Ohio State Senator Jerry Cirino thinks that shared governance is “garbage.” He says so in this interview.
Just a quick reminder: shared governance is one of the core AAUP principles, established in the early twentieth century, that has allowed the United States to develop the strongest system of higher education in the world.
He also seems to think that universities are businesses. He tells his interviewer that all of the management lessons he learned as a corporate CEO are directly applicable to public research universities.
We’ll have more to say on Cirino’s remarks in the coming weeks, but for now, ask yourself:
- As a faculty member, should I have the power to help determine whether the programs of study and research I conduct should exist at a state university?
- Is my university (and my state of Ohio) improved by my expertise being used to set what should be taught and researched within my discipline?
- Should my deep subject knowledge allow me to have a strong influence on who should be hired as my colleague and how they should be evaluated as an academic worker?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, guess what: according to the most powerful voice on higher education in the Ohio legislature, your beliefs should be chucked in the trash bin.