Teaching Students Civil Dialogue in a Culture Hostile to Free Speech

Jan 18, 2021 · · No Comments on Teaching Students Civil Dialogue in a Culture Hostile to Free Speech

It can be disheartening to witness how college culture has become inhospitable to viewpoints that fall outside of the ideological mainstream. For example, a March 2020 report by three professors at UNC-Chapel Hill revealed that UNC students across the political spectrum, but particularly conservative students, sometimes engage in self-censorship for fear of what others may … Continue reading “Teaching Students Civil Dialogue in a Culture Hostile to Free Speech”

Did You Know? UNC Schools Will Get Millions in COVID-19 Funding

Jan 7, 2021 · · No Comments on Did You Know? UNC Schools Will Get Millions in COVID-19 Funding

Last week, Congress approved the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, a $2.4 trillion spending package that includes $23 billion in aid for public and non-profit colleges and universities. The relief package will provide about $286 million in new Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF) to UNC system schools. Of that amount, almost $90 million is … Continue reading “Did You Know? UNC Schools Will Get Millions in COVID-19 Funding”

NC State’s Quixotic Foreign Language Requirement

Dec 14, 2020 · · No Comments on NC State’s Quixotic Foreign Language Requirement

For decades, universities have required students to fulfill a foreign language requirement. However, some research has shown that two semesters of a foreign language appears to have no meaningful effect on the language proficiency of college graduates. Putting students through language classes adds to their tuition bill, but doesn’t teach them a new skill for … Continue reading “NC State’s Quixotic Foreign Language Requirement”

Did You Know? NC Subsidies for Colleges Top 5 Nationally

Dec 3, 2020 · · No Comments on Did You Know? NC Subsidies for Colleges Top 5 Nationally

North Carolina spends more on its university students than most other states. Recent data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System show that universities in only three other states and the District of Columbia receive more revenue per student from state appropriations than universities in North Carolina. In the UNC system, the average revenue per … Continue reading “Did You Know? NC Subsidies for Colleges Top 5 Nationally”

Why Do UNC Schools Spend Money on Diversity Training That Doesn’t Work?

Nov 30, 2020 · · No Comments on Why Do UNC Schools Spend Money on Diversity Training That Doesn’t Work?

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include information about UNC-Charlotte, which responded to a public records request after publication. Higher ed leaders love committees and training sessions. The technocratic mind that rules campus sees a problem and usually decides that the solution is more resources and education. Once the money is spent and … Continue reading “Why Do UNC Schools Spend Money on Diversity Training That Doesn’t Work?”

Heavy Is the Head that Wears the Crown

Nov 16, 2020 · · No Comments on Heavy Is the Head that Wears the Crown

Since 2015, the University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors (BOG) has endured one controversy after another, beginning with protests over decisions to close three “academic centers” for being overly political and to replace Democrat Thomas Ross as the system president with Republican Margaret Spellings. Some of the problems have been of the board’s … Continue reading “Heavy Is the Head that Wears the Crown”

Could Law School Be the Worst Higher Education Investment?

Nov 11, 2020 · · No Comments on Could Law School Be the Worst Higher Education Investment?

For decades, law school was a growth industry. Back in 1970, there were 146 law schools with an enrollment of 78,000 students; by 2013, there were 201 schools, enrolling 139,000 students. Enrollment peaked in 2010 at 147,000. (For the current year, it seems that enrollments will probably remain level with last year.) By 2015, we … Continue reading “Could Law School Be the Worst Higher Education Investment?”

America Wants Its Public Colleges Back and The Chronicle Isn’t Happy About It

Oct 26, 2020 · · No Comments on America Wants Its Public Colleges Back and The Chronicle Isn’t Happy About It

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released a report decrying the politicization of public higher education governance, entitled The New Order: How the Nation’s Partisan Divisions Consumed Public-College Boards and Warped Higher Education. The report says more about the tunnel vision that pervades the liberal media and academic establishment than it does about the real … Continue reading “America Wants Its Public Colleges Back and The Chronicle Isn’t Happy About It”

Using ‘Transparency’ to Obscure: The Daily Tar Heel and UNC’s Title IX Records

Oct 19, 2020 · · No Comments on Using ‘Transparency’ to Obscure: The Daily Tar Heel and UNC’s Title IX Records

“Sunlight,” Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote, “is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.” Few aspects of the contemporary academy more need enhanced sunlight than the Title IX adjudication process, which operates almost entirely in the dark—even going as far as not publicizing the training materials that adjudicators used … Continue reading “Using ‘Transparency’ to Obscure: The Daily Tar Heel and UNC’s Title IX Records”

Without Lab Time or Facilities, Students Get Lower-Quality Education

Oct 12, 2020 · · No Comments on Without Lab Time or Facilities, Students Get Lower-Quality Education

In spring 2020, when universities went online due to COVID-19, few of them expected to be online in the fall as well. After a failed reopening of schools, courses again went online. Davidson College in North Carolina launched a College Crisis Initiative to determine how “colleges and universities innovate in a crisis mindset” and found … Continue reading “Without Lab Time or Facilities, Students Get Lower-Quality Education”