Red Balloon Resources

"June 13, 2010, 08:00 PM ET Pennsylvania's 14-Campus State System to Explore Shared Degrees Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education is considering pilot distance-learning, collaborative-degree programs across its 14 campuses in fields that are underenrolled on individual campuses, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. System leaders will present a plan to the faculty union on Monday that is expected to recommend such "shared programs" in areas like physics and foreign languages. Karen Ball, the system's vice chancellor for external relations, said officials would not identify the specific programs in the proposal before the faculty briefing."

"June 13, 2010 To Regulate For-Profit Colleges, Focus on What Matters By Alan Contreras As Robert M. Shireman, former deputy under secretary of education, departs for California following his efforts to strengthen regulation of for-profit colleges, those institutions have increased their already significant pressure to make sure that business as usual is not disrupted by new federal rules. Particularly at issue has been the "gainful employment" proposal, which would require for-profits to tie students' borrowing for college to their future earnings. The process by which for-profit colleges are making the case against such regulations is at once professionally necessary (if you are a for-profit institution) and mildly unseemly (if you are truly interested in helping students). For the past 11 years, I have regulated for-profit colleges for a state government. My office regulates other kinds of higher-education institutions, too, but these days most of the programs we approve are at for-profits. For that reason I have seen most of the problems that arise in the for-profit sector and have some thoughts as to how the federal government can accomplish its worthy goal of ensuring that students don't waste federal aid, get jobs in fields that interest them, and instantly become taxpayers."

"June 11, 2010 Bill Clinton Offers Encouragement to For-Profit Sector By Jennifer Gonzalez Former President Bill Clinton encouraged a large group gathered here for a luncheon at the annual Career College Association Convention to continue their work reaching out to poor students even though they get attacked for it. He praised the for-profit-college sector and told its leaders not to be discouraged. "Everybody needs a chance to live their dreams," he said, to loud applause. "Anything you can do to develop human potential is important." Mr. Clinton made those remarks during a question and answer period after giving the keynote speech at the close of the association's three-day convention on Friday. Over 1,000 people came to the luncheon to hear him speak. In his speech titled "Embracing Our Humanity" he described the world as unstable, inequitable, and unsustainable. However, he said, there is reason to be optimistic­-and education has a lot to do with that."

"For-Profit Colleges Are Projected to Sharply Increase Their Share of Adult Students By Kelly Truong For-profit universities will have 42 percent of the adult-undergraduate market by 2019, nearly doubling their current share, according to a new study by the consulting company Eduventures. Last year approximately one-quarter of all adult undergraduates were enrolled at for-profit universities. The study projects that, in the next 10 years, for-profit institutions will increase their share of the adult market by 14 percentage points."

"Veterans Use New GI Bill Largely at For-Profit and 2-Year Colleges Veterans Use Benefits of New GI Bill Largely at For-Profit and Community Colleges Thomas Slusser for The Chronicle For-profit colleges and community colleges were the most popular choices of students who used benefits from the Post-9/11 GI Bill this past academic year, the first in which the aid was available. The attendance patterns were largely similar to those of students who recently used aid under the previous version of the GI Bill.

"Burning Out, and Fading Away June 10, 2010 WASHINGTON -- College faculty aren't any more burned out than the rest of the U.S. workforce on average, but the struggles of the untenured on the tenure track are the most pronounced, according to a survey presented at an American Association of University Professors conference here Wednesday. In an analysis of professional burnout among professors, a Texas Woman's University Ph.D. candidate found tenure track professors had more significant symptoms of workplace frustration than their tenured and non-tenure track faculty counterparts. Janie Crosmer, who conducted the survey of more than 400 full-time faculty across the U.S. in December 2008, said she was unsurprised that the high stresses of pursuing academe's most coveted status led to burnout. As she discussed those stresses during a presentation Wednesday, audience members nodded in agreement, and one faculty member among them described the pursuit of tenure as "a living hell." "

"Wal-Mart to Offer Its Workers a College Program By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD and STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM Published: June 3, 2010 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Now on sale at Wal-Mart: college degrees for its employees. The purveyor of inexpensive jeans and lawnmowers is dipping its toe into the online-education waters, working with a Web-based university to offer its employees in the United States affordable college degrees. The partnership with American Public University, a for-profit school with about 70,000 online students, will allow some Wal-Mart and Sam's Club employees to earn credits in areas like retail management and logistics for performing their regular jobs. The university will offer eligible employees 15 percent price reductions on tuition, and Wal-Mart will invest $50 million over three years in other tuition assistance for the employees who participate. "

