BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL The higher education community is noticing with increasing interest and some alarm the growing number of mergers and acquisitions that occurred in American higher education in 2018. Are there lessons that might be learned from these events? Here are some preliminary thoughts: We should not assume that what appears to be…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL In “Colleges Should Not Allow Students to Pay With a Percentage of Future Earnings”, Forbes contributor Derek Newton got both the intent and purpose of an income share agreement (ISA) wrong. In conversations with higher education leaders across America, my experience indicates that there has been a dramatic shift over the past…
BY THE FREDONIA UNIVERSITY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The following is the text of a resolution issued today by the Executive Committee of the State University of New York at Fredonia Senate Executive Committee on behalf of the Fredonia University Senate. Resolution in Support of a New Deal for SUNY and CUNY Fredonia University Senate Executive…
BY RACHEL IDA BUFF When the chancellor donates his $50,000 raise to the University Food Pantry, They put out a spread. It’s delicious. Everyone gathers to eat it. The shelves are full. Since there is no more food insecurity among students, They are free to focus on learning. When the chancellor donates his $50,000…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL At the most expensive U.S. colleges and universities, the advertised price now exceeds $70,000 per annum although most institutions are significantly below this level. Financial aid lowers the actual cost of attendance for many students. Still, American families are less willing to shoulder the expected family contributions that make a college…
BY RICHARD GRUSIN The following is reposted with permission from the blog of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee AAUP chapter. Richard Grusin is Distinguished Professor of English at UWM. On Pearl Harbor Day, 2018, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents dropped its own economic bomb on the people of Wisconsin, approving raises ranging from $14,421…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL American colleges and universities operate on an unsustainable financial model. They are heavily tuition-dependent at all but the best-endowed institutions. In fact, of the more than 4,000 non-profit colleges and universities, the number that have the flexibility to rely on revenue, whether from endowment drawdowns or other sources, may be less…
BY MARTIN KICH This resolution was passed unanimously by the chapter leaders and members attending this year’s annual meeting in the Columbus suburb of Westerville. Whereas the primary mission of Ohio’s colleges and universities is to educate students, a mission carried out by professors, Whereas more than 90 percent of Ohio AAUP members belong to…
BY HANK REICHMAN Earlier this year administrators at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, in Wausau, proposed dropping thirteen majors in the humanities and social sciences–including English, philosophy, history, sociology, and Spanish–while adding or expanding sixteen programs “with high-demand career paths.” The proposal would ostensibly address a $4.5 million deficit over two years. The added or…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH State support for public higher education—or, more precisely, the decline in such support—remains a persistent and significant issue. It continues to exacerbate the level of debt that students are assuming to get degrees (or often to pursue degrees that they do not manage to complete) and constricting the number of faculty…