A common complaint in academia goes something like this: "If the essential work of education is that which occurs between student and faculty member, between students themselves, or between a student and a book, then why are so much money and so much energy spent in the nonessentials: athletics, dormitories, development and alumni offices, day-care centers, social activities-indeed , all the 'support services' of a university? Wouldn't life on a campus be simpler and wouldn't our work be more effective if we were to concentrate our efforts on the essentials?"

All of us, whether we're administrators or faculty or board members, have to face this problemwhich may be more one of perception than of objective fact, but that does not make it any less real or any easier to solve.