There is a need for disturbed higher education everywhere. The population cliff, profound changes in financial models, the emergence of artificial intelligence, the loss of public confidence and leadership challenges have all generally cited the reasons why business cannot continue as usual. However, there is usually little discussion about the meaning of interference and the feeling of actually doing it.
Disruption is a fundamental change in the way an institution works, ideally by the motivation for repositioning the desire to take advantage of future opportunities. It is controversial in nature because it changes the status and welfare of existing stakeholders, not others. If politics is not that difficult, reforms may have been made. Budget cuts, while sometimes necessary, are usually not disruptive, as they usually respond to immediate gaps without reflecting prospectiveness. Recruitment freezes are one of the most common strategies to solve financial challenges, disrupting the opposite of ideals because retaining those who happen to be employed rather than allowing newcomers to maintain existing structures at the expense of change.
Higher education is not used to destruction. Colleges and universities in the United States have been in an enviable position since World War II to address most challenges through expansion (adding new teachers, departments, institutions and schools), due to the growth of enrollment, generous support from donors, government aid and the international status of American schools. Now, all of this is under threat.
Like many administrators, I have also been involved in many difficult decisions about term denying, layoffs and budget cuts. However, I also had the opportunity to take part in two truly destructive exercises, from which I learned a lot.
In 2006-07, as Provost at the University of Miami, Ohio, I helped to cancel the efforts to abolish the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS) to reassign its faculty to other academic units, end their residential components and create a new academic unit in the School of Arts and Sciences. When it was founded in the early 1970s, SIS was a good idea because interdisciplinary research was not common. However, by the mid-2000s, the need for research and teaching against traditional disciplinary barriers was widely understood, and there were growing examples in Miami and elsewhere. Furthermore, the age structure of teachers means we need to hire a large number of new professors in relatively low university departments to remain viable.
This decision is of course controversial, as we are furious, the teacher’s resolution, bombardment of seemingly endless hostile comics in student newspapers, and erupted at the ceremony. In the years of teaching the program, graduate SIS students made sure they told me that they had very little opinion of me when we shook hands on the platform.
As president of the American Jewish University in Los Angeles (a position I just stepped down from seven years later), I helped us lead the process of selling Bel Air Campus to local schools in 2024. The campus is located in a beautiful community, especially after the pandemic, where we are no longer in the course of residency, our graduates are no longer online, or can live online online, or can attend another graduate. The prospect of rising real estate insurance, increased security costs and the prospect of deferred maintenance funds that must be spent on a large amount of money has driven us to sell our campus so that we can leverage the university’s assets for better, more productive purposes.
This decision is also very controversial. The campus has been home to the university for decades, and many in the community love it even though they haven’t visited it in years. The original buyer was a private education company and we were frustrated that we didn’t sell to another Jewish agency (although we eventually did it when the first buyers pulled out). The local community’s response to the initial sale made sense, and many supporters, including major donors, were very critical of the decision.
Given that I am the main advocate of two distractions, I am the target of a lot of criticism, it is not surprising. University administrators may not like constant public depreciation, but this comes with jobs and wages. Nevertheless, this is a lot of tweaks I used to be as a professor. Many businesses prepare conflict for leaders through very intentional professional development. Higher education has little effect and is unable to do a good job in the public battle for leaders.
Therefore, it is important to have your own kitchen cabinets, not only to get good advice and act as a soundboard, but also to provide the necessary emotional support when things get difficult. Harry Truman said of Washington that if you want a friend, keep a dog. However, there will be wise people on campus and in the community who are willing to be friendly consultants and, in fact, appreciate the consultation.
I was surprised by the collateral damage. Teachers and board members who are supporters of the decision are also threatened and public criticism. I feel sad because they also think it’s hurting to make the right decision. I’m not sure if there is a solution. Nevertheless, insulated to the greatest extent, those who help make the destruction are not only the right thing, but are crucial to facilitate further destruction in the future.
Others fear collateral damage. I remember asking a Miami faculty member who was enthusiastic about our decision and whether he would support me in public. He replied that even if they knew it was the right decision, he and many others would not, because they did not want to fight colleagues against colleagues on neighbors, church members and parents’ small league teams. Trained administrators believe that the most logical and benign arguments will win the day, and it must be recognized that the social bonds of the university community (in most cases, one of the greatest strengths of an institution) will mean that their support will be more than they think they should be based on who they should support.
The communication challenges of destructive changes are also great. In both cases, we believe we have perfect logical arguments on how to use scarce resources (teachers and money). We tell ourselves and the world that this is exactly what colleges should do. But those who will be directly injured, or because their interactions with schools or campuses will be cut, angry, and easy to identify and mobilize.
By contrast, the “winners” are prospective students and teachers who don’t even know what to do on their behalf. A good communication strategy is crucial, but you shouldn’t have fantasies: public battles you may lose or seem to lose, at least by the number of complaints. It is crucial to remember that the biggest process challenge among many interruptions is that reforms are conducted on behalf of those who do not have a say at the moment. Public dialogue should be evaluated accordingly.
Finally, the board made the final decision and I was delighted that both of my boards recognized the interruption I helped the engineers. It is absolutely crucial to ensure that the final decision makers fully understand the logic of the proposal and are willing to face public complaints. Trustees usually don’t sign dramas of being very publicly core participants, yelling in public and insulting at parties and their country clubs. One component of appealing on the board is being part of a pastoral academic community that is closely linked to individuals. However, the board of directors demands changes in universities and trustees will have to understand that they will be in competition in a very public dispute.
“If you start taking Vienna, take Vienna,” Napoleon said. Even if you are beaten up for the abuse you have suffered, your friends and those you care about, and your public debate is dismissed, even if you are upset about the abuse you have suffered, there is a chance of winning a big fight. Higher education can overcome the challenges of destruction and we can design the path for a better future. That is, it will eventually save us.
