Lecture Notes Policy & Politics

1. Lecture Notes Policy & Politics HEOC 725

2. To this point, we have considered the college or university as the recipient of shoves and pushes. The forces impinging on colleges are legal, social and political. They reflect the values and aspirations of the larger society. Much of a college president’s time is spent absorbing the blows that are dealt her. With each new “good government law” the colleges has another job to do.

3. Boards expect the college president to know about new laws. Moreover, boards expect the president to have good ideas about how the college can bring itself into conformity with the new legal requirement. As a result, much of the president’s time is spent with the college attorney as the attorney checks to see whether the college is “in compliance.”

4. Boards also expect their presidents to take the initiative and to persuade state legislators and members of Congress to advance proposals designed to benefit the college. Most colleges have an office of public or government relations that is closely supervised by the president.

5. Sometimes, the persons who are chosen to lead the college’s office of public relations are taken directly from the political world they are expected to influence. When that happens, faculty sometimes object and complain that the sanctity of academe is being sullied by the college’s employment of a political hack. Yet there is evidence that colleges often succeed by using sophisticated lobbying techniques.

6. The need for the college to advance its interests in a political world far removed from the Ivory Tower puts the college president in a tight spot. If the president is perceived to be lacking in political skills, she will be faulted by her board and, perhaps, by college employees.

7. On the other hand, if the president becomes adapt in navigating political waters, he will be accused of “selling out” and of having contempt for the world of academic pursuits. Presidents encounter other risks when they jump into political waters. By aligning themselves with certain legislators and their political parties, presidents might earn resentment of their political ally’s partisan rival.

8. Some presidents, e.g., former San Francisco Community College Chancellor Phil Day, have been accused of illegal use of college funds in service of a political end. Presidents should seek competent legal advice before writing checks to any legislator’s political campaign fund. On the other hand, presidents won’t have the luxury of withdrawing from the political fray. Like it or not, it is necessary.

9. In Session Five, class members will examine in detail the 2009 “Clout University” scandal involving the University of Illinois. Members of the class will have the opportunity to research and catalogue events that contributed to the crisis at the University of Illinois. Now that the water of scandal has gone under the bridge, what should the University do to rebuild its reputation with lawmakers and the public?