November 15, 2001-Vol33n11: "Ins" and "outs" of higher ed

"Ins" and "outs" of higher ed
Managing editor of Chronicle offers perspective to faculty

By DONNA LONGENECKER
Reporter Assistant Editor

The hierarchy of higher education is changing, Douglas Lederman, managing editor of The Chronicle of Higher Edcuation, told the Faculty Senate on Nov. 6, with universities like Duke and Stanford replacing Harvard and Yale in the pecking order, and for-profit institutions like the University of Phoenix beginning to shake up the market.

Lederman, who oversees the weekly newspaper that covers higher education, outlined for senators—from his perspective—the major trends taking place in academe. He shaped his dialogue in the form of a "what's in, what's out," laundry list of societal and political changes affecting the role of institutions across the country.

In the game of big ideas, the players and the pecking order have changed—Ivy League institutions are out, he said, and southern and western universities like Stanford and Duke are in—with the for-profit University of Phoenix and its adult-education programs spreading across the country and "scaring the daylights out of a lot of college officials."

The biggest changes in higher education have occurred, he said, in the increasing role of for-profit education and its appeal to professionals looking to beef up their skills and expand their horizons in a precarious job market.

"The higher-education hierarchy is out and the blurring of roles and competition are in," said Lederman, noting that institutions like the University of Phoenix figured out the changing adult-education marketplace before other institutions, offering practical, specialized education and training for professionals at convenient times and in places like "suburban strip malls with lots of parking." Phoenix, the largest such for-profit university, has more than 100,000 students on more than 100 campuses throughout the country, but there are many others out there, he said, winning increasing clout—and they are doing it, according to Lederman, "without fancy dorms or football teams."

Interestingly, the top lobbyist of the Apollo group, the parent company of the University of Phoenix, is about to become the federal government's top policy maker on higher-education issues, Lederman said, and hopping on the "if you can't beat them, join them" bandwagon are Columbia University and Cornell, who also are starting for-profit spin-offs of their own.

The rapid pace of technological change, exploding population centers in the South and West, the widening wage gap between those with college and advanced degrees and those without, and institutions facing more stringent accountability from lawmakers have led to bedrock principles and long-standing assumptions being questioned from inside the academy, he said.

"The result of all of this is a fascinating mess, it's not nearly the neatly packaged, clearly defined hierarchy that existed not so long ago. With institutional roles and geographical boundaries blurring, no one's market is secure. And it's harder to define what quality is and who's providing it, which makes it harder for the public and politicians to know who to support and who to trust," said Lederman.

The "traditional reflexive embrace of lawmakers" is out, he said, and so is the unquestioned public and private support for the institutions that have dominated the academic landscape. Institutions "can no longer count on the endless well of positive public sentiment"—the "comfortable sinecure" of life in the academy is out.

Some of these factors, coupled with a tightening faculty job market, have led to the increasing political and financial clout of community colleges, some of which are offering four-year degrees, and like Northern Virginia Community College, have hundreds of students with doctorates, he said. And, he noted, community colleges now are drawing faculty from top graduate schools—with four-year institutions moving away from tenure-track hires and relying on adjunct and part-time faculty.

"Until the 1980s, colleges got an essentially free ride from state and federal lawmakers," he said. But, he added, the arrogance of college officials, sloppy accounting, an endless parade of athletic abuses and officials unaccustomed to having their positions questioned has "shaken them out of their cocoon of comfort."

The good news for American educators may be that exclusivity regarding foreign universities is out and American style and innovation is in, according to Lederman—with Notre Dame making inroads into places like Syria, the global model is definitely in, he said.