The news last week that the University of Colorado will close its School of Journalism and Mass Communication would lead some to believe we are abandoning journalism education. In reality, it is alive and well at CU. We are moving forward quickly yet deliberately to provide journalism under a different administrative structure, one we believe will strengthen the program.
Journalism education is important to our students, our state and our democracy. There’s no doubt the field is changing rapidly, and our educational program must change as well. Yet we must also retain the fundamental values that make it so important in an age of information overload — fairness, balance, accuracy, ethics and law.
Just as the field of journalism is changing, so are CU and all of higher education. And if we don’t address that new reality, we will have failed in our obligation to our students and state.
Like the example of journalism, we must retain the bedrock values of our educational endeavor while also recognizing that we cannot do business as usual. CU has to provide our students a high- quality blend of a classic liberal arts education and professional preparation in a variety of fields. We must provide research that moves our state and society forward. We must advance the economy, health and culture of Colorado and beyond. Yet we must do all this in an environment where our state is steadily de-funding higher education.
In recent years we have made good progress in our efforts to be as administratively efficient as possible. As recently as three years ago, CU’s administrative overhead was an already-lean 25 percent below peer averages, as measured by national standards. Today, we are 40 percent below. We have worked with the legislature and the past two governors to cut red tape to allow us to operate more efficiently and effectively. Legislation last year and this will give us the flexibility to use better business practices and achieve dozens of efficiencies that will add up to savings. We have partnered across governing board lines with other colleges and universities to achieve economies of scale and other efficiencies.
We must bring the same mindset to our academic programs. We have to be focused in our offerings; we cannot be all things to all people. The new reality will not allow it. We are moving increasingly to alternative delivery methods such as online education, where CU offers 30 degree programs and 39 certificates, with more than 30,000 online enrollments. We are also using innovations in videoconferencing technology. We are expanding successful partnerships we have with K-12 education and community colleges to ensure student access and success across the educational spectrum.
Yet the funding hill is a steep climb. Colorado’s state funding per resident student is an abysmal 48th nationally. If trend lines continue on their current trajectory, the percentage of state funding going to higher education will zero out. In my speeches, I often relate the sad but true observation that Colorado’s public universities have gone from state funded to state assisted, and if funding continues to plummet, they will only be state located.
So we will continue to reinvent how we operate with more academic and administrative efficiencies. Research universities such as ours are job creators and economic engines that not only helped make Colorado great, but also will help drive our state out of recession. If we stand still, we risk irreparable harm to higher education’s critical contributions to Colorado’s economic and social health. At CU, we won’t stand still. We intend to remain at the forefront of reform by providing educational opportunities through new and innovative approaches.
Bruce D. Benson is president of the University of Colorado.
