ACTA's Must-Reads
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) exists to empower trustees, alumni, and policymakers who share our concern for academic freedom, academic excellence, and accountability in higher education. On this blog, we highlight important current happenings on those issues for our constituents.
Illinois trustees at the center of scandal
The Chicago Tribune has reported that trustees and administrators at the University of Illinois are at the center of a scandal regarding the admission of politically-connected students who were less qualified than the general pool of applicants. After the newspaper ran an investigative piece several weeks ago that sparked outrage, Governor Pat Quinn created an independent Admissions Review Commission to investigate allegations of preferential treatment.
Examination is surely in order. As ACTA has long argued, trustees must be more than just fundraisers, boosters, or rubber stamps. Board service is an honor, and it is also a responsibility. As ACTA noted in its guidebook for governors, it is vital that governors "appoint thoughtful, active trustees" who have "a clear sense of their responsibilities to the public." Trustees do not serve for the benefit of friends or special constituencies; they are stewards of the public interest -- appointed to safeguard the academic and financial integrity of the university -- for the benefit of the entire community.
Posted by Heather Lakemacher on July 02, 2009 at 03:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
And you thought health care was the priciest thing going
One of today's most e-mailed Chronicle of Higher Education articles (bearing the provocative title "Will Higher Education Be the Next Bubble to Burst?") contains a rather jarring statistic, particularly given current debates here in Washington:
According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, over the past 25 years, average college tuition and fees have risen by 440 percent — more than four times the rate of inflation and almost twice the rate of medical care.
It also contains a characteristically interesting idea from ACTA friend Rich Vedder:
The economist Richard Vedder of Ohio University, a member of the federal Spellings Commission, offers more radical solutions. He urges that university presidents' salaries include incentives to contain and reduce costs, to make "affordability" a goal. In addition, he proposes that state policy makers conduct cost-benefit studies to see what the universities that receive state support are actually accomplishing.
Posted by Charles Mitchell on July 01, 2009 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The dean's list, part 2
As ACTA's new report Protecting the Free Exchange of Ideas shows, many colleges and universities across the country have been taking concrete steps to advance intellectual diversity and the free exchange of ideas on campus. One such is Governors State University, a public university near Chicago whose strategic plan, Strategy 2015, reaffirms the university's mission of "creating an intellectually stimulating public square." In a letter to ACTA, GSU's provost indicated she had placed the American Council on Education Statement on Academic Rights and Responsibilities on her website, as well as distributing copies of the statement to all faculty members. The provost's letter also informed us of GSU's commitment to reviewing syllabi to ensure that grades are only based on considerations intellectually relevant to the course material, and to implementing a more rigorous, trustee-monitored program review system.
GSU is an example of how universities can protect the free exchange of ideas via their strategic planning processes and mission statements. Kudos to the administration and trustees there for working to improve students' educational experience.
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on July 01, 2009 at 05:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Accountability in the states
Today's Inside Higher Ed has an article about a new report from Education Sector that shows varying levels of accountability in public higher education on the state level. According to the report, 38 states have little or no way of measuring learning outcomes, while 36 have not developed a system of linking funding to performance. Forty states have accountability efforts--which include affordability, the "use of assessment tools," and publicizing the information--that were rated as "less complete" or in need of improvement. Education Sector has done all of us who are interested in higher education reform a great favor in highlighting the need for greater accountability and transparency--something that is especially valuable now that state appropriations and expenditures are coming under sharper scrutiny.
ACTA has also been working to increase accountability and excellence on the state level, most recently in our report cards on public higher education in Georgia and Missouri. These reports analyze the "big picture" of a state's public higher education--the curriculum, the intellectual climate, the governance, and the system's cost and effectiveness. And there will be more like them in the near future that will hopefully act as catalysts for reform in other states.
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on July 01, 2009 at 02:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Who's minding the store?
By Jeremy E. Schiffres
Minding the Campus has just run a review by ACTA research fellows Erin O'Connor and Maurice Black of a new book by John C. Cross and Edie Goldenberg entitled Off-Track Profs: Nontenured Teachers in Higher Education. The review highlights the book's sobering data -- shrinking budgets, stalled hiring rates of tenured professors, and exploding student enrollment -- and the growing reliance on adjuncts that has followed. More striking, however, is the finding that most institutions have little understanding of the role adjuncts actually play -- ignorance on questions as basic as how many adjuncts there are, what they do, and how they do it? This ignorance is surely surprising, particularly given the highly-wrought discussions that tend to occur around this topic. But it's also cause for action. University administrators need to have a firm understanding of how adjuncts actually operate. And as this book suggests, it's high time trustees insisted on it!
Jeremy E. Schiffres is an ACTA intern and a rising junior at Yale University.
Posted by Noah Mamis on July 01, 2009 at 10:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
New Texas law protects donor intent
By Shant Boyajian
The New York Times reports that the Texas legislature recently passed a law protecting donor intent for orphan trusts -- trusts that are administered by lawyers or banks after the original donor has died.
