Berkeley Bans a Palestine Class

BY JOHN K. WILSON UPDATE: Berkeley rescinded the suspension on Sept. 19. Suspending a course in the middle of a semester is one of the most serious actions a university can take. On Sept. 13, Dean Carla Hesse of the University of California at Berkeley did exactly that to a student-taught DeCal class about Palestine.…

LIU LOCKOUT OVER!!!

BY AARON BARLOW From the Long Island University Faculty Federation website: We have won a victory. The administration will end their unprecedented lockout effective 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, September 14. We will be reunited with our students and can resume our professional lives. Our collective bargaining agreement is extended until May 31, 2017, and the administration…

LIU Lockout is Over

BY PETER N. KIRSTEIN The LIU lockout is ending at 11:59 pm tonight. The administration capitulated to the faculty’s request for a mediator to settle the contract. Faculty will be reimbursed for any health costs incurred during the lockout. http://bit.ly/2csyx7k Dear LIUFF Colleagues, We have won a victory. The administration will end their unprecedented lockout effective 11:59 p.m.…

U of Chicago Faculty Letter to the Students

BY UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO FACULTY The following open letter from University of Chicago faculty appeared in the Chicago Maroon on Sept. 13. Dear Students of the Class of 2020: As you have undoubtedly noticed, you and your new institution have been in the media spotlight lately. We want to take this opportunity to voice our…

Much More on the Koch Centers

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Writing for AlterNet, Alex Kotch explains in great detail “Charles Koch’s Six-Step Guide to Founding a Free-Market Center at Your University.” The article is based on recordings made at a Koch-sponsored conference. Here is a substantial portion of the introductory section of Kotch’s article: “Since 1980, the family foundations of billionaire…

Focusing on the Cost and Results for Low-Income Students

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH The Department of Education has released two lists of universities and four-year colleges with “good outcomes” for low-income students. The first list simply measures tuition costs against income after graduation. The second list is limited to institutions at which at least 40% of the student populations can be described as low-income.…

Not clickable: Congress Subcommittee Review of Tax-Exempt College University Endowments

Congress & the Myth of Big Endowments

BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL On September 13, a House subcommittee holds a hearing that, according to Janet Lorin in Bloomberg , “is set to look at how colleges, through their tax exempt endowments, are trying to reduce tuition.” The subcommittee hearing features testimony from policy experts and college officials. It’s an interesting time to examine college endowments. As Ms.…

New U of Iowa President Doesn't Get It

BY LOREN GLASS Loren Glass is a Professor of English at the University of Iowa. This op-ed appeared last week in the Quad City Times. Based on recent statements by University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld as well as various members and representatives of the Iowa Board of Regents it would seem that there is…

Ailes’s Name Removed from Ohio U “Newsroom”

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH This is an item from tonight’s CNN Reliable Sources: “No More ‘Ailes Newsroom’ “Breaking news from Athens, OH: ‘Roger Ailes‘ name will be removed from a WOUB newsroom, Ohio University President Roderick McDavis announced” this evening, per the student paper The Post. ‘McDavis gave no exact date for its removal, but the letters of Ailes’ name were…