Rebecca Martin, the senior vice president for academic affairs with the University of Wisconsin System, is resigning her post to take a new position with the U.S. Education Delivery Institute in Washington, D.C.
Apparently the calendars in the NCAA offices are permanently stuck on the 1950s. By refusing to allow college athletes to be paid, NCAA officials would like us to think they?re preserving some idyllic moment in history when the “student” role dominated a student-athlete?s focus. All the collegiate athletics-ruling organization preserves with that stance is its own hypocrisy.
After a scandal at Ohio State University brought down highly touted football coach Jim Tressel and scarred another legendary program, NCAA leaders should finally acknowledge what the rest of the world knows: They?re taking advantage of the athletes.
….With new allegations surfacing that Buckeyes players have been selling memorabilia and getting sweetheart deals on cars since 2002, the message being sent is even more loud and clear: This isn?t a Jim Tressel problem or an Ohio State problem, it?s a college football problem. At its highest levels, the sport is out of control.
It makes sense that professors with contrasting political ideologies might approach their lives in different ways. But whether a professor leans left or right, or votes Democrat or Republican, shouldn?t affect a student?s grade in Chemistry 101 or an upper-level philosophy course. Right? That?s not the case according to a recent study by two economists titled “Partisan Grading.” The paper indicates that, yes, Democratic and Republican professors do appear to grade in different ways.
It ain?t gonna happen. Much to the chagrin of The Sconz circa 2009, UW students will never be able to drink at Badgers games. The idea of selling beer at Camp Randall popped onto the radar screen recently when West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck proposed such a plan for Mountaineers football games. In addition to tapping into a lucrative revenue stream, Luck told his Board of Governors that allowing and controlling beer sales would help cut down on the problem of fan intoxication.
It is ironic that West Virginia, which surveys show has one of the lowest rates of alcohol consumption in the country, is considering a more liberal drinking policy than Wisconsin, the heaviest drinking state in the country, and home to Memorial Union, perhaps the proudest university-sponsored drinking venue in American history.
The Obama administration is set to release a controversial rule Thursday that will cut federal aid to for-profit colleges if students in particular programs graduate with too much debt and worthless degrees. Under the plan, schools will be required to demonstrate that short-term vocational programs, such as those offering certificates in the culinary arts, automotive technology or medical support, prepare students for “gainful employment in a recognized occupation.”
My imminent departure, coinciding with that of Jeremi Suri, has been noted in the media. While it?s true that UW-Madison loses faculty members because we lack domestic partner benefits and our current fiscal inflexibility limits our ability to offer salaries at a level standard for exceptional research faculty elsewhere ? I am not one of these. My leaving is neither politically nor financially motivated…The University of Florida position will allow me to have a direct impact on education in the agricultural and life sciences. The equivalent position simply doesn?t exist here. My leaving is a reflection of the next step in my career more than an expression of dissatisfaction with UW System or the Madison campus.
Women made a strong showing in recent law school dean searches, accounting for about 40 percent of the deans named in recent months.
Gov. Scott Walker isn?t chasing star professors away from UW-Madison.Just the opposite. The Republican governor, along with UW-Madison chancellor Biddy Martin, is fighting to give UW-Madison more flexibility and autonomy so it can keep its star professors and attract new ones.
Undergraduate enrollments increased by more than a third, to 17.6 million, in the first decade of the 21st century, with the most dramatic growth occurring at for-profit colleges, a federal report out today shows. It was the fastest decade of growth since the 1970s. The for-profit higher education sector posted a number of highs ? and lows? in other findings, including the highest average price of attendance after grants are factored in, highest average loan amounts and the lowest spending per student on instruction, according to the report by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Duke University?s decision to build a campus in Kunshan, China, has run into a snag, as a small, but growing number of Duke academics are raising questions about how the venture will be carried out.
MADISON, Wis. — The Legislature?s budget committee has voted to go along with Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to end the Wisconsin Covenant program. The program started by Walker?s predecessor Gov. Jim Doyle promises financial aid for college to middle school students who promise to stay out of trouble and get good grades.
Proudly emerging in caps and gowns, students who graduate from college over the next few weeks will feel as light as a feather. Well, except for the anchor of student debt they?ll drag behind them for the next several years or longer.
A report the Pew Research Center released last week showed those who borrow money for college face an average of $23,000 in loans. The weight is especially piling on in Wisconsin, according to credit management service CreditKarma.com. Its report showed student loan debt among Wisconsin consumers rose 17 percent over the past year, the biggest increase in the nation. It?s time to expel that trend.
