UCLA Business School to go private

[marmar]

from The Nation:


The UCLA business school—the Anderson School of Management—will take its prestigious MBA program private, ending its reliance on public funding from the legislature and substituting private contributions and higher tuition. The plan, originally turned down by the Academic Senate, was narrowly approved yesterday by a different body, the Legislative Assembly.

Advocates of the plan, who include Chancellor Gene Block and Anderson School Dean Judy D. Olian, argue that adopting a market-oriented approach will raise the ranking of the school by enabling it to raise more money. That in turn will make UCLA’s business school more competitive with Harvard, Yale, and Stanford by allowing it to recruit superstar faculty with super salaries--and also recruit higher-ranked students. (UCLA’s Anderson School currently is ranked #15 by US News & World Report.)

Business school leaders argue that the state’s $8 million contribution to their budget will now be used to support more needy parts of the university, like the undergraduate college. You might call that a generous offer; you might call it a bribe—let us go private and we’ll give you $8 million.

But what makes them so sure the $8 million they are renouncing will in fact go to other parts of UCLA? It’s not the business school’s money to give away. And any business school student will tell you that, if a unit doesn’t need $8 million, the central administration should take it back. Reassurances from the chancellor on this point were unconvincing to many on the faculty. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blog/168305/ucla-business-school-go-private-blow-public-university

[lutefisk]

1. "slippery slope" indeed

This is the Century of American Privatisation.