Rectors waste money like professional politicians.
The public university (PU) should be austere because we all pay it despite it not being an essential asset, and the taxes of those who do not use it also finance it. Rectors always claim more public money, barely cut back (amortising pensions) dispensable jobs and do not dare raise academic rates, with an 80% discount that produces unemployed people who dream of being civil servants. Propaganda means are squandered because elections will soon be held... Today PU rectors form part of TV debates, have a public relations boss. There are Vice-Rectors for everything, and even for propaganda under another name, of course. All new rectors organise a “strategic” event; so celebrating anniversaries is not surprising, they celebrate their university being a few tens of years old. Some fill their city with banners. Events for giving research medals are organised to promote the “quantity” of publications, repetition of ideas, fleeing from risk, disposable research. In our “show” society today, reality is irrelevant, but appearance is, and votes are too important. Rectors use the university institution as a self-promotion platform.
The lady UV Rector stated that they train in good politicians. The PU is full of “unaware” politically correct and obedient socialists who do not think in the good for a country, which is rancid patriotism, and one that is not modern and of extremists; what is modern is optimistic clappers, looking good in false rankings, even though the economy, education, innovation, freedoms are decaying due to academic politicisation. A good government, regardless of it being of universities or countries, is evaluated by the service it gives, not by winning elections. What is teaching, research or innovative quality? No improvement can be explained when a country falls to bits. Nothing looks so much like society as the PU because its students, employees and rectors reflect tax payers, voters and governors. One of the traditional propaganda squandering platforms to which the whole Vice-Rectorate is dedicated is the so-called “Strategic Plan”. This they should have and apply before their management begins, even though they take at least 1 year to draw it up, and it is merely meaningless propaganda.
What does the “Strategic Plan” consist in? They are all similarly useless because they are copies, ideas are lacking, they merely follow false rankings, and they tyrannise the teacher/researcher. Firstly, it is a matter of choosing words that sound good for not only the university, but for whatever. It is a bit like a TV ad of a political party, a bank or a car. This list of possible propaganda-like keywords includes: Sustainability, Entrepreneurship, Efficacy, Excellence, International, Ecological, Performance, Future, Excitement, Innovation, Inclusive, Enthusiasm, Development, Responsible, Quality, Experience, Certainty, Employability, Human, Tolerance, Effort, Equality, Social, Dynamic, Experimental, With You, etc. They all refer to desirable, positive and politically correct trends, always and everywhere, and are almost universal. Their feasibility is null; they involve neither realism nor credibility, just squandered electoral smoke. Then a given university chooses some words from the above list. With initials, it composes a short 5- or 6-letter word that sounds good; e.g. SERVES. This is childish, absurd, useless. A pleasant video is included. Some centres, people or teams are used that excel in a ranking. An event is organised on a convenient date held at the university’s most appealing place. It is filled with a clapping audience and is ready. One week later, no-one remembers any of it. The harsh reality is not important. All teachers must spend more time doing daily digital bureaucracy (the number of administration staff members never lowers despite digitisation). They speak of “internationalisation”, but payments of commissions of services have not been updated for 25 years; board members pay considerable money (quite easily 125 euros/day), especially if they are “international” because hotels and restaurants have gone up a lot in 25 years. The fact that student surveys are conducted by students in the same course that teachers examine them promotes coercing teachers, which makes passing easier. The quantitative politics of rankings generates useless knowledge, aversion to taking innovative risks and incapacitates entrepreneurship. Far too much propaganda and smoke.