Ivory Tower
Instructions:

• For all of the following questions, supplement your answers with data and other evidence from the film.

• Keep your assignments under 4full pages (filling out 3 pages is probably a good target), single-spaced, 12 point font, and 1” margins.

• This documentary is very much concerned with the “present day”, so you should be as well in your answers and our discussion.

• Active participation in class discussion can help to supplement your grade on this assignment.

Questions:

1. Describe in detail the issue(s) at the heart of the documentary, Ivory Tower. Be very detailed here; I need to be convinced that you watched and paid close attention to the entire film.

2. Analyze the higher education industry:

a. General Environment. Choose three of the six (demographic, sociocultural, political/legal, technological, economic, and global) general environment segments considered in Chapter 2 (pgs. 43-51). Provide two factors or trends within each of the three segments that you choose.

b. Porter’s Five Forces. For each force, identify whether and why the influence is low, medium, or high. Finally, make a general conclusion about the attractiveness and competitive environment of the higher education industry.

3. If you were the President of a major publicly-funded university (say, Michigan State), would you attempt to make significant changes in light of the issue(s) at the center of Ivory Tower? If yes, what specifically would you do? If not, why not – it seems like this situation may be a bubble waiting to burst?