Failing HBCUs: Should They Receive Life Support or the Axe?
Two years ago I attended a student debate at North Carolina Central University, one of the state’s five public historically black colleges and universities. It was fascinating, especially given the self-examination raised by its topic, “HBCUs: Can They Survive?” The moderator asked several incisive questions: Would the closure of HBCUs materially impair black students’ access to higher education? Would closing some HBCUs make the remaining ones stronger? Would the civil rights leaders of the 1950s and 1960s support an enduring HBCU presence today? As I reported at the time, the students eloquently argued both “pro” and “con” positions and deeply engaged with the relevant facts and issues. If only more of today’s political and higher education leaders did the same.
Governance Newsletter – Spring 2016
This issue of Governance looks at policy changes around the country, from “free” college to campus carry. We also examine higher education legislation that was recently introduced in Congress.
If Adjuncts Are Treated Unfairly, Is There a Solution?
For the last several years, Big Labor has pushed for mandated higher pay for workers, rallying around the slogan “Fight for Fifteen!” Fifteen dollars per hour as the minimum allowable wage, that is. The academic world has something similar: The movement for a large increase in compensation for part-time, untenured faculty who teach on semester contracts—the adjuncts.
North Carolina Unveils Innovative Approach to Remediation
The North Carolina Community College System is poised to become a national leader in career and college readiness. At a time when there is a spotlight on both high schools and community colleges to do a better job preparing students for prosperous careers, the North Carolina Community College System has taken several key steps toward that goal.
Tantrums About History Don’t Help Education
Students on both sides of the Atlantic have declared war on the past.
To Fund or Not to Fund: That is the Question in Tennessee
Apparently, the more a school fusses over the inescapable fact that people are diverse, the more likely that it will experience campus turmoil—turmoil that will then be cited as the justification for still more diversity programs. Tennesseans are right to question whether the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Tennessee’s flagship campus produces educational benefits that are worth the cost.
The Frivolity of Free Community College (And What We Can Do Instead)
The idea of free community college has become a topic of national debate in recent years, highlighted by Tennessee’s and Oregon’s enactment of statewide plans, and President Obama’s advocacy for a nationwide program. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, who last week won the Democratic nomination for governor, has laid out a lofty education plan that includes tuition-free community college for North Carolina students. How to pay for this plan and its overall structure remains uncertain, but the flaws of similar plans—and more innovative ideas to improve access and outcomes for North Carolina’s community college students—are worth discussion.
What Faculty Unionism Really Accomplishes
I have spent nearly twenty years teaching at the City University of New York and to keep my job I have had no choice but to pay dues to CUNY’s faculty union, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC). Organized in 1974, the PSC was one of the first public university faculty unions. Since it is located in pro-union New York City, the PSC has had every opportunity to work with politicians to improve CUNY’s reputation, its students’ outcomes, and its faculty’s working conditions. It has failed on each of those measures. The main reason why is that the union leadership prefers to maximize its power and inflow of money at the expense of the students’ education and the well-being of many faculty members.
In Defense of NC GAP
UNC President Margaret Spellings has said that the North Carolina legislature’s proposed Guaranteed Admissions Program (NC GAP) has identified the right problem, but has come up with the wrong solution. Her vision is of a UNC system accessible to everyone and educating everyone—not just elites. That vision, however, should include NC GAP, which focuses on access—through the community college system—and success at many educational levels.
Five Ways You Can Improve Higher Education
At the Pope Center we spend a lot of time recommending changes to higher education policy. It’s in our name. But there are ways you—as a citizen, parent, student, or employer—can pressure higher education to change.