To help deal with high demand, more campus counseling centers are using computerized questionnaires, some that generate color-coded charts, to help them flag a serious problem more quickly than traditional paper-and-pencil evaluations. Though they stress that these evaluations are not a replacement for in-depth questioning or counseling, many counselors say high-tech methods like these appeal to students, who are often more comfortable communicating with smart phones, iPads and laptops.
Just one word of advice for the nation?s 2011 high school graduates: petroleum. An analysis of the projected lifetime earnings of 171 college majors provides a clearer picture of what one bachelor?s degree means compared to another in the labor market. And the answer can be as much as $3.64 million.
The University of Massachusetts is on course for permanent mediocrity. The Globe reported this week that UMass campuses are likely headed for another 6 to 8 percent increase in fee hikes, on top of the nearly 16 percent increase two years ago. UMass Amherst?s in-state tuition, fees, room, and board are already among the highest in the nation for flagship universities, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. They are $1,726 more than the in-state charges for the University of Texas, and $4,838 more than the University of Wisconsin.
The sky may not be falling in the world of higher education. But it sure can seem like it some days. Concerns over college costs among the public are at an all-time high — with 75 percent saying college is out of reach for most people. In 1985, 60 percent felt this way.
Margaret Raymond, a University of Iowa law professor, has been named dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Two highly regarded UW-Madison faculty members are leaving the university for jobs on other campuses. Jeremi Suri, a history professor, is taking a faculty position at the University of Texas at Austin. Teri Balser, an associate professor of soil science and director of the UW-Madison Institute for Biology Education, will become dean of the University of Florida?s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
CHICAGO (AP) ? Like thousands of college students this time of year, Northwestern University freshman Jim Sannes can?t wait to spend time at home this summer.
Sannes, 19, is looking forward to relaxing and ?just being around the surroundings I grew up with, the same house I grew up with. It will be a nice feeling.? He grew up in Kasson, Minn., 350 miles from Northwestern?s campus in Evanston, Ill. But after nine months away, campus and the place where college students grew up may seem worlds apart.
This year?s college graduates will get a lot of advice over the next few weeks from a parade of commencement speakers. Find your passion. Believe in yourself. Take risks. But here?s something graduates probably won?t hear from the dignitary at the podium: Pay your student loans. That?s too bad, because the consequences of defaulting on student loans are nothing short of catastrophic.
Margaret Raymond, a professor at the University of Iowa since 1995, is the new dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.
“Margaret is a distinguished legal scholar and a lively intellect,” UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin says in a news release announcing the move. “She has a keen sense of the strengths of our law school. We are delighted she has decided to join our team.”
Jeremi Suri has fielded outside job offers before. But in the past, the history professor always turned down more lucrative overtures to remain at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That changed this week when the highly regarded expert of international history and American foreign policy decided to take his talents to the University of Texas at Austin.
….”Quite frankly, I feel guilty about leaving,” says Suri. “I’ve been treated very well here. But I also think this shows the need for granting (UW-Madison) more flexibilities. And if our institution isn’t given the resources or allowed more flexibility from state oversight, we’re going to be stuck in place. I’m very worried about future retention here and having the resources to do the kinds of innovative work that’s necessary to remain a great university.”
Last weekend I attended one of the commencement ceremonies at UW-Madison and, while I was very proud of the students, I was disappointed with the graduation itself.
Catching up on a couple higher education-related items …
** One of three finalists has withdrawn from consideration to be the next dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School, the Wisconsin Law Journal reports. Gene Nichol, professor and director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina School of Law, told the university of his decision earlier this week, the website reports. It?s not clear why he pulled his name. The two finalists still in the running are Nicholas Allard and Margaret Raymond.
** The Senate voted 25-7 to ensure each region of the state has a representative on the University of Wisconsin System’s Board of Regents, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The measure next goes to the Assembly.
** States allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition — instead of charging more costly out-of-state fees — have witnessed a 31-percent increase in that population’s college-going rate and a 14-percent drop in high-school dropouts among undocumented Latino students, according to a report out of Roger Williams University’s Latino Policy Institute.
UW-Madison continues to try to strengthen ties with China, sending a delegation there for the third time in the past 14 months. This time, Gilles Bousquet, dean of International Studies and vice provost for globalization, will lead a group to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Hong Kong and Beijing.
