John William Pope Center Guest Editorial
The university system in the United States has accomplished a great deal of good, but we believe that higher education in the United States, including North Carolina, has strayed from its chief goals of scholarly inquiry and responsible teaching.
All too often, universities allow teaching to become shallow and trendy, failing to challenge students intellectually and disparaging traditional principles of justice, ethics, and liberal education. Students know little about the history of their country or the institutions that led to this nation’s prosperity and liberty. Students can get by without taking rigorous courses, and non-academic activities overshadow scholarship. As a result, many college graduates have poor skills in computation, communication, and logical analysis. Faculty are allowed excessive latitude in what they teach and often get away with little teaching at all, because research is emphasized. Taxpayers as well as students and their families pay hefty prices to support a system that often appears to provide little educational value.
To address these and other problems, the Pope Center conducts studies in areas such as governance, curriculum, financing, access, accountability, faculty research, and administrative policies. We explore ways to increase the accountability of trustees, administrators, faculty, and students. And we engage in the broader dialogue about how to improve higher education around the nation.
In these endeavors, we are motivated by the principles that have traditionally guided public policy in the United States: limits on government; freedom to pursue goals through voluntary means, both for-profit and nonprofit; accountability through private property rights; and the belief that competition is an excellent regulating force.
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The North Carolina Community College System is poised to become a national leader in career and college readiness
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The North Carolina Community College System is poised to become a national leader in career and college readiness
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The University of Tennessee’s flagship campus in Knoxville has, like nearly all large schools these days, an Office for Diversity and Inclusion (ODI)
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The University of Tennessee’s flagship campus in Knoxville has, like nearly all large schools these days, an Office for Diversity and Inclusion (ODI)
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I have spent nearly twenty years teaching at the City University of New York and to keep my job I have had no choice but to pay dues to CUNY's faculty union, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC).
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I have spent nearly twenty years teaching at the City University of New York and to keep my job I have had no choice but to pay dues to CUNY's faculty union, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC).
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UNC President Margaret Spellings has said that the North Carolina legislature's proposed Guaranteed Admissions Program (NC GAP) has identified the right problem, but has come up with the wrong solution. Her vision is of a UNC system accessible to everyone and educating everyone—not just elites
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UNC President Margaret Spellings has said that the North Carolina legislature's proposed Guaranteed Admissions Program (NC GAP) has identified the right problem, but has come up with the wrong solution. Her vision is of a UNC system accessible to everyone and educating everyone—not just elites
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At the Pope Center we spend a lot of time recommending changes to higher education policy. It's in our name. But there are ways you-as a citizen, parent, student, or employer-can pressure higher education to change.
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At the Pope Center we spend a lot of time recommending changes to higher education policy. It's in our name. But there are ways you-as a citizen, parent, student, or employer-can pressure higher education to change.
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Recently some influential members of Congress complained about the supposed unfairness of colleges and universities who raised tuition at an excessive rate, despite their gigantic endowments
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Recently some influential members of Congress complained about the supposed unfairness of colleges and universities who raised tuition at an excessive rate, despite their gigantic endowments
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Public and private universities in the United States are regulated to the nth degree
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Public and private universities in the United States are regulated to the nth degree
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A few years ago, I went back to school. I was in my 60s and nearing retirement as president of the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy
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A few years ago, I went back to school. I was in my 60s and nearing retirement as president of the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy
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Politicians around the nation like to say that they have held down tuition at their state universities. Michigan's are no different, and to validate their claim, in 2011 they added incentive-based funding to university appropriations.
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Politicians around the nation like to say that they have held down tuition at their state universities. Michigan's are no different, and to validate their claim, in 2011 they added incentive-based funding to university appropriations.
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The University of Pennsylvania has promised $100 million to increase faculty diversity. Yale has just pledged $50 million, Johns Hopkins $25 million. These sums are large, but the goal has been an object of urgent attention for decades
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The University of Pennsylvania has promised $100 million to increase faculty diversity. Yale has just pledged $50 million, Johns Hopkins $25 million. These sums are large, but the goal has been an object of urgent attention for decades
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Nearly three months have passed since student protests upended the institution where I teach law, the University of Missouri (Mizzou). There have been several changes on the Columbia campus.
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Nearly three months have passed since student protests upended the institution where I teach law, the University of Missouri (Mizzou). There have been several changes on the Columbia campus.
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Beginning in the 1960s, a movement developed in academia with the aim of transforming scholarly pursuits into instruments of social change
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Beginning in the 1960s, a movement developed in academia with the aim of transforming scholarly pursuits into instruments of social change
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Next month will be the tenth anniversary of the spring break party that triggered the Duke lacrosse case
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Next month will be the tenth anniversary of the spring break party that triggered the Duke lacrosse case
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Just how bad colleges have become when it comes to free speech and toleration for anyone who disagrees with those who hold power cannot be underestimated
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Just how bad colleges have become when it comes to free speech and toleration for anyone who disagrees with those who hold power cannot be underestimated
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The increased use of non-tenure track faculty by universities has drawn condemnation from many entrenched in the seniority system, but critics may be ignoring the more complex realities and distinctive needs of 21st Century higher education.
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The increased use of non-tenure track faculty by universities has drawn condemnation from many entrenched in the seniority system, but critics may be ignoring the more complex realities and distinctive needs of 21st Century higher education.
