How to Make Tenure Meaningless

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH The short answer is to tie tenure to measures of administrative incompetence. But before I elaborate on that linkage, let me acknowledge that I am taking a second shot at pitching our chapter’s petition of support to the readers of this blog. The petition was designed for a more generic audience…

Oberlin College building with text overlay: Oberlin's Financial Crisis is Sobering Lesson for Higher Education

Don’t blame liberal campus culture for Oberlin’s enrollment headache

BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL Last month, Rick Seltzer reported in Inside Higher Education about a brewing controversy at Oberlin College, which is facing a significant financial shortfall. The College, including its prestigious Conservatory, faces a multi-million dollar deficit caused largely by lower-than-expected enrollment. A group of trustees charged with looking into Oberlin’s shortfall found that…

When We Don't Fund Public Education

BY KELLY WILZ The narrative surrounding higher education in Wisconsin is yet again being defined by those who do not work in higher education and unfortunately, as we’ve seen before, this line of attack is incredibly persuasive. “The No Confidence vote isn’t really about President Cross or the Board of Regents. The radical faculty at UW-Madison are rejecting…

And This Is Why I Teach

My stepfather is dying.  I hate even using the word “step” because in every sense of the word, he is my father.  And he will be gone soon.  He is in hospice now.  There is a hospital bed in my mother’s living room.  There will be no more emergency room last ditch efforts to save…

PA State Senators Crafting Legislation to Allow Universities to Secede from State System of Higher Ed

Author’s Note: A version of this post was publish on Raging Chicken Press under the title, “Slow Train to Destruction of Public Higher Ed in PA?: Defund then Divide-and-Conquer,” on Saturday, Feb. 22.  If the fall 2013 semester saw the term “retrenchment” – the elimination of faculty, programs, and jobs – become part of daily…

Wall Street on the Susquehanna: PASSHE Bond Scheme Bleeds Budget for Beautiful Buildings (Abbreviated)

This originally appeared in Raging Chicken Press on October 21, 2013. It is a fairly long article detailing changes in Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) policies regarding new buildings and capital projects. The more I looked in the financial schemes at the system within which I work, the more it became clear that…