Colleges Should Cultivate Leaders Within Their Own Ranks

Colleges Should Cultivate Leaders Within Their Own Ranks: "

Leaders play musical chairs, with shorter stays and higher salaries, while institutions suffer from a lack of sustained guidance.

"

How to Justify Our Paychecks

How to Justify Our Paychecks: "

'Faculty productivity' is a hot issue. We need to be able to describe our jobs clearly, and then to determine how well we are doing them.

"

Starting Over?

Starting Over?: "

Unhappy with how their leaders are chosen, adjuncts at California community college lead bid to decertify union and start a new one.

"

Some Medical Deans Fail to Disclose Outside Income on University Web Sites

Some Medical Deans Fail to Disclose Outside Income on University Web Sites: "

Seven of the 161 deans examined in a report served on the boards of health-industry companies. Some failed to disclose or underreported their corporate earnings.

"

After Resolving Not to Micromanage, U. of Texas Regent Seeks Faculty-Productivity Data

After Resolving Not to Micromanage, U. of Texas Regent Seeks Faculty-Productivity Data: "

Just hours after the chancellor of the University of Texas system urged regents not to micromanage the system’s universities, a newly appointed regent sent out an e-mail requesting detailed information about individual faculty members’ workloads, grades, and student evaluation scores, The Austin American-Statesman reports. The regent, Alex M. Cranberg, who was appointed in February, is a longtime associate of Jeff Sandefer, whose “Seven Breakthrough Solutions” for higher education form the framework for a controversial plan that Gov. Rick Perry has promoted statewide.

Mr. Cranberg submitted his request the same day the regents gave the chancellor, Francisco G. Cigarroa, an unqualified vote of support. Gene Powell, the chairman of the Board of Regents, said on Tuesday that Mr. Cranberg was simply gathering data. “The regents are not managing; they’re gathering information to study, which is their fiduciary responsibility,” he said.

"

Texas Governor Skirts Process in Selecting Tea-Party Activist as Student Regent

Texas Governor Skirts Process in Selecting Tea-Party Activist as Student Regent: "

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas bypassed the usual process for selecting student regents when he appointed a tea-party activist who had not applied through the student government at Texas A&M University, The Bryan-College Station Eagle is reporting. The newspaper quoted lawyers who said that, in doing so, the Republican governor might have violated a state law that spells out how the nonvoting student regents are supposed to be picked. The student, Fernando Trevino Jr., was appointed after applying directly to Mr. Perry’s office. The newspaper said candidates typically apply to the university’s student government, which forwards five names to the chancellor, who then sends two or more names to the governor for the final selection. Mr. Perry’s office has denied wrongdoing.

"

Most Presidents Favor No Tenure for Majority of Faculty

Most Presidents Favor No Tenure for Majority of Faculty: "

Across higher education, a significant number say they would prefer long-term contracts for full-time professors.

"

Presidents Don't Agree on What Signifies Quality

Presidents Don't Agree on What Signifies Quality: "

When asked how the public should assess colleges, their leaders cited measures whose reliability is often questioned: graduation rates and accreditation.

"

It's More Than Just the Degree, Graduates Say

It's More Than Just the Degree, Graduates Say: "

Only 5 percent of the public agrees that college is an excellent value, but 84 percent of graduates attest that their own time on campus was worth the cost.

"

Berkeley Engineering and Diversity

Way to go, CoE.

ENGINEERING EDUCATION

Changes at Berkeley Raise Fears of Shrinking Commitment to Diversity

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/325/5944/1057.full?sid=1bf975c3-82e3-438e-b3fb-dfd3ce1c1e51

surveys of public and presidents

Crisis of Confidence Threatens Colleges

Rising costs test families' faith, while 1 in 3 presidents see academe on wrong road

http://chronicle.com/article/A-Crisis-of-Confidence/127530/

Florida State Professors Question Deal That Gives Donor a Role in Hiring Decisions

Florida State Professors Question Deal That Gives Donor a Role in Hiring Decisions: "

A current and a former professor at Florida State University have raised concerns, in a recent opinion article in the Tallahassee Democrat, about an arrangement that gives a conservative billionaire whose foundation pledged $1.5-million for positions in the university’s economics department a say in hiring decisions for the program his foundation finances. Under the university’s agreement, signed in 2008 with the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, an advisory committee appointed by the foundation gets to screen and sign off on any hires for a program promoting “political economy and free enterprise” and can withdraw the foundation’s financial support if the committee is unhappy with how those new employees perform, according to the St. Petersburg Times. The professors argue that the deal undermines academic freedom; the dean of the College of Social Sciences defended the arrangement in the Times, saying it would have been “irresponsible” not to accept the donation.

