David Palumbo-Liu, a professor at Stanford University and one of the most insightful commentators on issues related to education that I know of, ends an article posted yesterday on The Nation website, “Steven Salaita, Professor Fired for ‘Uncivil’ Tweets, Vindicated in Federal Court,” with this admonition: As we see the case against the university gathering…
Currently, about one in five U.S. workers is contingent—that is, not directly employed by the company for which he or she works. That percentage is expected to rise to about 30% over the next decade. One of the major drivers of this increase in contingent employment has been the use of “temp agencies” to avoid…
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner opposes the golden parachute $400,000 severance package for Chancellor Phyllis Wise, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While Rauner, a Republican, wants to cut 31.5% from the state’s higher education budget, (another Scott Walker redux) his position on Chancellor Wise’s severance package is certainly laudable. The University of Illinois has a new board chair, Edward…
Northwestern law professor Steven Lubet has an op-ed in today’s Chicago Tribune with the headline, “The writing is on the wall, U. of I.: Offer controversial scholar Steven Salaita a job.” It’s a well-written piece expressing Lubet’s previously expressed opinion that Salaita an anti-Semite and an idiot, but arguing that the U of I’s fight…
Between 6:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. this morning, the Discovery Channel aired the following three 30-minute infomercials:Sexy in Three Weeks!; The Graduate: Learn about Innovative Grad and Undergrad Degrees; and No More Wrinkles! The middle of those three infomercials has been produced by Tribune Media for Western Governors University. One alternative to conventional, on-site delivery…
Previous Posts in This Series: https://academeblog.org/2015/08/06/updated-list-of-the-institutions-on-the-department-of-educations-financial-watch-list-part-1/ Updated List of the Institutions on the Department of Education’s Financial Watch List: Part 2: https://academeblog.org/2015/08/08/updated-list-of-the-institutions-on-the-department-of-educations-financial-watch-list-part-2/
Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. New York: Random House, 1966. With In Cold Blood, Truman Capote not only established himself as a major voice among writers of his generation, but also created the prototype for several new genres. The book has been classified as a “true crime” book, a “nonfiction novel,” “new journalism,” and “creative…
What are the most important revelations in Phyllis Wise’s secret personal emails that were uncovered on Friday? Perhaps the key fact is that these emails existed at all. Using a personal email address to evade FOIA requests is clearly unethical and possibly illegal. And confessing that this was the purpose, as Wise did, is remarkably stupid.…
“Who is Aaron Barlow?” wrote Robin Kaler, Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in an email to colleagues last October. She asked this in one of the emails relating to Chancellor Phyllis Wise and the Steven Salaita case that were “dumped” last week in response to a FOIA request, emails…