Dive Summary:
- Richard Vedder, who directs the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, writes at Bloomberg that Janet Napolitano, the incoming president of the University of California system and outgoing secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, represents a non-traditional, but increasingly common choice as universities embrace political ties, thanks to dependence on federal and state funds.
- Vedder notes that Mitch Daniels at Purdue University, David Boren at the University of Oklahoma and Kent Hance at Texas Tech University have followed similar leadership paths.
- Although he praises the quality of education students get for the cost of tuition in the UC system, he also questions the need for 2,358 full-time employees at the system's central office.
From the article:
... Rather than bring in a leader with a proven record of recognizing the need to re-examine the public university and innovate to face these realities, the university’s Board of Regents has brought in a veteran at managing and perpetuating bureaucracies, one well-connected enough to keep the federal flow of support coming and to shake more money from the state’s already overburdened taxpayers. ...