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As medieval Europeans placed their hope for salvation in the church and donated vast sums for the construction of splendidly ornate cathedrals, many modern Americans place their hope for a future better world in higher education and give accordingly
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As medieval Europeans placed their hope for salvation in the church and donated vast sums for the construction of splendidly ornate cathedrals, many modern Americans place their hope for a future better world in higher education and give accordingly
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As the stock market gyrates and talk of a new recession begins, many universities have reason to worry
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As the stock market gyrates and talk of a new recession begins, many universities have reason to worry
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As a liberal who grew up near California's Bible Belt in Orange County, I was brought up to believe that the enemies of reason were the Christian creationists who taught that the world is 6,000 years old and that biologists can't explain the evolution of complexity without invoking a divine creator
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As a liberal who grew up near California's Bible Belt in Orange County, I was brought up to believe that the enemies of reason were the Christian creationists who taught that the world is 6,000 years old and that biologists can't explain the evolution of complexity without invoking a divine creator
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In Great Britain, as in the United States, a growing moral consensus and a lack of political diversity among faculty and administrators is moving higher education away from the pursuit and transmission of knowledge in favour of the promotion of politically correct values
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In Great Britain, as in the United States, a growing moral consensus and a lack of political diversity among faculty and administrators is moving higher education away from the pursuit and transmission of knowledge in favour of the promotion of politically correct values
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Today, colleges and universities are rife with initiatives that have little to do with enhancing student learning. Extravagant recreation facilities and luxurious dormitories seem to grab headlines on a regular basis
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Today, colleges and universities are rife with initiatives that have little to do with enhancing student learning. Extravagant recreation facilities and luxurious dormitories seem to grab headlines on a regular basis
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Affirmative action is before the Supreme Court again this week, as it rehears arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas
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Affirmative action is before the Supreme Court again this week, as it rehears arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas
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Looking back at all that happened in higher education this year is enough to make your head spin. One minute, state politicians are finally making good policies; the next, university officials are caving to irrational demands
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Looking back at all that happened in higher education this year is enough to make your head spin. One minute, state politicians are finally making good policies; the next, university officials are caving to irrational demands
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Over a long teaching career, I have seen a lot of change in our colleges and universities-some of it good, but much of it not. In the not-good category I would put the decline of our commitment to educate our young people for American citizenship
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Over a long teaching career, I have seen a lot of change in our colleges and universities-some of it good, but much of it not. In the not-good category I would put the decline of our commitment to educate our young people for American citizenship
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Many students and their families are starting to wonder about the value of going to college at every expense only to come back home afterwards and settle into a mundane job that high schoolers could do.
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Many students and their families are starting to wonder about the value of going to college at every expense only to come back home afterwards and settle into a mundane job that high schoolers could do.
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According to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro catalog, the course "ELC 381, The Institution of Education" is "required of students seeking teacher licensure." Unfortunately, the course often goes far beyond what is politically acceptable for an education course at a public university.
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According to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro catalog, the course "ELC 381, The Institution of Education" is "required of students seeking teacher licensure." Unfortunately, the course often goes far beyond what is politically acceptable for an education course at a public university.
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Rarely have I read a book about higher education that is so varied as Michael Roth’s Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters
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Rarely have I read a book about higher education that is so varied as Michael Roth’s Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters
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America's national obsession with raising our "educational attainment" level leads politicians and bureaucrats to focus on the silliest of things. Lately, that has been college accreditation.
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America's national obsession with raising our "educational attainment" level leads politicians and bureaucrats to focus on the silliest of things. Lately, that has been college accreditation.
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I am a community college failure. Or perhaps I should say, I helped fail one community college. Decades ago, after receiving my bachelor's degree, I enrolled in a few community college math and statistics classes to prepare for graduate school. Had I not taken those classes, I doubt that I would hav
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I am a community college failure. Or perhaps I should say, I helped fail one community college. Decades ago, after receiving my bachelor's degree, I enrolled in a few community college math and statistics classes to prepare for graduate school. Had I not taken those classes, I doubt that I would hav
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Four-year universities in the United States are gaining a reputation for forcing left wing viewpoints on their students. Blatant examples of indoctrination such as the University of Delaware's residential life program often attract a great deal of attention when exposed.
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Four-year universities in the United States are gaining a reputation for forcing left wing viewpoints on their students. Blatant examples of indoctrination such as the University of Delaware's residential life program often attract a great deal of attention when exposed.
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The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013, along with the massacre of nine black churchgoers last summer in Charleston, South Carolina, created racial hysteria and gave rise to an anti-intellectual movement that has now extended to American campuses
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The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013, along with the massacre of nine black churchgoers last summer in Charleston, South Carolina, created racial hysteria and gave rise to an anti-intellectual movement that has now extended to American campuses
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Since 2005, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement has been on American college campuses recruiting students to join a movement to isolate Israel.
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Since 2005, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement has been on American college campuses recruiting students to join a movement to isolate Israel.
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John Fennebresque's friends and coworkers call him "Czar." That appears to be a fitting nickname, for his imperious exercise of authority was his downfall as chairman of the University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors.
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John Fennebresque's friends and coworkers call him "Czar." That appears to be a fitting nickname, for his imperious exercise of authority was his downfall as chairman of the University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors.
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Politicians are usually eager to be generous with the money taken from taxpayers, especially when it helps them gain favor with some interest group
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Politicians are usually eager to be generous with the money taken from taxpayers, especially when it helps them gain favor with some interest group
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The Pope Center publishes this paper as part of our continuing effort to spur transparency in higher education. North Carolina citizens need to know if the UNC system is fulfilling its mission of discovering, creating, transmitting, and applying knowledge. The new edition of...
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The Pope Center publishes this paper as part of our continuing effort to spur transparency in higher education. North Carolina citizens need to know if the UNC system is fulfilling its mission of discovering, creating, transmitting, and applying knowledge. The new edition of...
