Is Affirmative Action Still Effective?

As the twentieth century begins and in midst of Ferguson conflict and Selma fiftieth memorial march, a legitimate question emerges as to whether or not Affirmative Action and its application are still effective and compulsory. The historical background, legal ground and current social changes introduce many challenges to the half-a century-old policy. The authors wrote a solid reading of the policy from an academic perspective which presents a trial to understand the past, the present and the future for this act. 

This paper traces the elements of Affirmative Action from past to present towards a new approach for the act, using an analytical framework called the Archeology Method (Foucault, 1972). This qualitative method reviews past discourse and events, evaluating artifacts in order to assimilate different historical processes and draw conclusions for what is happening in the present.

 The authors modeled Affirmative Action in a multi-dimensional approach to purposefully serve the core cause of the act without violating human diversity. The suggested model draws a roadmap for college systems to establish admission policy to meet current diverse culture dynamics and to assure fair practices among students’ population.  

Authors: Dr. Hussein & Dr. Wiggin 

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Is it Time the United States Support Online Learning Institutions?

Denmark's minister for higher education Sofie Carsten Nielsen met with Korean officials in an effort to develop new online learning technology (1). She believes that Korean technology matched with Denmark's education excellence will lead to new platforms and media for online education. Such development at the state level is likely to spur innovation in the online educational field making it more relevant for knowledge hungry youth.

American officials should consider the merits of online education and seek to find ways to foster development in that sector to stay ahead of the curve and ensure their place as educational leaders. Failure to develop and innovate the field for relevance could mean loosing our competitive place in the educational fields as other nations put forward the time and effort to grow.

The U.S. has its own field of online education that has spawned from the for-profit industry. Even though such universities are still in the process of development and growth the traditional sector has come to accept online educational models as a method of lowering their cost and possibly improving their educational reach. What was once disdained in the United States as "Cracker Jack" education is now leading the pack.

This doesn't mean we are doing enough to develop and create stronger platforms. Those nations that are able to develop strong online educational systems are also able to influence world education and thought. In other words, as universities globalize through the use of technology they will naturally impact the collection, analysis, and distribution of new thoughts and ideas. They will become leading sources of international knowledge and logic.

This level of information management is only possible if online education becomes a major focus for U.S. educational development. Innovating the system requires the development of technology and supporting online research that is converted to practical ideas. Instead of finding ways to limit online education it is better to encourage the creation of greater technology, more research, and higher levels of functioning that will someday reach across the globe.

There are many universities out there in the for-profit and non-profit sectors that are trying to develop the industry and raise its educational quality. They are putting forward time, effort, and doctors that are researching astounding concepts such as classroom management, information transference, student retention, online research methods, university operations, intercultural groups, and many other important topics.

Even though online education is relatively new and has been on the scene since somewhere around the 1980s it is now the leading growth factor in the field. Institutions that were shunned just as little as a few years ago may find themselves in the near future the point man for global education. Supporting these institutions through intellectual, social and governmental pathways helps in ensure the U.S. doesn't slip behind other nations less opposed to new educational models.

Is the Higher Education Recession Over Or Just Starting?

A survey by Inside Higher Education shows a fundamental difference in economic assumptions of governors and college presidents with those who run the academic affairs such as provosts. Some are hailing the end of the economic downswing in 2008 while those who run the academics do not feel that this downturn is over. The perspectives are interesting and offer some insight to the debates going on in higher education. 

According to the survey only 5% feel strongly that the economic downturn is over at their institutions. Another 18% feel that for the most part it is over. A total of 21% strongly disagree and another 37% somewhat disagree. Only 26% of private nonprofit institutions agree that the recession for their schools is over. Public institutions were even more likely to believe the downturn will continue. 

The provosts feel that concepts such as MOOCs are unlikely to produce meaningful change. There will also be greater accountability on higher education to match effectiveness with finance. They are unenthusiastic about proposed changes for measuring school effectiveness at a national level but are excited about competency based programs.

Programs like STEM, professional degrees, and online programs are likely to receive more investment. It appears that schools are trying to receive additional funds and allocating those funds to programs that are likely to draw and retain students. Faculty and administrators have a divide in the way they view higher education and the changes that are needed.

The study was based on 842 provosts and has a margin of error around 3%. You may want to read the report yourself as there is a greater amount of information it offers. You can find some dissonance of perspective based upon where one sits within the higher education economic chain. For example, college presidents view the situation much differently than provosts and faculty members.

The report is a mixed bag. Certainly there is an adjustment in the perceived value of some programs versus others. Who can argue with STEM? Online programs are becoming a more common way to augment costs and attract students. Even though MOOCs have limited value they should be seen as higher education experimentation and may lead to either new adaptations or beneficial for continual professional education where a defined degree is not needed. In any event, the cost is rising and this is going to eventually run into the brick wall of public financing. Perhaps this will be when changes occur at a quickening pace.

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