My Interview with Rutgers University Vice President, Peter McDonough

       Today I interviewed Peter J. McDonough Jr., Vice President of Public Affairs at Rutgers University. McDonough is the chief adviser to Rutgers university president Richard L. McCormick, Rutgers governing boards and other university leaders on matters involving state, federal and local governments; New Jersey businesses; civic and community groups; and nonprofit organizations. McDonough served as director of communication for the state of New Jersey and as director, McDonough was one of Governor Whitman's principal strategic advisers. In addition he served as chief of staff in the New Jersey state Department of the Treasury. Peter McDonough also served as chief of staff for U.S. Representative Dean A. Gallo of Morris County and as an associate staff member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. McDonough currently teaches a masters and Ph.D seminar in American politics at Rutgers' Eagleton Institute of Politics.
     I learned through my interview with Mr. McDonough that the future of higher education has a high correlation with the future of the American economy. I also learned that a major issue with the value of college also pertains to the amount of years that an individual stays in school. McDonough emphasized that getting kids through school in a timely manner is key to increasing the value of an individuals degree and will help the higher education bubble decrease. But when it comes down to it tuition is a primary issue when it comes to the higher education bubble. McDonough states during the interview that "college tuition costs almost seem unrelated to economic realities of the day". He goes on to state that on the side of the government there are issues of accountability when it comes to whether or not America's children are receiving value in their higher education. McDonough made sure to bring up online schools such as University of Phoenix that "are taking enormous amounts of federal loans and grants, applying them to their degrees, and not graduating their students". McDonough went on to discus a number of issues with higher education and the possible solutions to those problems.
   I chose to interview Mr. McDonough because of his background in both politics and education. His experiences have formed him in to a very knowledgeable person, not only in life but also on the issue of higher education as a political priority. The interview with Peter J McDonough will be posted later tomorrow.

All Bibliographic information on Peter McDonough:
 Trevor, Greg. " Rutgers Names Peter J. McDonough Jr. Vice President for Public Affairs ." March 2013 — Rutgers FOCUS . Rutgers University , 11 Feb. 2008. Web. 30 Mar. 2013. <http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel/news-releases/2011/02/rutgers-names-peter-20110207>.