The Morale of Faculty, Students, and Staff Under a Corporate Model: The case of the University of Kansas

Abstract

In this essay, I describe issues related to morale of faculty, staff and students at the University of Kansas, a major Midwestern research university, after a corporate model was implemented by a new administration in the mid-1990's. I will emphasize three aspects of demoralization. First, I discuss recruitment and retention of minority and female faculty and minority students, both before and after the implementation of the corporate model. Second, I discuss the morale of faculty in one of the university's top ranked research departments, as well as the morale of graduate and undergraduate students who work closely with those faculty. Finally, I discuss the morale of unclassified staff, particularly in a division where the administration was attempting to force mergers between departments in an attempt to "trim fat" and "streamline" administrative structure.