0 Live By The Sword, Die By The Sword Redux

A USA Today investigation calls into question "dramatic" improvements in student test scores in select District of Columbia schools due to an "abnormal pattern" of erasures. This occurred during Michelle...

0 Let's Develop Solutions

Tired of the rhetoric? Want to take a stab at cutting costs in Wisconsin public higher education yourself-- or even try increasing productivity?The Lumina...

0 Students Keep Hope Alive

When I was in high school, I dreamed of going to UC-Berkeley. The stories of protests against social injustices conveyed by my AP History teacher got me excited. I was determined to attend a college...

0 Higher Ed Experts Weigh in on Proposed Split from UW System

In a terrific piece in Inside Higher Ed, Jane Wellman and Charles Reed explain why a break from UW System is not an appropriate means with which to obtain...

0 A Must Read

A huge public thank you to Paul Krugman for his outstanding defense of academic freedom in Monday's New York Times. As an untenured professor and regular blogger, I am eternally grateful that he -- at...

0 Stop the NBP: We Want Off!

The news that the Wisconsin GOP has begun to investigate UW-Madison faculty should cause all members of the UW-Madison community to take a gigantic pause and ponder the reality that if the New Badger...

0 The Academic Inquisition

The witch hunt is on. Last night, my colleague William Cronon -- a highly respected, tenured professor of history -- revealed that the Wisconsin Republican Party made an open records request for his...

0 Increasing % Pell-- What Does it Tell Us?

Over the last several years, UW-Madison has increased its tuition at a higher rate than its System peers, thanks to the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates. That shift has not been accompanied by a...

0 We Are All Badgers: Even Stanley Fish Came to His Senses

While some continue to wander in the desert, other folks are waking up to the realities of the ongoing assault on public higher education. Remarkably,...

0 UW-Madison Touts NBP Endorsement by Conservative

UW-Madison is touting a new endorsement of its New Badger Partnership from "Appleton resident Tim Higgins."That's nice, dear.Oh, except hang on a second....Who is Mr. Tim Higgins of Appleton? Not just...

0 TAA Opposes NBP

For immediate releaseMarch 21, 2011Contact:Kevin Gibbons, TAA Co-President: 608-520-3560Alex Hanna, TAA Co-President, 765-404-6996TAA Opposes New Badger Partnership and the Formation of UW-Madison as...

0 What Do You Mean by "Shared Governance?"

Whatever it actually means, "shared governance" seems awfully important to the faculty, staff, and students of UW-Madison. And so I want to bring to light an exchange that the Associated Students of...

0 This is What Communication Looks Like?

UW-Madison Chancellor Martin has received positive press for her willingness to use social media to communicate with her public. In 2009 she was described in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as open to...

0 Equity and Diversity Implications of the NBP

Interested in how the New Badger Partnership could affect the composition and quality of the student body? Of faculty?Please take a look at this memo I drafted for several campus committees, posted by...

0 More Hard Conversations We Need to Have

As we think about ways to cope with proposed cuts to the UW System budget, here are a few more facts to ponder:1. Costs-per-student are remarkably unequal throughout Wisconsin public higher education.According...

0 How Bad Are Things in Wisconsin, Really?

When things look terrible in your neck of the woods, it's always useful to take a look around-- it helps to put things in perspective.I've been hearing a lot about how Wisconsin has disinvested in higher...

0 A Grim Prediction

Mulling over the events of the last several weeks during a trip to New York, where I met with several sociologists who specialize in social movements...

0 I wrote this before I heard about the WIP

From yesterday's EPS conference... my remarks. I hope they prove useful in some way.Saving Public Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century: The...

0 Pick Your Poison

This is a strange new horrible world we live in. I have no idea what happen to democracy, but it's clearly left the station.So, let me try to apply a little "pragmatic idealism" to the current moment...

0 Taking Democracy For Granted

When citizens take democracy for granted, Wisconsin happens.The current Republican leadership of this state -- who a majority of the people elected, sad to say -- is not worthy of a banana republic,...

0 Taking a Stand

It is nice to see that more people at UW-Madison are waking up to the new reality-- Walker isn't the only one trying to end public institutions in this state.We are in a tough financial situation and...

0 Advocates for Whom?

The Badger Advocates formed this week to make sure the New Badger Partnership (NBP)--complete with split from the University of Wisconsin System--is passed in the Guv's budget this summer. Thank goodness...

0 Happening This Week

Dear readers,I want to personally invite you all to attend two terrific events happening on the UW-Madison campus this week. I will be speaking at both and hope to see many of you there.On Tuesday and...

0 Why Can't Democratic Leaders Break It Down Like Jon?

Jon Stewart makes a compelling defense of teachers on the March 3rd Daily Show. He juxtaposes numerous comments made on Fox News during the 2010 debate in favor of extending the Bush tax cuts for couples...

0 You Call Yourself An Optimist?

"I'm an optimist...tempers will cool." Scott Walker, delivering his big ol' budget speech, 3/1/2011There are too many important words being co-opted around these parts lately (more on "flexibility" "tools"...

0 Let's Be Human Together

Being part of history in the making is a powerful thing. It can make you feel like you are--finally--part of something real. And of course you are. The trick is recognizing what you are part of, and...