BY THE FACNET STEERING COMMITTEE An Open Letter to College and University Faculty We are a diverse group of faculty at all levels, at institutions throughout the United States. We would like to invite any interested faculty, from teaching assistants and adjuncts to tenured professors, to join us in founding nonpartisan national and state-level faculty networks to…
BY JACOB A. BENNETT Results from a survey of University of New Hampshire undergraduate students were discussed at the April 2020 meetings of the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees, indicating that only “30% of students felt they continue[d] to learn effectively” after the abrupt and necessary shift to remote learning this past…
BY BOB NOWLAN One of the most egregious dimensions of outgoing University of Wisconsin system president Ray Cross’s May 7 “Blueprint for the University of Wisconsin System Beyond COVID-19”—which calls for a radical restructuring and effective elimination of the comprehensive dimension of the system’s eleven regional comprehensive universities, as well as an effective jettisoning of…
BY JOHN STREAMAS I have been better treated by university police than by administrators. But then, as a biracial Asian immigrant, I could pass for white. Several students of color—mostly black students but some Latinx and a few Asian Pacific and indigenous students as well—have reported to me harassment by local police. Some black male…
BY JOHN K. WILSON The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has released a Model Code of Student Conduct for colleges to adopt, and it’s a tremendous advance for student liberties on campus. All colleges should adopt this Model Code (with slight improvements, I believe). Too many colleges have vague and repressive provisions in…
POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN On Monday night, June 1, through the following morning the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) crowded protesters arrested in downtown Los Angeles and Westwood into sheriff’s buses and brought them to Jackie Robinson Stadium. Located off-campus, on the grounds of the Los Angeles Veterans Health Administration and seating just 1,820, it…
BY MARTIN KICH There is no good news in this pandemic—only bad and worse news. An article written by J. Edward Moreno and Justine Coleman for The Hill opens: College graduates are poised to enter one of the most difficult job markets in U.S. history. Nearly 4 million people are expected to graduate with a…
BY JOHN K. WILSON I am often skeptical of the importance of surveying students about the First Amendment. “The First Amendment on Campus 2020 Report: College Students’ Views of Free Expression,” a new report just released this week of a survey in late 2019 by Gallup and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation…
BY JOHN K. WILSON On Friday, op-ed columnist David Brooks of the New York Times published one of his classic tone-deaf attempts to offer big thoughts on our times: “The Age Of Coddling Is Over.” The headline was absolutely right. Not because the coronavirus has suddenly made us all realize the virtues of hardship, but…
BY AARON BARLOW I am keeping technological interfaces with students to a bare minimum out of compassion and to assist learning. My students have enough to deal with right now; they don’t need additional troubles from platforms they don’t know and technologies they may not be able to access. They are New York City residents…