Higher education expert William F. Massy's decades as a professor, senior university officer, and consultant have left him with a passionate belief in the need for reform in America's traditional universities. In Reengineering the University, he addresses widespread concerns that higher education's costs are too high, learning falls short of objectives, disruptive technology and education models are mounting serious challenges to traditional institutions, and administrators and faculty are too often unwilling or unable to change.
An expert microeconomist, Massy approaches the challenge of reform in a genuinely new way by applying rigorous economic principles, informed by financial data and other evidence, to explain the forces at work on universities and the flaws in the academic business model. Ultimately, he argues that computer models that draw on data from college transaction systems can help both administrators and faculty address problems of educational performance and cost analysis, manage the complexity of planning and budgeting systems, and monitor the progress of reform in nonintrusive and constructive ways.
Written for the institutional leaders, faculty, board members, and policymakers who bear responsibility for initiating and carrying through on reform in traditional colleges and universities, Reengineering the University shows how, working together, administrators and faculty can improve education, research, and affordability by keeping a close eye on both academic values and the bottom line.
Preface 1. Understanding the Traditional University Problems and Opportunities Assets Worthy of Preservation Why Traditional Universities Do What They Do Implications for Tuition and Cost Containment Business Models and Value Propositions 2. The Reengineering Challenge Flaws in the Academic Business Model Building a Reengineering Portfolio Implementation Considerations Responsibilities for Reengineering 3. The New Scholarship of Teaching Conceptual Underpinnings Illustrative Applications Two ""Outside the Box"" Proposals Organizing for Improvement 4. The Cost of Teaching Alternative Approaches Design of Teaching Systems Modeling from University Transactional Data Extending the Model across the Campus Areas of Application 5. Financial Planning and Budgeting Envisioning University Information Coherent Financial Planning Coherent Resource Allocation A Model for Balancing Mission and Margin Conclusion Appendixes A. Teaching and Learning Principles B. Course-Based ABC C. Computer-Aided Course Design D. Incremental Cost of Enrollment E. Smart What-Ifs in the Course-Based ABC Model F. Margin Equivalents for Start-Up Programs G. Extensions to the Mission-Margin Model Notes Bibliography Index
""... Massy, perhaps more than any other contemporary student of higher education, knows and critically thinks about how universities function day-to-day and academic year-to-academic year: what decisions have to made, who should make them, with what analytical information, and within what time frame. He keeps a close eye on multiple cause and multiple effect, as one must in multiversities. It is hard to do.""