Missing the Point Twice

Accuracy in Academia ^ | February 4, 2010 | Malcolm A. Kline

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Missing the Point Twice

Malcolm A. Kline, February 4, 2010

Two stories appearing on the GW Hatchet Online show why a college education such as the one offered at George Washington University here in our nation’s capital trains students so well for government work. “The task force charged with generating $60 million through innovation and fundraising has collected almost 200 ideas from the community on how to spend smarter, but the group is still wrestling with which savings should be counted, and how,” Lauren French reported on February 1, 2010. “Launched in October by University President Steven Knapp, the Innovation Task Force is designed to evaluate the University’s budget and ensure funds are being used in the most efficient ways without resorting to program cuts.”

“The account to track the savings has not been established, Associate Vice President for Academic Operations Jeffrey Lenn said, because he and other senior officials are still discussing what money will be eligible for inclusion toward the $60 million goal. For example, the University may make an effort to convert all light bulbs on campus to energy-efficient ones.”

That same day, Sarah Josephs reported that “Salaries for GW’s top administrators jumped an average of 54.7 percent from 2002 to 2007, while faculty salaries increased an average of 21.5 percent over roughly the same period, according to University salary data.”

For example, “For the 2007-2008 academic year, full-time professors earned an average of $128,500, associate professors earned an average of $92,600, and assistant professors earned an average of $75,100.”

“New undergraduate tuition that year cost $39, 420,” Josephs informs us....