For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.

For want of a horse, the knight was lost.

For want of a knight, the victory was lost.

For want of a victory, the kingdom was lost.

Time for a little attention to organizational bureaucracies. Today I came across an exceptional essay in Inside Higher Ed in which Judith S. Eaton, the president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) , predicts the long range costs and effects of failing to institute organizational reforms in the near future to address needs of transparency and accountability in colleges and universities. However much one may disagree with particular predictions, the point is well made that failure to address transparency and accountability in the accreditation process will have broad, deep, and long-term effects not unlike the old cautionary tale at the beginning of this post.

Definitely worth a careful read or two, and also food for thinking of the positive effects to be gained by fixing the problems in the near term.

Peace.

Deborah Alicen