Purdue Grabs Kaplan: How Should Faculty Respond?
Please don’t let Purdue’s name make it even easier for the most vulnerable Americans, who need high-quality education the most, to be duped.
Mitch Daniels Wants to Sell the Soul of Public Education: Purdue Faculty Must Stop Him
BY BILL MULLEN Guest blogger Bill Mullen is a Professor of English and American Studies at Purdue. Last week, Purdue University purchased Kaplan University, a for-profit on-line entity owned by Graham Holdings Company, a corporate conglomerate and former owner of the Washington Post newspaper. Purdue says it plans to make Kaplan into a public University…
Reshaping the Higher Education Landscape: Purdue Calls the Question
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL In a surprise move last week, Purdue University announced its intention to acquire for-profit Kaplan University. If approved, Purdue will become a major player in online education. Its president, former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, described the takeover as a “third dimension” to Purdue, adding Kaplan to its research flagship and regional…
Seven Years an Adjunct: Part II
BY APRIL FORD In this, the second and last part of my mini-series about being a “terminal” adjunct on the market for a full-time teaching position in academe, I embrace my present fate (I’ve been rejected by every institution I’ve applied to since December 2016) and express my dismay in epistolary form (based, to some…
Introductory Remarks for Ward Churchill at CU Academic Freedom Symposium
BY DON ERON This guest post comes from remarks by Don Eron at the April 29 Academic Freedom Symposium at the University of Colorado Boulder. Don Eron is a retired University of Colorado Boulder writing instructor and a member of the national AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. The AAUP I’d like to talk about…
Why Are So Many Community Colleges in Precarious Shape?
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL Community colleges are the entry point to higher education for millions of Americans, but, according to Inside Higher Education’s 2017 Survey of Community College Presidents, their leaders report significant enrollment challenges and precarious financial support. Six in 10 of the 236 community college presidents reported a decline in enrollment over the…
State Audits Challenge CSU, UC Spending
BY HANK REICHMAN The California State University (CSU) system has hired new managers at more than double the rate of other employees over the past decade at salaries growing twice as fast as those of faculty members and support staff. The administration of the University of California (UC) system pays salaries and benefits to top managers…
Authors Ward Churchill, Alice Dreger featured speakers at Academic Freedom Symposium, CU-Boulder
BY DON ERON Guest blogger Don Eron is a retired University of Colorado Boulder writing instructor and a member of the national AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. As higher education budgets shrink, partisanship increases, and social media magnify and distort messages, the state of academic freedom in Colorado and across the country will be…
#KeepMarching for Science & Common Good
BY LAURA MARKWARDT This weekend’s science marches on Earth Day shook the world. Scientists, parents, children, educators, and others took to the streets for powerful mobilizations including teach-ins, dancing, and, of course, marching. Michael Mann, member of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure and leading climate researcher at Penn State, spoke and…
Robbing the Faculty (and the Taxpayers)
BY HANK REICHMAN In 2012 voters in Alameda County (including this blogger), across the bay from San Francisco, approved Measure B, a parcel tax, to provide the Peralta Community College District, which has campuses in Berkeley, Alameda and Oakland, an extra $8 million each year. The funds were designated to “support affordable college education including:…