A Grassroots Effort Is Changing College Instruction for the Better
Here is a dirty little secret: I am a teacher at a community college, but I have never taken an education course. The same is true for most of my…
The Education Trust Falls for the Chivas Regal Effect
One of the pillars of our education establishment, The Education Trust, recently published a report that’s meant to pressure colleges and universities with large endowments into spending more of their…
The University of Chicago’s Support for Free Speech Sparks Opposition
Last month, just before the new academic year began, the University of Chicago’s dean of students, John Ellison, sent a letter (reproduced in this piece) to all incoming students. It…
Academic Freedom in the Age of Political Correctness
The current consensus on academic freedom in higher education is crumbling and a new framework that more equitably represents all stakeholders – faculty, students, administrators, and society – is urgently…
Should Universities Be Outsourcing Their Chancellor Searches?
Among the duties of a university’s board of trustees, there is perhaps no bigger responsibility than helping to select the leader of the campus—the chancellor/president. Such an important responsibility requires…
How Our University Reacted to an Exposé of its Grade Inflation Problem
In a 2011 Pope Center article entitled “Too Many Rhinestones,” Professors T. Norman Van Cott and the late Clarence Deitsch examined Ball State University’s (BSU) grade inflation problem. After comparing…
College Sports: Isn’t it Time to De-escalate the Arms Race?
With college football season upon us, this is a good time to consider again the allure that fielding winning teams in the big-money sports (football and basketball) has for many…
Online Course Exchanges: Models of Efficiency
Small classes and programs are often praised for offering students more personal attention and one-on-one time with professors. But when programs are too small, students and universities suffer. Students find…
Political Science Needs More Viewpoint Diversity
Would academic political science benefit from more viewpoint diversity? Let’s start with the good news, which is that political science isn’t nearly the worst-off discipline on campus. This is not…
Student Learning Outcomes and the Decline of American Education
Educational fads always come with a shelf life; the implacable resistance of reality eventually makes them expire. Usually, the promised educational miracle has done more harm than good. The wreckage…