“Christmas tree” amendments added, costs understated, bill passed, hosannas all around.
Word gets out – more people than anticipated take advantage of the program.
Idiotic (possibly apocryphal) abuse case gets high public profile.
Means test proposed. Committees formed. Abuses investigated.
New rules – means testing, reporting requirements, eligibility tightened.
Faculty complain about administrative bloat, citing new staff.
New rules cause misunderstandings, bureaucratic errors. Complaints soar.
Participation drops. Costs remain high, due to overhead for stricter reporting requirements.
Unmet needs increase. Citing ineffectiveness, funding for program withers.
Staff hiring freeze, cuts by attrition. Staff union protests mismanagement.
In which a veteran of cultural studies seminars in the 1990's moves into academic administration and finds himself a married suburban father of two. Foucault, plus lawn care. For private comments, I can be reached at deandad at gmail dot com. The opinions expressed here are my own and not those of my employer.