Category Archives: Corporate University

The University Has No Clothes

Posted on May 4, 2011 by | Comments Off on The University Has No Clothes

New York Magazine: The University Has No Clothes

The notion that a college degree is essentially worthless has become one of the year’s most fashionable ideas, with two prominent venture capitalists (Cornell ’89 and Stanford ’89, by the way) leading the charge.

Pity the American parent! Already beleaguered by depleted 401(k)s and gutted real-estate values, Ponzi schemes and toxic paper, burst bubbles and bear markets, he is now being asked to contend with a new specter: that college, the perennial hope for the next generation, may not be worth the price of the sheepskin on which it prints its degrees.

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Posted in Academics, Corporate University

Visions of a Bologna-Type Agreement Across the Americas

Posted on October 22, 2010 by | Comments Off on Visions of a Bologna-Type Agreement Across the Americas

The Chronicle: A Common Higher-Education Framework for the Americas Is Envisioned, but Some Wonder Who Might Lose Out

Some 700 university representatives from 40 countries have gathered here this week to work toward the creation of a common higher-education space of the Americas, similar to the Bologna agreement in Europe. Yet few of those attending have a clear idea of what such a system would entail, and some even question whether it is really desirable.

Proponents argue that greater regional integration is both inevitable and necessary. “We have to build this space, not to copy Europe, but for our own survival,” said Raúl Arias Lovillo, president of the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education, one of three hosts of the first Conference of the Americas on International Education.

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Posted in Corporate University, Economics, Governance, Government, International

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First Report From Research Center Created by U. of Phoenix Attacks Critics of For-Profit Education

Posted on September 3, 2010 by | Comments Off on First Report From Research Center Created by U. of Phoenix Attacks Critics of For-Profit Education

The Chronicle: First Report From Research Center Created by U. of Phoenix Attacks Critics of For-Profit Education

Two years ago, the founders of the University of Phoenix announced plans to create an independent, nonpartisan research institute to examine meaty educational issues affecting nontraditional students and for-profit higher education. Policy analysts, eager to dig into the trove of data that Phoenix and other proprietary institutions track about their students and teaching methods, cheered the news.

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Professors at U. of North Texas Are Required to Put in Daily Hours on Campus

Posted on September 3, 2010 by | Comments Off on Professors at U. of North Texas Are Required to Put in Daily Hours on Campus

The Chronicle: Professors at U. of North Texas Are Required to Put in Daily Hours on Campus

Faculty members in the University of North Texas’ College of Public Affairs and Community Service have new work rules this year. They are required to spend at least four hours a day, four days a week on campus, on top of the time they spend in the classroom, under a policy adopted last week.

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Posted in Corporate University, Working conditions

Texas A&M System Will Rate Professors Based on Their Bottom-Line Value

Posted on September 2, 2010 by | Comments Off on Texas A&M System Will Rate Professors Based on Their Bottom-Line Value

The Chronicle: Texas A&M System Will Rate Professors Based on Their Bottom-Line Value

The Texas A&M University System is moving ahead with a controversial method of evaluating how much professors are worth, based on their salaries, how much research money they bring in, and how much money they generate from teaching, The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports.

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Posted in Corporate University, Faculty

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The “Communication Thing”

Posted on September 2, 2010 by | Comments Off on The “Communication Thing”

Thanks to Philip K. for the tip.
YouTube Preview Image

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Posted in Administration, Campus Life, Corporate University, Just kidding, Shared governance, Working conditions

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Business Leaders Oppose Democratization of British Universities

Posted on March 9, 2010 by | Comments Off on Business Leaders Oppose Democratization of British Universities

The Guardian: Abolish Labour target of sending 50% to university, report urges
The government’s strategy has driven down standards and devalued degrees, say graduate recruiters

The national graduate recruitment exhibition at the Barbican in London last year. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Labour’s target of getting 50% of young people to go to university has driven down standards and devalued degrees – and the next government should abolish it, leading graduate recruiters argued today.

The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), which represents 750 employers, many of them blue-chip companies, also called for a phased increase in top-up fees. It said its proposals would force higher education institutions to be more open about the job prospects their courses offered.

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Posted in Corporate University, Equity, Students

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Universities, Corporatization and Resistance

Posted on February 7, 2010 by | Comments Off on Universities, Corporatization and Resistance

Cover Page

The latest issue of New Proposals: Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Inquiry examines the corporatization of the university and resistance to it.

