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HOW THE LEGISLATURE ANNEXED PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION TO PARTISAN POLITICS

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Contributor "Will Davie's Ghost" analyzes what is arguably the most significant instance of politicization of public higher education in the 45 year history of the UNC system. HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE JONES STREET DOMINION As the end of the recent legislative session fades into the past, North Carolinians should know that moment also marks the establishment of a new era for public higher education in this state: lawmakers finally swept aside or transgressed nearly all the checks and balances protecting our universities from partisan political interference. These new statutory provisions are so broad in reach, and ill-conceived in substance, that members of the University community are still struggling to make sense of the implications and intent of this historically unprecedented arrogation of power. The full force of these changes will not be felt for months, and in some cases for years, but when they are citizens will wonder how one of the best systems of ...
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Silent Sam beats Carol Folt and her feel good gaffe

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IHE says: Stunning Departure at Chapel Hill My choice of headline might have been more anodyne: "Carol Folt breaks the law and flees the scene." So much for commitment to the integrity of responsible academic governance.  Opponents of Silent Sam should be more careful about what they wish for. But on to the analysis. __________________________________ This is way more complicated than knee jerk encomiums for Folt's (irresponsible) action. Indeed, if I didn't know better, I'd be tempted to argue that Folt has done more for the reactionary right than they can do for themselves. But it is pretty obvious that she hasn't really learned much in her short years in NC, so I won't go there. Here is the deal: The neo-authoritarians in legislature passed this monuments law in 2015 to punish Chapel Hill -- and the Faculty Assembly warned the Board of Governors and the Chancellors that it would bring chaos to the campuses. At the time, Tom Ross was a lame ...
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No good work goes unpunished

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NC has what is arguably the best system of public higher education in the country, yet (for the fifth year running) there wasn't a single NC public university on the Chronicle of Higher Education's 2015 " Great Colleges to Work For ." (Kudos to Wake Tech for making some of the earlier lists for 2 year institutions, but the absence of NCCC system schools in recent rankings only reinforces the concerns raised here). This of course stands in sharp contrast with the great work that NC staff and faculty have done to make many UNC schools among the most highly ranked institutions -- from a student's perspective. What drives this gap? As I have argued elsewhere in this blog, there is a sense in which the UNC system is (one of) the best in the country despite the problematic policies and laws of the NC legislature and the UNC Board of Governors. There is a sense in which UNC staff, faculty, and administrators have insulated the University from the destructive effec...
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