ACTA's Must-Reads

« June 2011 | Main | August 2011 »

ACTA's Intelligent Donor's Guide to College Giving featured in magazine

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni's Intelligent Donor's Guide to College Giving was featured in Philanthropy magazine's summer edition this month. The guide was chosen as one of three books to be selected for the "Books in Brief" section.

"Much of [Anne] Neal and [Michael] Poliakoff's advice--defining goals, being realistic, giving while living, and monitoring a gift over its term--is worthwhile for any philanthropist," writes the Philanthropy Roundtable.

The Intelligent Donor's Guide to College Giving was published in March to help philanthropists make the most of their giving and to ensure the money isn't "wasted, squandered, or funneled into ineffective programs."

The magazine in which the guide appeared is produced by Philanthropy Roundtable, an association comprised of donors, corporate giving officers and foundation trustees who assist philanthropists in achieving charitable objectives when donating.

Founded in the late 1970s, the Philanthropy Roundtable stands by its mission to "foster excellence in philanthropy, to protect philanthropic freedom, to assist donors in achieving their philanthropic intent, and to help donors advance liberty, opportunity, and personal responsibility in America and abroad."

Posted by dburnett on July 26, 2011 at 12:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Don't Forget US Heritage or its Architects

As the recent, widely-syndicated piece by Leonard Pitts Jr. demonstrates, America is mired in a state of total historical ignorance. In 2000, ACTA published the alarming report "Losing America's Memory" in which 81% of college seniors surveyed at 55 of the nation's top colleges and universities conclusively failed a high school US history exam. Less than a third could identify the US Constitution as establishing the separation of powers; less than a quarter could identify James Madison as the Father of the Constitution; fewer than a third recognized that George Washington was the general at the battle of Yorktown.

That report inspired Congress to pass a joint resolution calling for a national response and the Education Leadership Council to adopt a resolution to address America's historical amnesia. Over 800 news stories reported on the study. But there is still so much work to be done and the duty of preserving our memory is not the schools' task alone. To this aim, one of the principal messages of E Pluribus Unum, a Bradley Project on America's National Identity publication coordinated by ACTA, is to restore the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln to their rightful place as distinct national celebrations and not belittle their importance by lumping them together into a generic President's Day.

Thankfully Rep. Frank Wolf, whose district includes Washington's home, Mount Vernon, has, to ACTA's pleasure and fortune, introduced bill H.R. 2268 to reestablish George Washington's birthday as a national holiday.

As ACTA president Anne Neal commented in a recent op-ed, "'By introducing the bill, the legislators acknowledge a national problem. And they share a concern raised by President James Buchanan in 1860, and cited by Representative Wolf, that 'when the birthday of Washington shall be forgotten, liberty will have perished from the earth."'

Posted by Max Brindle on July 26, 2011 at 11:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Trustees--It's Time to Raise Expectations

Articles in the New York Times and Inside Higher Ed offer yet more damning evidence that our colleges and universities have lost their way. According to recent research, nearly half of the students in college today receive A grades. And are they smarter? No way.

The explanation offered: "diminished academic expectations." Yes, that's right. Our research shows that colleges and universities have dramatically lowered expectations for students, except when it comes to bigger tuition checks. Rather than insisting on curricular requirements and rigorous education, many have made college a virtual six-year party. Findings at www.whatwilltheylearn.com show that many students can graduate today without ever taking a course in college level math, economics, or American history. Instead they’re given hundreds and hundreds of choices in what amounts to a do-it yourself education--with some paying $50,000 a year for such empty-headed meandering!

There's not a single school in Pennsylvania, for example, that requires its college graduates to take a well-structured survey of American history or economics. In New York, the finance capital of the world, a mere three schools out of 59 surveyed, expect their graduates to study economics. It should surely come as no surprise that a recent nation-wide study by NYU Professor Richard Arum and UVA Professor Josipa Roksa found that 45% of college students didn't get smarter --at all--in their first two years of college.

And who's to blame? Quite frankly, unengaged and uninformed trustees. Trustees are, after all, legally responsible for the academic and financial well-being of their institutions and they simply can't look the other way. That's why we've prepared a special booklet for trustees on grade inflation. And it's why we have recently coordinated a letter to trustees from professor Arum outlining the troubling findings of his research and demanding action.

The world of corporate governance has been transformed--as regulators and stockholders demanded real and engaged stewardship. It's time the public--families, taxpayers, and governors--demanded the same in higher ed!

Posted by Anne D. Neal on July 15, 2011 at 09:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Excerpts from the Intelligent Donor's Guide

Hungry for more ACTA blog content? Head over to Philanthropy Daily where Anne Neal is excerpting from the second edition of ACTA's Intelligent Donor's Guide to College Giving. The lastest post - how to maximize donor value by targeting specific programs and activities. Or get the entire guide free in pdf form here.

Posted by Max Brindle on July 13, 2011 at 11:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack