Links for 3/18/10

Thomas Bartlett

The U.S. Department of Education publishes an online directory of organizations that can "provide information and assistance on a broad range of education-related topics." But how trustworthy is that directory?

A recent search of the Education Resource Organizations Directory revealed a number of organizations that might raise eyebrows. Among them was Victorville International University…
Victorville is on the State of Oregon's list of "unaccredited degree suppliers."

Also listed was the American Association for Higher Education & Accreditation, which is not a recognized accreditation body…

Joshua B. Powers and Eric G. Campbell

We think both sides are wrong in their embrace of the profit motive as a stimulator for university research innovation…

what our research evidenced was the level of investment needed to realize a particular odds-for-success gain and that the marginal benefits of investment fall off noticeably at the above inflection points. Furthermore, our research also revealed that the longer a university subsidized its technology transfer program (i.e., costs exceeding revenues), the less likely it was that the program would ever realize financial success…

David Glenn

Last October, Madhukar Vable said farewell to two teaching prizes that he had won a decade earlier. He packed the plaques in envelopes and shipped them back to the university and state offices that had awarded them.

His packages included long letters about the condition of higher education. Too many colleges, Mr. Vable wrote, chase prestige and research grants at the expense of undergraduate instruction—and his own institution had penalized him because he had not done the same. "A dedicated teacher is becoming THE SUCKER in the system," he wrote. "I will continue to do my best in teaching and scholarship, but I am no longer willing to perpetuate the hypocrisy that excellent teaching ... is still valued at Tech."…

"Is High-Risk Drinking at College on the Way Out?" is the headline to a piece by Brandon Busteed, and this sentence from the piece is why I don’t think the answer is yes:

Students who abstain or drink moderately see college as a precious opportunity to prepare for the real world, as opposed to a four-year vacation from it.