History & Philosophy, Higher & Continuing Education, Reform & Policy, Student Life, Education, Science & Mathematics 

Amid the clamorous debates on political correctness, the Western canon, and alcohol abuse on campus, many observers have failed to notice the most radical change in the American University: the Golden Age of massive government funding is gone. And, as Stuart Rojstaczer points out in this incisive look at higher education, the consequences are affecting virtually every aspect of university life. Laced with humorous and insightful anecdotes, Gone for Good is a highly personal tour of the university system as it has evolved from the glory days of phenomenal post-WWII growth to the financial stresses that now beset it. Stuart Rojstaczer, professor of Hydrology at Duke, shows how almost unlimited funding during the Cold War years encouraged universities to become unwieldy behemoths--with ever-enlarging faculties and administrative staffs, an explosion of new buildings that are proving costly to maintain, and a parade of programs designed largely to impress other universities. Rojstaczer asserts that despite the scarcity of new funding sources, universities continue to strive for unlimited growth--with disastrous results: skyrocketing tuition (well over $20,000 per year at top tier schools); desperate attempts to increase enrollments (lower standards, inflated grades, and new majors in some rather implausible areas of study); and increasing pressure on faculty who already spend more time researching than teaching to raise more money through research grants. The time has come, Rojstaczer argues, to abandon an outmoded idea of growth and create a leaner university system more beneficial to both students and society. For parents, students, and anyone interested higher education, Gone for Good offers a vivid account of the crossroads where universities now stand--and a compelling argument about which path they should take.  

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
why no one seems to know, even my mother, what I do at work
Section One: Undergraduate Life
2. Lowering the Bar
why we have such low intellectual expectations for students even though they could easily do more
3. The Prestige Business
what services the university provides students and why we charge so much for tuition
4. Shortening the Yellow Brick Road
why we have made college easier, yet no one seems to mind or care
5. The Sports Machine
how universities entertain their students and alumni and why and how we've crossed the line of good judgment
Section Two: Research and Graduate Education
6. Heart & Soul
why graduate students are often more important than professors
7. Grants or Goodbye
why we spend so much time writing grant proposals
8. Why Research?
what professors do when they don't teach and why they do it
Section Three: Campus Politics
9. Matchmaking
how we hire and why we move to other universities
10. The End of the Golden Age
why the era of exponential growth has ended and why it's a good thing that it's over
11. Shaking the Tree
why universities are increasingly turning to alumni, foundations and corporations, and what they will and will not do in exchange for money
12. You've Got to Believe
why we blindly follow the latest trends in academic fashion even though it makes us look ridiculous
13. The Fifty Percent Solution
why there are so few female professors, and why there aren't likely to be more in the foreseeable future
14. Making Adjustments
how to adapt to the life of a professor without getting too crazy
15. Getting Tenure
what it takes to get tenure, why standards have risen, and why they will continue to rise
16. Rolling the Dice
why the American university is still valuable even though it looks to be in such a mess