As today's story illustrates, this is a complex issue which raises many questions about the purpose and nature of university teaching, but it is one to which trustees and administrators should be attentive. And increasingly, they are doing just that. Penn State and Temple are part of a growing number of universities throughout the country taking steps to promote intellectual diversity, including the University System of Georgia (which has undertaken a self-study of the intellectual climate on campus), the University of Missouri (which passed new grievance procedures), South Dakota's public institutions (which have placed important information on course syllabi), and the City University of New York (which passed new grievance procedures and has included intellectual diversity in the qualifications for some new hires).

As we begin our fourth century as a nation, it is easy to take the extraordinary nature of America for granted. But it is our responsibility as Americans and as parents to instill that history in our children, both at home and at school. The loss of quality civic education from so many of our classrooms has left too many young Americans without the most basic knowledge of who our forefathers are, or what they did, or the significance of the founding documents that bear their names. Too many children are ignorant of the sheer effort, the risks and sacrifices made by previous generations, to ensure that this country survived war and depression; through the great struggles for civil, and social, and worker's rights.

It is up to us, then, to teach them. It is up to us to teach them that even though we have faced great challenges and made our share of mistakes, we have always been able to come together and make this nation stronger, and more prosperous, and more united, and more just. It is up to us to teach them that America has been a force for good in the world, and that other nations and other people have looked to us as the last, best hope of Earth. It is up to us to teach them that it is good to give back to one's community; that it is honorable to serve in the military; that it is vital to participate in our democracy and make our voices heard.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain made some comments on teacher education in his speech to the NAACP annual meeting that brought to mind ACTA's guides for trustees. He said:

We should also offer more choices to those who wish to become teachers. Many thousands of highly qualified men and women have great knowledge, wisdom, and experience to offer public school students. But a monopoly on teacher certification prevents them from getting that chance. You can be a Nobel Laureate and not qualify to teach in most public schools today. They don't have all the proper credits in educational "theory" or "methodology" -- all they have is learning and the desire and ability to share it. If we're putting the interests of students first, then those qualifications should be enough.

Both men's speeches are must-reads.

As the National Association of Scholars points out in a new statement, this trend is both real and problematic. Trustees should see that faculty do the teaching, and that administrators promote common-sense orientation programs that respect students' freedom of conscience. If they don't, we will see more sad stories like that of the University of Delaware.

-- This post was written by Michael Leo Pomeranz, a 2008 Robert Lewit Fellow in Education Policy at ACTA.

ACTA has also examined the work of the Commission -- and praised its call for "urgent reform." Sharing NACUBO's desire to foster cooperative implementation of that reform, we've issued two reports of our own -- for policymakers and trustees -- underscoring constructive steps that can be made to address the Commission's concerns.

Fish's estimate tallies with figures ACTA uncovered in Politics in the Classroom, a 2004 survey of college students done by the University of Connecticut. Politics in the Classroom revealed that 46 percent of respondents said "some professors use the classroom to present their personal political views;" 49 percent said "that professors frequently comment on politics in class even when it has nothing to do with the course." When both students and experienced faculty members are reporting the same problem, there's reason to believe it's real -- and there's reason for trustees to initiate institutional self-studies to identify and address problems on their campuses.

Jane also points to Colorado as an example of successful higher-education reform, and there again, we certainly agree. We have worked closely with officials there and lauded the state's reforms in a publication called Any State Can. Other states would do well to stage similar discussions, and interested trustees and policymakers might take a look at Jane's piece and ACTA's Any State Can.

Activities in college dorms are often quite different from those trustees remember from their college days. This memo shows how.

If you are a trustee, are you aware of exactly what your university is doing in its residence halls? Is it appropriate? Is it the best way to spend your institution's limited resources? These are questions worth asking -- before your college makes the kind of bad headlines UD has.