THE (IN)EFFICIENCY OF THE FOR PROFIT SECTOR

I recently received an unsolicited phone call from the Dean of a For Profit University asking me to teach a course starting the following week. The assigned professor had resigned abruptly. I agreed and was told that I would need to send in copies of my transcripts and a Resume. I promptly replied emailing copies of the requested documents and made an appointment to handle the I9 and W4 requirements.

I then receive an e-mail stating that I have to use the University’s on-line application. The process required me to:

1.      Cut and past my resume.

2.      Download that same resume.

3.      Down load copies of my educational transcripts which had already been sent to the dean.

4.      Enter, separately, details of my academic history which were already on both the copied and downloaded resumes, the downloaded transcripts, and the resumes and transcripts forwarded to the local dean.

5.      The application also required me to hand enter my last ten years of employment history which were already on both the downloaded and copied resumes as well as the copy sent to the dean..

6.      After completing this process, I received an e-mail stating that I was required to sign into a third party background checking site which asked for the same information which I had typed into the University’s application. This information was, also, already contained in my transcripts and resume.

7.      Another e-mail soon followed which said I was now required to list four references on another third party site. These items were, again, already listed on the main application site.

8.      At this point I wrote back saying that the school already had the information for items 6 and 7. Therefore, if they wanted them done they could do them themselves. After all, they had recruited me.

9.      Their response was, in effect, do it or else. I replied that given we were at an impasse HR should inform the local dean that the process was at an end.

10.    They don’t seem to believe it because I keep receiving e-mails to contact the third party sites. 

Given the all the repetition in the process, we cannot believe the oft quoted assumption that for-profit means efficiency. In effect, given the fact that the school may not be able to find a quick replacement, they will probably loose approximately $12,000 after deducting their cost for my salary.