BY MARTIN KICH Empty Exercises in Planning without Much Meaningful Preparation Francois Furstenberg, a Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, has written an article for the Chronicle of Higher Education that is one of the most lucid and impassioned dissections of what’s wrong with American higher education that I have ever read—and I have…
BY NOLAN HIGDON AND MICKEY HUFF The following essay appeared on Project Censored’s website and is reposted with permission. The response to COVID-19 by governing institutions has altered the lives and practices of people across the nation, including the students, faculty, and staff in higher education. One of the biggest changes in educational institutions has…
BY JUDITH GRANT This three-part article continues from Part 1 and Part 2. Failure to Invest in the Region At OU, we have a special mission to educate the citizens of the state of Ohio, especially those in the region of Appalachia. “Today, fewer Ohio adults age 25-64 have at least an Associate’s degree or…
BY JUDITH GRANT This article continues from Part 1, available here. Market Irrationalities But there are other places to cut costs that could conceivably result in a balanced budget. One is administrative bloat, especially at the executive level. Another is intercollegiate athletics. Recent data shows that in 40 states, sports coaches are the highest paid…
BY JUDITH GRANT With thanks and solidarity to the many faculty who gave me comments on drafts of this paper. Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, is in the midst of the latest iteration of a decades-long series of budget cuts which, faculty fear, will result in the “non-renewal” (i.e., the firing) of dozens if not…
BY MICHAEL SCHWALBE Solving social problems democratically requires well-informed citizens who can reason together despite differences in outlook. It requires, in short, rational public discourse. Making this happen has never been easy, and today it seems to be getting harder. Architects of the new Program for Public Discourse at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill…
BY DANE KENNEDY The George Washington University faculty and staff ain’t got no culture. Or worse, we’ve got a negative culture. This was the verdict of the Disney Institute, which the president of our university commissioned last year to assess the culture on our campus. Fortunately, the institute, which is the “professional development and external…
BY RACHEL IDA BUFF In case you missed it—and in case you have time to write over the winter break—we’re sharing this call for papers again. The February 3 submissions deadline is approaching quickly! It is remarkable how quickly all strata in public universities—staff, faculty, administrators, students—have grown accustomed to the saturation of…
I love flying Delta. When I moved from Germany to Minneapolis several years ago Lufthansa was no longer an option. It turned out that leaving behind the bare-bones Teutonic version of customer service was a good thing and I never looked back. Looking at Delta’s corporate values the other day when browsing the company’s website, I noticed the usual suspects—honesty, integrity, and respect—along with explanations seemingly targeted at preschoolers: Always tell the truth and don’t hurt anyone. Did that mean that Delta was run by a bunch of toddlers? No. I am told by my daughter, who works in public relations, that emphasizing basic virtues like honesty helps build consumer trust.
BY MONICA OWENS Happy Halloween! For a real scare, check out the spooky stats from our survey of faculty about their perspectives on online program management companies. This week we launched the Faculty Anti-Privatization Network week of action. It’s a week to raise awareness and build faculty solidarity around the increasing risks that online programs are…