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.

Jun 14, 2021 · Shannon Watkins

Stith: “The Best Community College System in the Country”

In the past year, the North Carolina Community College system said goodbye to one president and gained another. After former president Peter Hans took up his new role as the…

Jun 11, 2021 · Sumantra Maitra

The Backlash to Critical Race Theory Is on The Way

Michelle Goldberg complains in the pages of The New York Times about how it is the left wing that is currently a victim of cancel culture—thanks to the right, which is trying…

Jun 10, 2021 · Megan Zogby

Did You Know? The Role of Feeder Schools in Elite Higher Ed

Boarding schools and charter schools have been “feeder schools” to the Ivy Leagues for decades. Feeder schools are high schools where many or most students go to higher education institutions,…

Jun 7, 2021 · Shannon Watkins

Diversity Training Comes to NC State University

North Carolina State University students need to be taught about how to be “inclusive,” according to the school’s chancellor and top administrators. Last June, NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson released…

Jun 4, 2021 · Jay Schalin

Why Don’t Governing Boards Rein in College Costs?

Public higher education was once America’s great enabler, permitting young people from lower-class backgrounds to attend college for very little money and to rise as far as their abilities and…

Jun 3, 2021 · Sumantra Maitra

Did You Know? The UK Wants Free Speech on Campus

In a new law that will change the direction of higher education in the United Kingdom, the British government is drafting the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, which might…

May 28, 2021 · Nicholas J. Romanow

Security Concerns with China Limiting Student Learning

The college campus has become a battleground between the United States and China. Donations, research funding, and international students give colleges a much-needed financial and enrollment boost, but the connection…

May 27, 2021 · Anthony Hennen

Did You Know? The Higher Ed Bureaucracy Won the Pandemic

An ill wind has buffeted higher education in the year of the plague. Workers have been laid off, the ranks of the professoriate have shrunk, and enrollment declines across the…

May 24, 2021 · Jenna A. Robinson

It’s Not About ‘Politics’—The Brouhaha over Nikole Hannah-Jones

Last week, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees came under fire for “viewpoint discrimination” over its decision not to offer tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones, who will join…

May 20, 2021 · Jenna A. Robinson

Did You Know? Not All UNC Students Get the Same Funding

The University of North Carolina system includes 16 universities, from large campuses with high research activity to small liberal arts institutions. They differ in many ways, from location to student…