Catching up on news

• “Taking on Accreditors and Faculty.” Ry Rivard. Inside Higher Ed (April 11, 2013):

The measure would allow Florida officials to accredit individual courses on their own — including classes offered by unaccredited for-profit providers.
“We’re saying the monopoly of the accrediting system is not designed for the world of MOOCs or other individual courses,” said Republican State Senator Jeff Brandes, the bill’s sponsor.

[See also “United Opposition,” Ry Rivard, Inside Higher Ed (March 28, 2013), about a similar bill in California.]

• “U of A staff and students increase pressure on province to reverse budget cuts.” Sheila Pratt. Edmonton Journal (April 9, 2013): Wildrose education critic Bruce McCallister: “In the house, I asked the minister — ‘What is so wrong you have to take the hatchet and redefine what they do?’ I never got an answer. ”
• “Alberta’s war on advanced education will backfire.” Robert Murray. Winnipeg Free Press (April 2, 2013):

Let’s call a spade a spade — the proposals being imposed on post-secondary institutions have absolutely nothing to do with improving an educational model, nor are they based on any empirically-tested reformation program that has been successful elsewhere. These initiatives are being enacted for two very specific reasons — budget mismanagement and an impending labour shortage.

• “Saint Louis U. Threatens Faculty With Copyright Suit Over Campus-Climate Survey.” Peter Schmidt. The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 2, 2013): “Efforts to measure the mood of Saint Louis University’s faculty members might in fact have worsened it, as the administration has threatened a faculty leader with a copyright lawsuit if he circulates his own version of a survey about the campus climate.”
• “Under California Bill, Faculty-Free Colleges Would Award Exam-Based Degrees.” Allie Bidwell. The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 2, 2013): “A bill being considered this month by the California Assembly would create a fourth division of the state’s higher-education system that would provide no instruction and would issue college credit and degrees to any student who could pass a series of examinations.”
• “AAUP Calls on Colleges to Calculate Adjuncts’ Work Hours Fairly.” Nick DeSantis. The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 2, 2013): “The American Association of University Professors on Tuesday issued a statement calling on colleges to devise “fair methods” for calculating the working hours of adjunct instructors, after the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed rules earlier this year that sought to advise colleges on how to do so for the purpose of providing part-timers with health benefits.”
• “United Opposition.” Ry Rivard. Inside Higher Ed (March 28, 2013): “[F]aculty representatives are concerned California lawmakers are preparing to hand over untold thousands of students to for-profit companies that have not proven their courses can pass muster.”
• “Dal faculty wants more funding for programs, less for new buildings.” Clare Mellor. The Chronicle Herald (March 27, 2013): “Millions of dollars are being diverted from academics at Dalhousie University to pay for shiny new buildings, says its faculty association.”
• “Alberta demands universities streamline programs, co-operate on transfer credits.” James Bradshaw. The Globe and Mail (March 27, 2013):

The five-page draft letters [detailing government plans] come only two weeks after Premier Alison Redford’s government slashed schools’ operating grants by 7 per cent as part of its recent hard-luck budget. As universities grapple with the fallout, Thomas Lukaszuk, the new advanced education minister and Deputy Premier, is open about capitalizing on the cutbacks as a “catalyst” for changes to the system.

• “Sussex University students stand up against privatisation: Students take over sections of the campus in protest at outsourcing of services such as catering to private providers.” Rebecca Ratcliffe. The Guardian (March 10, 2013): “At issue are two clashing visions of the university experience – one that sees students as consumers and another that rejects the commercialisation of learning and everything that goes with it.”

State of the Union

• “Why are many academics on short-term contracts for years? More than a third of academics are on temporary contracts as universities casualise their workforces.” Anna Fazackerley. The Guardian (14/2/13):  “If a student asked me whether they should do a PhD, sadly, I’d say take a very careful look at the other options. When you’re young you think ‘the job insecurity won’t happen to me’ – but it will.”
• “Internationalisation has corrupted higher education.” Roger Y. Chao Jr. University World News (26/1/13):256: “Corruption in higher education should not only be seen in terms of misuse of research funds, presentation and construction of fraudulent data or inequitable admissions practices. It should also include micro-level university-related practices in learning, assessment and certification of students and graduates respectively.”
• “Education’s investment metaphor misses the point.” Grace Karram. University World News (26/1/13):256: “It seems that as money becomes scarce, post-secondary education advice is infused with investment metaphors: Should institutions invest in high-performing students, permanent instructors or high-enrolment programmes? This is problematic, as it presents a false sense that education funding is a zero-sum game in which administrators must finance the most lucrative venture.”