Millennials can be a hypersensitive bunch and nowhere is this more apparent than in the academy. American institutions of higher learning have become veritable minefields of trigger warnings, safe zones, and speech codes. It appears we can add another line item to the growing list of things too radical for college students: humor.
So far, Mitch Daniels has managed to skillfully navigate the treacherous waters of academic politics and actually get some things accomplished. By really leading, instead of following the pack, he may be paving the way for other non-traditional university presidents at a time when the status quo is no longer enough.
Today’s Pope Center commentary presents arguments by two distinguished writers on an age-old question: can entrepreneurship be taught or is it hard-wired into us? The first argument, by former university president and economist James V. Koch, suggests that entrepreneurship is primarily a matter of our inherent gifts. The second argument, by Buck Goldstein, Internet entrepreneur and “Entrepreneur in Residence” at UNC-Chapel Hill, suggests that entrepreneurship is more a “habit of mind” that can be developed.
Today’s Pope Center commentary presents arguments by two distinguished writers on an age-old question: can entrepreneurship be taught or is it hard-wired into us? The first argument, by former university president and economist James V. Koch, suggests that entrepreneurship is primarily a matter of our inherent gifts. The second argument, by Buck Goldstein, Internet entrepreneur and “Entrepreneur in Residence” at UNC-Chapel Hill, suggests that entrepreneurship is more a “habit of mind” that can be developed.
Results from an employer survey suggest that graduates of North Carolina’s 16 public universities—especially those from less selective schools—are deficient in terms of their written and oral communication, work ethic, and workplace etiquette. Such problems are serious matters, and they must be addressed in ways that reflect that seriousness. Unfortunately, some system leaders—echoing recommendations made by the surveyed employers—have proposed surface solutions, such as expanding career counseling and internship opportunities. The UNC system should not put much faith in band-aid approaches that hide the serious problems underneath its surface. Better to keep focus on the system’s real shortcomings—general education programs—even if feathers get ruffled.
There is a powerful lesson in the emergence of companies like Uber for those who wish to reform higher education. All the focus tends to be on political and policy debates, but meanwhile innovators are busy working around the status quo without waiting for permission or consensus.
Higher education is often an ignored issue in presidential campaigns. The 2016 campaign, however, may be different. The focus on higher education looks to be unusually strong, with issues such as student debt affecting many millions of potential voters and receiving multiple mentions in campaign speeches and interviews on both sides of the aisle.
Before committing taxpayer money and university resources to public-private research parks, higher education officials and elected leaders should reconsider a more proven way for regional universities to enhance economic outcomes. And that is to provide a quality educational experience that increases citizens’ human capital, thereby producing positive “spillover effects” in the local area.
We provide criteria for resizing the UNC system, review the results of a Civitas Institute poll, challenge faculty to teach more, and explain why the North Carolina General Assembly should…
Colleges and universities should tell all writing faculty to focus their courses on improving students’ ability to write and to keep their political agendas out of it. At the very least, they should require full disclosure on course syllabi so that students can avoid professors who insist on instilling political activism rather than just teaching them how to write.