"

With State Support Shaky, Research Universities Get Advice on How to Endure

With State Support Shaky, Research Universities Get Advice on How to Endure: "

At a science meeting, experts told them to compete, cooperate, and innovate more, and to change their cultures, but institutions stood up for their ways.

"

Do Adjunct Votes Count?

Do Adjunct Votes Count?: "

Massachusetts union debates whether part-timers -- who are in the majority by far -- should get full vote in electing leaders.

"

If Universities Were Democracies

If Universities Were Democracies: "

Alumni, staff members, and students would have the greatest say in how things were run if everyone had a vote.

"

Southern Illinois-Carbondale Moves to Subject Tenured Professors to Layoffs

Southern Illinois-Carbondale Moves to Subject Tenured Professors to Layoffs: "

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale will be able to lay off tenured faculty members without declaring fiscal exigency under the terms of a one-year contract it imposed on its faculty union this month. The new contract for the current fiscal year allows the faculty union, the SIUC Faculty Association, to bargain with the university over proposed layoffs and calls for nontenured faculty members to be laid off first, but the document stands out from faculty contracts elsewhere in allowing the cash-strapped university to circumvent the usual requirement that a formal declaration of fiscal crisis precede any decision to lay off the tenured. It also calls for faculty members to take four unpaid furlough days in the current academic year. The faculty association plans to file a complaint accusing the university of unfair labor practices for unilaterally imposing the contract after the union’s negotiators rejected the agreement. University officials have said they had no choice but to move ahead and adopt a contract that had represented their “last, best, and final offer.”

"

10 Years to Tenure at Michigan

10 Years to Tenure at Michigan: "

New policy, adopted over faculty objections, gives divisions the option to extend probationary periods.

"

Budget Standoff Frays Nerves at a Regional Public University

Budget Standoff Frays Nerves at a Regional Public University: "

In the first in a series on one institution's financial crisis, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro faces a 15-percent cut in state funds.

"

Pepperdine U. Chooses Growth by Cutting

Pepperdine U. Chooses Growth by Cutting: "

Rather than generating new revenue for new projects, the university reallocated 10 percent of its budget toward areas believed to be poised for growth.

"

Controversial Adviser to U. of Texas Regents Says He's Been Fired

Controversial Adviser to U. of Texas Regents Says He's Been Fired: "

Rick O'Donnell said his dismissal came after he complained about the difficulty of obtaining data he expected would show that some professors don't teach much.

"

Return to the Silo

Return to the Silo: "

Over faculty objections, Temple is forcing its interdisciplinary programs into traditional disciplines.

"

A Stab at Deflating Grades

A Stab at Deflating Grades: "

Faculty at U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill backs plan to put students' (and professors') grades in context.

"

E-Mails Show Texas Governor Pushed Universities to Adopt Businessman’s Ideas

E-Mails Show Texas Governor Pushed Universities to Adopt Businessman’s Ideas: "

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas has insisted that he leaves higher-education policy decisions to the governing boards of the state’s public universities. E-mails obtained by the Houston Chronicle, however, show that the Republican governor’s office has been closely involved in pushing universities to adopt ideas championed by Jeff Sandefer, a business educator and major campaign contributor to Mr. Perry. Those ideas include ranking faculty members by productivity and putting more focus on teaching instead of research. University regents and chancellors heard Mr. Sandefer explain his proposals at Mr. Perry’s request in May 2008, the newspaper reports, and over the next two years the governor’s office sent follow-up messages setting a time line for putting Mr. Sandefer’s ideas in place, requesting regular updates from university leaders on their progress, and instructing regents not to be influenced by university staff members. Peter T. Flawn, a former president of the University of Texas at Austin, called Mr. Perry’s actions “absolutely a new and unique situation” and criticized Mr. Sandefer’s proposals as a blueprint for stepping backward “from a first-class research university to a second-class undergraduate degree mill.”

"

NYU Adjuncts Win Pay Increases and Benefits for Summer Work

NYU Adjuncts Win Pay Increases and Benefits for Summer Work: "

New York University’s 2,400 adjunct faculty members will receive substantial pay increases and benefits for the summer hours they work under the terms of a new contract with the private institution. The agreement, ratified last week, is the product of tough negotiations that had left adjunct faculty members poised to go on strike. In an attempt to deal with the earnings gap between adjunct faculty members who teach credit-bearing courses and the lesser-paid adjunct faculty members who teach noncredit courses, the contract calls for all adjunct faculty members’ pay to rise by the same dollar amount, so that the latter group will see its pay climb at a steeper rate. (The $4-per-contact-hour increase in the contract’s first year amounts to about a 3.6 percent raise for those who teach credit-bearing courses and a 6.7 percent increase for those who teach noncredit courses.) The agreement also builds on gains won by adjunct faculty members in their 2004 contract by, for the first time, offering health insurance, job security, and retirement benefits to those who work in the summer.

