or "tricks" to do so. Those rankings, she writes, are "seductive" because they "seem to provide a path to elite status."
Experts across the country say the trends Tuchman identifies are a source of concern at both private and public institutions all across the country.
Cary Nelson, an English professor at the University of Illinois and president of the American Association of University Professors, said the sort of changes Tuchman discusses "have been taking place over the past 20 years," often pitting corporate values against ethics.
"There are too many administrators earning too much money, spending vast amounts on pet projects," Nelson said.
Karla H. Fox, a professor of business law at UConn's School of Business and a member of the University Senate, said, "This is a trend in higher education. It's whether you like it or not, that's what's happening. ... What people always have to strive for is balance. You have to balance the overarching goals of knowledge and education — balance that against trying to be economical and financially efficient."
Fox takes issue with the title of the book, however.
"I don't know whether it's UConn or not, but ... UConn is the real deal," she said. "It's not a wannabe, and we have outstanding quality in our education and research."
On Thursday at 4 p.m., Tuchman will read from her book at the UConn Co-op. The refreshments? Staff at the bookstore said cookies, probably.
In academia, they might just throw you a launch party.
University of Connecticut sociology Professor Gaye Tuchman has written a book that might be considered an indictment of the business-like practices in place at many universities — with a case study based on what appears to be UConn.
Tongues have been wagging in Storrs about the true identities of the college presidents, provosts and professors mentioned in "Wannabe U: Inside the Corporate University."
"For me, it's kind of like reading a Russian novel," said Ed Marth, executive director of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, who said Wannabe U is clearly UConn with disguised identities. "Since I know everybody in the book, she did a very good job in terms of finding names that kind of capture the person. ...'
"All you've got to do is say, 'Oh, I saw you in the book,' and, you know, books will be flying off the shelves."
Tuchman said that, for ethical reasons, she isn't free to say where her case study is based or to reveal her characters' identities. "I'm never going to say this is about UConn," she said in a recent interview. "I am happy to say that I work at UConn and that it's a fine place to work."
What is the official reaction from the hallowed halls? Michael Kirk, spokesman for the administration, said the university has made "tremendous advances" in the past 12 years and is a "top-notch research university."
"Of course, not everyone is comfortable with change," he said, "and they are certainly entitled to their opinion."
And, oh yes, the university's bookstore is feting Tuchman on Thursday.
Thus the difference between the corporate and academic worlds.
A university with its tenure system "gives faculty the freedom to pursue provocative ideas, controversial ideas," said Davita Glasberg, who heads the sociology department at UConn. "If people were afraid to do that, we would not learn much about anything other than what serves the interests of the powers that be."
But Tuchman and others, as she writes in her book, fear that the support for free-thinking professors and for a university that is focused on learning and research is being jeopardized by corporate values that emphasize money-making and public image over a concern for real quality.
"Universities are no longer to lead the minds of students to grasp truth; to grapple with intellectual possibilities; to appreciate the best in art, music, and other forms of culture; and to work toward enlightened politics and public services," Tuchman writes. "Rather they are now to prepare students for jobs. They are not to educate, but to train."
Who is to blame? Partly it's the decrease in government dollars targeted for universities in recent years. But Tuchman focuses on professional administrators — "wannabe corporate managers" as the book flap calls them — who have been hired to boost the university's image and who, to that end, are always on the hunt for new streams of revenue.
In the book, she poses the question "What are universities all about?" and continues, "'It's all about money,' a central administrator told me, as we discussed Wan U's priorities."
It's clear from Tuchman's detailed and often witty ethnography that professors at Wannabe U do not think highly of the various provosts, vice provosts and other administrators who, like their corporate counterparts, jump from job to job.
"A department head said that the publications of one top administrator are 'weak at best,'" she writes.
Of another administrator, a different department head snipes, "When he wants to discuss research, he has to talk about his dissertation. He apparently hasn't done any research since then."
For those with a taste for scandal, there is a mention on Page 104 of a dean who had an affair with a female colleague in the home of another colleague. She also writes of a campus life so stratified that an observer can gauge the importance of a staff person being honored by the type of refreshments served: either tiny hot dogs, American cheese and fresh fruit or, for a higher-up, scallops wrapped in bacon, shrimp, and strawberries dipped in chocolate.
She writes critically of the collaboration between universities and the private sector, as Wannabe U, in this case, attempts to parlay scientific research into money-making arrangements.
Tuchman also writes of Wannabe U's preoccupation with improving its ranking in the U.S. News & World Report's college issue, resorting to the use of "innovations" or "tricks" to do so. Those rankings, she writes, are "seductive" because they "seem to provide a path to elite status."
Experts across the country say the trends Tuchman identifies are a source of concern at both private and public institutions all across the country.
Cary Nelson, an English professor at the University of Illinois and president of the American Association of University Professors, said the sort of changes Tuchman discusses "have been taking place over the past 20 years," often pitting corporate values against ethics.
"There are too many administrators earning too much money, spending vast amounts on pet projects," Nelson said.
Karla H. Fox, a professor of business law at UConn's School of Business and a member of the University Senate, said, "This is a trend in higher education. It's whether you like it or not, that's what's happening. ... What people always have to strive for is balance. You have to balance the overarching goals of knowledge and education — balance that against trying to be economical and financially efficient."
Fox takes issue with the title of the book, however.
"I don't know whether it's UConn or not, but ... UConn is the real deal," she said. "It's not a wannabe, and we have outstanding quality in our education and research."
On Thursday at 4 p.m., Tuchman will read from her book at the UConn Co-op. The refreshments? Staff at the bookstore said cookies, probably.
How fascinating Megani chose to interview people who hardly represent faculty views. Ed Marth spends more time back channeling against the very people who hire him to enhance his personal stature, and Karla Fox, a long time lap dog for any thing the administration has to say, has had more temporary positions and assignments than the Kamasutra.
Tuchman has dared to expose the underbelly of an ugly beast. To suggest that in business she would be fired shows a lack of understanding what the function a university is. UCONN needs closer scrutiny. Maybe this is the start.
uconned2 (10/15/2009, 11:32 AM )