Campus Protests Sweeping China Spread to U.S.
"China’s strict zero-COVID policy, still in effect nearly three years into the pandemic, has become a lightning rod for criticism of the government. University campuses have been at the vanguard of these public displays of dissent, which gained momentum after an apartment fire Thursday in the northwestern city of Urumqi killed 10 people who many say could have been saved if not for strict lockdown measures." – Inside Higher Ed, 11/30/22
How Our Higher-Education System Could Put Students First
"In short, colleges and universities do not put their students first. That is the point of a recent book by Paul LeBlanc, president of the University of Southern New Hampshire. In Students First: Equity, Access, and Opportunity in Higher Education, LeBlanc explains why our higher-education system so badly underperforms and why we need an educational 'ecosystem' in its place." – James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, 11/30/22
Higher Ed Groups Push for Permanent DACA Fix
"A host of higher education associations, institutional leaders and advocates are calling on Congress to pass legislation this year to provide protections for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. ... Members of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration are flying to Washington, D.C., this week to meet with lawmakers and make their case." – Inside Higher Ed, 11/30/22
U of Calif. Academic Workers Reach Deal; Strike Continues
"Postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers across the University of California system reached tentative contract deals Tuesday, 15 days into an ongoing strike that has severely challenged campus operations, including instruction. News of the deals came several days after more than 230 professors in the system pledged publicly not to teach or submit grades during the strike." – Inside Higher Ed, 11/30/22
Why doesn’t the Education Department collect racial data on college applicants?
"James Murphy, senior policy analyst at think tank Education Reform Now, in a new report calls for the U.S. Department of Education to take on this task. He argues the Education Department should ask more granular questions about applicants and admitted students, like their race and ethnicity, in an annual survey administered to colleges." – Higher Ed Dive, 11/29/22
Stanford Is Investigating Its Own President Over Research-Misconduct Allegations
"Stanford University’s board of trustees is overseeing an investigation into the university’s president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, over allegations that neurobiology papers that he co-authored contain multiple manipulated images, a university spokeswoman told The Chronicle on Tuesday night." – Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/29/22
College completion rates stall at 62.3%, report finds
"The six-year completion rate for undergraduates who started college in 2016 reached 62.3%, the highest level this decade but only 0.1 percentage point above the previous year’s cohort, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center." – Higher Ed Dive, 11/29/22
The Zombie Survival of Affirmative Action
"The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule against affirmative action programs this term, finding they violate the Constitution because they deliberately discriminate by race. If you think that ruling will stop universities from treating racial groups differently, think again. Admissions officers are already hard at work figuring out ways to evade the forthcoming decision." – RealClearPolitics, 11/29/22
Ohio State President Kristina Johnson plans to leave after less than 3 years
"Ohio State University President Kristina Johnson will step down after commencement in May, ending her tenure after less than three years at the 67,772-student Big Ten institution. The Columbus Dispatch reported Monday that the university’s board of trustees asked Johnson to step down after an outside firm reviewed concerns raised by staff." – Higher Ed Dive, 11/29/22
The Decline of Higher Education
"If we fast forward to the present, one feature of what’s happening on the campuses looks similar: that crucial analytical function is still getting stifled whenever it offends an equally shallow local moralism. But there’s a startling difference: the actors have changed places. It’s now the professors who do what the small-minded small-town worthies used to do ... " – City Journal, 11/29/22
