In this article, “Gee’s Next Act,” former Ohio State University president E. Gordon Gee is charged by Ohio’s governor with figuring out how to reduce college costs and improve quality.
Here is the key quote:
“[Ohio Governor] Kasich hinted that the solution could be found amid a mix of privatization, commercialization [of intellectual property], dual enrollment high school and college, and online college courses.”
It is remarkable how alien the idea of process improvement is to higher ed and political leaders. Whether unaware of purposefully ignored, process improvement is a durable, long-term solution for reducing costs and improving quality, while at the same time developing people, fostering a flow of innovative ideas, and keeping up with the times to meet the needs of society.
Gee went on to say:
“Now we need to ask, how do we increase quality but do so without increasing funding?”
This question should have been asked two decades ago.
Remarkably, Gee’s report is expected to be competed in summer 2014. That’s another process in need of improvement.