"

When to Dissolve a Faculty Senate

When to Dissolve a Faculty Senate: "

The suspension of a faculty senate is not unheard of in academe, but the reasons for it vary widely.

"

Colleges Spend Far Less on Educating Students Than They Claim, Report Says

Colleges Spend Far Less on Educating Students Than They Claim, Report Says: "

More than half of students attend institutions that take in more per student in tuition payments than what it costs to instruct them, a center's analysis found.

"

Federal Budget Deal Spares Pell but Shrinks Research and Education Programs

Federal Budget Deal Spares Pell but Shrinks Research and Education Programs: "

Details were released on Tuesday of the compromise struck last weekend between the White House and Democrats and Republicans in the Congress.

"

Edison State College Faculty Votes No Confidence in President and Senior Vice President

Edison State College Faculty Votes No Confidence in President and Senior Vice President: "

Faculty members at Edison State College, in southwestern Florida, on Tuesday voted no confidence in President Kenneth P. Walker and in James Browder, a senior vice president, the Naples Daily News reported. Under the threat of a no-confidence vote, Mr. Walker had recently moved Mr. Browder to an “external” position in the hope of improving the senior administration’s relationship with the faculty.

"

Florida Bill Targets Community College Tenure

Florida Bill Targets Community College Tenure: "

Surprise legislation -- based on newly adopted measure for K-12 -- would bar institutions from awarding continuing or long-term contracts.

"

A Call to Shun

A Call to Shun: "

Philosophers debate whether to isolate sexual harassers by minimizing contact with them and ending the practice of inviting them to appear at conferences.

"

Failure of California Budget Talks Is Bad News for State Colleges

Failure of California Budget Talks Is Bad News for State Colleges: "

In an ominous sign for California’s public colleges, negotiations broke down on Tuesday between Gov. Jerry Brown and Republican lawmakers without an agreement on how to close the state’s budget gap. Mr. Brown, a Democrat, was seeking a deal that would have put a package of tax extensions on the ballot in June that, if passed, would shield colleges and other state agencies from a new round of budget cuts. Colleges were already cut by $1.4-billion last week; without approval of the tax extensions, officials have warned that those cuts could double in size, possibly resulting in the closures of community colleges, increased cuts in enrollment, and widespread layoffs of faculty and staff members. Democratic lawmakers’ next move is not clear; they have signaled that they may ask voters to approve the tax extensions as part of an initiative on the November ballot.

"

Historians’ Group Issues New Standards for Treatment of Adjuncts

Historians’ Group Issues New Standards for Treatment of Adjuncts: "

In an attempt to adapt to changes in the working conditions of faculty members, the Organization of American Historians has revised its standards and best practices covering colleges’ employment of historians who are nontenured or off the tenure track. The revisions, approved this month by the group’s executive board at its annual meeting, include a new call for colleges to incorporate non-tenure-track faculty members into their governance systems and pay them adequately for nonteaching duties. Other updates urge colleges to provide adjuncts with access to unemployment compensation, electronic databases, and financial support for creative activities and scholarship, and include language recognizing that, especially at community colleges, not all faculty members who teach history work in history departments.

"

Colleges Should Serve the Job Market, Governors Say

Colleges Should Serve the Job Market, Governors Say: "

Colleges need to do a better job of aligning their programs with the economic needs of their states, says a new report by the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices. The report highlights steps taken in Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, and Washington State, and makes recommendations on how lawmakers can persuade to move beyond their traditional emphasis on a broad liberal-arts education to thinking more about skills for specific jobs. It suggests that colleges use “rigorous labor-market data” to set goals and get more input from local businesses on the skills students need.

"

Cal State to Cut Enrollment by at Least 10,000

Cal State to Cut Enrollment by at Least 10,000: "

California State University officials announced on Tuesday that the system would enroll 10,000 fewer students next year because of an anticipated state-budget cut of $500-million, or 18 percent. The enrollment cut, which would get more severe if a package of tax extensions is not approved by California voters, would continue to shrink the state’s higher-education system. The system also plans to eliminate more faculty and staff positions and cut $11-million from the system office. A study released on Monday by the University of Southern California’s Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis says California should take steps to sharply increase enrollment at its private institutions to make up for the inability of public colleges to accommodate enough students.

"

A Heavier Load in Ohio

A Heavier Load in Ohio: "

Governor’s plan to force faculty to teach one more class every two years sparks more bitterness.

"

Regents of the UC give up on public education funding

Why have the regents given up on public education in California?

"a superogatory blast from Regent Chair Russ Gould, who seconded David Crane in saying that all the new dollars were going to go to things other than higher ed. Everybody loves higher ed, no one puts it first, so UC needs to build self-reliance, and that's the end of it. His speech made it clear that, at least in Regents meetings that he chaired, the idea of increased public funding is dead."

http://utotherescue.blogspot.com/2011/03/odd-regental-duet-this-morning.html

Something Wrong at the World’s Universities?