….I?ve been job hunting like crazy for four years. I?ve submitted thousands of applications, have had probably 25 interviews but no offers, despite holding two current teaching licenses. Most school districts are so strapped for funds that they can no longer afford to hire teachers with advanced degrees and decades of experience.
The individual stories are familiar. The chemistry major tending bar. The classics major answering phones. The Italian studies major sweeping aisles at Wal-Mart.
Florida State University President Eric Barron has written an op-ed defending FSU taking $1.5 million from a foundation backed by Charles Koch. A remarkable article in Tuesday?s St. Petersburg Times indicates Florida State made some significant concessions to secure the gift.
A small but growing cadre of online universities is developing mobile apps to help students pursue their studies whenever and wherever they want.
Public universities across the nation continue to be hit hard by budget woes. And in an effort to retain quality, many institutions are focusing more time and energy on partnering with the private sector and wealthy philanthropists. But as desperate as some are to land these additional dollars, doesn?t a university owe it to its faculty, staff and students to say “no thanks” if too many strings are attached to these funds?
Quoted: Brad Barham, UW-Madison professor of agricultural and applied economics and incoming chair of the University Committee; Ananth Seshadri, chair of UW-Madison’s economics department; Dean of Letters and Science Gary Sandefur. Also mentioned: Richard Avramenko, an assistant professor of political science.
If a city is facing a major budget problem, should it start forcing tax-exempt entities such as universities, colleges and hospitals to start paying property taxes? Providence, R.I., Mayor Angel Taveras thinks so.
The Providence Journal reports the city faces a $110 million deficit and enormous pension problems as the recession continues to take its toll. To help fix these problems, Taveras unveiled a plan earlier this month to tax nine tax-exempt hospitals, colleges and universities, including Brown University, Providence College, Johnson & Wales University, and the Rhode Island School of Design.
….Like Madison, Providence is a capital city. Its population is about 175,000, although the Providence metro area is home to 1.6 million.
Wisconsin?s technical colleges help keep the economy humming. They are responsive to business leaders? needs and provide students with bang for their buck. They?re so popular, in fact, that enrollment is up 40 percent statewide in the last decade.
There?s only one problem. The state is in a budget crisis, and technical colleges are facing cuts just like many other state agencies, communities and schools.
Tired of reading stories about the ever-escalating costs associated with higher education? Here?s something different: Texas Gov. Rick Perry challenged universities in the Lone Star state earlier this year to create a bachelor?s degree which will cost students only $10,000 for four years of tuition, fees, and textbooks.
That might sound impossible considering just one year of tuition, fees and textbooks at UW-Madison now tops $10,000. But last week the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board indicated it?s moving “aggressively” to tackle Perry?s challenge, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
With the expansion of a national program for underrepresented students the University of Wisconsin, officials look to further diversify campus and instill enthusiasm for studying science.
Wisconsin and Oregon have more in common than most residents of the states would admit.
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh this week passed up a golden opportunity to shine a light on the inner workings of academia and foster an intelligent, informed discussion of academic freedom and politics at the university.
A federal jury awarded $1.1 million in damages Wednesday to a former history instructor at Madison Area Technical College after finding he had been fired for complaining about discrimination and harassment by two colleagues.
A federal jury awarded a former history professor at Madison Area Technical College $1.1 million on Wednesday, finding that he lost his job at the college for complaining about religious harassment and discrimination.
“What good do faculty unions do?” That?s the headline from a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article, which notes: “Many union leaders have declared the right to collectively bargain essential if faculty members are to be paid adequately, treated fairly, and given a voice in their institutions? affairs.”
But, the article continues, “the research that tests such assertions offers mixed findings. At most private colleges, as well as at public colleges where faculty members have chosen not to form unions or have been precluded from doing so by state law, many faculty members work without union contracts without feeling particularly exploited.”
Some professors on the UW-Madison campus questioned whether the sports side of the equation — Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and league athletic directors — wielded too much power in making the University of Nebraska the 12th member of the conference last summer.
Nonetheless, when the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors voted unanimously to approve Nebraska?s entry to the league effective July 1, 2011 — with competition to begin in all sports for the 2011-12 academic year — most agreed that Nebraska was a good fit academically with the other Big Ten institutions.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio?s public universities could be assigned to tiers, based on well how they perform, and those at the top would be able to operate almost like private businesses, Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro said Tuesday.
Chinas academics are quietly evaluating a wave of detentions among public intellectuals since the start of the year, amid signs that the political chill is starting to reach into universities. While no broad crackdowns on academic freedom have been reported, some recent incidents suggest that Chinese authorities are putting tighter curbs on campus activities that could be deemed political.
