The two great parts of American higher education are the students and the faculty. The administrators are only around to facilitate the learning of the former and the teaching and research of the latter. Or that’s the way we imagine it. Over the past fifty years, the students have become customers instead of learners and…
The headline of today’s op-ed in the Chicago Tribune by William G. Bowen and Eugene M. Tobin was wonderful: “Scott Walker’s test of academic freedom.” And the first half of the essay, tracing the development of the “Wisconsin Magna Carta” in defense of academic freedom, and the threat posed by Walker, is also wonderful. And…
In a stunning and welcome development on the eve of a scheduled court hearing on Monday, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced today that “a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been agreed upon by Amherst County Attorney Ellen Bowyer, Saving Sweet Briar, Sweet Briar College and the Office of the Attorney General outlining a plan…
On March 3, President James Jones of Sweet Briar College shocked the small women’s college’s faculty and students by announcing that the school would close its doors on June 30. Seniors would be allowed to graduate, but all other students would be compelled to transfer elsewhere. Faculty members were provided vague promises of assistance, but…
President Timothy Killeen is completing his first month as leader of the University of Illinois system. In remarks before the Urbana-Champaign faculty Senate Executive Committee, he was rather cavalier about the AAUP censure vote last Saturday. Unlike Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise, who stated in a conciliatory tone that removal of censure was important, President Killeen, according to…
The following statement signed by 22 scholarly associations was released on June 11. It is consistent with the position of a resolution passed unanimously by the AAUP’s annual membership meeting on June 13. The American system of higher education is the envy of the world. It’s not perfect; few things are. But at a time…
This morning at the AAUP Annual Meeting, the following resolution passed unanimously: Proposed Actions by Wisconsin State Legislature to Weaken Academic Freedom and Shared Governance in University of Wisconsin System By this resolution, the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association of University Professors adds its grave concerns to those currently being voiced throughout the…
The Center for Constitutional Rights has announced that a federal judge has ordered the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to release long sought after e-mail. Steven Salaita’s attorneys have attempted, under the Freedom of Information Act, to obtain e-mail relevant to the summary dismissal and firing of the tenured associate professor in the American Indian…
Chancellor Rebecca Blank of the University of Wisconsin-Madison shared the following message by email with faculty on June 9 ahead of an emergency meeting of the Faculty Senate. The message was also posted on a web page maintained by the University and devoted to budget issues. As we prepare to meet, I want to again…