The danger recognized by the Texas legislature is not a new one. When none of the original family members are present to oversee compliance with a donor's wishes, trusts and foundations often stray from the donor's original purpose. The onus for such wayward disbursements rests not solely on the trustees, however. While trustees have the fiduciary responsibility to use donors' money in a manner consistent with their original purpose in giving, donors must take great care to specify how they want their money to be used. Better yet, donors could avoid gifts in perpetuity altogether, opting instead to give away their money while they are still living.
ACTA discusses these considerations in The Intelligent Donor's Guide to College Giving. This booklet contains sage advice for any philanthropist or potential donor. As noted in the guide, short-term gifts are preferable because you will have more control over your gift if you can supervise it personally and because you will also be able to see the fruits first-hand. We are currently revising and updating this guide. The new edition, available this fall, will include case studies and additional considerations for donors to note in lieu of the Robertson settlement and the recent dispute between Trinity College and the Davis family over the use of an earmarked donation.
Shant Boyajian is ACTA's Friess Family Fellow and a third-year law student at The Catholic University of America.
Posted by David Azerrad on June 30, 2009 at 05:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The dean's list, part 1
As blog readers know by now, ACTA has just launched a campaign to highlight some of the impressive strides that many institutions have made in advancing intellectual diversity and academic freedom in recent years. One such campus was South Dakota State University. Between 2005 and 2008, the South Dakota Board of Regents enacted a number of reforms pertaining to intellectual diversity, including the requirement that a "Freedom in Learning" statement appear on every course syllabus at all of the system's campuses. The statement adopted by the South Dakota State Administration informed students of their right to be graded solely on academic merits, and also told them that if they "believe that an academic evaluation reflects prejudiced or capricious standards," they may contact the department head or college dean.
ACTA had a part to play in raising awareness of the need to protect the free exchange of ideas. In 2006, ACTA offered expert testimony before the South Dakota legislature as it considered a bill to require South Dakota institutions to report on steps they were taking to advance intellectual diversity. Though the legislation didn't pass, it helped to highlight the important issue and resulted in positive voluntary action by the trustees.
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on June 25, 2009 at 03:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Who protects the public interest?
In today's Inside HigherEd, ACTA president Anne D. Neal offers some pointed comments on how to ensure the reconstituted National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity serves the American taxpayer. Criticizing the old NACIQI for being "more attuned to politics than accountability," Neal writes:
"Going forward, I hope for nominees knowledgeable about higher education -- but not beholden to it. Nominees who will bring independence of mind and a focus on educational quality and public accountability. In short, it's time for disinterested nominees. In the corporate world, conflict of interest is taken seriously. We expect to see independent auditors. Alumni, trustees, and taxpayers should expect no less from higher ed."
Posted by David Azerrad on June 24, 2009 at 11:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The ins and outs of intellectual diversity
In featuring ten exemplary practices to promote intellectual diversity, our latest report, Protecting the Free Exchange of Ideas, showcases the actions of 40 institutions across the country and aims to encourage other colleges and universities to follow suit, in line with their individual missions.
Measures highlighted vary, ranging from climate surveys and institutional statements to strategic plans and administrative support. For example, the faculty senate at Old Dominion University passed a "Resolution Supporting Intellectual Diversity" which affirmed that the university is and must remain "an open marketplace of ideas where free expression is exercised and where diverse views are expressed and debate of those ideas is encouraged." Similarly, the University of Maryland's 2008 strategic plan includes a commitment to maintaining UM "as a bastion of free speech, open debate, academic freedom."
On other campuses, new programs enhance intellectual diversity. For example, we praise the Tocqueville Forum at Georgetown University which "seeks to promote a true diversity of viewpoints about the sources of and prospects for American constitutional democracy," as well as the Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy at the University of Virginia. As it turns out, alumni and donors interested in such programs are not alone. The Higher Education Opportunity Act, signed into law last summer after nearly unanimous bipartisan Congressional support, authorizes funding for "academic programs or centers" devoted to "traditional American history, free institutions or Western civilization."
Posted by David Azerrad on June 23, 2009 at 03:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Writing should matter
By Evan J. O'Brien
The Chronicle of Higher Education posted a piece yesterday, "Academic Bait and Switch," by a pseudonymous Henry Adams, about his experience as a teaching assistant for a first-year composition course at an elite university. In it, he describes the situation commonly faced by first-year students--who often find themselves being taught by graduate students like Adams, who are well-meaning, but also unable to teach the class effectively. Even at schools that require writing (and not all do) such a state of affairs indicates the faculty is not making this immensely important subject a priority. Surely, the students deserve better.
Evan J. O'Brien is ACTA's Robert Lewit Fellow in Education Policy and a recent graduate of Harvard University.
