Risk a little. Gain a lot.

Out of reach?

Reaching the minimum value proposition of 16 professors teaching 256 students over 4 years is ... a hurdle. Hashtag understatement.

But what about sub-minimum value propositions? To be clear, by this I mean steps that take us closer to the goal but which subtract, instead of adding, value. Another word for this is investment. Not in capital, but in time, trust, and effort. Investment requires a surplus - more of the item invested than one has immediate need for. Where can we look for this surplus?

One logical place to look would be in the crevices of the crumbling system that we are trying  to replace. Professors in diminishing affiliation with universities, students facing unsupportable tuition raises, employers who face a need to completely retrain or hire from abroad to get the people they need.

Let me get concrete. Suppose a large group of enrolled college students students wants to make a statement against an unusually large tuition hike. So they might be willing to take a negative-value-added step to express their frustration. It would take a lot less sacrifice for a group of professors in the same system to join in the protest. How? By being willing to sign non-university-approved graduation certificates for those students. The professors would be invest their reputation to attest that these students completed all the requirements to graduate except for paying the administration's arbitrary surcharges. But, they would not be giving up their income, except maybe over a much longer tome span and assuming near-suicidal vindictiveness by the administration. Similarly, the students would not be fully giving up the "brand" of the university, since the professors signing their independent certificate still have the public affiliation. 

What do you think?  Can this work? Anywhere?