What seems clear is that politicians, policy makers, journalists, and indeed many members of the general public seem to believe that there is somehow something wrongwith universities.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/something-wrong-at-the-worlds-universities/27950?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Sortable Table: State Appropriations for Major Public Universities: Which Ones Get the Most and the Least

Sortable Table: State Appropriations for Major Public Universities: Which Ones Get the Most and the Least

UC Berkeley - third-largest change in percentage points over a five-year period: down 7%.

state appropriations down 10% over 5 years.

Tennessee Flagship Finds a Way to Keep Threatened Majors in Italian and Russian

Tennessee Flagship Finds a Way to Keep Threatened Majors in Italian and Russian: "

At a time when foreign-language programs are being proposed for elimination at a number of cash-strapped public universities, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville has come up with a plan that will allow it to keep threatened majors in Russian, Italian, and other low-enrollment languages, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported. The university’s provost approved last week a plan under which the department of modern foreign languages and literatures will combine all eight foreign languages it teaches into one degree and offer concentrations in each language. Foreign-language programs at American universities are seeing increasing enrollments over all, but have also experienced a steady loss in the number of degree programs offered, according to recent reports.

"

Bill in Arizona Would Give Millions in Tax Breaks to For-Profit Colleges

Bill in Arizona Would Give Millions in Tax Breaks to For-Profit Colleges: "

Even as they struggle to close a major budget gap, Arizona lawmakers are considering a bill that could give millions of dollars in tax breaks to the parent companies of the University of Phoenix and Grand Canyon University, and to other companies, The Arizona Republic reports. Phoenix’s parent company, the Apollo Group, has been a major contributor to political campaigns of state legislators and, along with other businesses, has lobbied for the bill.

"

Arizona - just loving to swim against the progressive tide.

Ending the Late Option

Ending the Late Option: "

A Texas community college decides to risk losing some state funds by forcing students to register on time — with goal of improving completion rates."

Isn't this just improving statistics by leaving at-risk students behind?

Wisconsin Senate Votes to End Collective Bargaining

Wisconsin Senate Votes to End Collective Bargaining: "

Republicans members of the Wisconsin State Senate found a way on Wednesday to pass a bill limiting bargaining rights for most state workers and specifically removing that right for university faculty and staff members. Democratic senators have been absent from the state for three weeks in an attempt to block the bill. But Republicans stripped the elements of the bill that required spending authority so that a vote could take place without a full quorum present, The New York Times reported. The bill now returns to the state Assembly, which is expected to pass it.

"

For Deans, Off Campus Is Now the Place to Be

For Deans, Off Campus Is Now the Place to Be: "

No longer mere middle managers, they are increasingly ambassadors, visionaries in chief, and practitioners of the Big Ask.

"

query - is they money they are bringing in worth the amount now spent on other administrators who do the work the dean used to do? What kind of oversight are these sub-administrators getting? With more powerful and high-profile deans, what checks can the campus leadership have on them? What about the costs to morale and college culture of an absentee leader? What about misalignment between the goals and values of an ambassadorial dean versus the actual mission of the college: education, research, public service?

Recession Pushed State and Local Higher-Ed Spending to 25-Year Low in 2010

Recession Pushed State and Local Higher-Ed Spending to 25-Year Low in 2010: "

Booming enrollment growth and stagnant state appropriations have eroded the finances of public colleges and universities.

"

Manhattanville College Adjuncts Vote to Unionize

Manhattanville College Adjuncts Vote to Unionize: "

Adjunct faculty members and tutors at Manhattanville College have voted overwhelmingly to unionize, the American Federation of Teachers announced on Friday. Of those adjuncts and tutors voting at the private college in Purchase, N.Y., 221 favored and 50 opposed forming a new union affiliated with the AFT and the New York State United Teachers.

"

Idaho State U. Faces Added Pressure Over Faculty Senate Suspension

Idaho State U. Faces Added Pressure Over Faculty Senate Suspension: "

The American Association of University Professors has undertaken an investigation of Idaho State University in response to the recent suspension of the institution’s Faculty Senate. The move comes after Idaho State’s president, Arthur C. Vailas, responded to the AAUP’s demand for an explanation of the senate suspension with a letter arguing that the senate had placed him in “a most untenable situation” by refusing to go along with a university-reorganization plan approved by the State Board of Education last year. The Idaho State Journal reported last week that students at the university planned to vote this month on referendums to declare no confidence in Mr. Vailas and demand that the Faculty Senate be reinstated. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a national advocacy group, has jumped into the fray with a letter to Mr. Vailas calling the state board’s suspension of the Faculty Senate a “dire threat to academic freedom and faculty governance.”

