After last class's discussion and receiving feedback from you I have altered my topic (yet again) to the scandals that take place at many universities and the ways in which universities cover up these scandals when it has bearing on their perception (ex. sport team scandals and fraternity issues). This concept connects to privatization because of how universities have come to act as businesses. Katharine Lyall and Kathleen Sell (2006) discuss the shift that universities have made in their writing "The De Facto Privatization of American Public Higher Education". They state, "It
is most useful to think of privatization as a spectrum along which public
institutions operate. As the share of public investment in their operations
declines, institutions are increasingly required to function in the competitive
marketplace and so become increasingly privatized". Lyall and Sell are explaining that due to a decrease in public funding, universities have to work like businesses to obtain and maintain funding. One means of maintaining funds is to ensure that target students remain interested in the school. With many state universities like Rutgers many students come for the education, but they are initially attracted by the "collegiate atmosphere" provided by important aspects of the college experience. Two big sellers are "athletics" and "fraternities". When either of these options are omitted from the college experience,the university loses that exposure. Knowing this, my paper will discuss in depth the recent cover-ups and scandals used to conceal or downplay scandals in universities.
I think talking about the increasing importance of public relations for colleges -- especially with increased privatization -- is a potential topic in and of itself. It is certainly one reason why schools invest in athletics -- to increase brand recognition -- though that can cut both ways, since there can be scandals associated with athletics on occasion. As William Dowling always liked to say, "Everyone knows O.J." Or Jerry Sandusky.
ReplyDeleteAs I suggested to you, the story of the Duke Lacrosse Team scandal might make an interesting case -- especially because it is so well documented in this recent book:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Price-Silence-Corruption-Universities/dp/1451681798/
Actually, any scandal and cover-up scenario -- or even just scandal scenario -- might be interesting. By the way, there is also some research that suggests schools can benefit from scandals because they raise brand awareness. As they say in Hollywood: all publicity is good publicity.
Professor I discussed the penn state scandal in my research blog. Could you comment on that one and let me know if that serves as a good example for my paper as well.
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