Massive Denial
Editor’s Note: James Côté is a full professor in the department of sociology at the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario, Canada, where he has taught since the early 1980s. He is co-author (with Anton L. Allahar) of the book Ivory Tower Blues: A University System in Crisis (University of Toronto Press, 2007).
While researching my recent book – Ivory Tower Blues: A University System in Crisis – and taking it through the review process, I have witnessed firsthand massive denial of the fact that our university system has problems rivaling those found in the United States. Yet we share with the United States the twin problems of grade inflation and students’ academic disengagement. We also face a third problem – university graduate underemployment, which has been well documented in Canada.
Grade inflation in the United States, especially in Ivy League schools, has received a considerable amount of press for some time. More recently, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) studies have highlighted academic disengagement. The NSSE studies measure the demands placed on students, and the effort they expend, through annual surveys with students themselves. In both Canada and the U.S., the NSSE results show that only about 10 percent of students do the level of work that professors think is necessary to be proficient in the subjects they teach.
Partial Dividends from Teacher Education Commitment
Bowles is making teacher education a high priority.
Nelms selected as new NCCU Chancellor
CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Central Chancellor Search Committee Chair Cressie Thigpen had reasons to be concerned when he hadn’t heard from the school’s top choice in several days.
Thigpen worried that the individual, having already turned down offers from three other institutions, would make North Carolina Central the fourth.
“We weren’t going to select this candidate,” Thigpen said. “This candidate was going to select us.”
Even Mother Jones ranks colleges!
The famed U.S. News college rankings have been making news themselves. As George Leef reported in late April, some college presidents (24 at last count) are refusing to cooperate with the magazine; the Washington Post carried a story about the flap in May, and the Chronicle of Higher Education had a cover story labeled “The Numbers that Rankle.”
Disgruntlement with the U.S. News rankings has some validity. They depend a lot on reputation, plus inputs such as students’ SAT scores and faculty-student ratio – not on actual education (which is hard to measure). Graduation rates are something of an exception – they are at least an outcome, not an input.
Senate releases $20 billion budget plan
The University of North Carolina’s ambitious construction plans got a boost from the Senate leaders approved their $20 billion spending plan on Thursday.
Senate leaders are proposing $1.2 billion in bond funding through certificates of participation – $1 billion of which would go for projects within the UNC system. Certificate of participations are bond packages in which the state finances new construction projects, backed by buildings and land. These do not need voter approval.
UNC Tomorrow Commission: Making the University “Demand-Driven
Editor’s Note: Peter Hans is a member of the UNC Board of Governors and was recently re-elected to a new four-year term. He is also a member of the new UNC Tomorrow Commission, which was created by the Board of Governors. In this interview, we ask Hans about the commission, its plans, and its purposes.
Clarion Call: First, what is the commission?
Peter Hans: This is our effort to assess what North Carolina needs from its public university system over the next twenty years, and how we should respond to those needs.
University, community college bills survive crossover deadline
RALEIGH – Thursday was the deadline for bills to clear either the state House or the state Senate for them to have a chance of passage during the 2007-09 legislative session. With the deadline comes the passage of several bills that affect the University of North Carolina system and the North Carolina Community College System.
Among the many bills passed during the first few months of the session, some pertain to UNC President Erskine Bowles’ effort to make the university system more efficient. Others would amend performance measures within the community college system and make other changes to the two higher education systems.
Buried Treasure
No, this column wasn’t prompted by the release of the latest pirate movie. Rather, it was prompted by a minute spent looking through my library.
Hunting for another book, my eye landed upon a book I hadn’t looked at in years – Education: Assumptions Versus History by Thomas Sowell. Sowell is a black economist who has had a distinguished career teaching at some of American’s top universities. His prolific writings have touched on just about every important public policy topic, including education.
Swett’s nomination should spur changes in UNC Board of Governors selection
CHAPEL HILL – Purnell Swett has a decision to make, and members of the State House of Representatives have some explaining to do.
The newly elected member of the UNC Board of Governors can take his seat on the governing board when his term begins on July 1. He can also decide not to accept his post due to his 1998 conviction for taking money from the school system he headed.
UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty Defeat Achievement Index
CHAPEL HILL – At the end of the spring semester, the Faculty Council at UNC-Chapel Hill considered and narrowly defeated a policy that would change the way the grading system works. The proposed Achievement Index (AI) is a number similar to the typical grade-point average (GPA) but it would be used to determine class rank and degrees with distinction.
The index is a way of combating grade inflation and would be a trend-setting step if adopted. The proposal to adopt AI at UNC originated with the Educational Policy Committee of the Faculty Council.