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This is an excerpt from a roundtable discussion at the Harvard Graduate School of Education between Tufts University president emeritus John DiBiaggio and three Higher Education Program master's students Anjali Adukia, Doug Bunch, and Elizabeth Hess, and the director of the program, HGSE lecturer Judith Block McLaughlin. DiBiaggio currently serves as "president-in-residence" to the Higher Education Program at HGSE.
Doug Bunch: In measuring institutional effectiveness, one issue is how much a college should be like a business. There are things in higher education that can't even compare to what happens in the corporate world, but there are those who feel very strongly that the college or university should run as efficiently as a business. Dr. DiBiaggio, can you speak a little bit about some of the differences between running a college and running a company? John DiBiaggio: We at universities should be as efficient as we possibly can, understanding, however, that one can achieve only a certain degree of efficiency in an academic environment. How do you measure efficiency when you have some very small classes and very esoteric subjects that some students are interested in and should have a right to pursue? That's not efficient; large classes would be efficient, but in some areas that isn't in the best interest of the students. We can't become that way. There are some who will accuse us of having become too corporate already, too big, too concerned about the bottom line. There's a mid-point, there's a point where we can show that we're doing the best we can with resources that we have available to us, and that, at the same time, we're not in any way violating the fundamental values upon which higher education is based. Judy McLaughlin: Doug, when you hear the current public debate, in what ways do you hear this sentiment towards the public university system? Bunch: In Virginia, there's a desperate need for understanding between different sectors of the state. And it's interesting for me because I come from western Virginia, a very conservative area of the state where higher education isn't necessarily the only priority, where people are fairly middle-class but nevertheless have lower college-attendance rates because attending college isn't always part of their plan. Then, there are other parts of the state (where my college was, for example), that feel very strongly about the value of higher education. And I too feel very strongly about the value of higher education. But just in my experiences of having attended William and Mary and having worked for a state delegate who represents that other part of the state, I've been caught between both views. I was at William and Mary this past week for their homecoming, and Virginians are getting ready to vote November 5th on a bond referendum for capital construction in the state. The homecoming football game had a public relations flair to it in that they were giving out stickers and throwing mini-footballs into the crowd labeled "Vote for the Bond Referendum." The homecoming parade was cancelled because of state budget problems, and the students held their own anyway, wearing shirts that read, "Our Chance, Our Parade, Our Tradition." In trying to get support, not only for the bond referendum, but also for financial aid and faculty salaries, a political action committee to promote these things has formed at William and Mary. Their goals are very noble, but there are legislators who have other views in Virginia about how much things should be funded. And it's very difficult when a group like that sends pictures of crowded facilities or deteriorating labs or walls that have cracks in them to legislators who represent areas where there isn't running water, where people are happy to have walls and don't care if they're cracked. It's very difficult to make an impression on those people about the value of higher education. DiBiaggio: When there's a finite resource base and you're the governor or you're in the legislature, you have to make a decision between providing for universities and providing food and clothing and housing for the disadvantaged, or medical care for the aged. Those are tough decisions. When I was president of public universities, I had a hard time explaining that to faculty, who'd say, "what we're doing is very important." On the other hand, in a state like Virginia, where I spent six years, there's a diversity of views; the four sectors of the state are very different from another. The reality is that a place like UVA prospers because so much of its enrollment is out-of-state and tuition for those students is quite high, so they're able to do things that the other colleges and universities cannot. The tragedy is that it's so short-sighted: if they don't invest in education, at all levels, then they're not going to be able to be competitive in the years ahead. That's the argument to be made—not always successfully—but you do always have some enlightened members of the legislature, and if you work very, very hard, you can convince them. McLaughlin: [to the students] What are your thoughts about the Higher Education Program at this point? How is it helping you to become the kind of leader you want to be in higher education? Anjali Adukia: I came in knowing that I wanted to spend my life in education, but I didn't know exactly in which capacity. This program has allowed me to explore various aspects of higher education and how I best fit into the puzzle. The Higher Education program has more than exceeded my expectations for my experience here, largely due to the people involved in the program. The higher ed faculty and staff take such a genuine interest in our well-being and intellectual growth. And it's amazing to be taught by professors who are national and international experts on the topics we study. My classmates add an extra dimension to my learning that I would not necessarily gain from my coursework alone. Often, I learn more from them than I do from my classes. For instance, the other day in our econ class, we were discussing obstacles to college access and affordability for individuals from low-income backgrounds and based on theory alone, the solutions seemed obvious. Having former financial aid officers and admissions directors in the room added to our perspectives and allowed us to appreciate and grapple with the complexities of many of the issues that administrators in higher education must deal with. There is definitely a wealth of experience and knowledge in the cohort from which I feel fortunate to be able to draw. In addition to the people, there is generally a very open learning environment. The program does not just focus on administration; we also discuss public policy, critical education issues such as access, and historical perspectives surrounding higher education, just to name a few. I am struck by the emphasis HGSE puts on making research and theory relevant to practice. Bunch: There's a wonderful sense of community in the Higher Education program. Five-minute chats with professors can turn into two-hour conversations; there's a concern for you as an individual. There's also a chance to branch out and focus on not only what happens in education, but on how education is connected to other areas. Whether it's business, or in my case, law: I'm taking a class now called Higher Education and the Law, and the professor is Harvard's acting general counsel. We discuss issues that get right at the intersection of education and law with an eye to not only the role of the college attorney saying when a faculty member or an administrator has gone too far, but telling them how much they can do, how many steps they can take in meeting the needs of students. The connection of our program to seemingly disparate disciplines has really impressed me. McLaughlin: [to DiBiaggio] What about being a president-in-residence at Harvard? DiBiaggio: I'm seeing it from the other side of the desk, of course. I'm impressed with the quality of students in the program, not just in their academic preparation and the thoughtfulness of their comments, but more importantly their enthusiasm for what they're doing. It gives me hope for the future of the higher-education leadership. We will constantly be looking for quality people to assume leadership roles in higher education, and I believe that that takes preparation. People can't, as in the past, just simply move from another role into that capacity without having some understanding of the finance, economics, the law, all the kinds of things that we must deal with on a day-to-day basis in higher education. I think you're going to be advantaged by having had this experience. All photos: Benjamin Messinger ©2002 President and Fellows of Harvard College For More Information
HGSE News, Harvard Graduate School of Education
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Judy McLaughlin and President-in-residence John DiBiaggio on the complexities of contemporary higher education leadership (3 minutes) 
