Policies // Browsing posts in Policies
Inclusiveness
As many of my readers know, we have a new strategic vision for the University that includes a number of interesting elements. One feature, which I’ve written about before, implies a commitment to growth which we’re now trying to translate into more specific strategic planning. A related feature involves inclusiveness. Our President notes publicly that ...
Challenge and Opportunity in the Global Agenda
I’ve written before about the uphill aspect of expanding global goals in American higher education: the fact that U.S. faculty are less enthusiastic about global agendas than counterparts elsewhere, the lack of any formal government pressure or encouragement (again, a marked contrast to the situation in China, Russia and elsewhere). Elements of the situation are ...
Big Mason or Bigger Mason
As a University, we’re about to turn from the process of crafting a new strategic vision, to an actual planning process based on that vision. One of the most interesting planning targets has to be size of student body. The President’s Vision statement clearly implies growth, but there are no specifics attached. It’s time to ...
Promotion and Tenure
At the Provost’s level, this is promotion and tenure decision season at George Mason, and given how large P and T looms for all participants some comments seem inescapable. Obviously, I have no particular cases, past or present, in mind in these comments, but some general remarks could be useful. This is also, not coincidentally, ...
College Sports
These comments will surprise no likely reader, I admit in advance. They belabor the obvious. But sometimes it seems to me we need to dwell on the obvious in hopes that — despite all indications to the contrary — reality can be redone. It’s long been clear that the position of sports in American higher ...
The Vanishing Race
For some years educational institutions have been experiencing a fairly steady increase in the percentage of students who choose not to declare race. We had thought this trend might be modified by new census categories that allow multiple race identifications, but it has not. Now the trend is affecting faculty, bigtime. This year about 200 ...
Budgets and Tuitions
A recent visit from a legislative official—seemingly a nice, responsible guy and a friend of Mason—brought comments about his bafflement about how higher education costs keep soaring, tuitions keep rising, there must be a storehouse of waste and inefficiency. I was, frankly, nonplussed—not at the comments, which are now common enough, but at the source, ...
Accreditation
American accreditation procedures are unusual, to say the least. Rather than federal government oversight—which we’re all supposed to say would be horrible, and indeed perhaps it would be—basic accreditation falls to regional associations, essentially governed by a mixture of federal rules, fears of possible federal rules, and membership stipulations. Membership is from the participating universities ...
Will the Real George Mason…
The past decade plus has been a dynamic period for George Mason. We’ve grown, added programs, added facilities, etc. There is every reason to take pride in the varied achievements and the basis they provide for the future. It’s also important to note that in many ways we’ve been trying, in this same period, to ...
Background Checks
I know I opined on this recently but thought an update would be in order, and I welcome further reactions. It’s not necessarily a huge issue, but a tough one. We are under increasing pressure to administer background checks to all newly-hired faculty (currently we only do selected, as in fields involving younger children or ...
Recent Posts
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Good Things
Ends of semester are always a bit tense, particularly in the spring....
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When It's Time to Leave Academic Administration
What follows involves a delicate topic, probably insufficiently discussed because of its...
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Inclusiveness
As many of my readers know, we have a new strategic vision...
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