"

Center Recommends New Approaches to Peer Review and Tenure

Center Recommends New Approaches to Peer Review and Tenure: "

The Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California at Berkeley has released “Peer Review in Academic Promotion and Publishing: Its Meaning, Locus, and Future,” a detailed report that suggests—among other things—that tenure and promotion committees ignore the venue in which an article is published and instead focus on its content, and resist rewarding the thin slicing of research results to achieve more publications.

"

U. of Nevada at Reno Proposes More Cuts in Degrees, Programs, and Jobs

U. of Nevada at Reno Proposes More Cuts in Degrees, Programs, and Jobs: "

The University of Nevada at Reno proposed a new round of budget cuts today that would close, reduce, or reorganize programs and services, and eliminate 225 positions, 150 of which are currently filled. Academic areas that would be closed include the School of Social Work and related degrees, the degree major in French, and degrees in theater and dance. Library and information-technology services would be reduced. The cuts would save $26-million, the university said—just under half the $59-million in reductions it expects will be needed by July 2012.

http://newsroom.unr.edu/2011/03/07/university-announces-26-million-in-proposed-budget-cuts-to-campus-today/

"

Research-Universities Group Called Texas A&M’s Professor-Tracking Program ‘Ill-Conceived’

Research-Universities Group Called Texas A&M’s Professor-Tracking Program ‘Ill-Conceived’: "

The president of the Association of American Universities warned Texas A&M University officials last fall to resist “ill-conceived calls for ‘reform,’” including those pushed by a conservative think tank supported by Gov. Rick Perry, The Texas Tribune reports. The prestigious association’s president, Robert M. Berdahl, sent the letter after A&M officials created and published a balance sheet that measured how much money professors generated and cost the university. Mr. Berdahl, a former president of the University of Texas at Austin, questioned whether A&M’s approaches remained in line with the mission of the association, a group of 63 top research universities in the United States and Canada. Texas A&M’s flagship campus is classified as a Tier 1 research university, partly on the basis of its membership in the group. The chancellor of the A&M system, Michael D. McKinney, responded in November with a letter that starts, “I find it to be slightly ironic for you to send me a missive about research without first seeking to better understand the efforts and the objectives of the Texas A&M System.”

"

Pennsylvania Governor Proposes 50% Budget Cut for State Colleges

Pennsylvania Governor Proposes 50% Budget Cut for State Colleges: "

State-supported colleges and universities in Pennsylvania would take among the biggest hits in a 2011-12 budget proposed today by the state’s new Republican governor, Tom Corbett, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Under the $27.3-billion plan, state spending would be reduced to 2008-9 levels, with funds for the four state-related universities cut in half, compared with current amounts. The State System of Higher Education, which includes 14 universities, as well as the multiple campuses of Pennsylvania State University would fare no better, also absorbing a 50-percent cut in state funds. Governor Corbett said the budget had been put together “with honesty and restraint” in order to create “a more limited but vigorous government.” Penn State today described the budget as “catastrophic” and an “apparent push toward privatization of public higher education.”

"

UNLV Outlines Deep Cuts It Would Make if Governor’s Budget Is Passed

UNLV Outlines Deep Cuts It Would Make if Governor’s Budget Is Passed: "

If the Nevada governor’s budget is passed, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas would have to eliminate or reorganize 12 departments and cut 315 faculty and staff positions, the university’s president, Neal J. Smatresk, said in an e-mail to the campus today, according to news reports. The comments come a day after the University of Nevada at Reno presented a similar scenario of proposed cuts in programs and jobs in response to the state’s fiscal crisis. The Las Vegas campus’s plan would save $32.6-million by, among other things, eliminating 50 major degree programs, cutting two sports teams, restricting spending on athletics and facilities, and possibly closing some buildings. “These cuts will significantly reduce our ability to educate our students, maintain our campus, and serve the community,” Mr. Smatresk said. “I believe this is a tragic loss and a giant step backward for Nevada.”

"

The Magic of Higher Education

Academic discussions of the corporatization of higher education frame the institution as a corporation and the faculty as the labor oppressed by this structure. But academics need to realize that the corporate model dehumanizes everyone on campus, not just the faculty.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/old-new/the-magic-of-learning/283?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Academic Freedom and the Corporate University

"similar threats led to the formation of the AAUP in 1915. Powerful corporate interests and wealthy donors wielded undue influence over academic institutions. Today we struggle with renewed threats to academic freedom by commercial interests. Should universities pursue truth or profits?"

http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/academic-freedom-and-the-corporate-university/32872?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Connecticut Lawmakers Criticize Number of College Administrators

Connecticut Lawmakers Criticize Number of College Administrators: "

Connecticut lawmakers say they’re concerned that administrators and other nonfaculty employees outnumber faculty members at the state’s universities, especially when students are being turned away from full classes, The Hartford Courant reports. The lawmakers were reacting to a legislative report that showed 60 percent of the state’s university employees do not work in the classroom. Connecticut’s governor proposed last week that the state save money on college administrative costs by reviewing all nonfaculty hiring at its public institutions, another example of how newly elected state politicians are seeking more say over how public colleges are run.

