Topic: policy & research
It’s Not Just in the Numbers: Making Campus Diversity Work Post-Schuette
As the legal and political issues continue to unfold over diversity in admissions policies, we have to remember: It doesn’t matter who comes to your campus unless you make sure students are, in fact, benefiting from diverse environments. The mere presence of minority students in a classroom, laboratory, residence hall or elsewhere on campus does not automatically result in educational benefits.
Patent Troll Legislation Could Hinder University Research and Innovation
The ability of universities to continue generating important discoveries and innovations in areas such as health and technology, research that often leads to life-saving inventions such as new drugs or groundbreaking ways to cultivate arid soil in developing countries, may rest on the outcome of a legislative battle now in Congress.
U.Va. Climate Change Case Highlights Need to Protect Unpublished Research Data
The high-profile lawsuit involving former University of Virginia professor Michael Mann’s climate change research communiqués has made its way to the Supreme Court of Virginia. The case shines a light on the need for public institutions to examine whether state laws protect them against being compelled to disclose unpublished research data, scholarly communications and other internal documents.
Exploding Myths: What’s Right With Regional Accreditation
Regional accreditation—long an overlooked corner of higher education—has lately come under fire from multiple directions. It is time to address these concerns head on, and determine whether the current structure of regional accreditation, organized into six regions and seven accrediting commissions, is worth preserving or whether it is time to try something new, writes Ralph A. Wolff.
The Times Takes on STEM. What Can Higher Ed Do?
The New York Times editorial board recently took on the issue of diversity—or the lack thereof—in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as part of a larger education series. So What role should higher education play in broadening STEM participation?
Debating the Necessity for “Positive Discrimination” at the Oxford Union
The legal and societal debate over the higher education community’s use of race and ethnicity as one way to pursue diversity on college campuses isn’t confined to the United States, even if the terminology can be a bit different. Read about Ada Meloy’s experience at a recent Oxford Union debate, “This House believes positive discrimination is a necessary evil.”
Now What? Some Insights From OECD’s Adult Skills Survey
We’re not learning only in the classroom anymore—and maybe we never were. A new Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report shows that throughout the world, the workplace is a critical learning environment. The question is, what does that mean for educational policy and adult learners?
Higher Education Has Changed. Will the Higher Education Act?
The perennial joke about any reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) is that it’s like a Russian novel: It’s long, it’s boring, and by the end, everyone winds up dead. But as yet another HEA reauthorization rolls around, it’s a good bet that many of us will think there’s a fair amount of truth in that old chestnut, writes ACE Senior Vice President Terry Hartle.