Incredible challenge these days for US universities. As you mention, these moves can be strategic retreats without losing the core identity and values, or instead, capitulation and allowing the destruction of the very essence of what it meas for a nation and for society to have academic institutions for free thinking, creation, educating the next generations and providing the social and environmental solutions needed for survival.
A famous movie once made cowardly lions adorable. In reality, they are disgusting. I can appreciate the challenges of being a university president today. But if a university facing a federal sanction that only amounts to 2.5% of its endowment can't fix its own problems or maintain its independence, what good is it?
I'm not intending to rant at your expense. "Strategic retreats" are things in the world, of course. Whether they cut it in the moral world, where one's credibility is at least in part a function of one's integrity, is another matter. As a Columbia alumnus, all I can say is I'm ashamed and disappointed.
Hi Tom, thanks for your comment. I understand (and to some extent share) your reaction but the 400 million is a drop in the bucket compared with what's at stake, including five billion in existing commitments. The federal government has the power and also it seems the willingness to destroy Columbia.
Rajiv, Thanks. $5B is a big number of course -- but how far forward does it reach? 400 million is 6 percent or so percent of the university's budget. That's a colossal blow, but (hard) options remain if that's the annual figure. Yet from a search I've just seen the claim that "more than a quarter" of the CU's annual budget represents federal payments of one kind or another. (This can't be just grants, can it? Are, say, student loans and Medicare reimbursements included here? And how much of the exposure is connected to hospital in one way or another? At some universities the hospital side represents half or more of the "revenue". )
So, yes, my reaction was uninformed with regard to the numbers. But the principal I'm reacting around is still at stake. (A resumed rant could follow, but I'm going to leave it at that.). TB
I suspect that it reaches forward three years, four at most given typical NIH grant durations. But could be longer for some contracts. A bigger problem is that new grant applications may not be considered which would blow a hole in the budget. The hospital and business school are the two surplus units but the grant cancellations will mostly affect the hospital I think. Thanks again for your comments.
Incredible challenge these days for US universities. As you mention, these moves can be strategic retreats without losing the core identity and values, or instead, capitulation and allowing the destruction of the very essence of what it meas for a nation and for society to have academic institutions for free thinking, creation, educating the next generations and providing the social and environmental solutions needed for survival.
Thanks JC, I recorded a podcast episode with Glenn Loury on this topic today, should post on Friday.
Rajiv: Thanks for taking this on.
A famous movie once made cowardly lions adorable. In reality, they are disgusting. I can appreciate the challenges of being a university president today. But if a university facing a federal sanction that only amounts to 2.5% of its endowment can't fix its own problems or maintain its independence, what good is it?
I'm not intending to rant at your expense. "Strategic retreats" are things in the world, of course. Whether they cut it in the moral world, where one's credibility is at least in part a function of one's integrity, is another matter. As a Columbia alumnus, all I can say is I'm ashamed and disappointed.
Hi Tom, thanks for your comment. I understand (and to some extent share) your reaction but the 400 million is a drop in the bucket compared with what's at stake, including five billion in existing commitments. The federal government has the power and also it seems the willingness to destroy Columbia.
Rajiv, Thanks. $5B is a big number of course -- but how far forward does it reach? 400 million is 6 percent or so percent of the university's budget. That's a colossal blow, but (hard) options remain if that's the annual figure. Yet from a search I've just seen the claim that "more than a quarter" of the CU's annual budget represents federal payments of one kind or another. (This can't be just grants, can it? Are, say, student loans and Medicare reimbursements included here? And how much of the exposure is connected to hospital in one way or another? At some universities the hospital side represents half or more of the "revenue". )
So, yes, my reaction was uninformed with regard to the numbers. But the principal I'm reacting around is still at stake. (A resumed rant could follow, but I'm going to leave it at that.). TB
I suspect that it reaches forward three years, four at most given typical NIH grant durations. But could be longer for some contracts. A bigger problem is that new grant applications may not be considered which would blow a hole in the budget. The hospital and business school are the two surplus units but the grant cancellations will mostly affect the hospital I think. Thanks again for your comments.