The True Genius of America at Risk: Are We Losing Our Public Universities to De Facto Privatization?

Under WISCAPE sponsorship, UW System President Emerita Katharine Lyall and Kathleen Sell, the UW System's former chief budget officer, were able to complete research forming the basis of this book on the political and fiscal trends behind declining public support for postsecondary education.

In The True Genius of America at Risk: Are We Losing Our Public Universities to De Facto Privatization?, Lyall and Sell respond to these trends by opening a candid public policy discussion about the future of public higher education in America. They describe the market forces that are eroding the traditional partnership between states and public universities and explain how the search for new revenue sources is refocusing the basic mission of these schools. The authors also clarify what can be done to save these valuable institutions with an in-depth examination of state experiments in higher education funding systems and structures.

Lyall was recently a senior visiting scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Sell, a political philosopher, is also a senior lecturer in the Integrated Liberal Studies program at UW–Madison and senior staff affiliate at WISCAPE.  The authors have presented on the book topic at annual conferences for the American Council on Education (ACE) and the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO), at a WISCAPE forum entitled, "The Future of the Public University," and in other venues.

The True Genius of America at Risk was published on Dec. 30, 2005 by Greenwood Publishing Group as part of the ACE/Praeger Series on Higher Education.  The book includes a foreword by UW–Madison Chancellor Emeritus and ACE President David Ward and has also received endorsements from Association of American Universities (AAU) President Nils Hasselmo; Russell Edgerton, president emeritus of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE); Dennis Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS); and Dean David Breneman of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.

Purchasing Information
The True Genius of America at Risk can be purchased directly from the Greenwood Publishing Group online or by calling 800-255-5800. The book is also available at The University Bookstore, Borders' west side location in Madison, Barnes and Noble Booksellers on Madison's east side, and through Amazon.com.

If you are a member of the media and wish to obtain a review copy, contact Nik Hawkins at 608-265-6636 or nihawkin@education.wisc.edu.

Media Coverage of The True Genius of America at Risk
Book Review, by Christopher C. Morphew, Associate Professor, Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia (Review of Higher Education, Winter 2007, Vol. 30, No.2)

"Letters and Sciences Retreat Explores Effect of Privatization on Public Universities," by Abby Clark (News and Publications, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Sept. 1, 2006)

"BETWEEN the LINES," by Tim Goral (University Business, April 2006)

Katharine Lyall's interview with Dan Harmon (At 10, Milwaukee Public Radio, March 14, 2006)

"The Year of Unfortunate Events," by Michael Penn (On Wisconsin, Spring 2006)

"Former UW System Officials Examine Privatization" (Campus Connections, Spring 2006)

"Building the Modern Public-Purpose University Should be UW Systems Goal," by Tom Still (WisOpinion.com, Feb. 13, 2006)

"'The True Genius of  America at Risk,'" by Scott Jaschik (Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 30, 2006)

"In-Depth: UW Losing Top Administrators," by Michael Gendall (The Badger Herald, Jan.  15, 2006)

"An Interview with Katharine Lyall," with Neil Heinen (For the Record, WISC-TV, Jan. 15, 2006)

"Lyall Urges Private Role in UW Control," by Aaron Nathans (The Capital Times, Jan. 13, 2006)

WISCAPE press release (University Communications, Jan. 5, 2006)

Katharine Lyall's interview with Joy Cardin (Conversations with Joy Cardin, Wisconsin Public Radio,  Jan. 3, 2006)

Related Articles and Links
"The De Facto Privatization of American Public Higher Education," by Katharine C. Lyall and Kathleen R. Sell (Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, January/February 2006)

"Lyall: UW Governance Will Change,"  by Aaron Nathans (The Capital Times, Nov. 29, 2005)

"At Public Universities, Warnings of Privatization," by Sam Dillon (The New York Times, Oct. 16, 2005, Log-in required)

"Officials Urge Dialogue as State Support Dwindles," by Dennis Chaptman (Wisconsin Week, Sept. 20, 2005)

"Can Universities Stay Public?," by Karen Rivedal (Wisconsin State Journal, Sept. 14, 2005)

"A Call for the Miracle Model," by Katharine Lyall (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, April 2005)