Kean University’s President, Dawood Farahi, is causing some controversy. Since his arrival five years ago, enrollment is up 25%, new buildings have been built and the school grounds have never been better maintained. However, the changes he’s made don’t come without their detractors.
At the heart of Mr. Farahi’s philosophy is this:

“If you design a higher-education institution to keep faculty and staff employed, you will not succeed,” says Mr. Farahi. “But if you structure the environment to serve the students, you will excel.”

In other words, he is running Kean more like a corporation (which lives to serve its customers) and less like a traditional academic institution (which tend more towards serving the pedagogy.) Some love it. Faculty, naturally, do not. The president’s moves have earned him a faculty vote of no confidence and drawn an inquiry from the American Association of University Professors.

The debate rages on. What side are you on?