This position paper discusses the changes to the UC Academic Senate’s regulations on academic freedom and on policies for teaching potentially contentious or political issues, arguing that the new regulation has not been adequately considered in light of its detrimental effect on academic...

It is a clouded crystal ball into which we peer to see the future of our universities and colleges, cloudy because of the uncertainties of the development of the new technologies of information and communication. The only thing we can be sure about is that these developments will have large and...

This paper reflects on some of the main issues facing research universities as they strive to simultaneously complete the creation of systems of mass higher education and also move towards Internet-based universal access. It examines these issues from an American perspective, but in comparative...

Throughout the world, interest in gauging learning outcomes at all levels of education has grown considerably over the past decade. In higher education, measuring “learning outcomes†is viewed by many stakeholders as a relatively new method to judge the “value added†of...

Higher education has become the focus of increased public debate. Stewardship of public resources, student achievement or the lack thereof, relationships and “partnerships†with business and industry in the area of research, substantial increases in tuition and fees, public perception...

The French Government has had a paradoxical relationship with globalization. Globalization is perceived as both a threat to react against and a cradle for new policy ideas. French policymakers have a love-hate relationship with the European higher education reforms that started in the 1990s, a...

In the midst of the global recession, how have national governments viewed the role of higher education in their evolving strategies for economic recovery? Demand for higher education generally goes up during economic downturns. Which nations have proactively protected funding for their...

In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), Justice Sandra Day O’Connor conjectured that in 25 years affirmative action in college admissions will be unnecessary. We project the test score distribution of black and white college applicants 25 years from now, focusing on the role of black-white family...

There is an extensive literature on the productivity of universities. Little is known, however, about how different types of leaders affect a university’s performance. To address this question, this paper blends quantitative and qualitative evidence. First, I establish that the best...

Civic engagement is moving to the forefront of higher education discussions as universities seek ways not only to intensify students’ learning experiences but also to forge stronger links with the communities they are meant to serve. Within the University of California system, there are...