On Aug. 19, The New York Times published an op-ed titled "Stop Colleges from Hoarding Cash," written by Victor Fleischer, a law professor at the University of San Diego. Fleischer's primary point is that very wealthy universities (he focused on Yale, and its $24 billion endowment) spend more money compensating their fund managers than they […]
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh has been recognized as the third greenest college in America — and the greenest college in Wisconsin — by the Sierra Club, the largest grassroots environmental organization in the country. The Sierra Club noted the university's success in water and energy conservation, wind-powered electricity and recycling. At UW Oshkosh, it takes […]
In the eyes of many, higher education has become an industry focused on a singular goal—career training—and college students these days forgo the big questions about who they are and how they can change the world. In The Purposeful Graduate: Why Colleges Must Talk to Students about Vocation (University Of Chicago Press, 2015), Tim Clydesdale […]
Picture this: sticky notes on every screen. And if there are none on the monitor, lift up the keyboard. Nothing there? Try opening the pencil drawer. Unfortunately, it's not hard for the wrong person to find these notes, and it's the passwords written on these innocuous slips of paper that worry IT administrators at every […]
Earlier this year, CUPA-HR—an HR association for higher education—conducted its 2015 Employee Healthcare Benefits in Higher Education Survey. Of the 525 public and private institutions that responded, 70 percent offer healthcare coverage to same-sex domestic partners. However, that number will likely increase after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in June to legalize same-sex marriage. […]
For all the advantages of online learning—flexibility, personalization and affordability among them—there can be downsides for some students. Traditional, on-campus students can take advantage of a wide variety of social and extracurricular opportunities, but online students may feel isolated and disconnected from their peers and from their college or university—and risk losing the engagement so crucial […]
For centuries, colleges and universities have been exempt from paying property taxes, and there's no good reason to change. But that's not stopping people from trying. From Connecticut to California, critics are questioning property tax exemptions while arguing that colleges are getting a free ride on the backs of taxpayers. With states and municipalities still […]
Decades ago, U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell eloquently stated: "The strength of the United States is not the gold in Fort Knox or the weapons of mass destruction we have, but the sum total of the education and character of our people." Shortly thereafter, Pell backed up his statement by sponsoring legislation to provide grants to […]
One of the more demanding jobs in higher ed belongs to the provost—the chief academic officer. With ever-widening fields of responsibility, the position often consists largely of on-the-job training. James Martin and James Samels, authors of UB's online "Future Shock" column, expect their new book will help change that. The Provost's Handbook: The Role of […]
From tuition payments at the bursar's office to book purchases at the campus store, there is frequent credit card and debit card activity at higher ed institutions. And a big change in the world of card-based payments has come about in the form of EMV. New to the United States, this technology introduces a dynamic […]
