BY HANK REICHMAN UPDATE: THIS PIECE WAS PUBLISHED SHORTLY BEFORE WORD BEGAN TO SPREAD OF A POSSIBLE MILITARY COUP IN TURKEY. THE POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS OF SUCH A COUP, SUCCESSFUL OR NOT, FOR THE DEVELOPMENTS DISCUSSED IN THIS POST ARE, OF COURSE, UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME. In March, AAUP President Rudy Fichtenbaum and I issued a…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL Tim Goral published an extremely interesting interview with former president of the Appalachian College Association, Alice Brown, in University Business last month. Ms. Brown’s comments reflected the wisdom of a professional who has served for 15 years leading a consortium of 35 private, liberal arts colleges in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia,…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH This “over the transom” piece is from a colleague who has chosen the pseudonym “Thucydides.” It owes a considerable debt—is in many respects an homage–to the legendary Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko. _________________________ Moose McGillicuddy had just opened his tavern on a quiet weekday morning, wanting to do some cleaning before…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH This chart has been provided as part of an article by Emily Peck on the factors driving income inequality: In response to my posts on administrative bloat, I have sometimes received complaints that my emphasis on high administrative salaries is beside the point because relatively few upper administrators receive those salaries…
BY HANK REICHMAN For the past three years I have been posting about the ongoing issues regarding accreditation at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) and the subsequent disaffection of virtually all of California’s community colleges with their current accreditor, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). This past spring attention focused…
BY HANK REICHMAN Up until Sen. Bernie Sanders’ endorsement of Hillary Clinton yesterday, it was common to view the main fault line dividing the Democratic Party as that between Sanders’ largely younger and definitely more radical supporters and a more cautious and aging party “establishment” represented by Clinton. But another fault line has been that…
BY HANK REICHMAN Earlier this year I posted an item to this blog about “Hunger on Campus,” which began: “Even as gourmet and gluten-free choices expand at some elite college eateries, Sara Goldrick-Rab and Katharine Broton have published an excellent, if deeply disturbing, article on “The Hidden Hunger Problem on Campus.” For many it may…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Here is a background note written by Michael Barbaro and published on the progressive blog Crooks and Liars: “All the way back in June of 2015, this news was reported, although at the time many of us dismissed it because clearly we had no idea how insane this election would be,…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH In an article sponsored jointly by ProPublica and the New York Times, Annie Waldman has reported the following: “New Jersey’s loans, which currently total $1.9 billion, are unlike those of any other government lending program for students in the country. They come with extraordinarily stringent rules that can easily lead to…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH The Department of Education Policy and Program Studies Division has released a report on State and Local Expenditures on Corrections and Education. Here are the highlights of the report: –From 1979–80 to 2012–13, public PK–12 expenditures increased by 107 percent (from $258 to $534 billion),4 while total state and local corrections expenditures increased…