Harvard Alum Silverglate: Bloated College Administration Makes College Unaffordable
Quillette | Harvey Silverglate (LLB ‘67)
Silverglate, who is seeking to be a petition candidate for the Harvard Board of Overseers, argues that administrative bloat has driven up the cost of tuition “well beyond the rate of inflation” and vows to fire 90% of Harvard’s administrators if elected.
Speaking about various universities, he writes that “every dean, it seems, has a deputy dean; with deputy deans sometimes having several assistant deputy deans. Many of these positions come with secretaries and other forms of administrative support…Administrative staff…are now basically running a school within a school, teaching content based on the mandate of their respective offices (disability accommodation, diversity, anti-discrimination, sustainability, student-life enhancement, and so forth)…”
“The solution rests with college and university governing boards, which typically are composed of non-academics—prominent alumni and civil leaders who play the equivalent role of civilian commanders-in-chief overseeing the military. These governors must wrest control from the bureaucrats who have a vested interest in maintaining (or even exacerbating) the status quo, regardless of its dire effects on these academic institutions…'“
“My campaign promise? If elected, I will propose dismissing nine out of every 10 administrators, and then reducing tuition accordingly.”
