Academics

Future leaders in business, government, and civil society need more than just job skills. The following articles defend the value of liberal education, with a focus on academic quality and rigor, fundamental knowledge, and the ideas that have shaped Western Civilization. They also scrutinize academic programs that have departed from these ideals in the name of progressive ideology.

Apr 1, 2005 ·

Questions for the Women’s Studies Department

A recent report on the Women’s Studies Departments in North Carolina state universities by Melana Zyla Vickers asks the question: Do students want Women Studies? When reading over Vickers’ report and contemplating this question, I couldn’t help but ask myself an equally important question: Do Women’s Studies want students? I think perhaps the department would rather have protégées to train so that one day they might teach in the Women’s Studies Department and thus keep their room in the ivory tower. Otherwise, what good is the Women’s Studies program? What are they preparing students for?

Now, I have never taken a Women Studies’ course at UNC-Chapel Hill; I’ve been too busy filling the requirements for an education major to spend time learning about “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” (to note just one course), but I have had several friends who have taken Women’s Studies courses — and have all regretted it. I hope to take a course next year, just for the sake of having done it, but until then, I’m currently occupied fighting feminists and liberals outside of the classroom, let alone take them on in a “comfortable learning zone.”

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Student grievance terribly mishandled at N.C. State

When the 2001 spring semester began at North Carolina State University, Robert Boren was just a student looking forward to beginning his pursuit of a masters in education counseling. Little did Boren know, however, that one interaction with a professor would lead his grades being altered on his transcript, his chances at graduate education crippled, his pleas for answers about those being ignored, and his being threatened with arrest for trespassing.

Mar 24, 2005 ·

Clarification eases Title IX requirements

A recently released clarification by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights makes it easier for college and universities to comply with Title IX regulations regarding athletics.

The March 17 clarification, signed by Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights James F. Manning, specifically deals with the “fully and effectively” test, the third of three prongs to determine if a school is in compliance with the 1972 regulation that bans discrimination on the basis of sex from institutions that receive federal funding. The clarification was published on the Office of Civil Right’s Web site.

Mar 18, 2005 ·

Teaching – Or Thought Control?

Colleges and universities are supposed to teach students, opening their minds and getting them to think critically about the world around them. Often they do, but not always. A recent case is illustrative of the problem of thought control masquerading as education.

Mar 15, 2005 ·

On higher education reform

RALEIGH – Intercollegiate Studies Institute Vice President for Programs Mike Ratliff uses a story about a University of Colorado student to discuss what he considers to be some of the problems with higher education today.

The student had originally intended to study engineering. However, some friends convinced him to change majors to communication studies in order to have more fun in college. When the student graduated, he found out that the only job he could gain were ones that required a high school degree. Even the military would only allow him to enter as an enlisted solider and not the officer training program.

Mar 8, 2005 ·

Sports or Academic Freedom

March is the month sports fans refer to as “March Madness,” for good reason. The month is filled with conference basketball tournaments only to be followed by the annual NCAA men’s basketball tournament, along with a scattering of other events along the way.

But the “main event,” so to speak, is the NCAA tournament. Sixty-four college basketball games over the course of three weeks are enough to wet any sports fan’s appetite.

The attention placed on those games is what makes college administrators giddy with excitement. To the college administrators of the 65 teams selected for the tournament, it means more visibility they hope will eventually turn into increased alumni contributions or a higher number of college applicants.

Yes, it’s fun to sit down on the couch with your favorite adult beverage in one hand, the remote control in the other and a bowl of chips in your lap and watch every game from the play-in game to the championship game. However, do we pay similar attention to the academic failings of today’s colleges and universities as we do college sports? Chances are few if any understand the true landscape of the American public university system and some of the problems that it currently faces.