Charter University - Risky Business
by Linda M. Rouillard, UT-AAUP Executive Board
The first entry in the definition of "enterprise" in the Merriam Webster Dictionary is "a project or undertaking that is especially difficult, complicated, or risky." An enterprise is also characterized as a "readiness to engage in daring or difficult action" and it is also "a unit of economic organization or activity." By these definitions, Chancellor Petro's charter university proposal (available at http://www.ohiohighered.org) presented at the August 11, 2011 Trustee Conference at The Ohio State University certainly qualifies as an "enterprise": his plan is very risky and glosses over the fact that a university is first and foremost an institution of higher learning, not an institution of higher profits. In this proposal, the Chancellor explains how university presidents and boards of trustees can escape the nightmare of accountability, responsibility and transparency currently required (but not necessarily realized). Apparently, only when administrators are freed from onerous requirements to document how they spend taxpayer money and tuition revenue can they transform our state universities into the money-making machines of their dreams.
Of course, it is more than reasonable and necessary to seriously work at making higher education much more affordable than it has become. It is, however, difficult to see how that will happen with this plan that includes such initiatives as permitting universities "to set different tuition and fees for space and facility reasons. This provision would allow universities to lower tuition during non-peak (post-4p.m., Fridays, Saturdays, etc.) hours to work on maximizing the use of campus facilities." (p. 27). Logic suggests that there are limits to the number of time slots and places available in these proposed hours, and limits to customers who will prefer these times, and hence limited savings. Permitting "universities to mandate electronic pay- check deposit (Direct Deposit) for all employees" is also unlikely to produce economies of scale great enough to stem tuition increases or optimize university budgets.
In her testimony to the House Finance Subcommittee on Higher Education (April 7, 2011), Sara Kaminski, Executive Director for the Ohio Conference of the AAUP cited the example of Virginia's experience with charter universities. When administrators were left to their own devices and freed from state regulations, Virginia Commonwealth University students paid 24% more in tuition this academic year while their counterparts at the University of Virginia have been crushed by a 50.5% tuition increase over the last five years. Given that many universities play the same game that The University of Toledo has played, that is, exorbitantly raising student fees, which unlike tuition, are not regulated, one does not have to speculate about what will happen to tuition rates here once state oversight is removed. For instance, according to the President's Recommended Budget for FY2012, (as of June 13, 2011), LLSS students will now pay an extra $25 per credit hour in fees for each credit hour at the 3000 and 4000 level. In other words, progressing towards graduation costs a student more money, a penalty for succeeding. Among other new fees: UTLC new student orientation fee for direct from high school students at $110; UTLC new student orientation fee for transfer students at $100, both of which are projected to generate over half a million in revenue. In the Graduate College, there is now a $50 re-admission fee, a $100 graduation services fee and additional course recertification fees. There is a $50 fee for those in Honors Living Learning Communities. The College of Engineering has a new $25 fee for freshman and for grad students, and has increased its infrastructure fee from $18 to $25 per credit hour. There is a new STEM surcharge of $12.90 per credit hour, which is projected to generate over $1.5 million. In general, students who register after the 15th day of the semester will now pay a fee of $1000, up from $200.
There are certainly some worthwhile ideas in the Chancellor's proposal. For instance, removing enrollment caps on universities such as Bowling Green, Miami, Kent and so forth would allow the free market to work its magic. Establishing a Preeminent Scholars Award Foundation is likewise an excellent idea.
An Enterprise University Plan for Ohio in sum illustrates the Chancellor's belief that the goal of higher education is merely "to produce more degree holders and drive economic development" (p. 12). What happened to learning and education?
