MOOP – A Modest Open Online Proposal

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 21^st 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?!!