"Brands are a mighty force in this complicated world. They provide clarity and predictability, a way of quickly categorizing information. Branding seems a natural fit with the predominant method of organizing and governing higher education: creating institutions. Institutions have deep roots in our society and collective consciousness. They create tribes whose markings last a lifetime. The more people around the world who need and desire higher education, the more important institutional brands appear to be. Yet brands fit the reality of higher education less snugly than they seem to. Every Banana Republic in America will sell you the same merino sweater. Even closer parallels in the intellectual-property business have identifiable standards. A randomly selected album issued by Matador Records will almost surely feature fine indie rock. So too with Basic Books, with its roster of nonfiction books by distinguished authors, or the Met, with its renowned operas. What you get from a college, by contrast, varies wildly from department to department, professor to professor, and course to course. The idea implicit in college brands-that every course reflects certain institutional values and standards-is mostly a fraud. In reality, there are both great and terrible courses at the most esteemed and at the most denigrated institutions."

"Tenured Faculty in Nevada Lose Pay Protection The Nevada Board of Regents has changed its regulations so that if the state orders salary cuts of state employees, tenured faculty members are more likely to be included among those who lose some of their pay, The Reno Gazette-Journal reported. Current regulations require the board to declare a financial emergency before tenured faculty members can lose any of their salaries, and the board declined to do so during the last state-ordered pay cut. The shift means that any future cuts will affect tenured faculty and other employees consistently."

"A recent Inside Higher Ed article discussed the experimental work of Duke University's Cathy Davidson, involving students grading themselves. According to Davidson, when students are held responsible for assessing their own - and their peers' - writing performances and products, they learn to take more responsibility for their own learning, and consequently apply themselves much more energetically to their work. In response, Leonard Cassuto of Fordham University points to the fact that at least 15 of Davidson's 16 students in this experiment earned As for the course. Cassuto sees that as a problem and argues that professors need to be the ones saying "You did good work, but not the best in the class." I think I may have somewhat of a compromise when it comes to assessing student written work. I was in the same situation as many writing instructors for years. Students write, write, write. Then I would spend about five minutes per page supplying written commentary individually on each of their papers. But about a year ago I started doing things differently. And I don't plan on going back any time soon."

"University of the People (UoPeople) is the world's first tuition free online university dedicated to the global advancement and democratization of higher education. This tuition free university embraces the worldwide presence of the Internet and dropping technology costs to bring tuition free and university-level studies within reach to millions of people across the world. With the support of respected academics, humanitarians and other visionaries, this student body will benefit from tuition free university and represent a new wave in global education"

Executive Summary Fiscal 2010 presented the most difficult challenge for states' financial management since the Great Depression and fiscal 2011 is expected to present states with similar challenges. The severe national recession that most likely ended in the second half of calendar year 2009 has drastically reduced tax revenues from every revenue source. As state revenue collections historically lag behind any national economic recovery, state revenues will remain sluggish throughout fiscal years 2011 and 2012. State general fund spending has been so negatively affected by this recession that both fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010 saw declines in state spending. This two year decline is unprecedented and is only the second time that state general fund spending has declined in the history of the Fiscal Survey. Forty states decreased their general fund expenditures in fiscal 2010 compared to fiscal 2009. According to governor's recommended budgets for fiscal 2011, 13 states recommended lower general fund expenditures compared to fiscal 2010. In total, 44 states estimate that they will have lower general fund expenditures in fiscal 2010 compared to fiscal 2008. In fiscal 2011, 39 states recommended lower spending than in fiscal 2008. Fiscal 2008 serves as a baseline as it the last fiscal year on record in which states were not significantly affected by the national recession.

"The Solution They Won't Try June 4, 2010 By Bob Samuels If public universities are really committed to promoting access, affordability, and quality, they should consider increasing their funding by accepting more undergraduate students instead of raising tuition and restricting enrollments. While many would argue that higher education institutions are already unable to deal with the students they currently enroll, in reality, it costs most public research universities very little to educate each additional student, and the main reason why institutions claim that they do not get enough money from state funds and student dollars is that they make the students and the state pay for activities that are not directly related to instruction and research. To calculate how much public research universities spend on educating each undergraduate student, we can look at national statistics regarding faculty salaries and how much it costs a university to staff undergraduate courses. According to a recent study by the American Federation of Teachers, "Reversing Course," the average salary cost per class for a tenured professor at a public research university is $20,000 (4 classes at $80,000), and it costs $9,000 for a full-time non-tenure-track teacher and $4,500 for a part-time instructor to teach the same course."

