Open Doors in the Academy

David — Thanks for this update, however troubling. Perhaps it reflects as much on the security issues on campuses as the changing culture of academic administration—the new era of business leaders. I’ve had the privilege of speaking on dozens of campuses and have never found any president’s office difficult to access. Usually, it’s quite the opposite—very warm. Perhaps the biggest surprise was while on Purdue’s campus the host was giving me a tour of football facilities and the head coach, Joe Tiller, among the most beloved of NCAA coaches, literally had an open door. Perhaps the most unfortunate situation I’ve heard of took place at a prestigious private university when the new president built a wall between his office and the Vice Presidents’ suite (without notice). One of them told a conference audience he/she was now available for hire. In this case it was strictly a business model issue — and one that cost that president dearly. And BTW, the people I’ve met from Oakland, both administrators and faculty, are wonderful, and my hunch is that it’s more a matter of a policy gone awry than intentional isolationism. Regardless, this incident is quite the opposite of the open door policy at our university and at most (open door within reason, of course). A book recommended for administrators wanting to have closed doors—Tim Sanders’ Love Is the Killer App (he’s the marketing guru from Yahoo, and affords a clever introduction to the millennials’ “intangibles").

jerry pattengale, Assistant Provost at Indiana Wesleyan University, at 7:20 am EDT on September 9, 2008

It must be a trend...

Boy does THIS sound familiar!

kgotthardt, at 8:10 am EDT on September 9, 2008

This does have remotely “Virginia Tech” ring to it, wherein the President immediately ordered the administration building locked to secure it against the mayhem to which faculty and students were subjected. There was no vision of the big picture, no consideration of others, no leadership, just consideration of self.

The problem is that there seem to be so many leaders like these on college campuses today. They are men and women who apparently have no conception of the overall mission of a university, because they are so focused on their own status and enrichment. At my former institution, Norfolk State University, few administrators have any academic credentials or demonstrable leadership ability, but their salaries and those of their sycophants, are skyrocketing. (After a shooting on the NSU campus — a non-student shot a student to death in a rivalry over a girl — administrators placed security guards sporadically at the entrances and all faculty were ordered to wear their ID badges at all times. Students did not have to. Brilliant leadership! Absolutely brilliant!)

Part of the problem is that many administrators are simply paid too much for what they do. Coupled with power, authority, and prestige, the salaries serve only to attract the wrong sorts of people, those who perceive themselves as a class of royalty. Many of them left the classroom because they were not competent there, and now they tell their more competent colleagues how to do their jobs. To cover their incompetence, many seek to wall themselves off from their subordinates, projecting an aura of importance. Imagine the stifling academic climate which would result in a university where no faculty doors were open to students, except by appointment!

Clearly, one way to begin to reduce educational costs is to drastically cut the salaries of senior administrators. Teaching and scholarship are the work of a university. Everything else, including administration, is a support service.

Steven D. Aird, Selfishness and Myopia Trump Leadership... Again!, at 8:55 am EDT on September 9, 2008

Is this just the Admin Office?

Is this just the president administrative office that is getting secured or is it all sensitive administrative offices, such as IT, HR, or Student Records. I can applaud an effort to control physical access to areas that have sensitive information as long as you make customer service areas friendly and usable.

Too many institutions have administrative offices placed in areas where students and visitors pass by daily, creating an opportunity for physical or identity theft. It will take time, but I encourage all institutions to think about how they do IT and other sensitive administrative offices and consider traffic flow to limit crimes of opportunity.

Chris G. Sellers, Lead Internet Engineer at NITLE, at 9:35 am EDT on September 9, 2008

Mahogany Row. . .

This may indeed be a valid concern —- Security.

What’s good for them should be good for the rest of us. Why don’t we all erect barriers and force the hiring of administrative personnel to screen everyone from the rest of us?

We can just turn the entire campus into an underground bunker. This should ensure that OUR protection is commensurate with those in the inner sanctum. After all, this would provide the desired added benefit of not being bothered. I suspect this is the actual reason for this elimination of the Open Door.

I wonder how the funding of anything on that campus is discussed. We have a president at my institution who is completely transparent in his decision-making process. He is indeed a treasure, and this is only because he communicates his reasons before, during, and after.

All security threats should be immediately aired and divulged to everyone. Otherwise, how can we be able to act efficiently?

DFS, at 10:30 am EDT on September 9, 2008

To “PS”

At my college, we have student representatives on every major committee; they have voice and vote. We find their insights very helpful in all our curricular decisions. And, in response to increased threats of violence — including very specific ones against a faculty member — we have put our limited funds to use in making dorms and classrooms secure and creating a campus-wide alert system. Our administrative spaces remain open to all. Our students come first with us. I cannot see OU’s walling off of the top guns as anything but ludicrous and self-serving.

cts, at 12:20 pm EDT on September 9, 2008

Nothing in common with terrorism or corporations

College administrators carry none of the personal risks of leaders in the private sector and one of the lowest exposure risks to potential violence. To hear some of these people talk, you’d think they were talking about soldiers occupying Iraq rather than employees working on a campus.

When is the last time you saw a college placed into receivership or a corporate raider take the retirements and benefits from the officers and employees? When has a college president ever been accountable to stockholders or had to personally meet a payroll? There is nothing “corporate” about most colleges or their management, and it remains one of the safest jobs on earth—complete with golden parachute in case one does unusually more damage than the average politically connected walking hazard.

What Barclay most likely experienced is a person trying to establish an image of leader?/celebrity? by posing as being too important to talk to. Just smile and be grateful that person will never be in charge of managing a retirement fund.

Prof Ed, at 5:05 am EDT on September 11, 2008

A Sad State of Affairs

As an Oakland U. graduate, this story makes me wonder what has happened to my school. I remember Oakland U. as a small, friendly, collegial place where Woody Varner was almost always accessible to anyone and everyone. Could Rochester, Michigan really have become so dangerous that administrators need to barricade themselves behind locked doors?

Perhaps the OU administration should remember that it was students and faculty who were in the line of fire at Virginia Tech. I’m not aware of any Tech administrators being in any danger at all.

As an OU alumnus, I’m a lot more interested in what’s being done to protect students in classrooms—than in the measures that administrators have taken to protect themselves.

Tim Wiedman, at 6:45 pm EDT on September 12, 2008