I’m pleased to be the co-author, along with John F. Welsh and Kevin D. Vinson, of one of the articles in the issue:

To Discipline and Enforce: Surveillance and Spectacle in State Reform of Higher Education
John F. Welsh, E. Wayne Ross, Kevin D. Vinson

Abstract

Drawing from concepts developed by the social theorists Michel Foucault and Guy Debord on the exertion of political power in contemporary society, this paper analyzes the restructuring of public higher education systems initiated by governors, legislatures and state higher education boards. The paper argues that the primary features of restructuring are (1) increased surveillance of the behaviors and attitudes of the constituents within colleges and universities by the state and (2) the spectacularization of reform by state governments. Surveillance and spectacle aim at the disciplining of individuals and enforcement of state policy and are forms of direct and ideological social control. They imply a transformation of relations between institutions and the state, particularly the subordination of the higher learning to state policy objectives.

Here’s the full table of contents:

New Proposals
Vol 3, No 2 (2010)
Universities, Corporatization and Resistance

Introduction
New Perspectives on the Business University
Sharon Roseman

Comments and Arguments
An analytical proposal for the understanding of the Higher Education European Space. A view from the University of Barcelona
Edurne Bagué, Núria Comerma, Ignasi Terradas

Resistance One-On-One: An Undergraduate Peer Tutor’s Perspective
Andrew J. Rihn

Articles
To Discipline and Enforce: Surveillance and Spectacle in State Reform of Higher Education
John F. Welsh, E. Wayne Ross, Kevin D. Vinson

Reviews and Reflections
Reflections on work and activism in the ‘university of excellence.’
Charles R. Menzies

Review of Peter Worsley, An Academic Skating on Thin Ice (Berghahn Books, 2008)
Sharon Roseman

The Exchange University: Corporatization of Academic Culture
Dianne West

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Outsourcing Language Learning

Posted on January 22, 2010 by | Comments Off on Outsourcing Language Learning

Inside Higher Ed: Outsourcing Language Learning

Almost a decade ago, Drake University stirred up controversy by eliminating its foreign language departments and thereby the jobs of faculty in French, German and Italian, even those with tenure.

Traditional lecture and language lab instruction was replaced with the Drake University Language Acquisition Program (DULAP): small discussion groups led by on-campus native speakers, a weekly session with a scholar of the language, a one-semester course on language acquisition and the use of several Web-based learning technologies.

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Posted in Academics, Corporate University

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Labor College’s Deal Questioned

Posted on January 19, 2010 by | Comments Off on Labor College’s Deal Questioned

Inside Higher Ed: Labor College’s Deal Questioned

At many faculty gatherings these days, one hears quips and complaints about for-profit higher education. Professors who value what they consider essential and eroding traditions — a significant tenure-track faculty and the centrality of the liberal arts, for example — resent the adjunct-heavy, career-education dominant model of higher education that is widely used in for-profit higher ed. As a result, many faculty advocates are skeptical not only about for-profit higher education, but about the growing number of alliances between nonprofit colleges and for-profit colleges. A common criticism of these partnerships is that they shift the focus away from traditional academic programs into areas that are seen as more lucrative (and that generally are more career-oriented).

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Posted in Corporate University

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Posted on January 15, 2010 by | Comments Off on

Inside Higher Ed: A Historic Union?

A month after completing its first foray into online higher education by acquiring the distance education provider Penn Foster, the Princeton Review has set its next goal: to help create the largest online college ever. And it thinks it can do it in five years.

The company announced yesterday that it is entering into a joint venture with the National Labor College — an accredited institution that offers blended-learning programs to 200 students, most of whom are adults — to establish what would be called the College for Working Families. The college would offer courses tailored to the needs of union members and their families, beginning this fall.

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National AAUP Joins Criticism of Provost on Nike Board

Posted on January 11, 2010 by | Comments Off on National AAUP Joins Criticism of Provost on Nike Board

Inside Higher Ed: National AAUP Joins Criticism of Provost on Nike Board

The national American Association of University Professors is today joining criticism by its University of Washington branch of the decision of Provost Phyllis Wise to join the board of Nike — a decision that has become increasingly controversial. Wise has said that she will help encourage responsible corporate governance, but faculty critics have said that her role is problematic, given that the university has contracts with the company and many on the campus want more scrutiny of Nike’s labor practice. The national AAUP statement says: “We agree that recusing herself from board discussion of Nike’s contractual relations with the university does not provide a sufficient firewall between the provost and the ethical and political implications of Nike’s international financial and labor practices. And we agree that a chilling effect on faculty research into Nike’s practices is entirely possible if the university’s chief academic officer is identified with Nike’s board.”

