Reform 2.0: And Your Little Gopher, Too!

Last post I laid out the problems of MnSCU, which oversees all public higher education institutions in Minnesota except for the University of Minnesota system.  One problem is the clear overlap between MnScu and what I'll call "the U" here.  For the U runs a number of small campuses like Morris (UMM).  It's a good school, but the alleged benefits of being part of the U were clearly oversold.  We also found that credits don't transfer between campuses any easier than MnSCU, which is to say, generally not.  If you didn't know better, you'd think Morris is a MnSCU campus.

So why does the U need to extend to Morris, Crookston, Rochester, and various regional extension offices like the Hormel Institute in Austin?  I'd even question "Moo U" - the Twin Cities' St. Paul campus near the State Fairgrounds.  It would function best as a single campus, its current major site in Southeast Minneapolis including the West Bank.

There are even voices on the Left who agree that the U should focus on being the State's greatest center of higher education, the one with the highest standards and engaged in the most prominent research.  I would further argue that the U should be the sole graduate degree public institution.  One Law School should be enough.  One Medical School should be enough.  The Carlson School of Management should be enough.  And as with MnSCU, dump the "made up" soft degree programs, even for the jocks.

That all said, I am more interested in restoring the academics than fixing the financials.  But I'd at least freeze spending eliminate capital (bonding) for two years as a baseline for after that.

"Too" is the key to understanding and downsizing MnSCU.  "One" is the key to re-establishing the U, for if it's not the best or a MnSCU location can do it better, get rid of it. 

 

Comments

[Hiram]

In my experience there are also plenty of voices on the right who object to any cutbacks in the higher education system in Minnesota.

[J. Ewing]

The big issue is what "it" is, that is, what the U is supposed to be doing and what it reasonably costs to do that. The big problem I see IS financial, in that the costs are hidden to the users of the service because of huge taxpayer subsidies, meaning that costs are probably out of control. It doesn't cost any less for a student to go the U than it does to go to St. Olaf, just that it's hidden with huge taxpayer subsidies. Not sure what you do about that without rationing U attendance to those with more money, but paying professors to not teach strikes me as a poor use of the money.