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Government and nonprofit collaboration for improved public services

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Essay 8,019 words

Policy Recommendation for Collaboration and TSA Privatization

The objective of this study is to evaluate the benefits of collaboration between the federal government and non-profit organizations. The study cites different examples of collaborations across the world and their achievements. Moreover, the paper investigates whether it is beneficial to privatize the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) since the organization has performed below the international standards in the last few years. Finally, the study recommends the best policy option for the MRCC (Mt. Rossmoor Community College) in order to increase the number of students' enrollment and revenue in an academic year.

In the contemporary public administration environment, public organizations are currently entering the era of collaboration where various public sectors form an alliance to address issues and challenges that hinder them serving people better. Moreover, they are entering into the collaborative ventures to protect the U.S. national and foreign interests. The public sector collaboration is defined as a voluntary and reciprocal support and relationships between two or more public agencies or non-profit organizations with the intent to deliver the public goods. The collaboration of public administration is essential because the incremental improvement and innovation in public services positively affect millions of people. The ultimate goal of the collaboration is to enhance organization innovation. (Crow, 2015).

Collaboration can invigorate the public organizations by increasing innovation and assist in attracting highly skilled and qualified employees to the organizations. Kelly, & Schaefer, (2014) describe collaboration as an activity that involves different team members working to implement a program or project. However, a true collaboration is more than the activity, it involves a process of associated behaviors that can be developed and taught. This is a process that governs norms and behaviors that help to maximize individual contribution. The outcome of collaboration is a collective achievement that enhances innovation, foster the cross-functional activities, increases employee energy, productivity, and creativity. Moreover, a true collaboration improves organizational agility and flexibility, increase extreme high employee retention rates and enhance organizational competitive advantages. An effective collaboration can improve the performances and enhance the top-line revenue in the public sector. However, trust is the bedrock of an effective collaboration. In a collaborative environment, trust is a process whereby everyone is able to open express his or her opinion without fear of aggression or retaliation. When people are disrespected, they tend to look elsewhere where they feel they can contribute effectively. Moreover, effective communication is the foundation of collaboration because communication assists the stakeholders to outline the roadmap on the method to work collaboratively. (Hatch, 2012).

Based on the aforementioned benefits to be derived from collaboration, public sector organizations are required to build a network of relation to delivering quality public services and serve the citizens better. In essence, collaboration innovation is the key determinants for the public service improvement that involves multiple actors with the intent to pool knowledge, creativity, innovation, and resources together to deliver innovative service to the community. A key driver of collaboration and innovation in the public service is to deliver better services for people. The findings of the survey carried out by GovDelivery in 2012 show that 96% of the respondents believe a strong relationship between two or more government agencies is beneficial because it enables the agencies to deliver better services to the public, enhances better decision, and greater participation of the government process. For example, the advance in the information technology has made both businesses and private individuals to demand better services from the public services.

Goldsmith & Eggers (2004) believes that innovation and collaboration go hand-in-hand in modern day public administration. Typically, collaboration assists the public administrators to use innovative strategies to manage limited resources to launch effective changes. Thus, collaboration refers to the partnership relationships between two or more public agencies and other organizations with the intention to meet public goals. The essence of collaboration is to develop a network of connection among parties seeking connection to reach the organizational benchmark. In essence, this type of network and association is increasingly important among pubic agencies because it assists them providing essential services, which they will not be able to deliver if implemented the program alone. Thus, collaboration has become an important innovative strategic planning that provides opportunities for the public sector to meet important organizational goals.

Collaboration between Public Agencies and Non-Profit Organization

The government contract is very critical for "the provision of public services in the United States" (Witesman & Fernandez, 2012 p 690), and non-profit organizations have played an important role in the delivery of essential services at local, state and national levels. The interplay between nonprofits organizations and public organizations involves the financial dependency of non-profits on government funding in assisting the implementation of public programs. The principal-agent theory believes that for-profit organizations divert government resources to pursue their main interest, thus, public sectors can minimize the agent problems by selecting agents that have closely aligned related interests. (Fernandez, 2009). VanSlyke (2007) argues that non-profit organizations and pubic organizations have converging missions and interests based on their legal responsibilities and non-for-profit status to deliver common goods and services for public interests. The argument suggests that the non-profit providers will be a better partner of public sector than for-profit firms will because their performances are likely to be satisfactory to the government. Since the goal of non-profit organizations is to deliver the public goods without seeking for profits, this perception will give them more competitive advantages. (VanSlyke, 2007). From the agent's theory perspectives, the goal alignment between nonprofit organizations and public organizations makes the public managers trust the non-profits than for profits. (Bryce, 2005). Thus, the atmosphere of mutual trusts and shared interests will assist the public officials to reduce the transaction costs because they will implement less frequent monitoring and less rigorous screening of nonprofit contractors. In the atmosphere of a higher level of trusts, reduction of opportunism, and lower transaction costs, a collaboration between public organizations and non-profits organizations yield better results for delivering of public goods.

The agent theory argues that the major problems arise from the collaboration are the moral hazards and adverse selection. In the contractual relationships environment, the adverse selection arises when the principal enters into a collaboration with an agent without understanding the level of risks or costs involved. Thus, the agent is likely to misinterpret or withhold the information from the principal since the asymmetry information favors the agent. Thus, the government can minimize the effect of adverse selection through screening and collect the additional information about the agent. (Fernandez, 2009). Similarly, moral hazard is an opportunistic behavior that the agents employ to maximize their benefits. Thus, the agent seeks to promote their interest and maximize their profits at the expense of the principals. The agent problems arise when the principals and agents pursue a diverse goal; however, the goals and interests of public organizations and non-profit sectors are related because both organizations attempt to offer services to the community. Since the goal of for-profits organizations is to maximize their profits, a contracting collaboration between a for-profit organization and public organization may jeopardize the standard set by the government. While the for-profit organizations are to increase their market shares, and profits, however, non-profit organizations are to pursue communal interests bound by the legal constraints. Under the federal and state laws, non-profit organizations are to distribute their assets for the public purpose upon dissolution of their assets. (Witesman, & Fernandez, 2012).

The role of a non-profit organization for the provision of social services has grown significantly in the United States over the last three decades. Many non-profit organizations are able to deliver social services that neither for-profits organizations nor governments are able to match. (Salamon, 2003). Thus, a collaboration between the governments and non-profit organizations is an effective strategy to serve the client better, and the potential gains of collaboration include delivery of quality services, enhancing economic efficiency, the spread of risks as well as an increase of access to resources. (Gazley, Chang, & Bingham, 2006). A collaboration between the government and non-profit is an attractive option for the non-profit organizations and government to reduce their transaction costs that can be incurred from uncertainty in client needs, service demand, and funding. Moreover, the collaboration allows the non-profits and public sector to maximize their benefits since both organizations will share the risks associated with service delivery and production.

Despite the benefits associated with collaboration, its drawback is the costs of establishing an effective collaboration because both parties should draw an implementation plan to develop an effective partnership program. Moreover, loss of managerial autonomy, the opportunity costs associated with the resources, time devoted to the collaborative activities and difficulty in evaluating the results are other shortcomings of the collaboration. While the benefits derived from the collaborative ventures are collective among the collaborative parties, however, the costs may be difficult to measure.

Despite the shortcoming associated with the collaboration venture between the government and non-profit organization, however, collaboration is still an effective strategy to achieve the goals of the public organizations. Many public organizations seek a partnership with a non-profit organization to meet the public needs while maintaining the operation costs. This type of outsourcing can serve as a valuable tool to achieve the public organization objectives. Donahue, & Zeckaser, (2006) point out that the non-government actors engage in a collaboration venture with the public organizations to improve the public sector performances and deliver public values. Moreover, the private non-profit entities may offer essential services especially when the government does not have essential resources require accomplishing a specific project's objective. Productivity is another rationale for collaboration. For example, the external agents may possess productive capacity that the governments lack. By collaborating with non-profit organizations, the government will able to tap their efficiencies to improve performances at lower costs.

