WHEN THE BOSTON GLOBE reported Sunday that many colleges and universities throughout the country were reversing their plans to reopen in-person, only Berklee College of Music had taken that step in the Boston area. Just wait a week. The Globe reported Wednesday that Smith College in Northampton and Regis College in Weston both scaled back their plans […]
Higher education
Posted inThe Download
Colleges reconsider reopening plans
When the Boston Globe reported Sunday that many colleges and universities throughout the country were reversing their plans to reopen in-person, only Berklee College of Music had taken that step in the Boston area. Just wait a week. The Globe reported Wednesday that Smith College in Northampton and Regis College in Weston both scaled back their plans […]
Posted inEconomy
Coronavirus campus unrest
APRIL, TRADITIONALLY A time of excitement and possibility in higher education, is instead proving to be the cruelest month for US colleges and universities. High school seniors normally would be weighing their options after receiving college admission decisions, while campuses buzz with visits from excited would-be students. Instead, prospective freshmen are wondering whether their first […]
Posted inThe Download
Saving Hampshire College
Can Hampshire College rise, if not from the dead, from the higher ed death watch list? Harvard Business School professor Clay Christensen has predicted that as many as half of all US colleges and universities will close or go bankrupt over the next decade, and a year ago it looked like Hampshire would be one […]
Posted inEducation
Can Hampshire College be saved?
CAN HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE rise, if not from the dead, from the higher ed death watch list? Harvard Business School professor Clay Christensen has predicted that as many as half of all US colleges and universities will close or go bankrupt over the next decade, and a year ago it looked like Hampshire would be one of […]
Posted inEducation
Legislature should look to private donations to fund UMass
HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING and the cost of attending the University of Massachusetts generated significant controversy in the budget just passed by the Massachusetts Legislature and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker. While UMass received funding increases in the 2020 fiscal year budget, overall per-student state funding for public higher education has decreased by more than 30 percent since 2001. The result is […]
Posted inOpinion
Hey, college presidents, speak up!
COLLEGE PRESIDENTS HAVE long used the bully pulpit that comes with their office to shape public opinion. That is, until now. Today, college leaders remain silent, having turned their sights inward to their own campuses. Their desire to avoid any press has diminished their moral authority and role as important thought leaders. In the past, […]
Posted inOpinion
Meehan puts students, faculty last
MARTY MEEHAN’S FAILURES as president of the University of Massachusetts system have been big news lately. A controversial land grab to benefit Amherst at the expense of other campuses and a no-confidence vote by UMass Boston faculty were just the start. Now, he’s facing another controversy at UMass Lowell, where he was chancellor before taking over the entire system. […]
Posted inOpinion
A letter to Larry Bacow
DEAR LARRY, As you begin your tenure as president of Harvard University next week, I wish you the very best. We appreciated all you did when you were the president of Tufts University; you really helped to make Tufts a better place. Having read your May interview with outgoing President Drew Faust in the Harvard Gazette, I appreciate that […]
Posted inEducation
Meehan, UMass Boston faculty at war
This story was updated with information indicating the UMass Boston Faculty Council did not make disparaging comments about the three candidates for UMass Boston chancellor. THE FACULTY AT UMASS BOSTON, angered and threatened by the purchase of Mount Ida College in Newton by UMass Amherst, retaliated by scuttling the search for a new chancellor at […]