September 27, 2019

Woke too early, in anxiety about the state of the University, only little by little convincing myself that it is no longer my problem, and if it were my problem I wouldn’t know what to do about it. Though the causes are manifold and complicated, the symptoms not always easy to identify, the solution is quite simple: faculty governance. Roll back the size and power of the administration. End administrative oversight of curriculum and faculty affairs, and return it to the material support of education, which is the administrator’s only excuse for existence. All bad things in the university–this university, anyway-- arise from the administration, all bad ideas, all thwarting of good ideas, all unnecessary complications and absurd social enthusiasms. It is really that simple. If this were seriously presented, the Administration would enlarge itself, form a committee made up only of itself, and decide against it, finding jobs for all the new personnel by creating tasks, and therefore oversight, out of thin air. Administration would plead mandates from the Legislature. The Legislature is far away.