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[alexis_v]

I think there must be a limit to “accountability”.  Why?  The problem with obtaining too many metrics is that it takes away from the time actually doing the work a government employee is supposed to do.  I sometimes wonder if the ideal university in the eyes of some legislators is one where all the time is taken reporting to them on what is happening while no instruction, research, or anything else gets done.  If legislators want to know why administrations get bloated, spending too much time reporting upward is a major one.

To give an example from sports, imagine a coach who spends most of his time explaining to legislators what he is doing, quantitatively measuring the number of laps each athlete is doing, and writing reports – instead of actually coaching his team.  That’s a pitfall governments can fall into.  There’s a place for accountability, metrics, and statistics; after all, public subsidies require accountability.  Let’s not go overboard on this, though.  The actual functions of a university must come first.

[voxprincipalis]

I'm sorry -- what are you spamming, exactly? Or are you just drunk when you post? (We have a thread for that, actually.)

VP

[alexis_v]

Dear Sir:

My opening comments are in response to a recent article by the title of “The Move to Openness and Accountability: Evolution, Not Revolution”, by Joseph A. Alutto.  That article recently closed its comments section, so it seemed appropriate to move the discussion here.  If you do not regard this forum to be a proper venue for such a discussion, you are welcome to recommend a more appropriate venue.

One should not get into the habit of using bad etiquette, particularly if one is in a position to deal with board members, government officials, or legislative committees.  Bad etiquette has an unfortunate effect of tarnishing the reputation of higher education and diminishing its public support.  Civilized people treat one another with respect.

[slinger]

I'm so confused.

(wait, is there an echo in here?)

[mended_drum]

I'm so confused.

Me too.  I'm wondering why the OP keeps referring to "government."  Is he or she assuming that all of those on the fora work for public institutions?

In any case, it would help matters to include a link to the article; that's standard practice here. 

[aandsdean]

I'm so confused.

Me too.  I'm wondering why the OP keeps referring to "government."  Is he or she assuming that all of those on the fora work for public institutions?

In any case, it would help matters to include a link to the article; that's standard practice here. 

One might even call it "good etiquette."

[zarathustra]

Dear OP...how many "foxalicious" sirs do you know?

Yeah, accountability is a PITA. 

[alexis_v]

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Move-to-Accountability-and/126244/

This article was written by the Provost at Ohio State University, a public institution.  He refers to a trend of "growing demand for measures of accountability that are more quantifiable, consistent, and independently assessed".  I'm concerned that too much of this "accountability" clogs the system with so much paperwork that other duties may be neglected.

I see the move in much of higher education toward "accountability" (essentially a push toward more paperwork reporting upward in the hierarchy) as a general trend throughout the public sector, not just at universities.  Although state universities are sometimes shielded from direct political interference, they respond to the same directives from legislators that the rest of state government deals with.  Indeed, the main difference between civil service protection for state employees and tenure at universities appears to be that tenure usually takes longer to get.

Although some private colleges may be effectively immune from the "market-driven" approach to governance that Dr. Alutto refers to, I doubt that many of them are.  They may not have legislators to report to (for most situations), but they usually report to trustees from the business community who bring their own corporate culture into university governance.

[gekko]

I don't have to deal with this that much on the academic side since I only adjunct, although the one state institution I have taught at has an absurd amount of paperwork required for nearly any procedure, most of which must by state law be done by hand in a specific color.

As annoying as it is to me in my small capacity as an academic, there is a part of me that is glad that it has infiltrated the academic world. As a full time business owner who has to sit by and listen to one academic after another espouse increased regulation that does nothing to help the public but manages to ensure employment for an army of notaries, it's amusing to see some of them finally being forced to swallow their own medicine and drown under a mountain of useless paperwork.

[tinyzombie]

Dear OP...how many "foxalicious" sirs do you know?

I'd like to know more of those.