It's ironic that a university administrator is studying Uber, considering that universities and colleges in the United States are busy replacing all of their professors with contractor 'adjunct faculty', who can be paid next to nothing. An adjunct position bears a similarity to being a driver for Uber, in terms of inadequate pay and security.
I think by 'ironic' you might mean 'smart' since the author is the president of the university. He has to run an organization in a market that is shifting towards utilizing labor following this model
Studying sounds like a strong word here. Author's an administrator, not a researcher. And he's likely bought in to the Uber economy; current openings at Oglethorpe are administrative and adjunct:
