The Real Significance of a Poll

The following item was posted on the blog of the UCLA Faculty Association: A poll was released by the Bay Area Council showing strong support of Californians for funding higher ed and possibly a ballot initiative to do so.  When you read the poll question, it is clearly a push-poll, i.e., designed to suggest both…

Gender Bias and Student Evaluations of Teaching

Last month I posted an item about two studies demonstrating that student evaluations may not be the best way to measure either student learning or instructor effectiveness.  One of those studies was co-authored by Philip Stark, chair of the statistics department at the University of California, Berkeley.  He has now co-authored with Anne Boring and…

The Right to Unionize

Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association which threatens to undermine the union movement in America by banning “fair share” or agency fees paid by workers for the services of a union in representing them. The AAUP, which is partly a union, has an obvious self-interest in fighting this…

H.A.W. Responds to A.H.A. Pro-Palestine Academic Freedom Resolution Defeat: New York Times Coverage

The New York Times covered the Historians Against the War resolution to protect academic freedom in Gaza and the West Bank that have been under Israeli control since the 1967 war. It stated in part: More than a half-dozen American scholarly groups have passed resolutions condemning Israel, including the American Anthropological Association, which endorsed a boycott…

What We Tell International Students Who Are Muslims

    Questions and Answers: U.S. Life for Muslim Students How many international students are in the United States? How many students from my country? Open Doors, a survey published annually by the nonprofit Institute for International Education, reported that approximately 564,766 international students were enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education in 2005-2006. You…

Strengthening the College Transfer Pathway

Higher education leaders have a major problem from which they cannot hide. The transfer pathway from community colleges to four-year colleges and universities is badly broken. And, it’s partly their fault. The facts are clear. Just 20 percent of first-time, full-time community college students seeking an associate degree earn one within three years. Only 35…