Reforms We’re Cheering For in 2023
Each January, the staff of the Martin Center share our higher-ed-reform dreams for the coming year. Will all of our wishes come true? Probably not. Nevertheless, we offer them here…
Solving the “Problem” of Sex-Segregation by Academic Major
Our society is headed toward the dystopian future we were warned about in works of literature such as The Giver by Lois Lowry and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. People…
10 Books We Want Under the Tree in 2022
One of my favorite projects at the Martin Center is the cultivation of our higher-education library. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I vastly prefer to read books printed on paper instead…
Is UNC Playing Selectivity Games?
Enrollment declines have finally come to North Carolina. In the past decade, universities across the country began to see declining undergraduate enrollments, first in the Northeast and the Midwest, then…
The Strange Attack on Blind Reviewing
Two years ago, the Great Awokening came for blind auditions in America’s top orchestras. Any educational or cultural differences were insufficient explanations for the disparities between white and black players…
Mending, Not Ending, Remedial Classes
A high-school diploma should be a default signal that the holder is prepared to embark on her or his college journey. In an ideal world, a country that spends a…
Ideological Compulsion at the UNC School of Journalism
There are times when “I told you so” is unpleasant to say. This is one of those occasions. In May, the Martin Center reported on the appointment of a new…
Who’s to Blame When Students Fail a Course?
As long as college students are considered entitled customers, their complaints about their professors will be taken seriously by administrators. That’s because happy students boost college applications, affect the closely-watched…
Colleges Helped Cause the Enrollment Crash
There is considerable talk these days about the enrollment crash in higher education, especially in liberal-arts education. The Chronicle of Higher Education has been expressing worry about this crisis for…
The NCAA’s Own Goal
This coming January, the NCAA will convene in Texas to decide the future of standardized testing requirements for student-athletes. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA and universities…