WHAT IS HEADQUARTERS THINKING? The department and the dean had a frank and open exchange of views earlier this week. There has apparently been a change in the way the university allocates resources. Departments that are what headquarters calls "enrollment-impacted" might be eligible for additional faculty to offer additional sections of classes, but there's no presumption that those resources will be available. There's also reason for headquarters to study some economics. The university currently has a tuition-protection plan under which students who stay registered in good standing will pay the same rates for nine semesters. Headquarters understands this commitment as a constraint on their ability to raise additional revenues. The way the dean put it, if the state rescinds some of the moneys that were budgeted, the university cannot make good their losses by raising tuition. That evaluation is incomplete. On the one hand, there might be more students enrolled under the expectation of a constant tuition than under uncertainty about further increases. On the other, there might be more continuing students under that expectation than there would be with an increase. Thus, the effect of a tuition increase might be to reduce revenues to the university.