Governance

University boards have the primary responsibility for ensuring fidelity to the institution’s mission, managing university finances, and setting personnel policies. The following articles expose poor governance practices and identify policies that keep boards accountable to the taxpayers, students, parents, alumni, and donors whom they serve.

Nov 7, 2022 · Wenyuan Wu

What the Justices Heard and Said

One week ago today, attorneys for Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) laid out their cases against Harvard and the University of North Carolina before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices…

Nov 4, 2022 · George Leef

Time to Rethink University Accreditation

Many people believe that if a college or university is accredited, that’s the equivalent of a guarantee of quality. Just as the seal of approval from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) tells…

Nov 3, 2022 · James M. Hohman

The “Underpants Gnomes” Theory of Higher-Ed Funding

Step 1: Spend more on universities. Step 2: Get more graduates. Step 3: Statewide prosperity! Sounds pretty simple and straightforward, right? (At least for fans of the very NSFW program…

Nov 2, 2022 · Neetu Arnold and Ian Oxnevad

Improving Higher Ed Through Better Open-Records Laws

It is no secret that American higher education is in crisis due to a lack of affordability, growing irrelevance, and the ideological conformity that prevails in today’s classrooms. Less well-known…

Oct 31, 2022 · George R. La Noue

Political Accountability Versus Campus Autonomy

A pronounced distrust has developed between many state legislatures and their public campuses. There has been a general decline in public confidence in higher education, and that loss has been…

Oct 28, 2022 · Richard Sander

Even Liberals Should Be Skeptical of Racial Preferences in Higher Education

In most public discussions, “affirmative action” in higher education is treated as one of the core issues that divides liberals from conservatives. It is rare in public life to hear…

Oct 27, 2022 · Jenna A. Robinson

A Partial Shout-Down at UNC-Chapel Hill

Until recently, it was a point of pride that there hadn’t been any speaker “shout-downs” at UNC-Chapel Hill since 2009. But that changed on Tuesday when student protestors repeatedly interrupted…

Oct 26, 2022 · Richard K. Vedder

Colleges: Go Back to Basics

Colleges perform two vital functions: They disseminate to the people (especially their own students) the knowledge and wisdom acquired through time in ways that enhance the common good, and they also…

Oct 24, 2022 · Graham Hillard and Natalia Mayorga

No, Colleges are Not Unsafe

In 1986, Lehigh University freshman Jeanne Clery was raped and murdered in her on-campus dormitory. This terrible event led to the passage of the Clery Act (1990), which requires American…