Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Archives — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal

Recalling the Great UNC Sports Scandal—How Much has Really Changed?

Sep 6, 2021 · George Leef · Comments Off

A decade ago, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was engulfed in a sports scandal that made national headlines, brought down a chancellor who seemed destined for a lustrous career, and caused the school huge expenses in litigation and for public relations experts. For the Carolina faithful, those events are now just a … Continue reading “Recalling the Great UNC Sports Scandal—How Much has Really Changed?”

Our Accreditation System Has Bennett College Struggling for Life

Jun 3, 2019 · George Leef · Comments Off

Founded in 1873 in Greensboro, North Carolina, Bennett College is one only two of historically black colleges just for women. It has been a four-year college since 1926, but in recent years it has, like so many other small, private colleges, found survival increasingly difficult. The school’s enrollment fell from 780 students in 2010 to … Continue reading “Our Accreditation System Has Bennett College Struggling for Life”

The ACT is Still Useful Sep 30, 2022
Standardized tests have been attacked for being biased against some groups of students. Is that true? Should we stop using them? Exams like the American College Test (ACT) are supposed to assess how much information students learned in high school and, by implication, their preparedness for college. However, they’ve been criticized as being biased against … Continue reading “The ACT is Still Useful”
Do American Undergraduates Still Respect Their Professors? Sep 29, 2022
The pandemic has affected numerous aspects of daily life. Included among these are how students and faculty relate and respond to each other on campus. With many classes going virtual and universities dealing with unprecedented circumstances, student and faculty relations may well be expected to have shifted. How students view faculty can tell us many … Continue reading “Do American Undergraduates Still Respect Their Professors?”
Higher Education Used to Love Controversy Sep 28, 2022
It is interesting but depressing to me that the more eminent a college or university is perceived to be, the more outrageous are efforts by administrators to stifle individual expression and enforce a numbing conformity of ideas reminiscent of universities in the old Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. The most prestigious group of schools in … Continue reading “Higher Education Used to Love Controversy”

Did You Know? Student-Athletes Need Mental-Health Services, Too Sep 15, 2022
Did you know that 92 percent of NAIA athletic departments wish they could offer psychiatric services designed specifically for their athletes? As mental-health awareness surges among higher-ed faculty and students, sports departments are increasingly concerned with their athletes’ mental well-being. Schools belonging to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics are no exception, and the NAIA … Continue reading “Did You Know? Student-Athletes Need Mental-Health Services, Too”
NIL Chaos Hits College Athletics Sep 5, 2022
Since the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling in NCAA v. Alston, collegiate sports have been roiled with confusion and a lack of clarity regarding name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules. When the NCAA was forced to dramatically shift its stance on athletes’ compensation, state officials, university systems, and individual colleges hastily assembled NIL guidelines for their … Continue reading “NIL Chaos Hits College Athletics”
UNC System Athletic Directors’ Salaries Tell Us What Universities Value Jul 18, 2022
As previously mentioned in this series, college sports are a big business. Businesses need managers, and, as such, colleges and universities have athletic directors. In college sports, the athletic director acts as the head manager of the entire athletics department. If a task is related to a sporting event or team, the athletic director is … Continue reading “UNC System Athletic Directors’ Salaries Tell Us What Universities Value”

The ACT is Still Useful Sep 30, 2022
Standardized tests have been attacked for being biased against some groups of students. Is that true? Should we stop using them? Exams like the American College Test (ACT) are supposed to assess how much information students learned in high school and, by implication, their preparedness for college. However, they’ve been criticized as being biased against … Continue reading “The ACT is Still Useful”
Do American Undergraduates Still Respect Their Professors? Sep 29, 2022
The pandemic has affected numerous aspects of daily life. Included among these are how students and faculty relate and respond to each other on campus. With many classes going virtual and universities dealing with unprecedented circumstances, student and faculty relations may well be expected to have shifted. How students view faculty can tell us many … Continue reading “Do American Undergraduates Still Respect Their Professors?”
Higher Education Used to Love Controversy Sep 28, 2022
It is interesting but depressing to me that the more eminent a college or university is perceived to be, the more outrageous are efforts by administrators to stifle individual expression and enforce a numbing conformity of ideas reminiscent of universities in the old Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. The most prestigious group of schools in … Continue reading “Higher Education Used to Love Controversy”