Trends in Higher Education
Alumni are pushing for reform across the country.
* When Dartmouth College was established in 1891,
the leadership and major donors agreed that half of the trustees would
be elected by Alumni. But now the power elite has tried to
change the rules. (Read
more.)
* Alumni of Hamilton College have established the Alexander
Hamilton Institute, a center to revive the marketplace of ideas
at Hamilton College. In spite of an overwhelming vote by the faculty
to condemn the center-to-be, the Institute has opened its door on private
property across from the campus. (Read
more.)
* In a lawsuit against Princeton University, the Robertson
family claims that their donation of $35 million to the Woodrow Wilson
School at Princeton to prepare students for careers in government service
was diverted to projects completely unrelated to its mission. (Read
more.)
* The College of William & Mary announced Feb. 12, 2008 that its Board of Visitors had elected not to renew the contract of its president, Gene R. Nichol. (Read
more.)
* It's been 16 years since Texas billionaire Lee Bass gave $10 million to Yale to start a Western Civilization program, and 12 years since he took it back. (Read
more.)
* The Center for Excellence in Higher Education helps donors use philanthropy
as a lever to reform higher education. Reform includes a greater emphasis
on core curricula, a free-market understanding of economics, a more balanced
approach to politics, affordable tuition, tenured faculty who spend more
time in the classroom, greater transparency in university governance,
and an end to grade inflation. (Read more.)
* Congress is proposing to strip the U.S. Department of Education of
its authority to issue regulations holding accrediting
agencies accountable for ensuring the quality of programs and instruction at higher education
institutions - a move that leaves students and taxpayers in the dark about what they're actually getting for their money. (Read
more.)
* The University of Colorado Board of Regents fired Ethnic Studies Professor
Ward Churchill, approving the recommendation of then-President Hank Brown.
(Read more.)
* Harvard University has overhauled its curriculum, the biggest in
three decades, putting new emphasis on religious and cultural issues,
the sciences and overcoming U.S. "parochialism." (Read
more.)
* Penn State University has a new policy that allows students the right
to seek resolution of instructor behavior that violates the University's bar against professors indoctrinating students with "ready-made conclusions on controversial subjects." (Read
more.)
* The University of Illinois dropped its 81-year-old
American Indian mascot, Chief Illiniwek, making the school eligible to
host postseason NCAA championship events. (Read
more.)
* Only 21 cents of every higher education dollar over the past generation
has actually gone toward student instruction. Source: Richard
Vedder, Going Broke By Degree, AEI
Press, June 2004
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