Volume 59, Issue 42: July 19, 2013

News

• The Hidden Hand

  A look inside the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s $472-million (so far) effort to remake higher education, and at why many in academe are not cheering.

• In the Foundation ‘Echo Chamber’

  Major grant makers have synchronized their goals for higher-education reform.

• How Gates Shapes State Higher-Education Policy

  Working alongside the Lumina Foundation and through intermediaries like Complete College America, the foundation has seen unprecedented results.

• Strategic Philanthropy Comes to Higher Education

  The Gates foundation is notable not only for its size but also for its approach: Define strategic goals, work closely with grantees, and expect measurable results.

• To Shape the National Conversation, Gates and Lumina Support Journalism

  Between 2006 and 2012, according to The Chronicle’s analysis, Gates gave $4.7-million in media-related grants to support coverage that included higher education.

• ‘Next Generation’ Grant Program Reveals a Corporate Approach

  The effort is an unusual philanthropic model: It awards money to for-profits as well as nonprofits, and Gates stays engaged even after the grants are given.

• Commentary: The Gates Foundation’s Uncertain Legacy

  How much have the traditional advantages of family and wealth really changed in the sweepstakes of attending and graduating from college?

• Commentary: The Price of Philanthropy

  Reform efforts that shift the institution of public higher education, but not private higher education, deserve close scrutiny.

• States Strike Budget Bargains With Higher Education

  In many states, a larger appropriation is part of a compact that lawmakers are making with college leaders: We’ll give you money if you freeze tuition.

• 2 States Expand Gun Rights on Campuses but Resistance Grows Elsewhere

  Proponents saw victories in Kansas and Arkansas, but opponents think more guns could make mass shootings much worse.

• Stunned by Accreditor, City College of San Francisco Faces Hard Choices

  Options like merging with an accredited institution, or fighting back, come with challenges of their own.

• Humanities Scholars See Declining Prestige, Not a Lack of Interest

  The disciplines “are now a smaller part of a much bigger entity,” observes one scholar. And the debate continues.

• No-Confidence Votes Are No Longer a Death Knell

  Faculty members are changing and expanding the ways the actions are used on college campuses.

• Everybody’s Go-To Methodical Mind

  Mark Kantrowitz, the student-aid guru, packs up his hairless cats and origami for a new job, in Las Vegas.

• Hunter College’s Chief Remains a Lightning Rod

  A dozen years after her controversial appointment, Jennifer Raab remains a polarizing figure on the City University of New York campus.

• In India, Academics Cry Foul Over Publishers’ Copyright Lawsuit

  Three publishers have sued to stop the widespread photocopying of textbooks for course packs. Professors say the lawsuit hurts students.

• In the Calm After the Storm, Tulane’s President Plans to Retire

  The way he got the university back on its feet after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina distinguished Scott Cowen’s tenure.

• What Rhymes With Science? Education Professor Puts Students to the Test

  Christopher Emdin, of Teachers College, Columbia University, is working with the rapper GZA to use hip-hop as a teaching tool.

• Transitions: Technology Guru Moves From Penn State to Stony Brook; Johns Hopkins Gets New Nursing Dean

  Cole Camplese will be chief information officer at the State University of New York campus. Patricia Davidson comes to Hopkins from Australia. See more job news.