Education Dive [http://www.educationdive.com/] is a very good source of news about innovations and initiatives in digital education, but it does have a very pronounced bias in favor of the pedagogical potential of digital technologies. Sometimes that bias leads to analyses that border on the absolutely ludicrous. Each item from Education Dive includes a bulletted summary…
As the corporate university starves its adjuncts, graduate assistants and resists unionisation, there is always room for penthouse restoration and other lavish emoluments for the C.E.O. (the president). I found it noteworthy in the New York Times, that New York University would not reveal the salary of its incoming robber baronesque C.E.O. (president) Andrew Hamilton. His coronation will take…
On December 4, this announcement was sent out from Arne Duncan at the Department of Education: “If you’re like me, you probably dread an overdue notice, whether it’s for registering your car or returning a library book. For nearly a decade, our national K-12 education law has been overdue for revision, and parents, teachers and…
Use of a proprietary database that purports to show the publications, citations, books and grants awarded to a professor provides far too limited a perspective on faculty achievement and creates the potential for career-ending errors, according to David M. Hughes, professor of anthropology and president of the faculty union AAUP-AFT at Rutgers. The same data…
The College of Saint Rose (NY) faces a $9.3 million deficit and declining enrollment. “It’s a challenging time in higher education and it’s not for the faint of heart,” President Carolyn Stefanco recently remarked. “Change is really hard for people, and higher education is changing in pretty dramatic ways.” As reported by the Chronicle, the…
This past week, there was a protest at Eastern Michigan University against the continuation of the Education Achievement Authority (EAA) that Governor Snyder’s administration created ostensibly to “save” Detroit’s “failing” public school system. The EAA has promoted charter schools at the expense of the already under-funded public schools, while producing no improvement in the educations…
Academic Analytics, a private database contracted to measure faculty productivity at Rutgers, may undermine our tenure process, while narrowing the range of scholarship. If you belong to SASNB [School of Arts and Sciences—New Brunswick], please attend the School’s faculty meeting on Monday, 14 December from 2:00-4:00 p.m. in Voorhees 105 (College Ave.) to vote on…
Writing for the Washington Post, Will Hobson and Steven Rich have provided a terrific investigative piece of the escalating practice of subsidizing intercollegiate athletics with student fees and monies previously allocated to academic programs: “At Texas A&M University, the president’s proposal to charge all 50,000 students $72 a year to help pay for a $450…
The following “Breaking News” item was distributed today by the Detroit Free-Press: “Eastern Michigan University’s Board of Regents today stood with Gov. Snyder and declined to vote on the future of the Education Achievement Authority. That keeps the reform district running for now—at least until Snyder introduces legislation aimed at a new effort to improve education in…
John Zipp, the president of the AAUP chapter at the University of Akron, recently contributed an op-ed, titled “University Board Selection Process Needs Shake-Up,” to the Columbus Dispatch. After opening with a range of examples of how the Boards of Trustees of Ohio’s public universities have recently made ill-considered decisions–often despite very vocal concerns expressed…