Feiock & Jang (2009) argue that nonprofit organizations possess the significant social networks, which the governments are able to tap. For example, the collaboration will assist both the government to enjoy the short-term political gain, long-term economic benefits, and reduction of the transaction costs. A collaboration of non-profits organizations and the government is also very critical for the economic and social development because the governments may lack the expertise to develop particular social services. Despite the benefits to be derived from collaboration between the non-profit and government, the non-profit organizations may experience a volatility in revenue making them altering their mission. Notwithstanding, non-profit organizations are trustworthy with the goal to serve public interests. (Valentinev, 2008).

Examples of Collaboration between Government and Non-Profit Organizations

Wilson, (2012) explores the collaborative arrangement between the City of Philadelphia and William Penn Foundation designed to enhance the English proficiency of the immigrants in the city. In 2001, the Major of Philadelphia issued an executive order mandating all the city agencies to secure federally funded programs to improve English proficiency of people with LEP (limited English proficiencies). By definition, LEP people are the individuals with limited ability to write, read and speak the English language. The data presented by the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that 10% of Philadelphians and 20% of the U.S. residents use a local language other than English at home. (Mule, 2010). The outcome of this habit led to low level of English proficiency among the Philadelphians residents. In response to a low level of English proficiency, the Philadelphia government made a policy to advance the integration of immigrants into the stream of the American population. In the United States, language barriers are part of the most identified barriers of immigrants. In collaboration with a non-profit organization, the Philadelphia government implemented a plan to assess the language needs of people at the local level, train staff members to enhance the policy implementation, and develop English language assistance policies. Thus, the Philadelphia government entered into the collaboration contracts with different non-profit organizations such Language Line Services to improve the language competency of the immigrants. Along the Philadelphia government, the non-profits organizations view language barriers as an obstacle to effective immigrant integration. With a partnership with the Language Line Services, the Philadelphia government has been able to improve the language proficiency of the immigrant resident in Philadelphia.

At the international level, Lan, & Galaskiewicz, (2012) provide information about the collaboration arrangement between non-profit organizations and the Chinese government to achieve innovation in the country over the past 30 years. The global competitiveness and intention to encourage innovation in the country have made the Chinese government enter into the collaborative ventures with different non-governmental organizations. Over the years, the Chinese government has collaborated with different non-government organizations to compete with western countries in term of technological development, innovation and eradication of diseases. For example, the Chinese government collaborated with "the International Association for Chinese Management Research for the development of biotechnology, disaster relief, and economic development" (Lan, & Galaskiewicz, 2012 p 496). Moreover, the government has collaborated with the NGO to eradicate the HIV epidemics in Yunnan Province.

Similarly, Canada has experienced a rapid economic transformation in the last few decades, and over the years, the Canadian government is concerned with the rapid increase of costs of government projects. To address the problem, the government has entered into a collaborative venture with different non-profit organizations. (Osborne, & Murray, 2000). For example, the British Columbia government has entered into a collaboration with non-profit organizations to offer different services to disadvantaged children and their families in the province. Thus, the "Ministry of Children and Families" in British Columbia province entered into the collaborative arrangement with the United Way, a non-profit organization to improve the standard of living of the disadvantaged children in the province. In 1996/1997, the budget approved for the program was over $3 million for different programs such as children health improvement, the well-being of children, childcare support, and support for children at risk. The collaboration lays a foundation for a future collaboration for the provision of essential services in Canada.

