Colleges Are Wed to the Status Quo
In a recent Boston Globe column, correspondent Kara Miller wrote that our colleges and universities now “embrac[e] the status quo,” preventing them from responding to new challenges. Her article draws…
Articles by Clark Ross
The Textbook-Procurement Wars Rage On
Most of the general public, particularly those who know students in college or university, are aware of the sharp increases in the cost of higher education over the last several…
Can the UNC System’s Return-On-Investment Findings Be Trusted?
A report on the financial returns on a UNC education, commissioned two years ago, was finally released in Nov. 2023. The study was done by the private consulting firm Deloitte,…
Failing Introductory Economics
In June 2014, I wrote a piece entitled “Reform Intro Economics” for Inside Higher Ed. There, I argued that then-current introductory economics courses were little changed from those of decades…
AP Economics is a Model of Academic Rigor
As a college professor and former academic dean, I have long heard that Advanced Placement courses are generally not the equal of their college equivalents. Each of the 38 AP…
Campus civility declines as attention turns to groups, not individuals
I recall vividly in the early 1980s spending fifteen minutes walking two hundred yards with my older faculty mentor from our offices to Davidson’s post office. Along the way, he greeted or was greeted by Davidson students, staff, other faculty, and townspeople. For each there was a hearty “good morning” or a “you are looking so well,” or to an advisee, “how is your calculus class going?”