In prior posts, we have blogged about MOOCs - massive open
online courses (MOOCs). But now comes a
proposal for a MOOA:
As colleges begin using massive open online courses (MOOC) to reduce
faculty costs, a Johns Hopkins University professor has announced plans for
MOOA (massive open online administrations). Dr. Benjamin Ginsberg, author of
The Fall of the Faculty, says that many colleges and universities face the same
administrative issues every day. By having one experienced group of
administrators make decisions for hundreds of campuses simultaneously, MOOA
would help address these problems expeditiously and economically. Since MOOA
would allow colleges to dispense with most of their own administrators, it
would generate substantial cost savings in higher education... Asked if this
"one size fits all" administrative concept was realistic given the
diversity of problems faced by thousands of schools, Ginsberg noted that a
"best practices" philosophy already leads administrators to blindly
follow one another's leads in such realms as planning, staffing, personnel
issues, campus diversity, branding and, curriculum planning. The MOOA, said
Ginsberg, would take "best practices" a step further and utilize it
to realize substantial cost savings...
Ginsberg has named his MOOA "Administeria," and
plans to begin operations in early 2014. He admits that widespread use of
MOOAs could result in substantial unemployment among college bureaucrats.
However, he noted that their skill sets make them qualified for work in such
burgeoning industries as retail sales, hospitality, food services, event
planning, and horticultural design.
The full
proposal is at http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2013/06/forget_moocslets_use_mooa.html
Of course, the
proposal opens up the possibility of wider applications. We could have a MOOG – massively open online
governorship – so that one governor could handle all 50 states. After all, the idea of separate governorships
is just a relic of the colonial period and the original US constitution. Why should we be using old 1780s forms of
government in the 21st century?
There could
also be MOOLLs – massively open online legislative leaders. (How many does the country really need?) The possibilities and the potential cost
savings are virtually endless. Isn’t
anything on line virtual?
Full
disclosure: Prof. Arleen Leibowitz of the Luskin School of Public Affairs
brought the MOOA proposal to my attention.
Don’t you wish you had thought of these idea?!!
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