ACTA's Must-Reads
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Back to the basics
Once upon a time, students went to college to study. The dorm rooms were small, the number of clubs and activities minimal, and the cafeteria food... well, it was comestible. Then began the arms race to offer ever more lavish services to students: climbing walls, gourmet food courts open 24 hours a day, comfy suites. Not surprisingly, tuition shot up, eating up an ever greater chunk of family incomes and leaving students saddled with colossal debts.
ACTA therefore greets with delight the news that the Pennsylvania State Board of Education has just approved a proposal to create "low cost, no frills" four-year colleges -- in response to student demand. The state, which ranks sixth in the nation in college cost, would adapt the community college model to a four-year institution and offer year-round courses without all the budget-draining extras.
Regardless of the outcome, trustees whose institutions are feeling the pinch would be well to take note of this innovative proposal, not to mention the state board's pledge to remove costly and unnecessary mandates from the colleges they oversee.
Posted by David Azerrad on January 29, 2009 at 02:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Another speech code bites the dust
Until recently, students at Yuba Community College in northwest California who wished to avail themselves of their First Amendment rights on campus were limited to two hours of free speech a week--Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12pm to 1pm, to be exact--and needed to obtain a permit several weeks in advance. But according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, thanks to a lawsuit from a student who was threatened with expulsion for speaking out on campus without permission, that policy is history.
This is an encouraging sign, but as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education pointed out in its most recent report, restrictive speech codes are widespread on both private and public university campuses. Luckily, the American Association of University Professors recently agreed to join ACTA in fighting these policies. Working with the AAUP and others, we look forward to helping more institutions to follow Yuba's example and uphold free speech on campus.
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on January 27, 2009 at 04:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Getting rid of grades?
At a workshop at the annual conference of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, administrators and faculty ruminated over the possibility of university life without the pesky problem of having to assign grades for academic work. As Inside Higher Ed reports, the conference attendees, frustrated by the sea of "meaningless" 3.5 grade-point averages, instead advocated the increased use of portfolios, "narrative evaluations," and other measures of achievement to supplant letter grades--which, they fear, squelch intellectual curiosity.
The AAC&U members did get one thing right: The pervasive grade inflation in America's institutions of higher learning have rendered GPAs and letter grades increasingly useless in determining whether or not a student has actually learned anything. But their proposed solution misses the mark entirely. "Narrative grading" and portfolios as a substitute for letter grades risk making student evaluation even more subjective and true performance even more difficult to ascertain.
In virtually all instances, such tools are no replacement for clear, well-defined grades. Noninflated grades give an honest assessment of a student's progress, and reward those who have done exemplary work. Instead of abandoning A-F grades, colleges need to restore their meaning by limiting As and Bs and issuing strict guidelines on what constitutes poor or strong academic performance. Only then will there be a reliable way to measure student learning. ACTA will detail how to do this in a forthcoming trustee guide on the topic entitled Measuring Up: The Problem of Grade Inflation.
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on January 26, 2009 at 05:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Out of sequence in Ohio
Ohio University's student newspaper reports today on the completion of the external evaluation of OU president Roderick J. McDavis and the Board of Trustees' odd approach to the assessment and its positive findings. Not only was the review completed after the board raised McDavis's salary, but the story also reports that board chairman C. Daniel DeLawder thought that "even though the board wasn't looking for assurances that it made the right decision, it was glad to have them." This puzzling statement is yet another red flag that the OU trustees do not understand that they are public servants, charged with using Ohioans' hard-earned tax dollars wisely and well.
Assessing the president's performance is one of the board's primary responsibilities, second only in importance to selecting the president. It should certainly be done before making compensation decisions, and it must be taken seriously. ACTA's how-to guide on the subject defines the aims of an assessment and lays out the steps to carrying out a successful one.
Posted by David Azerrad on January 26, 2009 at 02:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
News from the number-one ranked ROTC program in the country
Indiana University's student newspaper reports that the country's number-one ranked ROTC program is growing. Enrollment has increased from 85 cadets in 2005 to 130 today and IU's Army ROTC program has exceeded its assigned recruitment requirement for the past 5 years. Even the officer who runs the program is surprised: "It just amazes me that we're in a protracted war and we continue to find people willing to serve despite that," says Major Todd Tinius. A cadet interviewed in the article explains that he wants to pursue a career in the military; another speaks of his desire "to maximize my potential."
Trustees at universities which have no ROTC program because the administration claims there is no student demand should take note. As you may recall, ACTA recently sent a letter to seven major university boards calling on them to bring ROTC back to campus.
Posted by David Azerrad on January 22, 2009 at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
President Obama and American identity
As the new President said in his inaugural address:
At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
The President was correct, and he echoed the findings of E Pluribus Unum, the report of the Bradley Project on America's National Identity, and a recent open letter to the President from a number of notable historians and political scientists -- both of which ACTA coordinated. Together, we must protect and define our unique American identity, and we must continue to promote its study in our schools and at our colleges. We must always focus on the value of citizenship, and the importance of the responsibilities that citizenship bestows on us. This is a task for all Americans. We are hopeful that President Obama will carry forward the themes he sounded so strongly as he creates his administration's policy initiatives.