"

U. of Louisiana Weakens Tenure Rights

U. of Louisiana Weakens Tenure Rights: "

System wants flexibility to eliminate jobs -- even if institutions do not declare 'financial exigency.'

"

Adjunct Alternative or Union Busting?

Adjunct Alternative or Union Busting?: "

A community college's solution for reliance on adjuncts? Posts with job security for a year, a 7-7 course load, and no chance at tenure. Faculty unions split on the idea.

"

Virginia Governor's Proposed Covenant With Colleges Defies Other States' Cuts

Virginia Governor's Proposed Covenant With Colleges Defies Other States' Cuts: "

As deep cuts in higher education are being made in many states, Robert F. McDonnell plans to guarantee colleges a fair share of state money from now on.

"

Hands Off Higher Ed in the Statehouse? Hardly.

Hands Off Higher Ed in the Statehouse? Hardly.: "

Bills on the table in some states include limits on salaries, sabbaticals, and collective bargaining.

"

Report Suggests Ways Colleges Can Share Information About Learning Outcomes

Report Suggests Ways Colleges Can Share Information About Learning Outcomes: "

Colleges can take simple steps to tell the public about how they measure student learning. That’s the message of a Transparency Framework that has just been unveiled by the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. A document describing the framework highlights institutions (St. Olaf College is one example) that have made assessment data reasonably easy to find on their Web sites. Openness about learning outcomes was also the subject of a panel discussion at last month’s meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

"

AAUP Threatens to Investigate Idaho State U.

AAUP Threatens to Investigate Idaho State U.: "

The American Association of University Professors is threatening to investigate Idaho State University over the recent suspension of the institution’s Faculty Senate. The warning comes just days after the Idaho Board of Education suspended the senate at the recommendation of Arthur C. Vailas, Idaho State’s president, in whom the faculty had just voted no confidence. In a letter sent to Mr. Vailas on Tuesday, Gregory F. Scholtz, associate secretary of the AAUP, said the state board’s unilateral action “contravenes widely observed principles of shared governance.” The letter told Mr. Vailas that the AAUP’s general secretary intends to authorize a formal investigation of Idaho State “unless you can apprise us of truly extraordinary factors currently unknown to us that would justify the action taken.”

"

From the Chronicle:

Unconventional Wisdom on U.S. Higher-Ed Attainment

"There’s an “inherent tension,” he adds, between widening access to postsecondary education and trying to improve completion rates."

http://chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/unconventional-wisdom-on-u-s-higher-ed-attainment/27896?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

State Board of Education Suspends Faculty Senate at Idaho State U.

http://chronicle.com/article/State-Board-of-Education/126437/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Cast Out in Chicago

Cast Out in Chicago: "

Adjuncts at Columbia College Chicago say that administration's replacement of 100 long-serving instructors, without explanation, is an act of 'war' on their union.

"

Kean U. Requires Faculty Members to Fill Out Time Sheets

Kean U. Requires Faculty Members to Fill Out Time Sheets: "

Administrators at Kean University, a state institution in New Jersey, have asked faculty members to fill out daily time sheets to ensure that they are putting in at least a 35-hour workweek. The time sheets have become another source of friction in the already-tense relationship between the faculty and the administration at Kean.

"

South Carolina Lawmakers Want Professors to Teach More

South Carolina Lawmakers Want Professors to Teach More: "

College professors in South Carolina should skip sabbaticals and research and, instead, teach at least nine credit hours each semester, a member of the state’s House of Representatives has told the Associated Press. A House budget-writing panel agreed to such a measure, among others that are part of the state’s $5.2-billion budget. The full Ways and Means Committee will vote next week.

"

UNLV President Warns of ‘Fiscal Collapse’

UNLV President Warns of ‘Fiscal Collapse’: "

For the first time in its 54-year history, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas may have to declare financial exigency, its provost, Michael W. Bowers, wrote in a memorandum to faculty and staff members on Tuesday. And according to the Las Vegas Sun, the university’s president, Neal Smatresk, repeated that point to the Faculty Senate, outlining a plan to cut nearly $48-million from the university’s budget if a budget proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, is adopted by the Legislature, a situation Mr. Smatresk characterized as “approaching a state of fiscal collapse.” A declaration of financial exigency would precede a university decision to close programs, lay off tenured faculty members, and take other emergency steps.

