The Johns Hopkins University is comprised of 13 different campuses, eight academic divisions, and at least 18,000 students worldwide. In the middle of this gigantic behemoth sits a small little entity called the School of Arts and Sciences, which for too long has been treated by the administration as just another piece of the puzzle.
In recent weeks, many faculty members have started to come out and argue against this vision of the university.
They say that the Arts and Sciences school is the heart and soul of Hopkins, upon which the reputation and standing of all the divisions and campuses depends. It deserves more resources and attention than it currently receives.
I, for one, agree with them.
At Hopkins, every division (i.e. Medical School, SAIS, Engineering, and so on) is run like an independent fiefdom: each one is responsible for finding its own funding and resources.
You bring in the students and the grants: you win. You fail to bring in revenues or start to run up deficits: cut your budgets. There is no outside help, no handholding, no tender loving care.
Not all faculty members think this sort of system is the best option.
"I would say it's a huge problem, the decentralized nature of Hopkins," said Professor Jonathan Bagger, chairman of the Physics Department. "It's a huge problem for the Homewood schools."
A small number of professors are beginning to more vocally criticize the way the university is run. Dissent and unrest are brewing.
"I am concerned that money is being found for non-academic purposes but is more difficult to come by for teaching and research," said Professor Robert Kargon, of the History of Science and Technology Department.
Political Science Chairman Matthew Crenson said that he is concerned about the current financial situation of the School of Arts and Sciences. As money gets eaten up by non-academic projects like the new $186 million dollar accounting system, he feels that academics have suffered.
"Students don't come here because we have a good accounting system. Faculty don't come here because we have a good accounting system. The administration seems to have lost sight of that," he said.
Every division pays approximately four percent of its revenue to the central administrative office that runs the entire university. That percentage has risen from two percent in the past several years.
Crenson and other professors, including Kargon, have called for an independent audit of the administration and greater transparency on how this money is spent.
President Brody needs to take these concerns very seriously.
What the administration and others may not understand is that the Arts and Sciences holds a unique position at the university. To this day, the departments that comprise it remain the intellectual linchpin of the entire academic establishment. History. Biology. Political Science. English. What would we be without a strong foundation in these departments?
Would the Johns Hopkins name, which has been extended to a cornucopia of Business, Education, and Masters programs, still hold the same cachet that it does today?
The School of Arts and Sciences is indeed the heart of this university and needs to be treated as such. We cannot expect it to bring in as much money as the medical school, SAIS, or the Applied Physics Laboratory.
That is why the university needs to begin centralizing its resources and start allocating them to the divisions which are most central to its existence and which need it most.
If we ignore the Arts and Sciences, if we don't provide it with the resources it needs to thrive and succeed, the reputation of the entire university will suffer.
"The reputation of the Arts and Sciences and Engineering schools play a crucial part in the reputation of the university as a whole," said history professor Judith Walkowitz. "That's the reigning way of thinking in academia."
Before Harvard University there was Harvard College. The same goes for Yale. At both institutions, the college remains the center of attention, while at the same time both institutions have developed world-class graduate programs. At Johns Hopkins, we should not neglect the college at the center of the university. The effects of a strong core multiply exponentially and will bolster the entire institution. A healthy heart keeps the whole body running.
If we want to maintain the level of excellence that Hopkins has championed for so long, we need to divert resources from wealthier divisions to the Homewood campus.
While the rapidly growing student body now tops over 4,000 undergraduates, the size of the faculty has remained relatively stagnant. In a university this size it is very easy to become engrossed in the affairs of other divisions and campuses, especially in a school that is so spread out geographically.
But let there be no misunderstanding: the Arts and Sciences is the cornerstone of Johns Hopkins. If the administration ignores its financial needs for too long and treats it as just another one of many children, things will get bad in a hurry.
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