Posted by Noah Mamis on January 22, 2009 at 09:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bernie Madoff and university trustees
Bernie Madoff has surely become a household word when it comes to bad investments. But he also offers an important precautionary tale for university trustees. The December 23, 2008 edition of the New York Times contained an article describing the effects of Madoff's fraud on Yeshiva University in New York, where Madoff was a trustee. According to the Times, Madoff recruited a friend to the board who then invested in funds invested by Madoff. After a reported loss of more than $100 million, the board has now had to hire lawyers to examine board procedures and governance structures to ensure best practices against self-dealing and conflicts of interest in the future.
The Madoff case surely underscores a recommendation made by ACTA at a Senate Finance Committee Roundtable on university governance: "While overlapping trustee activities can sometimes be valuable and informative, they can give rise to inappropriate transactions if the potential conflict is not disclosed. Accordingly, it is imperative that boards adopt clear conflict policies that ensure transparency in university operations."
Boards would be well-advised to take this suggestion to heart.
Posted by Noah Mamis on January 21, 2009 at 10:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
What U.S. higher ed could learn from the Finns?
The writings of ACTA friend Kevin Carey, a researcher at Education Sector, are always engaging and worth a read. His latest, featuring his ruminations on a trip to Finland, appears today in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required). For another glimpse at why we enjoy Kevin so much, see his 2007 take on core curricula, which relates them to record stores.
Posted by Charles Mitchell on January 19, 2009 at 09:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Montana governor: Universities must be held accountable for taxpayer funds
Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana took university officials to task on Tuesday for failing to provide what he thought constituted adequate oversight of federal research grants. Montana's public universities, which receive roughly $170 million in federal research money each year, have come under criticism for several dubious projects, including the $1.5 million Joe Skeen Institute for Rangeland Restoration. Kudos to Governor Schweitzer for urging these institutions to be good stewards of the funds American taxpayers generously provide.
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on January 15, 2009 at 05:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Trimming the fat
The story, at first glance, is a familiar one these days: a precipitous drop in endowment, an increase in financial aid applications and a projected budget shortfall that runs in the millions. The interesting twist however lies in Boston University's response to the downturn. Rather than increase tuition, the university has decided instead to carefully review operating expenses in an effort to permanently cut costs. As a part of this review, the university will assess the 200 or so centers and institutes which now find their home on campus to determine whether or not they promote BU's mission. Trustees at other institutions should follow this example and undertake a financial review of operations, taking a particularly close look at the various centers on campus to see if they justify their cost.
Posted by David Azerrad on January 14, 2009 at 04:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Professors' group promises to work with ACTA
Needless to say, the American Association of University Professors is not always on the same wavelength as ACTA on the big issues facing higher education. However, as the Chronicle of Higher Education reports today, an exchange on Friday between AAUP president Cary Nelson and National Association of Scholars president Peter Wood revealed one issue on which both ACTA and the AAUP can agree: speech codes. In light of Nelson's claim that he--like ACTA--had always opposed policies that unduly restrict the free speech and expression of students, ACTA president Anne D. Neal issued a challenge during the question-and-answer period: 'Will you work with us?" Nelson's answer was yes.
Given the ubiquity of speech codes--which are in force at nearly three-quarters of America's universities, according to a recent report by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education--all of us who believe in freedom of expression on campus must work together to bring about reform. ACTA looks forward to doing so in partnership with the AAUP.
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on January 12, 2009 at 02:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
"Not more with much more"
Recently appearing in the Chronicle of Higher Education is a heartening piece, written by the chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents. He correctly argues that the amount of money spent on higher education as a percentage of total public expenditures has increased dramatically over the last 20 years with very little to show for it. As efficiency and productivity in other sectors increase seemingly by leaps and bounds, higher education is stagnating, with prices rising, and quality holding steady or outright declining.
This article offers helpful observations for trustees faced with similar situations: Colleges should try to be "continuously doing more with less -- not just more with much more." In this recession, it is clear that universities cannot count on steady levels of public funding. Trustees should be looking at this economy as an opportunity to control costs by thoughtfully allocating campus resources on teaching and learning so that when the bull market returns, higher education will be in better shape than ever before.
Posted by Noah Mamis on January 07, 2009 at 03:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Vedder's wish list
Richard Vedder, who teaches Economics at Ohio University and heads the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, has published his list of the 10 cost-cutting measures the current economic crunch might lead colleges to adopt. Building on the remarks he made at ACTA's moderated discussion on the future of higher education, Vedder argues that colleges will have no choice but to consider, amongst others, increasing teaching loads, assessing tenure, halting the athletics arms race, scaling back administrative spending and using technology to lower costs. On this latter point, another ACTA friend, Kevin Carey of Education Sector, has a fine piece in the current issue of Washington Monthly.
Posted by David Azerrad on January 05, 2009 at 04:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack