The New York Times continued its college debt series with a story on how college presidents are starting to think about cost containment. Although waste, fraud, and mismanagement are low on the list for why college costs are so high, they do exist, at public and private campuses alike. There are odd fiefdoms on every campus, and bizarre bits of intrigue that waste lots of time and money. At the University of Illinois, a senior adminstrator used a Yahoo account to send anonymous messages to members of the faculty senate, arguing her case; one was an expert in computer security and figured it out; she denied the charge; the university paid $200,000 to consultants to find out who sent the message, and they found it was that very same administrator. Great. Money that could have provided a free ride to two students went to verify that someone both played mind games and didn’t have enough class to admit it when caught.
This sort of thing goes on. Addressing it won’t generate massive cost savings, but colleges have to do it if they are to show that they give a damn about students. They are stewards of taxpayer, donor, and family money, and they need to use those resources wisely.
And, in case you made it to 2012 without knowing this: anything you put on the Internet can traced back to you. Lisa Troyer, you are no exception.