Many countries have also adopted different measures to offer the effective team-based care and support for people suffering from the chronic disease. However, the organizations face challenges that hinder them achieving these objectives. To address these problems, the Australian government collaborated with the non-profit organizations to offer community and primary healthcare services to people. The public organizations such as NSW Diabetic health system entered into the partnership arrangement with the Aboriginal medical Centre, which was a non-profit organization, to deliver a long-term-care for Aboriginal suffering from chronic conditions. In 2011, more than 172,600 Aboriginal people live in NSW (New South Wales), and the region is larger than other Aboriginal states. In the last few years, the population of the Aborigines is increasing, and improving the health of the Aborigines is the major goal of the Australian government. Thus, the NSW Health entered into a partnership with different non-profit organizations, and one of the organization was the Aboriginal Medical Center. The alliance strategic of the NSW health Aboriginal Plan 2013 was to improve the Aboriginal health over the next 10 years. The plan is a catalyst to enhance health system to achieve the Aboriginal health outcomes within the next 10 years with the intent to enhance the quality of health offered to the Aboriginal people. The benefits to be derived from the collaboration is to achieve a complementary health goal to improve the health outcomes of the Aborigines. Moreover, the NSW health system has been able to address the shortage of healthcare personnel problem with a collaboration with the non-profit organization because the Aboriginal Medical Center specialists such as physicians, nurses, other healthcare professionals are able to fill the gap created by the health care personnel shortage in the NSW Health Center.

A collaboration between the non-profit organization and the government arises because of the U.S. government's objective to address the problem of people suffering from the HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). (Khosla, Marsteller, Hsu et al. 2016). Typically, people suffering from the HIV requires the heterogeneous services spanning both social and medical needs that include legal aid, psychological counseling, and medical care. In the United States, HIV services are delivered through a mixture of agencies such as non-for-profit organizations and local health departments. Thus, these agencies are required to collaborate to satisfy the multiple needs that cannot be served by the government agencies only. In the United States, the African-American group is being severely affected by the HIV than other ethnic groups. In Baltimore Maryland, there were 30,558 people suffering from HIV. Typically, both the state and city are severely being affected by HIV epidemics. In the Baltimore Metropolitan, more than 18,317 suffered from the HIV making the city rank third in the HIV epidemic in the United States. In 2010, the Department of Health and Environmental Health Administration collaborated to address the HIV epidemic in Baltimore, Maryland with the primary goal of coordinating HIV prevention care and treatment. The goal of the program is to decrease the HIV incidence rate in Baltimore.

Another example of collaboration is referred as "the White House Rural Council" policy, a collaboration between "Federal Office Rural Health Policy and the National Rural Health Association" (Cruger, 2015 p 1) aimed to create the economic opportunities for over 60 million Americans residing in the rural areas. The goal of the collaboration is to improve the rural health access of the rural population. The services include expanding oral and mental health services and expanding telemedicine for a large number of children and elderly people in the rural areas across the United States. The collaboration is very critical because there is a limited access to healthcare in the rural areas in the United States, and a continuation of this type of innovative collaboration will assist in enhancing a greater access to the healthcare system in rural areas. Despite the benefits to be achieved from this type of collaboration, the funding mechanism for the partnership may serve as a challenge. Moreover, transactional costs of the collaboration may be high because the tangible benefits of the collaboration cannot be recorded immediately.

Answer to Question 4

The objective of this report is to provide a recommendation on whether to privatize the TSA (Transportation Security Administration). The report examines the cost and benefits of the TSA privatization and reveals the efficiency, public satisfaction, and cost effectiveness from the TSA privatization will increase

The terrorist attack of September 11 has geared up the policy makers that security of the airport is very critical for the protection of the American population. The U.S. government responds to the attacks by proposing different security options to enhance safety and security of the airport across the United States. One of the security options recommended is the privatization of airline safety and security using the insurance firms. Paul & Thomas (2002) argue that the insurance companies could be used to regulate the efficiency and effectiveness of airline without imposing costly rules, thus, the entrepreneurship and competition will shape the security and safety of the airport rather than monopoly and politics associated with the airport administration. The study exposes the fallacy of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and examines the FAA's strategic plan implemented 2001. After establishing the FAA, the agency employed more than 69,000 people who were dedicated to improving security, efficiency, and safety of aviation as well as the safety of commercial transportation to protect the environment and national security. The federal government speeds the establishment of the FAA because of the security failure of the airport that leads to the attack of the Trade Center in 2001. After the formation, the Congress expanded the bureaucratic control of the agency.

