November 9, 2005

I wonder what the Review will say about this?

Dartmouth hires McKinsey to assess its efficiency.

Well, that's a good thing, definitely, but something Barry Scherr said makes me wonder if the Dartmouth administration won't get supersized rather than downsized:
"We hope to get some ideas for going forward as to what areas we might need to provide additional support to in terms of priority," Scherr said. "Our concern right now is to take a look and see if everything is located as effectively as it could be in terms of reporting structures and interactions with other offices."
It would be unusual for an administrator to say that he's instituting a culling operation, but this isn't exactly your normal statement of "we're bringing in efficiency experts to see if we can streamline things around the office. Meet the Bobs."

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:05 PM

    TDR did cover it. Second to last item here.

    "President Wright recently announced during his address at the general faculty meeting that the College had hired McKinsey, a management consulting firm, to provide advice on the status of Dartmouth’s bloated administrative infrastructure. The study will seek to "break down silos, address redundancy, [ascertain] how we can improve services for students and faculty and strengthen internal coordination."

    May we offer a suggestion? Instead of paying thousands to an outside consulting firm, perhaps the administration would be better off purchasing a $40 subscription to The Dartmouth Review. "

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  2. Anonymous3:32 PM

    Well, that would be inefficient since the College can get the Review for free whenever it wants by visiting the recycle bin in any dorm the day after each issue is released.

    But then again, why would the College pay thousands a systematic, researched assessment of its priorities when it could get rhetoric from a handful of angry 20-yr-olds for free?

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  3. anonymous #1: has the term "rhetorical question" never hit your ears?

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  4. Anonymous6:17 PM

    perhaps it has hit his/her ears, but sometimes rhetorical questions have simple, straightforward answers.

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  5. and thus are ironic when actually answered.

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