“Platinum Pay in Ivory Towers” Op-Ed Shows Frank Bruni is on to Something – That’s Good

The excessive salaries of some college presidents send a message at odds with higher education. Source: Platinum Pay in Ivory Towers – NYTimes.com I commented as follows. “..ostensible mission of academia..” Great word, “ostensible”. Here is how they get away with fooling us. “..advantage can..be taken of [students] by unscrupulous instructors and institutions..the student estate […]

Maybe One Reason Why So Many Graduates Don’t Get Good Jobs.

Campus clubs spring up for early birds to rouse classmates; 9 a.m. is ‘really late’ Source: In China, Sleepy University Students Experience a Wake-Up Call – WSJ I commented. “They should come here for college. According to the well-researched Academically Adrift, American students only need to study about 13 hours a week, leaving lots of time […]

Frank Bruni Thinks Learning LibArts Is Important? I Do Too, But Where Do You Go To Do That?

See From ‘Hamlet’ to Hillary – NYTimes.com  for Bruni’s article. My comment: “As a former professor – and observer of higher education – I think that in 2015 you would be hard put to find the type of courses that your examples took, not in 2015. I recently posted (on my blog inside-higher-ed) a syllabus from […]

What Was Intro PolSci Like in 1972 at U. of Houston?

U of H was mainly a commuter school back then.  I was working full time and took courses.  Two semesters of political science were required.  From my perspective, the first semester was fairly easy.  The second wasn’t so easy.  Keep that in mind.   Here are the required readings and a few of the assignments.  (The first page is there […]

Pressure to Please Students – It’s All Over the Place

Dan Laroque responded (on the WSJ site)to my previous post.  I think it is important because, I have only taught at 3 places.  From that and newspaper articles, books, and data, I deduce behavior elsewhere.  His comment adds to our understanding. Here it is. “By the time I retired I was fully disgusted with fake teaching.  […]

Chemistry Departments Try to Attract More Students by Retooling the Major – WSJ

Chemistry Departments Try to Attract More Students by Retooling the Major – WSJ. Good or Bad?  I’m not a chemist, so I don’t know.  But I’m always concerned.  It really depends on the university. I wrote, ” I don’t know chemistry, but I know colleges.   Don’t trust – do verify!   For example, a peer […]

Demand for Skilled-Worker Visas Exceeds Annual Supply – WSJ

Demand for Skilled-Worker Visas Exceeds Annual Supply – WSJ. My comment and explanation: “In a nutshell, these two items explain this story. 1. Washington U. in St. Louis, “make it the normal ‘cookbook’ course..so we don’t have trouble [with students]…” (Chair of Math Dep’t speaking to me about a critical course for engineers); on another […]

A Must Read From The Economist (This Week’s Cover Story)

Universities: The world is going to university | The Economist. This link is to the introduction. Here is the link to the complete report. http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21646985-american-model-higher-education-spreading-it-good-producing-excellence I commented on the introduction. “”…price becomes a proxy for quality. By charging more, good universities gain both revenue and prestige…” I am a former professor. I taught math at one […]

More On Holden Thorp

Interview: Jay Smith And Mary Willingham, Authors Of ‘Cheated’ : NPR. I commented. ” I’m surprised that no one has mentioned what happened to Holden Thorp, the Chancellor of UNC. First, though, here is a quote from Greg Easterbrook’s review of “Cheated” – a quote that, from my reading of the book, I agree with. […]