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The Senate came to a compromise on the stimulus package, but it looks like higher education could be cut out of the construction support. The bill still has to be finalized, but I'll be surprised if the higher ed construction funds come back...
They also cut 16 billion in school construction.
Below is a link to an article from the Christian Science Monitor about the deal.
Here's a key excerpt (emphasis mine):
"Under the terms of the deal, Senate Democrats agreed to cut some $100 billion from their original proposal. Spending for the states and education took the biggest hit, compared with the House bill. State fiscal stabilization funding was cut back $40 billion, school construction dropped $16 billion, and a proposed $3.5 billion line for higher education construction was zeroed out."
Here's a link to the full article:
Senate forges deal on $820 billion stimulus | csmonitor.com
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Saturday, February 7, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Action Research Example: Building Constituencies
On the Commuter Rail (where I spend half my life) I randomly found a copy of the The Justice (http://www.thejusticeonline.com/), the alternative student paper of Brandeis University.
The issue I found was for the week of February third, and had a lot of coverage of Brandeis University's recent and very controversial decision to close their art museum (The Rose Art Museum: http://www.brandeis.edu/rose/) and sell much (most?) of it's art collection to help with their current budget shortfall.
This decision has received widespread negative reactions from students, faculty and staff at the college, members of the local community and art advocates on the local, national and even international level. (Here's an especially damming piece from no less than the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/arts/design/02rose.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink - "In the Closing of the Brandeis Museum, a Stark Statement of Priorities" by Roberta Smith)
I was really impressed by the coverage in The Justice, and I was especially struck by how the Brandeis administration seems to have alienated almost everyone in the process of making and publicizing their decision to close the museum.
One of the graduate classes I'm taking is Action Research, which focuses on a model for establishing continual improvement in organizational and personal practices of all kinds.
In class we've focused on changes made in an effort to make improvements, not changes in response to crisis, so there isn't a direct connection between the Brandeis situation and class. But one issue we've discussed in class is "constituency building," which is essentially how to build support for whatever change you're trying to introduce.
Constituency building is especially important when you're trying to make change in a crisis. Without it you risk losing vital support in an already difficult situation.
Based on reading various articles it seems that the Brandeis trustees and administration practically went out of their way to alienate their constituents. I thought this was especially highlighted by pieces in The Justice. Below are some links to the relevant pieces and a few key excerpts. I definitely encourage you to visit their web site.
Piece 1 (an editorial):
EDITORIAL: Rose cut was badly handled - Editorial
Key excerpt:
This excerpt discuses the alienation felt by the general Brandeis community.
"They should have told the Brandeis community what they had on the table and kept the museum director in the loop, if for no other reason than common courtesy for our budget as well as for the Rose. If the extent of our budget crisis had been publicly known, many community members would have been less shocked by the Rose shutdown. Says Rebeccah Ulm '11, who organized last Thursday's sit-in at the museum, "I would be less frustrated and angry [with the decision] because I would have been a part of the discussion beforehand instead of after the fact.""
Piece 2 (an article):
Students protest against closure of Rose - Rose Art
Key Excerpt:
This excerpt highlights student alienation.
" "There are so many creative solutions that the student body and faculty could have come up with if they had only been asked," Ariella Silverstein-Tapp '09 said in an interview with the Justice. "I think there was a real lack of faith that the administration had in us," she said. "We go to Brandeis. We're creative. We're innovative," she added."
Piece 3 (a commentary):
COMMENTARY: Bad presentation sinks Rose cuts - Rose Reactions
Key Excerpt:
This excerpt is about alienating off-campus constituents.
"The approach to the cut has also ensured that nothing like the Rose will ever exist again should the school even survive the financial crisis. Any attempt to revive the Rose or create a similar institution will be met with extreme hesitancy by both art donors afraid of losing their works to liquidation and potential employees afraid of losing their jobs with little or no notice."
Piece 4 (an article):
Art world expresses anger at decision to close museum - Rose Art
Key Excerpt:
This excerpt is about alienating donors.
"Lois Foster, a long time benefactor of the museum whose husband founded the Lois Foster Wing of the Rose Art Museum in 2001, said she wanted to cry when Reinharz called her last Monday to inform her of the decision to close the museum.
"I'm not happy with Brandeis at all," Foster said. She added that "[the building] was given to house the collection, and I've learned from [the University's decision to close the museum] to never to give anything unless I have all kinds of legal papers that go with it," implying that the possession of legal papers would have placed a restriction on how her donations could be used."
Piece 5 (an article):
Forum held to foster dialogue - News
Key excerpt:
This excerpt ties the administration methods directly to the student resistance they're currently running into.
"Student Union President Jason Gray '10, who proposed the forum to Reinharz, said the meeting was "a very strong first step." Gray said, "I think what was awesome is [the forum] showed how engaged the student body wants to be and deserves to be."