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Posted in Administration, Corporate University

For-Profit Colleges Capitalize on Pell Grant Revenue

Posted on January 6, 2010 by | Comments Off on For-Profit Colleges Capitalize on Pell Grant Revenue

The Chronicle: For-Profit Colleges Capitalize on Pell Grant Revenue

Proprietary colleges top a list of postsecondary institutions whose students received the most Pell Grants in 2008-9.

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Posted in Corporate University

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Critics swoosh down on UW Provost Phyllis Wise over Nike role

Posted on December 15, 2009 by | Comments Off on Critics swoosh down on UW Provost Phyllis Wise over Nike role

Seattle Times: Critics swoosh down on UW Provost Phyllis Wise over Nike role

University of Washington Provost Phyllis Wise is facing growing criticism from students, faculty and lawmakers for taking a seat on the corporate board of Nike, which has a contract with the UW worth at least $35 million.

University of Washington Provost Phyllis Wise is facing growing criticism from students, faculty and lawmakers for taking a seat on the corporate board of Nike, which last year signed a contract with the UW worth a minimum $35 million to the university.

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Posted in Athletics, Corporate University

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Another One Bites the Dust: Ambitious online consortium, U21 Global, folds up the tent

Posted on December 9, 2009 by | Comments Off on Another One Bites the Dust: Ambitious online consortium, U21 Global, folds up the tent

Inside Higher Ed: Another One Bites the Dust

Of all the projects to build international online universities, U21 Global might have been the most ambitious. Universitas 21, the international consortium of highly reputed research universities that opened U21 Global in 2001, predicted the program would enroll 500,000 students and be netting $325 million annually by 2011.

But the program has been fraught with financial losses over its eight-year run, and currently enrolls only 5,000 students. A number of affiliated universities have walked away, including four in the last two years.

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Posted in Corporate University

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Professors union declaration: State university system caters to corporations

Posted on December 7, 2009 by | Comments Off on Professors union declaration: State university system caters to corporations

Contra Costa Times: Professors union declaration: State university system caters to corporations

SACRAMENTO — Leaders of a statewide professors union issued a statement of position, or white paper, Tuesday claiming the California State University is abandoning its mission of providing a good liberal-arts education to qualified students seeking one.

Instead, they said, CSU administrators seem to be re-making the university as a profit-seeking institution that stresses preparing students not primarily for good citizenship, but mainly to meet the needs of corporation

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U. of Washington Provost Is Named to Nike Board

Posted on November 23, 2009 by | Comments Off on U. of Washington Provost Is Named to Nike Board

The Olympian: U. of Washington Provost Is Named to Nike Board

SEATTLE – The provost at the University of Washington has taken on a second job as a director on the corporate board at Nike.

Phyllis Wise is Washington’s No. 2 administrator and makes $535,000 in salary and deferred compensation. Wise said she has not asked Nike about compensation for being on the board, but last year the company paid its 10 directors between $132,000 and $217,000 each in cash and stock according to Nike’s annual report.

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Posted in Administration, Corporate University

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Austrailia: Tenth school for overseas students collapses

Posted on November 9, 2009 by | Comments Off on Austrailia: Tenth school for overseas students collapses

Sydney Morning Herald: Tenth school for overseas students collapses

THE reputation of Australia’s $16 billion overseas education industry has been dealt another blow by the sudden collapse of the Global Campus Management Group, which ran four colleges in Sydney and Melbourne with about 3000 students.

The collapse is particularly embarrassing for the Federal Government, which has been working hard to rebuild the industry’s battered image, as hundreds of the the Sydney-based students were placed in the school by the Department of Immigration after their previous school, Global College, went broke last year.

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U. of Phoenix Expects to Spend Up to $80.5-Million in Settling Whistle-Blower Cas

Posted on October 28, 2009 by | Comments Off on U. of Phoenix Expects to Spend Up to $80.5-Million in Settling Whistle-Blower Cas

The Chronicle: U. of Phoenix Expects to Spend Up to $80.5-Million in Settling Whistle-Blower Case

The parent company of the University of Phoenix expects to spend no more than $80.5-million to settle a contentious six-year-old whistle-blower lawsuit filed by two former admissions counselors, the company announced on Tuesday.

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Posted in Corporate University

U. of Alaska Rejects Retaliation Claim From Scientist Who Criticized Big Oil

Posted on October 26, 2009 by | Comments Off on U. of Alaska Rejects Retaliation Claim From Scientist Who Criticized Big Oil

The Chronicle: U. of Alaska Rejects Retaliation Claim From Scientist Who Criticized Big Oil

A prominent University of Alaska marine-conservation specialist appears to have lost a battle against changes in his working conditions that he had blamed on his institution’s unwillingness to alienate the oil industry, which holds considerable sway in his state.

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Posted in Corporate University

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