Page 41 - Crisis in Higher Education

16 • Crisis in Higher Education

3. Organizations that hire graduates: They are major beneficiaries of
higher education. They hire and compensate the graduates for the
work they do, which allows the graduates to repay their loans and
“make a living.” In effect, applicants to institutions of higher learn-
ing must look through the educational process and see the lifetime
of possible benefits that await them.

1.5.1 Customer Confusion Leads to Poorly Articulated Goals
With a trifurcated customer, there is no clear and strong “voice of the
customer” to guide tenured faculty (who control curriculum content) and
high-level administrators (who typically share faculty values and hold
faculty rank and tenure). Tenured faculty and administrators often feel
they know best and step in to fill the void. Many tenured faculty still hold
the view that the primary purpose of a bachelor’s degree is to grow per-
sonally and intellectually, understand complex issues and problems, and
create better members of society—that is, to become a more refined and
thoughtful person. The vision, mission, core values, and goals of most uni-
versities usually reflect the dominance of this “better member of society”
attitude. Job placement, career success, and meeting the needs of business
and industry are usually not prominent in vision and mission statements.
This approach may have worked decades ago when students were pri-
marily from well-to-do families who wanted their children to be prepared
to assume their rightful place in society. But it does not work today for the
single mother of five with a full-time job who is attending a university on
a part-time basis to improve her life and the lives of her children. There is
value in creating a better person as part of the higher education experi-
ence, and universities should try to contribute to this end, but preparing
people for successful careers must have top priority for several reasons.

1. Graduates: They may not understand the value or purpose of their
education while attending, but they certainly understand its impor-
tance as they pay back their student loans, buy a home or condo-
minium, and save for retirement. They do not want to live in their
parents’ basements.
2. Parents, other family members, and friends: They want the best for
their graduate, which means, among other things, a successful career
and a good job. Even if they have a basement, they do not want the
graduate to live there.