Ten Books We’d Like to Find Under the Christmas Tree
When I was a child, I always thought that some of the best presents under the tree were books. Whether it was a matching set of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little…
Another Confucius Institute Closes
North Carolina State University is one of the latest universities to announce plans to close its Confucius Institute. Eleven American colleges and universities have parted ways with these Chinese government-funded…
The Professor Who Was Harassed for Pointing Out the Truth
That famous line from the movie A Few Good Men—“You can’t handle the truth!”—applies more and more to the world of higher education. If you doubt that, consider the case…
A Unique Opportunity for Athletics Reform
Many colleges are setting up their student-athletes for failure. Whether one looks to the long-term neurological health risks that young athletes are subject to, or the myriad cases of academic…
The Four Perspectives of Higher Education Policy Explained
Explaining higher education policy is never easy (even to people who are involved in it). Over the years, while training young writers for the Martin Center, I have come up…
UNC, NC State Partner to Combat Teacher Shortage
As the cost of higher education soars, it’s heartening to hear of universities and professors looking for new ways to meet student needs. Localized innovations allow universities and reformers to…
A Tale of Two Alumni Associations
An important voice is missing in today’s colleges and universities: that of their alumni. Their absence does a disservice to both students and the general public because, in many ways,…
What the Hoax Papers Tell Us about the Decline of Academic Standards
By now, most followers of the higher education press have heard of the “grievance studies” or Sokal Squared hoax. In this incident, a team of three researchers successfully published several…
A Final Conversation with Margaret Spellings
Although Margaret Spellings will be leaving her post as president of the University of North Carolina system prematurely on January 15, she started several programs in her three years on…
The Rise of Engineering’s Social Justice Warriors
In 2015, Colorado School of Mines writing instructor Dr. Jon Leydens delivered a TED talk titled “engineering and social justice.” According to Leydens, in the mid-2000s students started asking him…