Alex Melman '11, a writer for the blog Innermost Parts, called the meeting "very productive" despite the fact that "some of [the student questions] didn't get as specific answers as we would have liked." He added that "if we'd have done this earlier we would have avoided a lot of student demonstrations."
End of articles/excerpts.
Whew...that was a long post...of course, as far as I know, only one other person has ever actually looked at my blog (Hi Melissa!) so at least I don't need to worry about boring my audience!
The issue I found was for the week of February third, and had a lot of coverage of Brandeis University's recent and very controversial decision to close their art museum (The Rose Art Museum: http://www.brandeis.edu/rose/) and sell much (most?) of it's art collection to help with their current budget shortfall.
This decision has received widespread negative reactions from students, faculty and staff at the college, members of the local community and art advocates on the local, national and even international level. (Here's an especially damming piece from no less than the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/arts/design/02rose.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink - "In the Closing of the Brandeis Museum, a Stark Statement of Priorities" by Roberta Smith)
I was really impressed by the coverage in The Justice, and I was especially struck by how the Brandeis administration seems to have alienated almost everyone in the process of making and publicizing their decision to close the museum.
One of the graduate classes I'm taking is Action Research, which focuses on a model for establishing continual improvement in organizational and personal practices of all kinds.
In class we've focused on changes made in an effort to make improvements, not changes in response to crisis, so there isn't a direct connection between the Brandeis situation and class. But one issue we've discussed in class is "constituency building," which is essentially how to build support for whatever change you're trying to introduce.
Constituency building is especially important when you're trying to make change in a crisis. Without it you risk losing vital support in an already difficult situation.
Based on reading various articles it seems that the Brandeis trustees and administration practically went out of their way to alienate their constituents. I thought this was especially highlighted by pieces in The Justice. Below are some links to the relevant pieces and a few key excerpts. I definitely encourage you to visit their web site.
Piece 1 (an editorial):
EDITORIAL: Rose cut was badly handled - Editorial
Key excerpt:
This excerpt discuses the alienation felt by the general Brandeis community.
"They should have told the Brandeis community what they had on the table and kept the museum director in the loop, if for no other reason than common courtesy for our budget as well as for the Rose. If the extent of our budget crisis had been publicly known, many community members would have been less shocked by the Rose shutdown. Says Rebeccah Ulm '11, who organized last Thursday's sit-in at the museum, "I would be less frustrated and angry [with the decision] because I would have been a part of the discussion beforehand instead of after the fact.""
Piece 2 (an article):
Students protest against closure of Rose - Rose Art
Key Excerpt:
This excerpt highlights student alienation.
" "There are so many creative solutions that the student body and faculty could have come up with if they had only been asked," Ariella Silverstein-Tapp '09 said in an interview with the Justice. "I think there was a real lack of faith that the administration had in us," she said. "We go to Brandeis. We're creative. We're innovative," she added."
Piece 3 (a commentary):
COMMENTARY: Bad presentation sinks Rose cuts - Rose Reactions
Key Excerpt:
This excerpt is about alienating off-campus constituents.
"The approach to the cut has also ensured that nothing like the Rose will ever exist again should the school even survive the financial crisis. Any attempt to revive the Rose or create a similar institution will be met with extreme hesitancy by both art donors afraid of losing their works to liquidation and potential employees afraid of losing their jobs with little or no notice."
Piece 4 (an article):
Art world expresses anger at decision to close museum - Rose Art
Key Excerpt:
This excerpt is about alienating donors.
"Lois Foster, a long time benefactor of the museum whose husband founded the Lois Foster Wing of the Rose Art Museum in 2001, said she wanted to cry when Reinharz called her last Monday to inform her of the decision to close the museum.
"I'm not happy with Brandeis at all," Foster said. She added that "[the building] was given to house the collection, and I've learned from [the University's decision to close the museum] to never to give anything unless I have all kinds of legal papers that go with it," implying that the possession of legal papers would have placed a restriction on how her donations could be used."
Piece 5 (an article):
Forum held to foster dialogue - News
Key excerpt:
This excerpt ties the administration methods directly to the student resistance they're currently running into.
"Student Union President Jason Gray '10, who proposed the forum to Reinharz, said the meeting was "a very strong first step." Gray said, "I think what was awesome is [the forum] showed how engaged the student body wants to be and deserves to be."
Alex Melman '11, a writer for the blog Innermost Parts, called the meeting "very productive" despite the fact that "some of [the student questions] didn't get as specific answers as we would have liked." He added that "if we'd have done this earlier we would have avoided a lot of student demonstrations."
End of articles/excerpts.
Whew...that was a long post...of course, as far as I know, only one other person has ever actually looked at my blog (Hi Melissa!) so at least I don't need to worry about boring my audience!
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