I wrote about who should own the costs of trash cleanup and suggested it was the people who create the trash, who should bear the costs of cleanup. When you think about the world this way, why would the state give SIU more money? After all, haven't the universities decided that the students are the customers?
If the students are the customer, the state is pushing the costs to exactly the right people. If society is the customer (I think this is true) of the universities, then the tax payers should pay more and the students less. Maybe it is time for SIU to start serving the citizens of Illinois again? Clearly, having the students as customers isn't working very well.
Marketing messages are important, I think that SIU has messed this message up. How about you?
3 comments:
[T]he teacher is not to serve the pupil; rather, both are the servents of their culture.
Herman Hesse (1877-1962)
The Glass Bead Game
That's exactly right. Society is the consumer, not the students. The students are the raw product that is shaped and molding into a productive member of the society, hopefully, by the time they graduate.
Having the students as the customer goes back a ways when the board of trustees tried to make attending SIU cheap. Low tuition was the way to make this a great unversity, they felt. Well, we know today that just didn't work. The faculty are whining about low pay and the buildings are in need of quite a bit of repair. It will take a while to get back up to par, even with good marketing.
You aren't going to hear me argue with any analysis that SIU's leadership has been mostly worthless over the last 30 years. This is a hard problem for SIU as the state gives a smaller percentage of the total.
Glenn Poshard to his credit is starting to move SIU back to serving the community as part of his basic program. Let's give Glenn credit for starting the ball rolling in the right direction.
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