{"id":118997,"date":"2020-02-06T09:43:07","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T16:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=118997"},"modified":"2020-03-01T11:52:15","modified_gmt":"2020-03-01T18:52:15","slug":"chancellor-reddy-teaches-visiting-class-on-economics-of-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=118997","title":{"rendered":"Chancellor Reddy teaches visiting class on economics of higher education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
Chancellor Venkat Reddy got back to his faculty roots as he taught a visiting class from Colorado College about the economics of higher education. Pictured: Chancellor Reddy (left), Colorado College professor of economics and business Kevin Rask (center), Colorado College president Jill Tiefenthaler (center-right), and a student in the class.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

On Feb. 4, Chancellor Venkat Reddy spent the afternoon back\nin familiar territory: teaching class in Dwire Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reddy \u2013 who remains a tenured professor of finance even as he serves as UCCS chancellor \u2013 was in good company. Joining him for class were Colorado College president Jill Tiefenthaler and 15 students from the upper-level economics course she teaches each winter on the economics of higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To supplement discussions about economic theory, data analytics\nand the changing financial realities of higher education, students in the class\nmeet with local and national experts in higher education finance. This marks\nthe second year that the class has visited UCCS to speak with Reddy, who holds\na Ph.D. in finance and served as dean of the College of Business for 13 years\nbefore being named chancellor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his lecture, Reddy explained the financial realities\npublic universities face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Reddy spoke to the 15 students of the upper-level economics course, titled “The Economics of Higher Education.”<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I began teaching here at UCCS in 1991,\u201d he said, \u201ca substantial percent of our budget came from the state \u2013 a very healthy amount. Today, we receive 10 percent of our budget from the state.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Touching on the many services that universities are expected to provide \u2013 from career counseling to mental health services \u2013 Reddy remarked, “As state funding has decreased, the cost of the college experience has only gone up.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued, \u201cWe don\u2019t have enough resources. And we work\non a very unconventional business model. This is a business model that charges less\nthan it costs to deliver the product. The tuition that students pay is not\nsufficient to educate them. So, we have to figure out different ways to close\nthat gap without increasing tuition and the burden on our students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reddy explained different methods UCCS and other public universities\nuse to supplement shrinking state funding, including building fundraising\nrelationships with alumni and donors and partnering with private companies to\nshare the costs of new buildings and programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Colorado College president Jill Tiefenthaler (right) and her husband, Colorado College economics professor Kevin Rask (center-right), co-teach the course each winter.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He also described the tuition tightrope that UCCS walks in\nan effort to remain affordable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are very mission-aligned,\u201d he explained. \u201cAs a campus,\nwe work very, very hard to contain costs and reduce the burden that tuition puts\non our students. But when state funding decreases and you choose to keep\ntuition flat, there are real consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued, \u201cYou may help all of the students enrolled that\nyear, but what unfortunate consequences do you face because you have no\nrevenue? You might not be able to give pay raises to your faculty and staff.\nYou might lose good faculty or not be able to recruit good faculty \u2013 faculty\nwho make a difference in the classroom. You might not be able to offer new\nprograms to your students. You might not be able to upgrade your library or\nyour computer services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He concluded, \u201cThere are real consequences, no matter what you decide to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Reddy sees hope for the future, if universities are willing to be creative. \u201cWe have to get comfortable with change,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we need to get smarter about engaging with industry.”<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Reddy answered questions from Tiefenthaler and students\nabout the changing financial landscape in higher education. Students asked\nabout the high cost of student services like mental health counseling, the loan\nforgiveness programs proposed by several Democratic presidential candidates and\nUCCS\u2019 potential to grow in size and capacity over the next decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He concluded class with thoughts on the future of higher education funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have disinvested in education in this country, which\nwill set us back for decades to come if we don\u2019t start thinking about how to\nfix it,\u201d Reddy told the class. \u201cYou could say I\u2019m biased, because I work in\nhigher education. Yes, I\u2019m biased \u2013 I\u2019m biased for a more highly-educated\npopulation in this country so that we can compete with the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Reddy sees solutions for keeping education affordable,\nif universities are willing to be creative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Reddy, Tiefenthaler, Rath and students descend the stairs in Dwire Hall on their way to a tour of the Ent Center, which illustrates an industry partnership fueling UCCS’ growth.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to get comfortable with change,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we\nneed to get smarter about engaging with industry. One thing I want to ask our industry\npartners is, \u2018Are you willing to provide a loan to a student so they can graduate\nand come work for you, and you can write off the loan?\u2019 We need to be thinking\nthoughtfully about how we, as a society, will solve this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, Reddy is focused on access and\naffordability for students \u2013 and giving them an experience that will ripple outwards\nto positively affect their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHigher education is not just about helping our students to\nget good jobs,\u201d Reddy said. \u201cIt\u2019s also about shaping individuals to be strong\ncitizens. People who are educated live healthier lives, and they go out to make\na difference in their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not here to make money,\u201d he concluded. \u201cWe\u2019re not here for a profit. This is all about making an impact on our students and our community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a seminar with 15 Colorado College economics students, Reddy answered questions about the changing financial landscape in higher education. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":119109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,49],"tags":[53,62,40,332],"class_list":["post-118997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-campus-announcements","tag-academic-affairs","tag-chancellors-office","tag-college-of-business","tag-more-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Venkat-Lecture.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-uXj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=118997"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119116,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118997\/revisions\/119116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/119109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=118997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=118997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=118997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}