????鑒于2012年的財(cái)政預(yù)算出現(xiàn)高達(dá)400萬(wàn)美元的赤字,，雷鳥(niǎo)全球管理學(xué)院（Thunderbird School of Global Management）已同意抓住一條亟需的救生索。這所以國(guó)際管理教育而久負(fù)盛名的學(xué)校打算將其坐落于亞利桑那州的校園出售給一家營(yíng)利性的教育公司,。

????這個(gè)決定激起了一波爭(zhēng)議風(fēng)暴,。至少有兩個(gè)董事會(huì)成員已經(jīng)辭職以示抗議,，近2,000位校友簽署了一份請(qǐng)?jiān)笗?shū)，聲稱(chēng)與桂冠教育公司（Laureate Education Inc.）達(dá)成的協(xié)議將“貶低雷鳥(niǎo)學(xué)位的價(jià)值,?！?/p>

????“我們心目中的那個(gè)雷鳥(niǎo)即將逝去，”董事和校友默爾?辛里奇在他的辭職信中寫(xiě)道,?！坝诶坐B(niǎo)而言，這筆交易是一個(gè)悲劇,，桂冠教育公司則撿了個(gè)大便宜,?！绷硪晃恍嫁o職的董事小托馬斯?格里爾聲稱(chēng)，把一所用學(xué)費(fèi)和捐贈(zèng)資金建造的校園出售給桂冠教育公司“沒(méi)有天理”,。格里爾發(fā)誓再也不向這所學(xué)校貢獻(xiàn)他的時(shí)間和金錢(qián)了,。

????從去年11月開(kāi)始擔(dān)任雷鳥(niǎo)全球管理學(xué)院校長(zhǎng)的拉里?彭利認(rèn)為，他們的憂慮可以理解,，但被誤導(dǎo)了?！俺聊缬趯?duì)過(guò)往經(jīng)歷的懷念致使我們抗拒改變,，”彭利補(bǔ)充道?！懊绹?guó)人對(duì)營(yíng)利性教育機(jī)構(gòu)特有的偏見(jiàn)也造成了阻力。然而,，這些事實(shí)都無(wú)法說(shuō)明桂冠教育公司將像其他營(yíng)利性教育機(jī)構(gòu)那樣行事,。”

????一些觀察人士指出,，這筆交易再次證明公眾對(duì)MBA學(xué)位的興趣日益衰減。事實(shí)上,，這家教育機(jī)構(gòu)如今面臨的許多麻煩已經(jīng)持續(xù)了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，而且都是自身造成的,，從而使它成為一個(gè)研究組織衰落的典型案例,。這個(gè)新的合作關(guān)系映射出雷鳥(niǎo)全球管理學(xué)院多年來(lái)每況愈下的處境,。這所商學(xué)院的衰落是許多因素促成的，比如競(jìng)爭(zhēng)壓力不斷加劇,，資金募集工作乏善可陳,，沒(méi)有投入足夠資源幫助學(xué)生尋找工作,，一些教師領(lǐng)取的薪酬過(guò)于優(yōu)厚等等,。

????相較于許多商學(xué)院競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，雷鳥(niǎo)全球管理學(xué)院的捐贈(zèng)基金顯得非常微薄,，近幾年一直不到2,000萬(wàn)美元,。2004年好不容易爭(zhēng)取到的一筆價(jià)值6,000萬(wàn)美元的冠名權(quán)捐款承諾（這是美國(guó)所有商學(xué)院當(dāng)時(shí)獲得的最大一筆捐款承諾），后來(lái)卻并沒(méi)有完全兌現(xiàn),。

????然而,，即使這所學(xué)校缺乏雄厚的捐贈(zèng)基金,，有幾位教授的薪酬卻非常優(yōu)渥。全球戰(zhàn)略教授坎南?拉馬斯瓦米（供職于雷鳥(niǎo)高層管理人員培訓(xùn)項(xiàng)目）在2011財(cái)年領(lǐng)取的總薪酬高達(dá)70.0096萬(wàn)美元,。對(duì)于一位在這所位于亞利桑那州格倫代爾的學(xué)校之外并不被視為超級(jí)明星的學(xué)者而言,，這筆薪酬似乎高得有些離譜。它甚至超過(guò)了時(shí)任校長(zhǎng)安吉爾?卡布雷拉的薪金總額（58.4749美元）,。

????With its 2012 fiscal budget $4 million in the red, the Thunderbird School of Global Management has agreed to grasp a sorely needed lifeline. The school, long known for its international business focus, is selling its Arizona campus to a for-profit education company.

????The decision has kicked up a storm of controversy. At least two board members have resigned in protest and nearly 2,000 of the school's alumni have signed a petition contending that its agreement with Laureate Education Inc. would "cheapen the value of the [Thunderbird] degree."

????"This is the end of Thunderbird as we have known it," wrote Merle Hinrich, a director and alumnus, in his resignation letter. "The Laureate transaction is a tragedy for Thunderbird and a total windfall for Laureate." Thomas Greer Jr., another board member who resigned, called the decision to sell Laureate a campus built with tuition funds and donations "unconscionable." Greer vowed to no longer contribute either his time or his money to the school.

????Thunderbird President Larry Penley, who started on the job last November, believes their concerns are understandable yet misguided. "That intimate nostalgia for what we experience causes us to be resistant to change," added Penley. "And then the bias that Americans especially have because of what's been discovered about for-profits causes resistance. However, the facts don't line up with Laureate behaving like these other for-profits."

????Some observers say the deal is evidence of waning interest in the MBA degree. In fact, many of the institution's troubles have been long lasting and self-inflicted, making it a quintessential case study in organizational decline. The new partnership reflects years of deterioration due to?increased competition from rivals, lackluster fundraising, insufficient resources devoted to getting jobs for students, and overly generous compensation for some of its faculty.

????The school's endowment, which in recent years has been below $20 million, is meager compared to many of its business school competitors. It didn't help that a $60 million naming gift, at the time in 2004 the largest pledge ever made to a business school, never fully materialized.

????Yet, even though the school lacks a significant endowment, several of its professors have been paid extraordinarily well. Kannan Ramaswamy, a global strategy professor who teaches in Thunderbird's executive education programs, had a total compensation package with benefits of $700,096 in fiscal 2011. That is munificent pay for an academic who is not known as a superstar outside his school in Glendale, Arizona. It even exceeded the total pay of then-Thunderbird President Angel Cabrera whose compensation totaled $584,749.