BY HANK REICHMAN Calbright College, California’s ridiculously named and fully online community college, graduated just 12 of its 900-plus students in its first year and saw more than 40% of them drop out, according to a scathing report released May 11 by the California State Auditor. The college, which expects to receive more than $175…
POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN The following press release was submitted by members of the faculty at Mills College. By evening Monday May 3, the voting faculty of Mills College in Oakland, CA voted overwhelmingly to pass a resolution of no confidence (73% voted in favor of the resolution, 16% voted no, and 11% abstained) against…
BY HANK REICHMAN On March 17, President Elizabeth Hillman of Mills College announced that the trustees of the 169-year-old women’s college in Oakland, California, had decided to close admissions after this year and stop conferring degrees no later than Fall 2023, thereby effectively closing the school. According to Hillman, an undefined “Mills Institute” will continue…
BY CAPRICE LAWLESS A hefty third wave of federal funds is headed to higher education, and millions of it to Colorado’s Community College System. Today Pres. Joe Biden signed into law the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The bill includes $40 billion for public higher education. These funds follow the 2020 CARES Act that…
BY SANDRA STEINGRABER The following column by Sandra Steingraber, distinguished scholar in residence in the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences at Ithaca College, appeared in the March 3 edition of The Ithacan. For the past 18 years, I have served as our campus’ scholar in residence, recruited by a previous provost with a vision…
BY DEBORAH CAFIERO During the COVID-19 crisis, the pace of cuts to foreign language departments and programs, already brisk before the pandemic, has accelerated. The devaluation of language study is necessary, so the argument goes, to reduce costs and trim programs that elicit minimal student interest. Besides, English is becoming the lingua franca of the…
BY HELEN SCOTT During this year of crisis, faculty and staff have mustered all our strength and resolve to ensure that the University of Vermont continues to fulfill its central academic and public interest mission. But the university administration is undermining these efforts as they pursue a short-sighted and reckless restructuring plan, justified by an…
BY MADHUKAR VABLE Large classes, replacing tenure-track faculty with contingent faculty without fringe benefits, and subpar wages have not put brakes on tuition increases in excess of inflation, because the cost drivers prior to the pandemic were not in the instructional part of the universities. Administrative bloat is one of the cost drivers, but there…
POSTED BY CAPRICE LAWLESS Below is a letter sent last week by the AAUP Colorado Conference to James W. C. White, the interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His reported plan to reduce tenure and tenure-track positions has received local and national coverage. James W. C.…
BY GRETCHEN MCNAMARA Wright State University plans to begin the retrenchment process that will result in workforce reductions. Elevate Dayton is publishing the perspectives of students, faculty, alumni and other Wright State community members that could be affected by the changes. Gretchen McNamara, a senior lecturer of music and union executive committee member, explores her torn feelings…