Posted by Noah Mamis on June 19, 2009 at 01:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Peachy keen reforms
The University System of Georgia is praised in ACTA's new report, Protecting the Free Exchange of Ideas, for the exemplary actions it has taken in the past two years to promote intellectual diversity. As the report mentions, the USG Board of Regents commissioned a scientific survey of students, which asked them about the intellectual climate on their campus, and each of the university system's 35 campuses also reviewed its grievance policies. Called out for particular commendation is Fort Valley State University, whose revised policies struck us as some of the best we have seen.
These efforts at ensuring a vibrant intellectual environment on the Peach State's public campuses are notable for several reasons. First and foremost is the survey of the campus climate. As our report notes, such a survey "can provide crucial baseline information for trustees." And this one did: It showed that only 36.1 percent of students strongly agreed that they felt able to discuss important issues freely in class -- not an apocalyptic finding, but not a number as high as it should be at a university, of all places. Second, the university system didn't stop there: The policy review included an honest assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each campus' grievance procedures and resulted in concrete steps to improve them. Third, the USG deserves credit for responding to substantial public interest in the free exchange of ideas, as seen in an informational hearing called by the state House of Representatives and ACTA's 2008 report card.
As we say in Protecting the Free Exchange of Ideas, all of this "offers a model for institutions across the country." We will talk more about this in November at ACTA's ATHENA Roundtable, where one of our panelists will be Georgia state representative Tom Rice -- who was one of the driving forces behind the informational hearing back in 2007.
Posted by Charles Mitchell on June 19, 2009 at 12:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Bridging the gap
"Reaching Across the Aisle: Bridging the Gap Between Governing Boards and Academics." That was the name of ACTA's panel discussion at the recent American Association of University Professors annual meeting. Dedicated to fostering a greater exchange between faculty and trustees, this panel was part of ACTA's larger, long-term effort to educate trustees about what constitutes appropriate governance, to educate faculty about the same thing, to spark productive discussions between these two groups, and to enlist the AAUP as a partner in those efforts.
In recent months, ACTA has been pleased to reach out to faculty and the AAUP in a number of ways. In December, we participated in a colloquy with AAUP board member and Penn State English professor Michael Berube at the National Communication Association's annual convention. In January, at the annual meeting of the National Association of Scholars, we asked AAUP president and University of Illinois English professor Cary Nelson to join us in stomping out speech codes (he accepted our invitation). Most recently, we included an article by AAUP general secretary Gary Rhoades about intellectual diversity in our forthcoming newsletter. These events are complemented by our participation in academic conferences hosted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the State University of New York, and others. At every point, we seek to build an ongoing, positive engagement with the higher ed community -- to discuss issues, to hear differing perspectives, to brainstorm solutions, and to build the kinds of dialogues and relationships that can facilitate beneficial reform for everyone in higher ed, from the faculty to the students.
We may not have completely "bridged the gap" just yet, but we have only just begun. And I do believe we have laid a strong foundation. As I noted during the AAUP session, ACTA shares faculty members' interest in demanding excellent governance -- including resisting rogue administrators and trustees who micromanage. That is one of the goals of our state report cards, which grade boards on numerous fronts: presidential selection and review, committee structures, transparency and accessibility, as well as substantive actions. ACTA also shares many faculty members' legitimate concern about administrative bloat and about trustees who lack a sensitive understanding of the special protocols and values that underwrite the unique enterprise of higher education.
That said, we also believe that it is the professoriate's job to reach out to trustees. Faculty should understand that presidents and trustees are engaged in enormously complex, vital, and often urgent fiduciary endeavors. They should also understand that, going forward, trustees must be included among academia's primary stakeholders, alongside faculty and administrators. The bottom line: Shared governance should indeed be "shared." ACTA has made a start towards a broader dialogue and we look forward to continuing on this path.
Posted by Anne D. Neal on June 19, 2009 at 10:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Protecting the free exchange of ideas
Those followers of this blog who also read USA Today will see our latest publication, Protecting the Free Exchange of Ideas, featured in today's issue. The report (which was released today) is also being sent to board members of over 600 institutions of higher education, as well as all 50 state governors and congressional education committees. This marks the launch of the latest campaign in our ongoing effort to promote intellectual diversity and pluralism on our nation's campuses. But whereas our previous report, Intellectual Diversity: Time for Action served to highlight the lack of real action on behalf of intellectual diversity at that time and urge concrete action, this new guide showcases those institutions that have taken positive steps to improve their intellectual climate and calls upon others to follow in their footsteps. Whether it is by eliminating speech codes, establishing new lecture series, or improving student grievance procedures, there are plenty of examples worthy of emulation. Be sure to check it out!
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on June 18, 2009 at 03:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
For history only
Inside Higher Ed has a piece today on an interesting experiment in New England: a bare-bones, two-year college with only one major (one that happens to be dear to ACTA's heart). Take a peek at IHE's account of this innovative attempt to remedy the fact that, as one official of the college put it, "this country...doesn't know history and ignores history."
Posted by Charles Mitchell on June 15, 2009 at 03:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)