What universities offer the best professors and campus life? RateMyProfessors thinks it knows. It has compiled a list of the top 25 universities that have great professors and campus environment. (UW-Madison is ranked #3.)
The number of people who aren?t paying back their student loans is on the rise, and the government is increasingly threatening to sue them for the money. The amount of loan defaults that the Education Department has referred to Justice Department lawyers for possible legal action has risen dramatically since before the recession and nearly doubled from 2009 to last year.
Next fall, a group of 10-12 students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will live together in a dorm dubbed the Russian House. Throughout the semester, they will speak, read, watch TV and pretty much do all their communicating in Russian.”The idea is that we are creating a little bubble for them of Russia on the Madison campus in a supportive environment,” says Diana Murphy, associate director of the Russian Flagship Center and Language Institute.
A year ago, the Association of American Universities quietly revised the criteria it uses to decide which research institutions deserve a place in the highly selective group. The impact of those changes is now being felt — like a punch in the gut — by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Syracuse University, which are leaving the association.
We?d never met. But when I walked into my class at American University a few weeks ago, I knew instantly who she was. She came up quickly, like someone who didn?t have much time. She was a grad student working at American University for the Service Employees International Union to organize adjunct professors like me. She hoped I would sign up. What surprised me was my reaction. I wished she hadn?t come.
(Bob Lehrman, a novelist, former White House aide and author of ?The Political Speechwriter?s Companion,? was American University?s adjunct of the year in 2010. This column first appeared in the Washington Post.)
The system of awarding science Ph.D.s needs to be either reformed or shut down, a provocative series of pieces in one of the world?s pre-eminent scientific journals says this week. According to the multipart series in the journal Nature, the world is awash in Ph.D.s, most of them being awarded after years of study and tens of thousands of dollars to scholars who will never find work in academia, the traditional goal for Doctors of Philosophy.
This year?s college graduates are finding a better job market than last year?s grads. Employers plan to hire 19.3% more recent graduates this year, says a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The association surveyed 174 schools from February through April.
WASHINGTON — No matter how many subjects they?re acing, most college students these days find economics a grind. Tricky financial calculations influence everything from what school they attend and what major they choose to how quickly they finish their degrees – or whether they graduate at all. Money problems, not bad grades, are the reason cited by most college students who have considered dropping out, an Associated Press-Viacom poll finds.
Sixty-nine percent of college applicants this year say having information about a college?s commitment to environmental issues would contribute to their decision to apply to or attend the school, according to a survey of 8,200 students by The Princeton Review.
Legislation in Congress that would broaden federal law on campus-crime reporting to include sexual violence has won support from nearly 20 advocacy groups.
Despite a sluggish economy, 87.3 percent of recent Madison Area Technical College graduates are working according to the school?s annual “Graduate Employment Report.” This most recent study also indicates that for the academic year which ended in May of 2010, a whopping 96.2 percent of those surveyed said they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the education they received at MATC.
When UW-Madison released some emails of professor William Cronon to the state Republican Party earlier this month following a much-hyped open records request, the university withheld correspondence with students, citing federal privacy laws.
“We are excluding records involving students because they are protected under FERPA,” UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin wrote to the campus community in explaining why some of Cronon?s emails were not given to the state GOP.
Ilona Idlis is so brimming with intellectual passion that she?ll engage random bus riders in discussions on tax reform ? and win them over to her side. This spring, the University of Washington sophomore is studying in Prague to force herself outside of her Puget Sound comfort zone. She?s studying journalism and political science and already has as many credits as a third-year student after taking advanced courses and community college classes while in high school.
A UW-Madison tuition increase known as the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates will allow the university to hire 80 new faculty members. Students are in the second year of a four-year tuition increase intended to increase the quality of undergraduate education.
A national debate is under way over the use of open records laws to seek documents from professors at public institutions of higher education. A Washington Post editorial last week criticized our organization, the Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, suggesting that we meant to chill academic freedom through a state Freedom of Information Act request that we filed with three public universities. The evidence shows that the Post has erred, but the general rush to judgment about the use of open records laws with public universities illustrates why defending the laws remains as challenging and important as ever.
The federal budget deal reached by Democrats and Republicans over the weekend would preserve the maximum Pell Grant but cut a host of research and education programs, including global-exchange and foreign-language efforts, according to details released on Tuesday.
As details emerged early Tuesday morning about the last-minute spending compromise that averted a government shutdown, higher education experts shared one reaction: It could have been worse.
