University as Business - Term Paper Example

Sur Lecturer as Business Introduction education is mainly meant to build and nurture individual’s general expected behaviors but this has not been the case in recent years. Many education officials and employers worry that commercialization of university education and explosion of universities have created institutions that produce graduates that are poorly prepared and cannot meet market and labor demands (Ottewill, 16-19). The quality of education offered in many universities worldwide is being questioned by many federations of employers because many graduates that are hired don’t have the expertise knowledge and skills in their specialization areas of study that help them strive in respective workplaces. Majority have good ‘degrees’ in which they are unable to defend when carrying out field work or research. I agree that universities as business today has adverse effects on teaching and scholarship in the arts and social sciences for the following reasons; Mislead academic visions, missions and goals. Universities around the world were all founded on principles of knowledge, skills for the public interest and to contribute to social welfares of individuals. However, today many institutions have taken a different path as they majorly focus on the quality of education they deliver but on the high number of student they admit and revenues gained from this high admission rates. Universities see their prosperity in terms of the number of students they admit and those that graduate yearly, leading to multiple trimester programmes that focus on nothing more than admission of the highest number of students and ensuring that they clear their studies and graduate within the shortest time possible. This has made it difficult for administrators, faculty representatives, students and the general public to talk about educational changes and community’s role of higher learning institutions in a democratic culture. Inflation rates Due to continuous increase in the inflation rate many universities and colleges have increased their tuition fees. They claim the increases are necessary because of losing value of university grants majorly capitalized in common stock. A commercial firm selects the values that make the most of its revenues, regardless of variations in income; this case is comparable to many universities who give a much higher value to incomes than education. (Robert, 47-51).Increase in tuition fee reflects the circumstance that monetary uncertainty raises educations demand. Higher schooling costs today is forgoing salaries earned from jobs; the inferior ones occupation forecasts is, the additional sense it creates to move time to education from the employment market for the purpose of making oneself extra marketable. University’s comparison to for-profits organizations There is a close economic similarity between universities and the business sectors which are often disguised by the circumstance that higher education faculties are compressed with capitalism critics. Further, firms that work in the non-profit organizations are needed to have incentives basically diverse from those of profit making enterprises, to defend their duty exemptions. What non-profits means in higher education sector is basically that a universitys extra revenue expenditures doesn’t go to stockholders but is rather invested in innovative projects or added to donations, same as for-profit organizations that don’t pay dividends. Universities in some cases also compete for students just like how not-for-profit firms compete as aggressively as other business enterprises do. Higher education institutions competition for students might appear that a revenue-maximizing institution would charge much higher tuition fee markets would stand and admit anybody willing to pay. This would not be revenue-maximizing. Faculty personnel would be required to be paid more to lecture slow students; and for scholars the fair value of university education depends on the excellence of their peers as a sign of value to potential proprietors since scholars learn from each other and make valued acquaintances for the future. Competition In order to raise the perceived quality prestige and education level of the institution, universities normally compete to entice academic stars. This result to a great difference in faculty pays in the same or different universities, often within different departments. These stars normally negotiate for reduced schooling load; this slack is adopted by graduates who are poorly paid. Most stars do a little research and teaching because many universities give much treasure to their superstar academics. (Craig, 67-69).It is believed that celebrities make the university popular and thus many students go to universities to socialize and study as well as have good times. Corruption Many higher education institutions are engaging in corrupt activities just because of high public demand for university education. Students with low high school grades are admitted at the best universities living behind the qualified candidates to join institutions that don’t provide quality education. All this is seen as a business because those in stable financial conditions can admit their children to any good university of their choices because they have the capability to bribe those in charge for their children’s admission. This compromises the quality of university education provided since those admitted are less competent and can deliver less when it comes to the job market sector. Excess admissions The quality of education is compromised by many university administrators who accept scholars without improving the capacity of campuses to absorb and accommodate them. These administrators only put in consideration business profits when increasing and introducing various education programmes (Alon, 93-95). In the past universities were specializing in given fields, for example education or medicine, but presently degrees in every area are offered by almost every other institution of learning, so as to cash in on the high number of students as possible. With such developments, quality education and training for scholars cannot be guaranteed. Employers also on the other hand are often required to make payments to train its personnel for the purpose of filling the skill gap. Government initiatives In most African countries, the central government allows post-secondary professional institutes to garner college charters; which makes it difficult for future scholars to comprehend variances between the two forms of education. This trend makes it difficult for these nations to attain different goals and visions set; because goals and visions set need only to be driven by individuals with middle-level expertise knowledge and skills. However, universities administrators are responding to these emerging trends by saying providing more academic programmes that are shorter and flexible helps in making easy accessibility to education. Market demands. In the fast growing economy today; the market requires that for any individuals to secure decent jobs they must have a university degree. This is the major reason that is forcing many job-seekers enroll for university education. To meet their needs and demands, higher learning institutions are forced to open many campuses to accommodate for enrolments increase. (Khurana, 117-121)There are institutions with very few lecturers who teach multiple courses in different campuses or universities, which generally leads to poor performance in universities thus producing weak graduates that are not able to defend their degrees in the field. These may be resulted from lecturers greed for money who gives less value to the quality of education they deliver but to income received. This may also be blamed on failure of the government to offer sufficient funds for the government to hire more lecturers which forces lecturers to teach at both private and public institutions at the same time lowering education’s quality. Examination cheating Cheating in exams is rampant in many universities across the world which lowers the general quality of education. This is resulted from some lecturers’ greed for money who accepts small payments from students to help them cheat in their examination. This has been a growing negative trend in most higher learning institution since those expected to be the role models and guide their students are the ones misleading students. When students cheat in their examinations it means that they would score good grades yes but which they are not able to defend them out there. The same case applies to management research projects and thesis where lecturers and those with extra expertise knowledge are paid hugely by students for their projects and thesis to be done for them which have compromised the quality of university education. University politics This is also a growing trend in many universities where interested parties are only focused on powerful positions like chancellors, vice-chancellors, college deans, principals, head of departments academic and examination officers etc. that are to be held and not the quality of education. These individuals will do anything at any cost to gain or be given this positions. Those with more skills and knowledge may be denied chances of leading and providing a positive change because the less educated may have more financial stability thus bribing other board members to vote in their favor. Conclusion ` Universities had major goals and mission to create knowledge, skills and adoptive education to the public and contribute to its social welfare but their goals and mission were superseded by individuals interests, love for money, corruption etc. (Morley, 87-91) The government, school administrators, academic personnel at all departmental levels and students as well are all encouraged to fight and regain higher education’s central mission. Through these initiatives more learned and competent can be produced from universities that will be able to defend their rightfully achieved degrees in the field. Work cited. Ottewill, Roger. Educational Innovation in Economics and Business: Viii. Boston: Kluwer Academic, 2003. Blenkhorn, David L, and Craig S. Fleisher. Competitive Intelligence and Global Business. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2005. Alon, Ilan, Victoria Jones, and John R. McIntyre. Innovation in Business Education in Emerging Markets. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Khurana, Rakesh. From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management As a Profession. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007. Morley, Louise. Quality and Power in Higher Education. Philadelphia, PA: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press, 2003. Pride, William M, Robert J. Hughes, and Jack R. Kapoor. Foundations of Business. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub, 2008. Read More