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.

Jan 8, 2020 · Allen Mendenhall

Russell Kirk on Higher Education

Russell Kirk isn’t known as a policy wonk. The Great Books, not the mathematical or statistical models of economic technicians, were his organon of choice. He devoted essays to broad,…

Dec 30, 2019 · Anthony Hennen

Sky-High Athletics: UNC Spends $125,000 on Private Planes for Recruiting

To reach far-flung towns, private planes can be indispensable. The University of North Carolina system, for instance, has an air fleet to shuttle doctors around the state. UNC Air Operations…

Dec 27, 2019 · Martin Center Staff

Our Hopes for Higher Ed Reform in 2020

As priorities shift in the minds of higher education leaders and students, it’s important to take stock of recent changes on the local and national levels. At the Martin Center,…

Dec 23, 2019 · Jenna A. Robinson

Books We’d Like to See Under the Christmas Tree in 2019

One of my favorite projects at the Martin Center is the cultivation of our small-but-growing higher education library. So far, we’ve collected more than 600 books about higher education and…

Dec 18, 2019 · AnneMarie Schieber

How Medical Schools Are Polarizing Tomorrow’s Doctors

To be a successful doctor, it is no longer enough to make an accurate diagnosis and recommend an effective treatment. Today’s medical schools want their students to be well-versed in…

Dec 16, 2019 · David Randall

The Continual Creep of Social Justice into Higher Education

Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a December 6 speech at an event hosted by the National Association of Scholars and the Martin Center on social justice and identity…

Dec 11, 2019 · Richard K. Vedder

New Research Shows Federal Student Aid Is Worse than We Thought

For years I have railed against the dysfunctional federal student loan program. The availability of cheap federal student loans has enabled universities to increase tuition fees aggressively, helping fund an…

Dec 9, 2019 · Shannon Watkins

Battling the Red Guards of Red Pedagogy

As education goes, so goes nearly everything else: politics, culture, and social cohesion. And those who form the minds of teachers—who, in turn, instruct young minds—arguably wield even greater influence.…

Dec 4, 2019 · Andy Smarick

A New-Schools Strategy to Fix Higher Education

It would be easy to conclude, after a quick look at some topline findings about higher education in recent years, that a set of misguided practices and policies has distorted…

Nov 28, 2019 · Madeline Baker

Did You Know? The North Carolina Colleges with High Student Default Rates

When students take federal loans to pay for college, the government declares them to be in default if a student doesn’t make a payment for 9 months. According to the…