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The TSA major activities are to oversee the security of highways, transit, pipelines and rail. Moreover, the TSA collects the intelligent data to enhance the effective security of the nation's airport and airways. At present, the agency has 62,000 employees, and their annual budget is $7.9 billion in 2013. After a decade of the TSA's operations, a comprehensive evaluation of the TSA reveals that the agency has been identified for mismanagement, security failures, dubious investment, and hopeless bureaucracy. After the Detroit bomber attempted a mass murder, the American citizens lost patience with the security of the airline. President Obama even asserted that the airport security systems have failed and they are on the road to disaster. The security system requires a better strategy to improve results to satisfy the customer. Thus, the government needs to find better and new method to speed efficiency of the airport system in order to enhance human safety. A recent congress report about the TSA operations shows that the TSA will be better off if the federal government privatizes the organization and transfers the management to private entrepreneurs. (Department of Homeland Security, 2014).

As a special consultant, I recommend that the federal government should privatize the Transportation Security Administration to improve the cost effectiveness, efficiency, and public satisfaction with the organization. The federal government's takeover of the TSA is a mistake because the TSA is affected with high-level bloated bureaucracy and poor management. Since the inception of the TSA, mismanagement and bureaucracy have been their major problems. The initial budget to hire and train the workforce in 2002 was $104 million, however, the costs of training ended to $741 million. The TSA management also wasted a large amount of money to rent expensive hotels, paying excessive employee bonus, and throwing expensive awards. Since 2005, the TSA has been plagued with criticisms and operational missteps. In 2012, a report from a House committee revealed that the TSA was costly, poorly executed, and counter-productive. Moreover, the TSA has recorded numerous of security screening failures. For example, the TSA screeners failed to detect 75% and 60% of fake explosive tests in Los Angeles and Chicago airports respectively, and over 25,000 security breaches were recorded since their inception. Moreover, the TSA is ranked 232 out of 240 federal agencies concerning efficiencies. The TSA will be free of monopoly federal bureaucracy, excessive red-tapism, and corruption by allowing the private firms to take over the function of airport screening process using the SPP (screening partnership program). The best strategy to manage the TSA is to separate the "airport screening from the regulatory" aviation's oversight. (Edwards, 2013 p 9).

The federal government should "remove the primary responsibility for passenger and baggage screening from TSA to the nation's commercial airports. The airports would then be free to contract to screen to expert security companies, which would compete for the opportunity to service each airport." (Edwards, 2013 p 9).

By using this strategy, the expert security companies will be in charge of the airport screening rather than use contract-screening policy that is affected by the high level of bureaucracy and regulatory policy. After September 2001, the federal legislation that formed TSA allowed some airports to use private firms' for screening and opt for using the TSA screening. The San Francisco is one the largest airports that uses the private screeners and this airport produces the good results since the adoption of private screeners. Since the TSA understood that the expansion of the SPP (Screening Partnership Program) across the U.S. airports was a threat to their bureaucracy, the TSA rejected the application of six airports that applied for the SPP program in 2011. Comparative analysis of the performances of the private screening to TSA screening reveals that private screeners perform excellently better than the TSA screeners do. The result of the investigation carried out by a consulting firm, Bearing Point, Inc. in 2004 revealed that the private screener performed better that TSA screener. In 2005, the GAO concluded that the private screeners performed better than TSA's screeners. In 2007, USA Today carried out an investigation to compare the performances of the private screeners with GSA screeners. The outcome of the investigation revealed that private screeners in SA (San Francisco) international airport performed excellently better than the federal screeners in term of detection abilities. Although, TSA argues that the costs of running the private screening are higher than the costs of federal screening, however, the GAO found out that the claim was incorrect. The findings of the investigation carried out by the Transportation and Infrastructure show that the SPP program generates savings. They also "found that the private screeners at the San Francisco airport were 65% more efficient than the federal screeners at the Los Angeles airport." (Edwards, 2013 p 10). While the federal rules mandate private screeners to have the same training with TSA screeners, however, the private screeners are able to record lower training costs compared with the SFA training costs. Moreover, the private screeners are able to lower the costs of operations despite the TSA screening protocols imposed on the private screeners. (Aliya, 2011).

