Image of the cover of the winter 2024 issue of Academe magazine, "The Higher Ed Data Juggernaut." Ocean waves are overlaid with data points. The words "The Higher Ed" are in white font, and "Data Juggernaut" is in yellow.

From the Guest Editor: The Higher Ed Data Juggernaut

BY SIOBHAN SENIER Following is the guest editor’s introduction to the winter 2024 issue of Academe, out this week. The full table of contents for the issue is available here.  In memoriam David Golumbia* In December 2020, a group of leading scholars of educational technology, including Jesse Stommel—a contributor to this special issue—held a landmark teach-in #AgainstSurveillance. The…

Red background with "Call for Proposals: The Higher Ed Data Juggernaut" in white text

Call for Proposals: The Higher Ed Data Juggernaut

BY SIOBHAN SENIER Few faculty have the knowledge—or the time—to consider how information about us and our work is being collected and used. AAUP’s Academe magazine is soliciting contributions for a special issue on data mining and learning analytics, especially as these phenomena affect faculty governance and workload. What data, exactly, are colleges and universities…

New Report Paints Data-Rich Picture of US Higher Education

POSTED BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL Reporting in last week’s Inside Higher Education, Kasia Kovacs reviewed the findings of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, an initiative of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Dr. Michael McPherson, co-chair of the commission and a well-respected economist,…

“Assessment as a Subversive Activity”

The 2011 volume of the AAUP Journal of Academic Freedom contained two articles—by John Champagne and John Powell—critical of “the relentlessly expanding assessment movement.” In response, Berea College professor Dave Porter describes his own extensive experience with assessment, arguing that assessment is about creating a culture of evidence that is much more than merely collecting…

2011 Open Doors Data on International Students

On November 14, the Institute of International Education (IIE), a group which advocates for and collects data about international student and scholarly travel, released this year’s “Open Doors” data at an event at the National Press Club in Washington DC. The data tracks how many students from around the world come to the United States…