"

AAUP to Investigate Decision to Close Programs at SUNY-Albany

AAUP to Investigate Decision to Close Programs at SUNY-Albany: "

The American Association of University Professors announced today that it was appointing a committee to investigate the decision by administrators at the State University of New York at Albany to suspend admissions to five degree programs—in classics, French, Italian, Russian, and theater—as the campus deals with budget cuts. The AAUP said the decision to close the programs, and to notify 14 tenured faculty members that their appointments would be terminated within two years, raised concerns about academic freedom, tenure, and governance.

"

Punching In at Kean U.

Punching In at Kean U.: "

University with a history of tensions with its faculty has started requiring professors to file time sheets.

"

Tenure Changes Coming to Brown U.

Tenure Changes Coming to Brown U.: "

Once named the most tenure-heavy institution among elite privates, Brown moves to new rules to tighten the process, following faculty sign-off.

"

Reversals in Wisconsin

Reversals in Wisconsin: "

Governor seeks major benefit cuts for all U. of Wisconsin employees -- and elimination of the newly won right of faculty and academic employees to unionize.

"

Why social scientists should be more like engineers

Editorial from the Chronicle: Social scientists should consider identifying not with the harder sciences or the humanities but with engineering

Social scientists should consider identifying not with the harder sciences or the humanities but with engineering

In Texas, Public Officials Offer More Ideas for Cutting College Costs

In Texas, Public Officials Offer More Ideas for Cutting College Costs: "

Unwelcome surprises continue to come for public-college professors and administrators in Texas. In his state-of-the-state address this week, Gov. Rick Perry called on colleges to set up undergraduate programs in which students could earn bachelors’ degrees for a total of no more than $10,000, textbooks included. But the state’s higher-education officials said they had “no idea” how such a cheap program could be created. In the meantime, community-college leaders—already in shock after a draft budget in the state Senate proposed shutting down four of the state’s two-year colleges—got their calculators out and started guesstimating how they would deal with another of the draft’s suggestions: that the state cut its support for health benefits for community-college employees from 83 percent to 50 percent.

"

Missouri Colleges Will Cut More Than 100 Degree Programs

Missouri Colleges Will Cut More Than 100 Degree Programs: "

Missouri’s public colleges and universities will eliminate more than 100 academic programs with low enrollments as part of a review ordered by the state’s governor last year, the Springfield News-Leader reported, quoting a report from the state’s department of higher education. The newspaper said four-year colleges would terminate 73 degree programs, while two-year institutions would end 46, for a total of 119. The Associated Press put the total slightly lower, at 116. Affected majors will be phased out over time so students already enrolled can complete their degrees. The report is scheduled for discussion on Thursday by the state’s coordinating board for higher education, with a final document due to the governor by the end of the month.

"

From the Chronicle of Higher Education: part-time vs. full-time faculty again.

Faculty Union Secretary Who Criticized Pay-Raise Bill Is Asked to Step Down

http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/126305/

UC Berkeley asked to absorb $80M of Brown's $500M cut | California Watch

UC Berkeley asked to absorb $80M of Brown's $500M cut | California Watch

The budget targets – which university officials emphasize are provisional – are exposing a long-simmering issue in the UC system, which is just how equally the 10 campuses should be treated. On an even more fundamental level, it raises the question of how, or even whether, the state can afford to support 10 world-class research universities, including the opening of a new one in the Central Valley.

Shared governance is a myth

Shared Governance Is a Myth - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Business Metaphor Still Ascendant

Business Metaphor Still Ascendant: "

Historians lament 'crisis' in higher education -- and many blame a corporate-minded ethos.

"The university has become a training institute for corporations and a means to get a good job, said Zahavi. Nowhere is this more evident than in the description of students as customers, many noted."

...

"Others noted that the real enemy was a larger question about the economic viability of higher education. Timothy J. Gilfoyle, who teaches American and urban history at Loyola University Chicago and led the department during a college effort to quantify faculty productivity, described an “elephant in the room": the underlying economic model for undergraduate education in many institutions, which recognizes faculty members for their research and rewards them as they move up the ladder by giving them less and less contact with students. “How long can we sustain this economic model?” Gilfoyle asked."

Documenting Adjuncts' Pay Gap

Documenting Adjuncts' Pay Gap: "

Analysis of compensation levels for those off the tenure track at Pennsylvania's public colleges suggests the difficulties of making a living wage.

"

Turning on the Faculty

Turning on the Faculty: "

Professors at public universities worry that a combination of economic anxiety, anti-union sentiment and frustration over rising college costs will make them and their institutions targets for populist anger.