Policy Problem

The "MRCC (Mt Rossmoor Community College)" is ranked as the 5th fastest-growing community college in the United States with the students body growth rate of 24% within the last past 5 years because of the recent s housing boom. However, the budgetary cut policy initiated by the state government has affected the state university making many colleges and universities in the state considering increasing the tuition fees by 8% per year on top of the previous year tuition increase of 14%.

Policy Option

The MRCC has faced different policy options because of a decline in the budget allocations by the state government makes the MRCC face the tough choice whether to increase the fees per unit or maintain the current fee level. The college is also anticipating whether to increase or decrease the number of course offered. Moreover, the college is anticipating whether to offer the online courses. An increase in the course fee per unit will impose a financial burden on students. Moreover, an increase in the course fee per unit will affect many stakeholders including parents and students. However, some prospective students may be discouraged to enroll with the MRCC because of the new policy option. Since education is one of the mainstays of the U.S. economy, the colleges and universities are required to find the best policy option to source for the fund so as not discouraging people enrolling in the college.

Identification of Key Stakeholders

As a superintendent of the college, it is critical to identify the key stakeholders who will be affected by the policy option.

First, the MRCC is one of the key stakeholders that will be affected by the policy option. The MRCC is an education provider because its management has the final say whether to increase the tuition fees. Moreover, the MRCC attempts to offer the best educational services based on the tuition fee of the course per unit. Students are other stakeholders and some students may opt to withdraw from the MRCC if they decide to increase the tuition fee of the course per unit. Moreover, some students may opt for a loan to complete their education. Parents and guardians are the other stakeholders that the policy choice of the college will affect. Since the parents or guardians are the major sponsors of the students' education, they will be affected by the new policy option.

Application of Financial knowledge to make Ethical and Sound decisions in the Public's Interest

The paper recommends that the MRCC management should not increase the course fee per unit rather the college should increase the number of courses offered by using the online platform. The best policy option that the university should implement is to increase the number of courses that the colleges will offer; however, these courses should be online courses, which will assist the MRCC to reach a large number of prospective students in the United States and outside the United States.

"Online education has grown tremendously over the past ten years. The increased accessibility of the internet and the World Wide Web has created vast opportunities for non-traditional education through this medium. The explosion of technology has also made teaching outside the traditional classroom possible for teachers and has also provided learners with easy access to course material." (Sing,. & Beverly, 2008).

The college management should design a flashy website to attract large numbers of the applicants. In the contemporary educational environment, increasing number of colleges and universities are taking the advantages of the advance in technology to achieve competitive market advantages. The MRCC should offer certificate programs, degree programs, and master degree program online to attract a large number of students. Moreover, the college should offer courses in business, finance, computer science, information technology, management accounting, and engineering courses. These categories of courses are highly attractive and they will make the MRCC achieve the competitive market advantages.

Several benefits the MRCC will enjoy by increasing the number of the courses. First, the colleges will attract a large number of students from all over the world thereby increasing their yearly revenue. Moreover, the capital costs such as the cost of building, electricity, vehicles and other capital costs will be eliminated because the courses will be offered online. Moreover, the colleges will be able to reduce the costs of labor because it will be possible for the MRCC to hire the independent contractors who will serve as online tutors. Additionally, the MRCC will be able to attract the federal government grants by offering IT and engineering courses and this will make the college boost their revenue.

Different universities have taken the advantages of online courses to increase their revenue. For example, the University of Massachusetts was able to increase their revenue by 16% from the online educational system that the university launched through the UMassOnline. Typically, the university online courses recorded an increase of revenue from $56.2 million to $65.2 million at the end of 2011 academic year. Moreover, the university recorded an increase in the students' enrollment from 45, 772 to 51,097 in 2011 and the number students' enrollment increase yearly. The University of Massachusetts has also been able to record a double-digit growth in both revenue and enrollments across fives campuses that the university has launched the online program. The MRCC will be able recorded both increases in the revenue and students' enrollment by offering the online courses similar to the University of Massachusetts online program. The MRCC can secure a partnership with the NEA (National Education Association) Academy to offer online Master degree programs. It is essential to realize that there are millions of working adults intending to upgrade their academic achievements without leaving their works. The only method to improve their education is by enrolling for the online program because the educational strategy will allow them to complete their courses without jeopardizing their works. The MRCC should take the advantages of the advanced in the technology to launch the online program to achieve competitive advantages.

