Commentaries | Archive

Showing records: 1 to 30 out of 228

Switching Things Up
I decided to make my class schedule suit my own needs, however unusual they are.... More »
September 03, 2010

In Defense of Pervasive Sectarianism
A recent ruling by the North Carolina Court of Appeals places a needless burden on the state’s religiously based private colleges.... More »
August 30, 2010

In With the In-Crowd
Erskine Bowles' replacement as president of the UNC system shares his North Carolina establishment insider status.... More »
August 27, 2010

An Entrepreneurial Gift
Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" may be a college student’s only introduction to the forces underlying prosperity.... More »
August 22, 2010

Looking for JOBS in All the Wrong Places
Two new North Carolina laws intended to spur the future economy by promoting science education are likely to backfire.... More »
August 19, 2010

An Economist’s Defense of Tenure
Tenured faculty are like unionized airline pilots, and the university system muddles along about as well as the airlines do.... More »
August 15, 2010

A New (but Old) Way of Reaching Today's Students
The medieval understanding of the purpose and role of education could help us teach today’s puzzling student generation.... More »
August 12, 2010

Fayetteville State Opens Up the Classroom
One UNC university takes transparency seriously by making the content of its courses available to students and the public.... More »
August 08, 2010

The Brave New World of Medical School Admissions
Medical schools are addressing the looming shortage of primary care doctors by shifting admissions standards in favor of "social accountability."... More »
August 01, 2010

Preparing the Scapegoats for Slaughter
The president of an online school watches the government’s unfolding campaign against schools that seek profits, and is aghast.... More »
July 30, 2010

UNC's Middle Class Squeeze
UNC officials and the state legislature decide to empty the pockets of students who pay their own way instead of cutting waste.... More »
July 25, 2010

John Galt to the Rescue
Atlas has ceased to “shrug,” and is now forcing his way back into the public discourse, and campus liberals are not pleased.... More »
July 23, 2010

Can't Start a Fire without a Spark
College students are not as well prepared as in the past, so they must be dealt with differently.... More »
July 18, 2010

Adam Smith's Message to Faculty
The growing trend of using full-time non-tenure-track faculty as teaching specialists is a potential boon to research universities.... More »
July 16, 2010

UNC’s 2010 Budget: It’s All Greek to Me
North Carolina’s legislators ignored the hard lessons forced on Greece due to fiscal irresponsibility in the 2010-11 higher education budget.... More »
July 11, 2010

Student Evaluations Promote Mediocrity
Today’s evaluation of professors according to their popularity with students pales in contrast to the in-depth professional evaluation of teaching of the past.... More »
July 08, 2010

Life Management 101
It takes awhile to learn to manage money, things…and even one’s time. But there are surprising rewards, such as good grades.... More »
July 04, 2010

Open Checkbook for Unchecked Growth
An attempt to limit enrollment growth in North Carolina state universities was shot down by legislators at the last minute--unfortunately.... More »
July 02, 2010

The Gift of Academic Maturity
A business professor argues that students should take a "gap year" before attending college to gain real-life experiences.... More »
June 28, 2010

The Vision Thing
The 2008 financial crisis, which still lingers in the higher education community, should not have been a surprise. Higher education has a financial cycle—trough, recovery, peak and decline—that mirrors the business cycle. Neither corporate nor university executives can predict with any certainty when the next downturn will occur, but institutional leaders could have prepared their institutions by containing their ambitions, creating safeguards, and developing contingency plans.... More »
June 25, 2010

Staying Civilized Amidst Campus Barbarians
A college student offers some advice on keeping to the high road when others partake of the low life.... More »
June 21, 2010

The Sad History of Freshman Reading
Freshman readings range from political propaganda to feel-good fluff.... More »
June 18, 2010

Leading Legislators Astray
A policy report about higher education by a leading think tank gives state legislators misleading information.... More »
June 13, 2010

Standing Up to My Alma Mater
One graduate finds out that she can support her school without giving administrators free rein to use the money as they wish.... More »
June 10, 2010

Grifter U.
Higher education's increasing reliance on government money is attracting innovation and creativity--of the worst type.... More »
June 06, 2010

A Free-Market College That Means Business
Northwood University espouses the philosophy of free markets and expects students to understand how they work.... More »
June 03, 2010

Don’t Go to College to Learn Economics
People with a high school education have as much economic sophistication as college graduates do.... More »
May 30, 2010

North Carolina Bucks the Trend
While commencement speakers across the nation talked politics, North Carolina’s choices were more restrained.... More »
May 27, 2010

Reading Between the Lines
A recent UNC study on K-12 education highlights the conflict between two competing instruction methods.... More »
May 24, 2010

The Three-Day Wonder
The North Carolina Senate rams through a $19 billion budget that shores up UNC finances with taxpayer funds.... More »
May 21, 2010