Big Fish, Small Pond: Institutionalizing Academic Inequality
A little over ten years ago, two adequately eminent sociology departments swiped two of my colleagues. For years, I wondered why the then-dean didn’t try to stop those raids; I’ve finally decided that the answer lies in a tangle of college and interdepartmental politics and corporatization, as well as the fact that one of the swipes was a woman. (In the not so…
What a Stronger Department of Labor Means
This is a news release from the Department of Labor: Halliburton Pays Nearly $18.3 Million in Overtime Owed to More than 1,000 Employees Nationwide after US Labor Department Investigation Global Oil And Gas Service Provider Failed To Pay Overtime HOUSTON — In one of the largest recoveries of overtime wages in recent years for the…
Wright State University to Host the First Presidential Debate in Fall 2016
This is the press release from Wright State University: “The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced today that Wright State University has been selected to host the first debate in fall 2016 prior to the November general election. “The debate will be held Sept. 26, 2016, at the Wright State University Nutter Center. “’I could not…
Dear Wisconsin Legislators: We Don't Have a Pension Problem. Please Stop Trying to "Fix" It.
With Governor Walker suspending his presidential campaign, many of us in Wisconsin have been asking ourselves, what will be next on his agenda? My guess? Messing with public employee retirement and pensions. According to Molly Beck, “Republican lawmakers are laying the groundwork for changes to state workers’ pensions that could reduce the monthly payouts and…
U.S. Higher Education News for September 21, 2015
Anderson, Nick. “At UCF, Bigger Is Better.” Washington Post 21 Sep. 2015: A, 1. ORLANDO – A small state school launched here in the 1960s to develop employees for the space program has morphed into one of the nation’s largest universities, using accessible admission policies and online instruction to fuel extraordinary growth in an…
Robert Reich on College Rankings and the Value of Public Universities
In last week’s iteration of his syndicated column, Robert Reich takes on college rankings. After noting that the Obama administration has decided to give up on the idea of providing some sort of federal rankings to U.S. colleges and universities, Reich describes the most widely promoted college guide, that produced by U.S. News and World…
College Towns, University Neighborhoods, University Cities, and Metropolitan Universities
On September 17, the Washington Post’s daily Going Out Guide newsletter included as the lead story “Getting to Know D.C.’s College Towns.” When I followed the link to the story, it actually had a somewhat different headline—“Get Schooled on the D.C. Area’s Division I University Campuses.” Nonetheless, the opening paragraph had much the same slant…
New Volume of the AAUP Journal of Academic Freedom
The new volume of the AAUP Journal of Academic Freedom is out today! Below, guest editor Michael Bérubé describes the contents. You can read the complete editor’s introduction here.–Gwendolyn Bradley I’m pleased to announce that volume six of the AAUP Journal of Academic Freedom is being published today. Of its sixteen essays, eight discuss the case…
Education Reform Humbuggery
Kevin Carey, writing in The New York Times last July, said this of American colleges and universities: “These organizations are not coherent academic enterprises with consistent standards of classroom excellence. When it comes to exerting influence over teaching and learning, they’re Easter eggs. They barely exist.” This is humbug. It’s an attempt to channel the…