Chapter 1584 Crazy Pleasures In The Dark:>Ep122

• The state initiatives were interesting because they proposed a reallocation for funding. The post WW2 funding priorities had been "get folks into college" and the state funded colleges based on students regardless of majors. But the new proposals allocated funds based on enrollment targets, with the state "discounting" some majors (liberal arts and some K-12 teaching like art and music) while giving full credit to other areas that were more expensive to staff, like business, engineering, K-12 science teachers etc. The premium for grad students was also increased. The bi-partisan political agreement, which was pushed by the business lobby, had been worked out in secret and was signed today. The press was there but no questions were allowed. The speech took 15 minutes, shorter than a earthquake but more significant with more press.
• In the fine print there was a catch, to qualify the business programs had to have accreditation. If not the students would be discounted for funding. (Translation: non-accredited schools would die quicker, students would only pick accredited schools.) Isabel sent a text to Curtis and the Provost as soon as she had the important details, about 10 minutes before dinner. The deal made my job much more critical. Curtis texted to me that he was glad I had heard the announcement, that he had bet on me, and that Nancy was the proof that he was "all in" on the critical unwritten parts of our deal.
• If it were not for the fact that accreditation was a gimmick created with smoke and mirrors, it would be a good idea. Ideally accreditation would look at student scores on standard exams, or 5-year earnings of graduates (in other words, the RESULTS of teaching). Instead the accreditation board was really a way for the Deans to get power over their bosses and the faculty who could not be fired. Accreditation visitors just focused on faculty publications, because then Deans only had to do simple math (counting pubs), instead of digging up and working the real results of the job their were doing.