{"id":16058,"date":"2010-08-18T12:38:25","date_gmt":"2010-08-18T19:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=16058"},"modified":"2013-04-08T12:46:13","modified_gmt":"2013-04-08T19:46:13","slug":"goldwater-institute-study-falls-short-in-explaining-bloat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/goldwater-institute-study-falls-short-in-explaining-bloat\/","title":{"rendered":"Goldwater Institute study falls short in explaining \u2018bloat\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based politically motivated think tank, has issued a report critical of the nation\u2019s universities, including Arizona\u2019s public institutions, for what it claims is \u201cadministrative bloat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0report<\/a>, which was not shared with universities or the Arizona Board of Regents before being released to the media, says the number of administrators at Arizona\u2019s institutions increased dramatically from 1993 to 2007 compared to instruction, classroom and service.<\/p>\n

Called \u201cAdministrative Bloat at American Universities: The Real Reason for High Costs in Higher Education,\u201d the report was developed by Jay P. Greene, a Goldwater fellow and head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, using information collected from a federal database.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the author casts a wide net to define administrators and include categories such as librarians, academic advisers and financial aid counselors.<\/p>\n

More important, perhaps, the author failed to acknowledge the dramatic differences in today\u2019s universities compared to 1993. From the pre-Internet days 17 years ago to today\u2019s high-tech programming, distance education, and financial and academic advising, a single professor standing in front of a classroom of young students is not an accurate representation of a successful institution of higher education.<\/p>\n

Student services, technology services for every computer on campus, accountability to taxpayers, increased public safety and the multitude of other university operations and demands come with a price tag. It takes people and investment to achieve the goals and standards set by state and federal governments.<\/p>\n

Yet using Greene\u2019s own data, Northern Arizona University averages 4.6 administrators per 100 students\u2014well below the national average of 7.9.<\/p>\n

A better question for Greene to explore may have been \u201care we getting the bang for our buck,\u201d and, clearly, Arizonans can be assured that is the case:<\/p>\n