Governance

University boards have the primary responsibility for ensuring fidelity to the institution’s mission, managing university finances, and setting personnel policies. The following articles expose poor governance practices and identify policies that keep boards accountable to the taxpayers, students, parents, alumni, and donors whom they serve.

We can thank the Supreme Court for credential inflation

Dec 22, 2014 · George Leef

Perhaps you have noticed that many jobs requiring only basic skills and a cooperative attitude are now walled off to Americans who donâ€™t possess a college degree.

The mania for college credentials hampers upward mobility for individuals without a college degree. They are confined to the shrinking and mostly low-pay segment of the labor market where educational credentials still donâ€™t matter. (As I argued here, that explains much of the earnings gap between workers with and without college degrees.)

The "gainful employment" rule won’t make students better off by decimating the for-profit sector

Dec 3, 2014 · George Leef

At the end of October, the Department of Education released its much-awaited "gainful employment" rule. It is supposed to fix (or at least lessen) the problem that many students who pursue vocational training with federal student aid money wind up without a job that pays well enough for them to cover their loans.

Now, here is something to wake up trustees

Dec 1, 2014 · Jane S. Shaw

Ever since it was created in 1995, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni has been trying to help trustees do a better job. ACTA has issued readable, thoughtful reports advising trustees on topics such as advancing intellectual diversity, dealing with grade inflation, measuring academic effectiveness, criticizing accreditation, and cutting costs. But turning the ship of higher education around is a herculean task.

Science and the senator: missing the point about government waste

Nov 28, 2014 · John Staddon

About to retire, Oklahoma senator Tom Coburn, M.D., has just released his 107-page 2014 Wastebook, a tabloid-type listing of over a hundred wasteful government-funded projects. Coburn continues the tradition of the late William Proxmire, the Wisconsin senator who, more modestly, chose just one or two “Golden Fleeces” each year.

6 things we’re thankful for in higher education

Nov 26, 2014 · Martin Center Staff

It is Thanksgiving week, and six Pope Center staff members express thanks for some things that happened this year in higher education.

The UNC Board of Governors takes action on a leak to the press

Nov 17, 2014 · Jane S. Shaw

In the past few months, under the chairmanship of John Fennebresque, the UNC Board of Governors has been more aggressive than in the past, drilling down into more topics and increasing its discussions in committees and in the full board meetings. But now the board is being distracted by a spat over confidentiality at Winston-Salem State University, one of the boardâ€™s sixteen college campuses.