Typically, "over 54,000 online courses were offered by universities in the U.S. with over 1.6 million student enrollment in 2000. Another survey from the United Stated Education Department, as cited by Lyons (2004), stated that the enrollment for distance education courses grew from 750,000 in 1994-1995 to 2.9 million in 2000-2001. The revenues in the online industry were forecasted to climb from $550 million in 1998 to $11.4 billion in 2003." (Sing, & Beverly, 2008 p 451).

Moreover, the MRCC should use the OCICU ("Online Consortium of Independent Colleges and Universities") (Tomei, Kwiatkowski, Brown, et al. 2009 p 60) to increase the students' enrollment, revenue, and retention. In the contemporary IT environment, the technology has been integrated into all aspects of human endeavors. (Selene, 2015). High schools and colleges have introduced the online education to reach students across the globe. To stay competitive in the contemporary global environment, higher institutions are required to adjust to the new technology and offer high demanded courses through an online program to enhance competitive advantages. The outcome of the project carried out by the NCCS ("National Center for Education Statistics") (Tomei et al. p 62) reveals that there has been an 11% rise in enrollment of people aged 25 and below and 15% increase in enrollment of people aged 25 and older. Thus, the growth of students across the United States necessitate the colleges and universities to expand their programs through distance and online education. At present, online courses is very critical for a long-term strategy of the higher institution making large numbers of colleges and universities launch the online program to allow a wide number of students from different geographical locations to have access to education. (Schopf, & Flytkjaer, 2011).

Additionally, the MRCC should offer short courses to increase their revenue. Several colleges and universities have taken the advantages of the internet technology to offer short courses to increase the revenue and number of students enrolling. The college should take the advantage of the Coursera platform to raise their revenue. The Coursera composes of numbers of universities that offer short courses for small fees, and millions of people have enrolled for the courses. (Lewin, 2012). Overview of the Coursera website reveals that they offer courses in wide area of specializations such as computer science, finance, accounting, engineering, law, business, management and other courses. Since the participating universities offer the certificates to people who enroll for the short courses, millions of people around the globe have enrolled for the courses daily, and the participating colleges and universities have been able to generate additional revenue apart from the revenue realized from the traditional students' enrolment. (Lewin, 2012). Moreover, the MRCC should offer short courses through their website to generate revenue. The strategy will assist the colleges to increase their revenue without relying on the state government.

Conclusion

This study evaluates the benefits of collaboration between the federal government and non-profit organizations. The study draws different examples of collaborations both in the United States and outside the United States and the findings show that collaboration is an effective strategy to deliver high-quality services to the community. The study also demonstrates that the collaboration between the public organizations and not-profit organization are likely to deliver better performances than developing strategic partnership with the for-profit organizations since these categories of the organizations pursue goals that will improve their profitability. However, the mission of the non-profit organizations is to serve the community.

The document also investigates whether it will be beneficial to privatize the Transportation Security Administration. Overview of the operation of the TSA reveals that the organization is inefficient and not capable of enhancing the effective security of the airport. The study suggests that the privatization is an effective strategy that can improve the performances of the TSA. The study draw several examples of the airports in the United States and outside their United States that have privatized their airport security and have been able to achieve superior performances. The study believes that the federal government will lower the costs of TSA operations by privatizing the TSA. Finally, the study recommends the best policy option for the MRCC (Mt. Rossmoor Community College) in order to increase the number of students' enrollment and revenue. The paper suggests that the MRCC should launch the online courses at undergraduate and graduate levels to increase the number of students. The document cites examples of different institutions that have introduced the online programs and increase their revenues. By launching the online program, the MRCC will be able to increase their revenue and yearly students' enrollment without relying on the state government.

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Costs and Benefits of TSA Privatization1,469 words
Several benefits the federal government will derive from privatizing the TSA. First, the federal government will record 15% cost savings by privatizing the TSA. For…
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