Breaking Bad Habits: Navigating the Financial Crisis by Dennis Jones and Jane Wellman The "Great Recession" of 2009 has brought an unprecedented level of financial chaos to public higher education in America. Programs are being reduced, furloughs and layoffs are widespread, class sizes are increasing, sections are being cut, and students can't get into classes needed for graduation. Enrollment losses upwards of several hundred thousand are being reported-and only time will tell whether the situation is even worse. Reports of budget cuts in public institutions in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 percent (Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Florida, and California) are becoming common. Halfway through the 2009-2010 fiscal year, 48 states were projecting deficits for 2011 and 2012 (NASBO, 2009). Although states are reluctant to raise taxes, they evidently have less of a problem letting tuitions go up. And up they are going-California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Wisconsin, and Florida announced increases ranging from 10 to 33 percent. The normally tuition-resistant Florida legislature has authorized annual increases in undergraduate tuitions of 15 percent per year until they reach national averages for public four-year institutions. Around the country, the increases are setting off student protests reminiscent of the 1960's, variously directed at campuses, system boards, legislatures, and governors-complete with reports of violence and arrests. The New Normal Higher education has been through tough times before. The pattern of the last two decades has been a zigzag of reductions in state funds for higher education during times of recession, followed by a return to revenue growth about two years after the state coffers refill. But resources have not returned to pre-recession levels. So the overall pattern has been a modest but continuous decline in state revenues. Caption: Percent Change in Appropriations for Higher Education, 1960-2006

"With Curriculum, the Medium is the Message By Joshua Kim May 4, 2010 9:45 pm Three predictions about how changes in the curricular mediums will alter the learning process. Prediction 1: Curricular content will be consumed in shorter chunks, across more diffuse times, and in multiple places. Prediction 2: The amount of time any given individual (student) spends consuming curricular content will decrease. Prediction 3: The total amount of curricular content consumed will increase, as prior "non-students" and "student non-consumers" evolve into curricular consumers. All of these predictions of course follow Marshall McLuhan's statement that "the medium is the message," and were inspired by Monday's NYTimes story "Audiences, and Hollywood, Flock to Smartphones.""

"The Coming Meltdown in Higher Education By Seth Godin For 400 years, higher education in the United States has been on a roll. From Harvard asking Galileo to be a guest professor in the 1600s to millions tuning in to watch a team of unpaid athletes play another team of unpaid athletes in some college sporting event, the amounts of time and money and prestige in the college world have been climbing. I'm afraid that's about to crash and burn. Here's how I'm looking at it. Most undergraduate college and university programs are organized to give an average education to average students. College has gotten expensive far faster than wages have gone up. The definition of "best" is under siege. The correlation between a typical college degree and success is suspect. Accreditation isn't the solution, it's the problem."

"This highly entertaining and informative program explains to students why General Education is an important part.."

"Mission Creep in Higher Education By Stan Katz I have been following an effort begun by three outstanding academic psychologists to think about the relationship between ethics and accomplishment in professional lives. The scholars involved are Howard Gardner (Harvard School of Education), Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Claremont Graduate University), and William Damon (Stanford School of Education). They call their effort the "Good Work Project," and it has already resulted in several books, including Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi, and Damon's Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet (Basic Books, 2001). A helpful descriptive paper can be found online here. Howard Gardner is currently editing a new volume of essays to be published in several months as Good Work: Theory and Practice. He has shared with me Bill Damon's piece "Mission Creep and Bad Work in Higher Places," which I think brilliantly exposes the tension that the Good Work Project is exploring between excellence and ethics, between professional accomplishments and professional goals. The title of this essay tells the reader where Damon is going. He argues that "mission creep" is capable of producing bad, rather than good, work, using two examples of professionalism gone astray. The first wayward profession is higher finance and the second is higher education. His account of "low times in high finance" is that the financial industry has abandoned its appropriate mission "to deploy capital so that enterprises can produce goods and services in a profitable manner." Over the past couple of decades the industry has "departed from its ethical moorings" by, among other things, producing new financial instruments (derivatives) that cannot be properly valued-and that their holders discovered had little value. The problem here Damon contends, is that the financial industry lost sight of its "traditional public mission" as its leaders "gambled away the investments that they were respons

"For-profit colleges are facing increasingly stiff online competition from regional public universities. Those revenue-hungry campuses are using the degree programs to attract both local students and those hailing from beyond state and national borders. The University of Massachusetts at Lowell got into the game early, with deep distance-education programs that the university began 13 years ago. A more recent entrant is the State University of New York's Delhi campus, which has a new online nursing program that is competing with for-profits. Both universities are attracting students who might have gone to, or were attending, online programs at for-profit colleges."