"Much of the prevailing national dialogue in recent months has cast public employees as overpaid elites. Republican governors from Chris Christie of New Jersey to Mitch Daniels of Indiana have fixed blame for their states' budget woes on purportedly handsomely paid public employees and their unions. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota (whose term just ended) described unionized public employees as overpaid "exploiters" who engineered a "silent coup" that has allowed them to feast on state-supported salary and benefits packages, all while enjoying job security far surpassing what exists in the private sector.

In fact, public sector employees are likely to be underpaid, argued Jeffrey Keefe, associate professor at Rutgers University's School of Management and Labor Relations, in his paper, "Debunking the Myth of the Overcompensated Public Employee." The pay disparity is particularly large among those who hold a Ph.D. When controlling for levels of education, years of experience, size of organization and other factors, public sector employees with doctorates earn over $31,000 less in total annual wages and benefits as compared to their private sector counterparts (the gap for those with professional degrees was even larger)."

Not So Fast

Not So Fast: "

Michigan provost wants to extend pre-tenure period to 10 years -- and faculty senate resoundingly rejects the idea.

"

How RPI's Faculty Voice Was Quieted

How RPI's Faculty Voice Was Quieted: "

Rensselaer's suspension of Faculty Senate because of its vote to include adjuncts violated basic principles of shared governance, AAUP investigators find.

"They warned that what happened to shared governance at RPI represented, potentially, "an early casualty of larger structural changes in higher education," as the institute became more centralized and corporate."

Republicans Hope to Halt Unionization Plan at U. of Wisconsin

Republicans Hope to Halt Unionization Plan at U. of Wisconsin: "

Academic staff members who work for the University of Wisconsin have asked Republican state lawmakers to do something to keep them from being assigned to labor unions without their approval, reports The Capital Times, in Madison. Four lawmakers plan to introduce legislation to halt the state employment-relations commission’s plan, which would affect about 500 people who work as doctors, student-services coordinators, and computer technicians, among other occupations.

"

States Can Reap Rewards by Supporting Research

States Can Reap Rewards by Supporting Research: "

Other states can learn from North Carolina: Investment in colleges brings jobs, a strong economy, and acclaim.

"They chose instead to invest heavily in educational infrastructure to strengthen the state's competitiveness and attract new industry. They started by significantly increasing scientific-equipment budgets in engineering, chemistry, physics, materials science, electrical engineering, and computer science, as well as in the basic medical and health sciences. Investments were directed toward campuses with strong science and technology programs and distinguished records of research, particularly those in the Research Triangle."

House Republicans Set Deep Targets for Budget Cuts, Alarming Universities

House Republicans Set Deep Targets for Budget Cuts, Alarming Universities: "

The proposed spending levels fall well below the amounts recommended by President Obama, who has promised to protect research dollars.

"

Louisiana Regents Want to Cut 460 Degree Programs

Louisiana Regents Want to Cut 460 Degree Programs: "

The Louisiana Board of Regents said on Wednesday that it wanted to shutter or consolidate some 460 programs that graduate few students, The Advocate reported. Many are graduate programs such as sociology and animal and dairy sciences. Colleges have until the end of February to appeal, and the board is supposed to make final decisions at the end of April.

"

Survey Finds Frustration Among Faculty Leaders at Master’s-Level Institutions

Survey Finds Frustration Among Faculty Leaders at Master’s-Level Institutions: "

Faculty Senate leaders at master’s-level institutions are more likely than those at doctoral-level universities to report that faculty morale at their institutions is low, according to the newly released results of a survey conducted by Ohio University’s Center for Higher Education, in collaboration with the American Association of University Professors. Compared with Faculty Senate leaders at doctoral institutions, whose responses to the center’s survey were released in November, those at master’s institutions were less likely to report having a good working relationship with their institution’s administration, more likely to report that requirements for tenure and promotion are increasing, and more likely to report that there were not enough tenure-track faculty members to support academic programs at their institutions. As is the case at doctoral institutions, the overwhelming majority of Faculty Senate leaders at master’s institutions are white, the survey found.

"

Texas closing colleges

Texas Lawmakers Would Close 4 Campuses in Budget With Deep Higher-Education Cuts - The Ticker - The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Faculty pay gap grows

Pay Gap Grows Between Permanent and Nonpermanent Faculty in Pa. - The Ticker - The Chronicle of Higher Education

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The relentless drive for more applicants

Breaking the 'Cruel Cycle of Selectivity' in Admissions - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Death of the academic library

Academic Library Autopsy Report, 2050 - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education

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The importance of faculty engagement

When Leading a College in Tough Times, Getting Faculty Support Is Crucial - Leadership & Governance - The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Report Commissioned by For-Profits Accuses the GAO of Sloppy Investigating

Chronicle of Higher Education:

A consulting firm hired by a coalition of for-profit colleges to review the tapes from an undercover government investigation of such colleges has concluded that the government's report contained "flagrant errors" and "misrepresentations."

Not. Buying. It.