[veilrap]

The spending all the money you have so that you don't lose it is a problem actually created by anti-corruption bureaucracy, and is very common in government funded areas.

The problem is that in an effort to avoid being wasteful, the bureaucracy aggressively tracks money spent, and forces a return of unused funds. This in turn disincentivizes saving because there is literally no benefit to spending efficiently or saving money for rough times, because those short term savings are immediately vacuumed back up by the higher level bureacracy.

Blaming student services departments for overspending is missing the root of the problem. I've seen the exact same issues in STEM research institutions.

[Agamus]

My apologies, and my mistake - I didn't mean to say that this only happens in Student Services!

I worked in a Student Services office for 15 years, but I suspect this happens all over the place.

I also suspect that much of this changed after the 2008 financial crisis, as universities suddenly had to match their programs with career outcomes. Then the worst thing happened: administrations expanded even more, while the essential liberal arts are being suffocated and squeezed out.

We lost the best part of the college concept, and kept all the worst parts.

[imtringued]

Just pay a fixed bonus if the budget is 3% smaller than last year's.