Month: October 2016

Implications of the For-Profit Failures

ACADEME BLOG

Education Dive has linked to an article in the New York Times on the chronology of the collapse of ITT Tech and has provided the following “Brief” of the article’s findings:

“The New York Times examines the chronology of ITT Technical Institute’s historic collapse, which began in 1999, when a former employee sued the school for paying incentives for predatory recruiting practices.

“Dan Graves helped the federal government to uncover a business plan which had yielded more than $12 billion in revenue between 2000 and 2016, with 70% of its revenue coming from federal student aid amounting to more than $400 million in defaulted student loans.

“The prevalence of the abuse was allowed to go on, thanks in large part to the lobbying power of the for-profit sector. According to the Times, lobbyists hired by ITT received almost $1 million in payment for federal engagement since 1998.”

Certainly, the details…

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An Hour of Television on Higher Ed Issues from a Faculty Perspective

ACADEME BLOG

If you have been reading the posts in my series “Mismanagement and No Meaningful Oversight” (I have actually gotten several items behind in terms of re-posting those items from our chapter blog to this blog), you are aware of some of the issues that have been reaching critical mass at Wright State University but that are reflective of problems at most universities across the country.

This past Thursday, DA-TV in Dayton devoted an hour to a panel discussion about the issues at our university but very much tying those issues to broader statewide and national issues.

Although I was invited to participate on the panel, I was attending a professional conference. After viewing the video, I think that you will agree that my absence may have been something of a blessing because I cannot imagine that I could have spoken as articulately and as effectively as those AAUP leaders and…

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Professor Proposes New Vision for University of Alaska

ACADEME BLOG

A professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has proposed a new vision for the University of Alaska, which will focus on the core mission of the University of Alaska and help UA raise over $900 million in additional research and tuition revenues over the next ten years.

A new proposal, developed by UAF neuroscience professor Abel Bult-Ito, calls for restructuring of the University of Alaska. Its goal is to strengthen the academic mission of research, teaching, and service as well as enhancing student services while streamlining administrative functions.

The restructuring will involve elimination of redundant statewide services and mid-level management at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Fairbanks and Southeast campuses over the first three years, which will result in a significant cost savings and increased efficiencies in administrative functions.

The savings will then be reinvested in new faculty, teaching and research support staff, and increased number of scholarships for…

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The Highest Paid Public Employees

ACADEME BLOG

According to an article written by Evan Comen, Thomas C. Frolich, and Michael B. Sauter for 24/7 Wall St., the highest paid public employee in 39 of the 50 states is either a football coach or a men’s basketball coach.

  1. Alabama
    > Highest paid employee: Nick Saban
    > Position:College football coach
    > Salary: $7.09 million
  1. Alaska
    > Highest paid employee: Keith Meyer
    > Position:President, Alaska Gasline Development Corporation
    > Salary: $550,000
  1. Arizona
    > Highest paid employee: Sean Miller
    > Position:College basketball coach
    > Salary: $4.95 million
  1. Arkansas
    > Highest paid employee: Bret Bielema
    > Position:College football coach
    > Salary: $3.96 million
  1. California
    > Highest paid employee: Jim Mora
    > Position:College football coach
    > Salary: $3.35 million
  1. Colorado
    > Highest paid employee: Mike MacIntyre
    > Position:College football coach
    > Salary: $2.01 million
  1. Connecticut
    > Highest paid employee: Kevin Ollie
    > Position:College basketball coach

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Faculty at Western Carolina U Exert Singular Oversight on Koch Center

ACADEME BLOG

Here are excerpts from two articles written by Becky Johnson for the Smoky Mountain News [http://www.smokymountainnews.com/], passed on to me by Connor Gibson of UnKoch My Campus:


WCU Faculty Closely Monitoring $2 Million Koch Gift

Faculty members have lauded administration for giving them a seat at the table. That wouldn’t happen at most universities.

“I think it is a sign that faculty voices are appreciated here. It is a compliment for Western,” said Chris Cooper, department head of Political Science and Public Affairs. “At the university at large, I think there is an appreciation of diverse viewpoints and faculty governance. I think we can see that in this process.”

WCU Faculty Set New Precedent for Standing Up to Political Influence of Big Donors

While the committee agreed oversight measures were needed to thwart the center from promoting a single school of thought, the question was how. At the…

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The Political Divide in the Perception of Higher Ed

ACADEME BLOG

Here is a chart summarizing a recent Pew Research survey on how political ideology affects the perception of American institutions:

pew-survey-on-public-regard-for-institutions

The complete survey, including a link to a detailed breakdown of the results in PDF, can be found at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/26/from-universities-to-churches-republicans-and-democrats-differ-in-views-of-major-institutions/

Education Dive has provided the following “highlights” of and “insights” about the survey:

Dive Brief:

A new study from the Pew Research Center shows Democrats and Republicans differ greatly on their perception of the value of higher education in the nation’s positive forward movement. 

A majority of Republicans (45%) say that higher education has a negative effect on the country, while 72% of Democrats believe colleges and universities have a positive impact.

The disparity in impact perspective was the second highest in the survey, behind the differences of opinion on the impact of the national media.

Dive Insight:

It is possible for citizens with two different ideologies to be correct…

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