Zen and the Art of Administration?

A sometimes all too true satire.

http://insidehighered.com/views/2007/12/28/galef

The Seeing Tongue?

Since it's the brain that "sees," not the eyes, it turns out that other senses "see" as well. Fascinating.

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20010901/bob14.asp

How to handle pressure?

The basic idea is that anxiety appears to cause problems when it makes us concentrate too much on all of the variables going into whatever we're doing. When we focus on one basic concept or visualization, then anxiety actually seems to improve performance.

http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2007/12/psychology-of-choking-under-pressure.html

Debating the increase in standardized testing

Basically, the conclusion appears to be that we need more "good" tests, not just more tests. What defines a "good" test, of course, is harder to get at.

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/what-should-be-done-about-standardized-tests-a-freakonomics-quorum/#more-2126

Academic intimidation

Thomas Sowell can be a pretty pungent preacher at times, but I think he's basically correct on this one, as the decline of Antioch College has made clear.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/academic_intimidation.html

Campaign prognostications

I must admit to being much more interested in this particular presidential campaign than I would normally be for three reasons. First, everything is so up in the air. Second, I know the Huckabees personally (Janet worked with me on JBU's Academics Committee of the board of trustees). Third, the parties have espoused such differing positions that I believe this will be a more important election than usual (though Washington gridlock will likely blunt the eventual impact of whatever choice is made).

Before I give my current predictions, I should add the prediction that I should have made in July. Back then, I was looking at prediction markets such as Intrade, and I considered seriously putting $100 on Huckabee back when he was trading at 2% to win in Iowa. Normally, you shouldn't "bet" on any market unless you have "information asymetry" on your side, but because I knew Huckabee personally, I felt that I had such an advantage, and I figured that if he ever could break through into some kind of public limelight, he would catch fire, particularly with Evangelicals in Iowa. That's exactly what's happened. And if I'd actually made my bet, which I didn't, mostly out of laziness, I'd be looking at a 3500% increase in my Huckabee "portfolio" (which is currently trading at 70% to win in Iowa). So much for that extra Christmas cash!

So where does the Republican nominating campaign go from here? The conventional wisdom has been that Huckabee (earlier it was Thompson) is battling with Romney for the social conservative wing of the party while Guliani is battling McCain for the economic/political/foreign policy wing of the party. The winner of these two semi-final rounds will face off on Super-Duper Tuesday (February 5) for all of the marbles.

I've been saying for awhile, however, that this analysis is misguided. The real race is between Huckabee and Romney on the Republican side. The only writer who seems to be on the right track, from my perspective, is David Brooks of the NY Times who seems to "get" why Huckabee is doing well and why he's plausible (most conservative writers, such as Lowry, Will, etc. are looking down their elitist noses way too much for my tastes). His take has been that this is shaping up to be a "postwar" election, which is why "nice guy" centrists who focus on domestic issues and are "fresh faces" are doing well. On the Democratic side, that's Obama (and witness his recent uptick in the polls), and on the Republican side, that's Huckabee and (maybe?) Romney (it should have been Thompson, but he blew his chance). Guiliani, McCain, Edwards, and Clinton fail on two or more of these counts, so in the long run, they'll fail.

That's the overarching narrative. How does this work in practice? Huckabee and Obama win Iowa. Obama is already close in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and his Iowa victory gets him over the hump in these two states as well and from there to the eventual nomination. Huckabee's Iowa victory solidifies later wins in South Carolina and Florida. But Romney still wins New Hampshire and maybe Michigan (edging out Huckabee). At that point, Thompson, McCain, and even Guliani are knocked out. Romney and Huckabee then duke it out the rest of the way. The vitriol of the Republican establishment against Huckabee, however, eventually undoes him, and Romney wins a close race. But with Romney being seen as the less genuine of the two, Obama cruises to victory.

That's my scenario, at any rate. Of course, with Romney trading at 22.4% and Obama trading at 36% to win the Democratic nomination on InTrade, if I bet $100 on each today, and my scenario came true, I would increase my portfolio by about 350% in six months. Or maybe I'll stick with being lazy and not actually bet anything but just say "I told you so" if I turn out to be correct.

Spirituality in college students

Basically, college students care about spiritual development, but they're not getting much guidance from most faculty in these matters. Religious observance and volunteer work do decline during college, but I've seen other studies that appear to show that both activities decline even more in the non-college cohort. This report is sure to ruffle some feathers in the secular academy.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/12/18/spirituality

The Brain on Faith?

Atheist attack-dog Sam Harris has produced an interesting brain study that appears to show that we "believe" in objective truths such as 2+2=4 in much the same way we "believe" in aliens or maybe . . . God? That's the subject of his next study.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1694723,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner

The Growing Anti-Child Movement?

An interesting reflection in this advent season on the growing anti-population movement.

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/child-birth-homeless-1942317-year-

The Future of Engineering Education?

The basic argument is that Engineering is going through a similar transition to what earlier occurred with lawyers and doctors, in which professional training occurs at the graduate level and in which the undergraduate degree is less directly relevant. Engineers end up being more well-rounded and less cogs in a machine.

I'm personally doubtful that this will occur as quickly as this study implies it should because the off-shore marketplace for engineers is more robust than it is for doctors and lawyers (I'm willing to hire a low-paid engineer from India to design my toaster, but I'm less willing to "go cheap" when it comes to my health or my legal advice), therefore the barriers for entry to be an engineer are going to be considerably lower.

http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/12/986n.htm

Instant Sex and the Demise of Romantic Love

Interesting piece on how the "Instant Sex" culture has undermined the development of individuals (maturity defined by the ability to delay gratification) and culture as a whole (romantic love being at the root of much of our great art, literature, and music).

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/462wtjth.asp

Debating the Death Penalty

In the 90s, executions went up and murders went down. Correlation or causation? That's the question.

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i16/16b00401.htm

Loving and being good at your job not correlated?

This one strikes me as counterintuitive and also counter much of what I have advised students and faculty over the years. Hmm . . .

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/love-your-job-that-doesnt-mean-youre-better-at-it/

Academic freedom regarding evolution?

Anti-Darwinians get black-balled at secular institutions and Darwinians get similar treatment at CCCU institutions. Perhaps not all that surprising but also a somewhat sad commentary on our current intellectual conversation.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/12/10/evolution

The wisdom and folly of Schumpeter

A solid review of a well-received book explaining why Schumpeter's economic understanding of "creative destruction" is central to our modern world but why Schumpeter's political understanding of the supposed failings of democracy may not be as worthwhile or valid.

http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i15/15b00801.htm

Another conservative critique of NCLB

The concern from the right has been that NCLB is primarily about increasing federal control of what should rightfully be the business of the state and local communities. In theory NCLB could provide rational standards that would improve all education, but in practice, that hasn't really happened, and instead, we've just gotten more federal government intrusion without much real benefit.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/getting_past_no_child.html

Another book on the PC University

There have been a lot of these books over the last couple of decades on this topic, but this one seems more reasonable than most.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/07/AR2007120701618.html

Does Class Size Matter?

The gist of this article is that it might, particularly in certain types of courses and circumstances, but we're making a very big case about changes in education (that smaller classes are automatically better) on the basis of very little real evidence. Are there not ways to teach large sections just as effectively for certain outcomes (content knowledge, for instance) as for small sections? Most likely, but not much real study has been put into the topic to know for sure.

http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/12/06/barwick

Divorce bad for the environment?

The economic logic is straightforward (more divorces, more households, more energy usage), but not much talked about.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_sc/divorce_environment;_ylt=Avj6qeL_M5qs7qfTCBO0hd.s0NUE

The Dangerous Wealth of the Ivies?

I've often wondered whether we're approaching a bipolar world where 1% of our population is educated at the Ivies Plus Two (Stanford & MIT) and lives in a completely different world than the rest of us. Two of my cousins graduated from Yale, live in San Francisco, work in the art world, and one is getting married on Martha's Vineyard next summer. I doubt they think of themselves as part of the "1%," but it sure looks that way to the rest of us.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_50/b4062038784589.htm?chan=magazine+channel_in+depth

Does "The Golden Compass" Promote Atheism?

This CNN piece argues both sides. Other reviews I've read in the mainstream media have also tried to walk the fence.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/03/golden.compass.religion.ap/index.html

It's been a long time since I read the trilogy, but I remember interpreting these books through the lens of my father's work on Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita." In that classic novel, the basic divide is between those who believe in the supernatural and those who don't. As much as Pullman may himself argue for atheism, the characters in his books have "souls," encounter what appear to be supernatural beings, and respond in some mystical way to the Holy Spirit (in the form of "Dust"). I therefore tended to see the books as perhaps unwittingly reinforcing basic spiritual messages, granted through the very critical lens of how Pullman sees contemporary religion explaining those spiritual messages (with his very individualistic, anti-clerical themes). In short, I'm looking forward to seeing the movies and maybe rereading the books.

Why are there more men than women in the Sciences?

The answer appears to be complicated, part nature and part nurture. But what was most interesting to me is that the scales do appear to be tilting (one stat showed a shift from 13-1 to 3-1 over the last two decades). Whatever we're doing as a culture is having an effect.

The other interesting point, which I've heard over and over in other contexts, is that men and women do not appear to be much different in terms of their abilities "on average," but men appear to be much more variable. Women tend to cluster toward the middle, while men are more heavily represented at the ends of the scale. Nobel prizes are dominated by men, but so too are prisons.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=sex-math-and-scientific-achievement&page=1

The World is Getting Smarter?

According to the "Flynn Effect," the answer is "yes." But only in certain ways and for certain reasons. Basically, our modern culture values the kind of abstract reasoning that intelligence tests pick up on. We're much less "practical" than our predecessors, but significantly more "intelligent." Furthermore, with modern technology, what one "good mind" thinks, the rest of us can share in as well. That provides more opportunities for more minds to develop to their fullest capabilities. Of course, the downside of being less practical is that we can't count, spell, write in cursive, read anything longer than a few pages, or fix our cars. Oh well, at least we can follow the plots of "24" and "Heroes."

http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/node/654

Do nothing?

I often wonder when given a choice between various options whether I'd be better off just doing nothing. I find I take that path more and more frequently as I age. According to this article, there may be wisdom in those decisions to do nothing because we as human beings apparently prefer to "do something" even when that's the wrong choice because it "feels" better than not doing anything.

http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2007/11/is-this-why-goalkeepers-are-so-bad-at.html

Mike Huckabee is for Real

I've been tracking the Huckabee campaign pretty closely, and it's the only one that I've given any money to. So I'm happy to see him doing so well.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/11/huckabee_is_for_real.html

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/OPINION01/711290401/1036/opinion

What do Beowulf and Fred Thompson have in common?

They both rely too much on new technology instead of telling a good story in a traditional way. At least so says this WS article.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/407yjlpb.asp

"Local" On-line?

A new study indicates that most students prefer to take on-line courses from a local institution. The reasons for these decisions aren't stated, but the implications for higher education are interesting. There isn't a "one size fits all" on-line program that everyone should copy. Instead, the on-line world is likely to look as varied as the face-to-face world.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/11/28/online

$70 million for ORU

So that's the secret to fundraising? Have a very public meltdown so that some angel investor will come along and give you $70 million?

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071128_238_A1_hFami82066

Lower your body fat and increase your wages?

Obviously, the causal connection is questionable, but the correlation appears to be true.

http://papers.nber.org/papers/w13595

Modern Beowulfs

Saw the Zemeckis version of Beowulf over the weekend. If you can see it in 3-D, do so. Otherwise, I'd wait for the rental. Here's the Chronicle review, which points out the seizmic changes from the original. The Weekly Standard review that I read was even more critical of this modern retelling.

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i15/15b00101.htm

A somewhat different version of Beowulf can be seen in this movie, though it shares the modern sensibility that Zemeckis takes of "misunderstood monsters" and "guilt-ridden" heroes who lack appropriate humility.

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Beowulf_Grendel/70052021?trkid=189530&strkid=1225017604_1_0

Paul Davies on Faith & Science

I've read a couple of his books a long time ago. I still like what he has to say about both faith and science being based on some type of belief system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/opinion/24davies.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

JFK's Death, Reframed

What if the Zapruder film missed the first shot attempt by Oswald? This piece posits what could be a more rational explanation of the assassination.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/22/opinion/22holland.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

Maximizing missions by maximizing profits?

I've seen a lot of anecdotal stories along these lines, so it was helpful to have a summary story on what appears to be a growing trend in our evangelical culture.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/november/24.24.html

Go for it on 4th down?

Since I'm taking a Decision-Making course in which exactly this sort of analysis is used, I was intrigued to read about this possible paradigm-shift in how to play football. Basically, never punt and rarely kick fieldgoals. Statistically, it makes sense. So why don't people do it, pretty much because coaches are afraid of looking stupid. It's similar, I guess, for why basketball players don't shoot freethrows underhanded even though the percentages for success are apparently higher (according to an SI story I read awhile back).

Note, by the way, that Tony Dungy did just what these stats say he should at the end of the recent game against the Chiefs (went for it on 4th and 1 near the end zone instead of kicking the "go-ahead" field goal). Everyone was saying that he was crazy . . . until it worked. Then he's a genius.

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/when-economists-talk-pulaski-academy-listens/

Is Higher Education Overpriced?

The arguments contained in this report are pretty similar to what I passed along in an earlier post. Those supporting the increases in higher education costs essentially say that the high tech world is creating greater demand for education and Baumol's law (service sectors don't see productivity improvements the way other economic sectors do) restrains supply. The inevitable result is higher education prices (and, in a similar vein, higher health care prices).

This study disputes those conclusions and points instead to 12 "market restrictions" that are the "real" culprits behind increasing higher education costs. Those 12 are listed in the table of contents, but the basic solution, according to this study, is to increase market competition and limit government involvement. I think in practice, however, the government won't limit its involvement, but will instead attempt to increase its regulation of the "industry" to address these concerns. We're already seeing that in a host of legislative initiatives.

http://www.collegeaffordability.net/CCAP_Report.pdf

The death of Antioch College

This piece summarizes all of the earlier stories that I've read on the subject, and then it adds a conservative slant in which "political correctness gone wild" is seen as the main underlying factor in the college's demise.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/306jqecg.asp

What does is take to be a clutch kicker?

Fascinatory story about what it takes to be a clutch kicker, and some hints that maybe Vinatieri isn't any more "clutch" than others, he's just luckier that his misses didn't come in the really moments. Particular apt, perhaps, in light of last week's 29-yard, last-minute miss?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/sports/playmagazine/28lewis.html?pagewanted=1&ref=playmagazine

Outgrowing bad behavior?

A couple recent studies appear to show that bad behavior in the early grades of school are likely caused by delayed development issues instead of brain deficity issues. In other words, kids do typically outgrow this bad behavior in school, so test results showing attention problems at young ages are not very well correlated with poor academic performance later in life.

On the other hand, what does appear to be correlated with academic performance later in life is math scores!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/health/13kids.html?em&ex=1195102800&en=10574fa94fad2575&ei=5087%0A

What does the "billionaire list" tell us?

That most are Americans, that most have "earned" their way there, and that the richest are not as "rich" as a percentage of GDP as the Carnegies and other Gilded Age rich guys were.

http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/archives/2007/11/billionairesbec.html

The problems of performance pay in business

Many of the performance packages are designed to promote risk-taking on the part of CEO's, but what this article points out is that CEO's typically get to keep their "winnings" but don't lose if their bets fail. As a consequence, they are unduly eager to "bet the farm," which is part of the reason for the recent sub-prime meltdown and the earlier stock-market collapse in 2001.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2007/11/12/071112ta_talk_surowiecki

Niche "sports" making school reputations

I've seen Christian schools trying to make their reputations as serious academic institutions by emphasizing debate and forensics. Here's an example of using chess for similar purposes.

http://www.american.com/archive/2007/november-11-07/rah-rah-block-that-rook

The "real" story about income inequality and income taxes?

The basic story has been that there's growing income inequality in the U.S. and elsewhere in the industrialized world, but that story is only partially correct as this article points out.

http://www.american.com/archive/2007/october-10-07/making-sense-of-income-inequality

There's a similar argument related to tax cuts supposedly making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Again, that story is only partially correct and misses much of the point.

http://www.american.com/archive/2007/november-december-magazine-contents/guess-who-really-pays-the-taxes

Conservative revolutionaries on health care?

I've done a fair amount of reading on the history of our American health care system, and Ponnuru's summary gets at the basic points pretty well. In the postwar period, the industrialized countries faced a choice over who would pay for health care, the individual (as we do with most insurance, such as for homes and cars) or the government (as we do for things like floods and other natural disasters). Most of the world chose "government" and ended up with universal, single-payer, government-run health care. But instead of going with "individuals," we went with "option C," employers, through a system of tax breaks. 50 years later, and that compromise is unraveling, so now we appear to be heading back to the "government or individuals" choice. What's interesting to me is that the Democrats are actually the "statist" group looking to continue most of the existing system with some drift toward the "government" answer. And it's the Republicans who have pretty much concluded that the existing system has to be scrapped completely and replaced with one that focuses on the individual. They have become on this issue, as with Social Security and many other government policies, "white revolutionaries" proposing radical change.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1682269,00.html

The Fall of the Wall

November 9 is a date that I always remember, having spent some time on both sides of the Wall, but it's quickly passing out of the public consciousness. I appreciated Ash's reminder of why we shouldn't let that happen.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2206957,00.html

What makes a terrorist?

According to most things I've read, including this article, and contrary to most received wisdom, it isn't poverty or lack of education that causes people to become terrorists. As with revolutionaries more generally, they tend to be at least middle class and also fairly well educated types who feel that something significant has been taken away from them, whether that be wealth, status, prestige, or whatever.

http://www.american.com/archive/2007/november-december-magazine-contents/what-makes-a-terrorist

The first annual USA Today survey of NSSE results

Here's an interesting attempt to bypass the U.S. News ratings.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/11/07/nsse

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-11-04-nsse-how-to_N.htm

Finding employees who "fit"?

Some interesting approaches here, though I'm not quite sure what to use in my role as the person who signs off on hiring faculty members.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071105/ap_on_bi_ge/hiring_for_congeniality;_ylt=AoI.mLACeFH6DrOX_7pgl7Ks0NUE

Misleading national health care statistics?

Came across this while doing some reading for my MBA classes. It helped me understand a bit better the true nature of our health care situation in America.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/business/04view.html?_r=3&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Entrepreneurs can help reform education?

Here's another article decrying the public education stranglehold, and looking instead toward entrepreneurs to help reform education in America.

http://www.american.com/archive/2007/october-10-07/school-reform-that-can-work

What "works" in undergraduate education according to "NSSE"

In case you haven't already seen the recent NSSE report on what "works" in undergraduate education, here it is.

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i11/11a00104.htm

The quick version is . . .

1) Helicopter parents are "good"
2) Freshmen "learning communities" are generally helpful
3) Study abroad is great, especially those with host families
4) Research projects should be more than just collecting data
5) Field placements are probably the best type of senior projects

Faculty satisfaction rates

Here's an interesting survey from TIAA-CREF. Basically, faculty are very satisfied with their jobs, though they'd like more money (no surprise), and they (X-Gen in particular) wish they didn't have so many administrative responsibilities. Sounds similar to some of our JBU conversations.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/11/01/faculty

Nature vs. nurture in global success?

In grad school, I read dozens of books and articles on the causes of the industrial revolution and economic success. Most focused on structural factors such as low taxes, open trade, etc. But some, such as Max Weber or Lawrence Harrison, have focused on culture (typically Protestant culture) as the primary driver of the economic success of nations.

Here's a recent variant of the "culture" argument, focusing on "middle class values" of hard work and thrift, separated from any particular Protestant ethos.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/10/the_global_poverty_gap.html

Here's another discussion of the same book.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/11/miracle_of_plenty.html

Divorce for "any cause"

We occasionally have to deal with this topic in personnel decisions at JBU, so I've been looking for a way to understand these questions. The explanation in this article that Jesus was decrying the then-accepted practice of "any cause" divorce, and not necessarily divorce for any cause, was helpful in confirming what had always seemed to me the appropriate grounds for divorce as adultery, emotional and physical neglect, and abandonment and abuse.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/october/20.26.html

Wellness programs at JBU?

I've seen lots of these examples at other institutions, and I've continued to wonder why institutions such as JBU haven't moved in this direction. I'm sure there are reasons, but they don't come readily to mind.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_45/b4057083.htm

In search of your inner executive?

I'm never sure how much stock to put into such predictive analyses, but here's another such effort to gauge in advance someone's management ability (noted in Business Week).

To help decide who is management material, companies often administer personality tests. But Jordan Peterson, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, says a cognitive test he helped develop is a better predictor. Peterson and research colleagues from Harvard University, the University of Hawaii, and Montreal's McGill University have adapted to a business setting tests normally used by neuropsychologists to assess damage to the prefrontal cortex, the brain's "executive." The result is a 90-minute computerized exam they sell through their company, ExamCorp, for $100 to $350 per employee. The test, which gauges memory, plus decision-making speed and other skills, was given to 800 managers. And the results of a study of 80 of those professionals, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in August, show that managers who get top performance ratings at work typically do well on the exam. Peterson asserts that the exam can outpredict the traditional corporate tests, many of which "are 50 years old."

Science Education Myths?

These authors contend that the U.S. has been improving in Science education, is clearly up at the top of the international rankings, and is producing more Science grads than we can employ. That's all very much in opposition to the received wisdom.

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2007/sb20071025_827398.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_best+of+bw

Beauty is universal?

Most of our truisms about beauty prove to be wrong. It ain't just in the eye of the beholder, it ain't just skin deep, and so on.

http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/group/langloislab/NewFormat/maxims.html

Why do higher education cost increases outpace CPI?

Interesting blog post by an economist and even more interesting responses.

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2007/10/why-do-college-.html

Some of the arguments are:

1) Other people are paying, so real costs are hidden (government loans, parents, merit scholarships, etc.).
2) Baby boom increases competition (which means we're all in trouble in the coming baby bust).
3) Baumol's cost disease (fancy way of saying that service sectors don't see productivity gains, so their inflation rates are always higher than CPI - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol).
4) The cartelization of accreditation agencies.
5) People are getting richer.
6) ROI on education has increased dramatically.

And here's a version focused more of public institutions and why this author finds most of the arguments uncompelling.

http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/11/02/callan

Religion as an antidote to poverty?

If you want to raise up a child out of poverty, what's the best cure? Apparently, send them to church.

http://papers.nber.org/papers/w13369

How to get into an Ivy?

Another of the "behind the curtain" pieces.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_43/b4055063.htm

Going green won't make you rich?

Contrary to the "natural capitalism" arguments that are all the rage nowadays, it looks likes the real world applications of "green" thinking haven't been quite as successful or smooth. It's like the problem with hybrid cars. Either you pay the premium to buy the Prius that "looks" green and everyone knows it (i.e. you're buying a fashion statement) or you ignore the hybrids. So too with most businesses buying RECs (renewable energy credits) that make them look good but have no real impact in reducing carbon emissions or a few businesses are paying the premium to do some "real" carbon-reducing projects at a significant financial cost. The in between "hybrid" strategy isn't happening, and that's where the real gains are to be made.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_44/b4056001.htm

At least in the U.S. . . . Going further afield, we see that man-made coal fires in Chinese mines alone are causing 2-3% of the entire world's CO2 emissions, the equivalent of all of the cars in the U.S. Spend some money to bring a few of those under control, and you'll do more to deal with real CO2 emissions than all of our current efforts in the U.S.!

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/~prakash/coalfires/co2_emission.html

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN025914.pdf

No more haggling over car prices?

I've been wondering when the efficiency of the internet would end haggling over car prices. Looks like that day is finally arriving. What's next, no haggling over home prices?

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_44/b4056070.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_autos

The future of the Anglosphere?

Another insightful piece from Hitchens.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_4_anglosphere.html

Conservatism at middle age?

Solid book review of the problems of modern American conservatism. The piece most praised is by my father's good friend Daniel Mahoney.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/books/review/Rauch-t.html?_r=1&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

Indoctrination via secondary accreditation?

I've seen similar concerns about how education accreditation discusses "dispositions," and the APA handles various Christian views, but social work accreditation agencies and schools appear to be the most problematic on this score.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/10/conservatives_need_not_apply.html

The coming health care compromise?

50+ years ago, the U.S. decided on a "employer-based" health care compromise instead of a government-funded one. For a variety of reasons, that system appears to be breaking down. The Democrats appear by and large to be pushing for the government funded version as the replacement option, while the Republicans appear by and large to be pushing for individuals to supervise their own health care insurance (as they do with other forms of insurance). One increasingly likely compromise is for the government to mandate (and provide tax credits to fund) base-line insurance provided by a series of regional exchanges of private providers and then to allow individuals to "buy-up" from there. That's not my personal preference, but I'm betting that that's where we eventually end up some 5-10 years from now.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/10/a_market_makeover_for_health_i.html

The effect of private schools?

Another study looking at the effect of private schools vs. public schools. This one is less positive about that effect, arguing that Catholic "holy order" schools are the only ones with significant benefit once all other factors are taken into consideration. The most interesting point for me is that parental involvement seems to be key. There's more parental involvement in private schools, hence better scores. Get more parents involved in public settings, and scores equal out.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/ap_on_re_us/public_private_schools

The Mars-Venus Myth?

So much for the idea that men and women communicate differently? I always found that particular metaphor helpful, but I guess I'm going to have to give up that way of viewing things. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article2587988.ece

Mission accomplished in Iraq?

The basic argument is that the key issues have all been decided to the good (unity, democracy, solvency, etc.). The remaining concerns are pretty much local and/or criminal. The author may be correct about the present circumstances, but what's currently in place appears much more precarious than the author implies.

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=9804

Influence of family on longevity?

Fascinating study on the effects of family on longevity. A short version is that sons cause women to live shorter lives, but having grandmothers around helps everyone live longer.

http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=FAEB4508-E7F2-99DF-329AA2F69CCB6D5C

The rising influence of the home-school movement

JBU's been involved with the home-school movement for a very long time, but it appears to caught the attention of the national media of late.

http://chronicle.com/subscribe/login?url=/weekly/v54/i07/07a00102.htm

Political inclinations of faculty

Interesting Harvard study showing some increasing trends toward moderates, especially in community colleges, but still almost no conservatives at elite liberal arts and research institutions, particularly in the humanities and social sciences.

http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/10/2007100801n.htm

Here's a report on a follow-up conference from the American Enterprise Institute.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/11/14/aei

The purpose of the appendix?

Just an interesting answer to an age-old question.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/05/appendix.purpose.ap/index.html

Hitchens on sacrifice in Iraq

This one moved me to tears.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/11/hitchens200711?printable=true&currentPage=all

How effective is school choice?

As I write from Arizona, the land of school choice with a charter or private school on every corner, I was interested to read this piece (largely ambivalent about school choice) and the blog responses (largely supportive of school choice).

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/more-evidence-on-the-lack-of-impact-of-school-choice/#more-1938

A looming scandal at Oral Roberts University

The central figure, Tim Brooker, was a frequent applicant for positions at JBU. Fascinating story.

http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/10/2007100303n.htm

http://chronicle.com/news/article/3247/professors-lawsuit-against-oral-roberts-u-gets-more-salacious?at

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/17/oru.leave/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/23/roberts.resignation/index.html

On Presidents & Provosts

Interesting take on how Presidents and Provosts interact from someone who served in both roles simultaneously - http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/10/02/herbst.

Religious happier than athiests?

And it apparently doesn't matter which religion . . . http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010672.

Men happier, women less so in modern society

Here's another one of those "happiness" stories. We've seen similar data at JBU where the female faculty members feel busier and less satisfied than the men. National survey data (HERI in particular) has shown similar results.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/business/26leonhardt.html?ex=1348459200&en=08b7d45b98eea4fd&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Another example of the "Great Books" debate

Seems like some of this "Great Books" idea is making a comeback - http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/26/kronman.

Fitness training info

On a more personal level, my wife and I have done some fitness training off and on. Given my sabbatical free time, we're back "on" right now. Here's a summary of my latest reading on the topic by bodybuilder Tom Venuto, probably the most reasonable and insightful advice I've seen so far on these issues (and I've read or skimmed through about a dozen books related to fitness, nutrition, weight lifting, etc.). None of what Mr. Venuto has to say is revolutionary, but it's balanced, well-articulated, and compelling.

Basically, you set goals, you eat right, and you do aerobics and weight lifting, each for 3-7 times a week (6-14 times total depending on your fitness level), each for 30-60 minutes a session, and all of them at high intensity.

His top 8 list (the fundamentals) for nutrition are: eat fewer calories than you burn (count everything), properly balance your macronutrients (50/55-30-15/20 for carbs-proteins-fats), eat 5-6 meals a day (also balanced), eat lean protein with every meal, eat the right type of carbs (avoid refined sugars), eat the right type of fats (essential fatty acids), drink plenty of water, and eat natural foods as much as possible (skip the MREs and supplements).

Your main goal should be to reduce your percentage of body fat (weight loss is only an ancillary byproduct). Last time I checked, my body fat was 17%, and my VO2 was 48. Both are pretty good for a man my age, but my wife's results (17% and 43) put her in the "elite athlete" level for a woman, which would equate to about 9% and 60 for a man. To do that, I'd have to keep my lean mass the same and lose almost 20 pounds of fat while improving my conditioning by more than 20%! So that's my goal, catch up with my wife over the next few months as I try to put some of this into practice. Now that it's in writing for everyone to see, I've got to stay with it, huh?!

Wal-Mart's financial impact

The short version is that the average American saves almost $1000 a year because of the existence of Wal-Mart.

http://www.globalinsight.com/MultiClientStudy/MultiClientStudyDetail2438.htm

The rise of a Catholic CCCU?

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/25/catholic

Interesting trend in Christian higher education. This also sounds a lot like that "Education for our Time" book that I reviewed earlier.

Are Christians discriminated against in higher education?

http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i05/05b00601.htm

My experiences in higher education have been similar to the main tone in the piece. There's some inherent discrimination against Christians, but even more so against conservatives. And it's usually more covert than overt. The statistics I've seen would appear to bear out those perceptions as well.

The culture of economics

Intriguing summary of the writings of Galbraith and Schumpeter in which Schumpeter's emphasis on the "creative destruction" of the "aristocratic" entrepreneurial bourgeoisie wins out over the technocratic statism of Galbraith. But the author ultimately says that both great economists miss the point that economics swims in the sea of "culture" just as much as any other field does, so the emphasis on material production in some ways heads us down the wrong track and can ultimately undermine the very system that a Schumpeter is trying to promote.

http://reason.com/news/show/122024.html

World graduation rates

Interesting comparative statistics - http://economist.com/daily/chartgallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9823950.

Balanced Scorecards redux

Having skimmed through the standard book on Balanced Scorecards, only some of it would apply directly to higher education. One section I did find intriguing, however, was the summation of 12 items that typically go into a balanced scorecard in most businesses. That got me thinking about which of these would fit for a place like JBU.

1) ROI: Defined in business terms, that's net income divided by average stockholders equity. Given that TUG seldom has net income and that there isn't any stockholder's equity, this one doesn't make much sense for TUG. But for G&PS, this is a possibility. Since these programs make a profit and don't usually have much in the way of endowments, you could run them according to the standard formula.

The rest I'll deal with later, but here's the list.

2-4) Profitability, Revenue growth/mix, Cost reduction/productivity: Again, these are problematic for TUG because there is no net income to work from. But you could determine cost per credit hour generated and track that for the "productivity" number in all programs (potentially using Delaware Study data for TUG comparisons). For G&PS, profitability and revenue growth are easier to track and probably should be.

5) Market share: We know high school graduation numbers by state, so you could determine market share percentage for some aspect of TUG. For G&PS, you could also do some basic demographic data-mining to determine market share here as well. This would seem to me to be a key figure that most IHEs don't really track at this point.

6) Customer acquisition: TUG admissions keeps detailed "cost to recruit" data as do our competitors. This one's fairly easy to track.

7) Customer retention: We track retention and graduation rate data as well, and new models include comparison adjustments depending on the type of students we have (regression analyses based on ACT and Pell data as well as "frontier" analyses based on similar data). In short, we should be able to track this one for TUG. G&PS might be harder but it also doable.

8) Customer profitability: We currently track average net income from each student. But we could probably do a lot more here. Do we follow the typical business practice of determining which customers are likely to do what sorts of things (enroll at certain financial aid levels, persist to what stages of college, enter what fields, participate in which programs, spend money on which ancillary offerings such as on-campus housing and off-campus programs, etc.)? Not that I know of.

9) Customer satisfaction: Our alumni survey could be better, but we track a lot of this data via CIRP, SSI, NSSE, etc.

10) Employee satisfaction: We have faculty climate surveys and have occasionally participated in the Christianity Today employee satisfaction survey, but I'm not sure how helpful these processes are.

11) Employee retention: We have such low turnover, I'm not sure how helpful this would be, but perhaps it would be worth tracking.

12) Employee productivity: I'm not sure we do anything on this one, except perhaps if we calculated cost per credit hour generated.

To summarize, the list might have some relevance to an institution like JBU, but it might involve some significant effort to include all of these elements.

Summary of IT usage by college students

If you're interested in IT trends of college students, here's a recent study from Educause.

http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERS0706/ecm0706.pdf

http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERS0706/ekf0706.pdf

Is Alternative Certification for Education working?

Since we're in the middle of battling with the state on this question, I found this article to be a useful overview - http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/18/teacher.

The declining value of an MBA?

Since I'm in an MBA program, I found this article interesting. Those at the very top of their fields or already established in their businesses are seeing less and less value in attending an MBA program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/business/16mba.html?pagewanted=1&_r=4&ref=business

More MBA reflections

As I read for my MBA courses, I occasionally reflect on how this data might apply to the JBU context. Here's an example.

For my MMBA work, we've been reading about balanced scorecards, which is sort of what cabinet has been doing as it determines its top 10 indicators to benchmark on an executive "dashboard." One of the benchmarks that all businesses use is market share because it doesn't really mean much if the numbers are going up when everyone else you're competing with is going up even faster. Is there any way that we can address that issue in our various assessments JBU?

For example, I've seen charts from you in the past that show how many high school grads there are by state. If we picked our top 5-6 six states and then tracked how many students we were getting from those states, would that give us a meaningful number for market share for our TUG recruiting? Could we get even more precise than that by tracking types of grads (ACT, types of schools, etc.)?

Similarly, Dick once sent me a comparison to LeTourneau in terms of their total potential recruiting population and how many students they actually have vs. what JBU was doing. That type of analysis could probably be expanded to include a few other key competitors to see how well we're doing in terms of market share in G&PS.

On a related note, I've been reading a bit about regression analyses applied to possible customers to determine which customers should get what sort of preferential treatment. I immediately thought of financial aid as an example. I know that Rich Sherry at Bethel does some of this analysis for his institution, and I assume that Noel-Lovitz runs many of their processes along these lines.

Do we and other CCCU institutions have similar regression analyses on past data that we use in determining which applicants are likely to matriculate, at what levels of financial support, and will likely persist and graduate at what sort of final GPA? I've chatted with some stats people in the past about such ideas, and they appeared to believe that such approaches would be doable at JBU (depending on the confidence intervals you're shooting for, of course), so maybe the idea's worth exploring?

U.S. saves more than any country in the world?

I had always suspected as much from my own personal experience (we now have a bigger retirement fund, better cars, and a nicer house than we did 15 years ago, despite our "official" savings rate being more or less static), but the figures presented here were even greater than I would have imagined.

http://american.com/archive/2007/september-october-magazine-contents/running-on-empty/

Work makes people happy?

I've always assumed that this was true, despite the supposed preference out there for more leisure time, but this article lays out the specifics.

http://www.american.com/

The conservative objections to NCLB

Typically, it's the liberals who reject NCLB, but here's why lots of conservatives dislike the bill as well, primarily because it puts the federal government in charge of education, not the states and localities, and also because it emphasizes equality of outcomes instead of equality of opportunity. Both are long-term recipes for disaster, however well intentioned the bill might be in the short run.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/118xfsjy.asp?pg=2

http://www.american.com/archive/2007/september-0907/defining-achievement-downward

Why France uses nuclear energy and we don't?

I've long wondered why nuclear energy never became "the answer" that we had one point thought it would be. The answer - Jane Fonda? http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/freakonomics-in-the-times-magazine-the-jane-fonda-effect/

How are we really doing in Iraq?

Interesting economist's analysis vs. all of the political analysis that I've read in the past, though the bottom line is still the same--things are mixed. http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/is-the-surge-working-ask-the-data-not-the-politicians/

Don't buy textbooks, rent them?

Interesting idea - http://www.textbookflix.com/.

Investing 101

In the accounting class I'm taking, there's lots of talk about "beating the market." I've always preferred the sort of advice included in this article (that trying to beat the market is typically futile, so just put your money in an index fund).

http://www.sanfran.com/archives/view_story/1507

Remove traffic signs, reduce traffic accidents?

This is the second or third time I've seen an article to this effect that removing traffic signs actually reduces traffic accidents because everyone pays more attention at intersections instead of just assuming that they have the right of way because of what a sign says. If I, for example, know that there might be someone coming the other direction at an unmarked intersection, I'll slow down, but if I think I have a green light at a marked intersection, I'll keep going full speed. But then, oops, I wasn't paying close attention and the light had changed to red, and I just sideswiped some poor fellow. That's how most accidents occur today. The new theory is that if you remove the signs, you get fewer of those types of accidents. I'm sure there's more to the story than this, and obviously some will disagree with the concept, but it's an interesting example of how more rules don't always lead to better results.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070911/od_nm/germany_traffic_odd_dc;_ylt=As_H0KzgtVq0Xk4T1Daw9q6s0NUE

The Practical Benefits of a College Education?

It starts with roughly $1 million in lifetime earnings and goes from there - http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/13/collegeboard.

The latest Business fad - Fun at Work?

I just can't see this making inroads with college profs - http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/081tidkp.asp?pg=1.

Balanced Scorecards?

We've been talking about versions of this at JBU more and more in recent years. Richard Light, of "College Success" fame, helped create such an instrument for Wheaton (Mass.) that appears quite helpful. Other IHEs appear to have developed similar methodologies. Here are some sites for "balanced scorecard" information.

The basic conclusion that I drew from these conversations is that this balanced scorecard idea has more relevance to IHEs than do the Six Sigma, Quality Improvement, Lean Thinking, Toyota Way and other business engineering processes, largely because of the emphasis on the word "balance." The Balanced Scorecard doesn't have a great track record of improving business performance, most likely because the attempt to balance lots of competing interests diverts the company from its main focus. This is why, perhaps, the third generation of these balanced scorecards has emphasized the need to define the ultimate goal first before creating the scorecard itself.

Higher Education, however, has lots of competing concerns that are legitimate and therefore need to be kept in balance. Do we emphasize the development of critical thinking, new knowledge, service to the local community, professional training for the marketplace, citizenship for the country, moral guidance for our churches? We want it all, and the balanced scorecard is better at trying to keep all of these various pieces in view than would be something like "The Toyota Way."

http://www.balancedscorecard.org/basics/bsc1.html

http://www.camagazine.com/index.cfm/ci_id/26179/la_id/1

http://www.camagazine.com/index.cfm/ci_id/16066/la_id/1

http://www.odl.rutgers.edu/resources/pdf/score.pdf

http://he-cda.wiley.com/WileyCDA/HigherEdTitle/productCd-0471423289.html

http://www.schneiderman.com/Concepts/Scorecard/scorecard.htm

www.businessintelligence.com/fwp/Designing_Exec_Dashboards.pdf

Admissions at elite liberal arts universities

My uncle is the librarian at Hamilton, so I was interested in this review of a book about their admissions process - http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/07/class.

Novel merit pay idea?

Here's one I haven't heard before - http://insidehighered.com/views/2007/09/07/miller.

Privacy laws out of hand?

Here's a generally sensible response to the Virginia Tech tragedy that points out a problem we deal with in higher education more and more, our fanaticism about privacy laws, in this case via FERPA.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR2007090101233.html

Carbon offsetting: The new "Indulgences"?

I was initially supportive of the whole cap-and-trade approach to "sustainability," but the way it's working out in practice (rich Westerners buying off their guilt by encouraging third-worlders to continue living in unmechanized squalor) reminds this former Western Civ teacher much too much of the Reformation-era abuses of Indulgences. I realize I'm not the first person to come up with that analogy, but it seems increasingly apt. Still haven't figured out where that leaves me in terms of my own preferred "sustainability" solution, but cap-and-trade doesn't seem to be the answer.

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/3788/

Of cartels and teachers

Another example of how our teacher certification processes are increasingly out of touch. We're struggling with exactly this sort of situation at JBU with the state telling us that we can't offer our non-traditional teacher education program because we're not following the standard (and I would say outmoded) contact time rules, regardless of whether those rules make any sense in preparing qualified teachers.

http://www.american.com/archive/2007/september-0907/suing-to-shut-down-2018teach-for-america2019

Do teacher credentials matter to student achievement?

I've read conflicting articles on this issue with most saying "not much." This abstract contends that they do, especially for math teaching - http://papers.nber.org/papers/W12828. This article is less positive, contending that licensure typically correlates to student achievement, especially in math, only when the "bar" is being set high, which most licensure tests do not do - http://www.uark.edu/ua/der/EWPA/Research/Teacher_Quality/1798.html.

Doing college education "right"?

Here's a fascinating piece on the potential future of college education.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.careycascadia.html

The Decline of American Declinism?

When I was in grad school, Paul Kennedy's book "The Rise and Fall of Great Powers" was all the rage, and most targeted the U.S. as the next domino to fall. Obviously, that didn't happen. As this piece from Policy Review makes clear, this view that "America is about to collapse" has been around for 300 years - http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/08/declinism.html. And this piece from The American argues that it isn't likely to happen soon either - http://www.american.com/archive/2007/august-0807/the-decline-and-fall-of-declinism.

We're poor judges of our own emotional reactions

Since a lot of decision-making is predicated on how we think a certain action will make us and others feel, this study is an interesting corrective to the typical worry about how concerned people might be about this or that action. http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2007/08/were-rubbish-at-predicting-how-what.html

What counts as a terminal degree?

This discussion generates more posts than any other on the CIC and CCCU Deans listserves. It's a thorny question, to which in a recent exchange, resident CCCU CAO wonk Dale Simmons noted that Calvin, Taylor, Bethel and others have tried to resist "market" or "differential" pay, and for good reason. Here's my, as usual, lengthy reply.

I tend to agree with anything Dale says, and in general, I believe he's on target here as well, that we should resist "differential" or "market" pay (or whatever you want to call it) as much as possible. But I feel compelled to add a few nuances to Dale's fine analysis.

1) From what I've seen, it's the "top tier" schools that appear to have been able to resist the "differential pay" pressures, in part, I would argue, because they are "top tier" and can therefore attract faculty in hard-to-fill fields with inducements that some of us don't have available (higher salaries across the board, national reputations, strong denominational affiliations, etc.). Therefore, despite being a Calvin grad myself, I'm not sure Calvin is the most appropriate model for most of us when we have these kinds of differential pay discussions.

2) "Fudging" pay scales by adjusting teaching loads or granting "terminal" status to MFAs, JDs, MBAs, etc. (with some years of professional experience) is "differential" pay, just by another name. We've followed the "fudge the scales" solution at John Brown University as well, except with Engineers where ABET pressures ultimately caused the institution to cave a couple decades ago, but we're under no illusion that this isn't market pay by another name. And some still think we should can the pretense and do "market pay" more directly.

3) Very little of this "inside the guild" discussion of pay scales is actually much connected to student learning outcomes. However you want to define those outcomes (via student evaluations, placement rates, acquisition of basic knowledge, development of critical thinking skills, etc.), according to the few national studies I've looked at, there isn't much evidence that we pay faculty according to what they actually help our students accomplish. Admittedly, that's an incredibly difficult issue to sort through, so I'm not suggesting that we jettison all of these "market pay" discussions in favor of more focus on "merit pay," but I am suggesting that much of this debate (which generates a lot of the posts on the CIC list) is a diversion from our main task, promoting student learning. Just to give a JBU example, this last summer we tried to analyze a combination of overall student evaluations, difficulty ratings, Integration ratings, and so on and then correlate them to various cohorts among our faculty. Our highest paid cohort (male full professors with terminal degrees) ranked near the bottom, and the lowest paid cohort (female assistant profs and instructors without terminal degrees) ranked at the top. So explain to me again why our pay scales should reward the first group at double and triple the pay rates of the second group?

How to fix Wal-Mart?

I'm taking MBA classes at the Sam Walton Business School with lots of Wal-Mart people, so this piece intrigued me. The basic argument appears to be that Wal-Mart succeeded via three things, probably in this priority order--a relentless focus on the customer, the robust development of a corporate culture, and a determined drive to reduce cost. The problem, those interviewed contend, is that the order has been reversed with cost reduction increasingly trumping everything else. Furthermore, the central office is listening too much to what the "models" predict and not enough to what their store managers are saying works at their particular stores.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/aug2007/db20070820_358861.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_best+of+bw

Studying pandemics in World of Warcraft?

Another interesting example of using virtual worlds to study real-world situations - http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/76182-Scientists-Using-World-of-Warcraft-to-Study-Real-World-Pandemics.

Financial accounting applied to higher education?

I'm just starting a Financial Accounting class and trying to think through how these concepts apply to higher education. Balance Statements are pretty much the same in both worlds. Retained Earnings are probably something along the lines of Endowment.

Cash Flow is a bit unusual, so you can have a higher educational institution with lots of assets but declining enrollment that leads to a cash flow crunch which, in extreme circumstances might result in the school closing (as happened to Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma).

Ditto for Income Statements, because you typically lose money on every student. Combined with lots of fundraising money going straight to the Retained Ernings of endowment or the Balance Sheet Assets of new buildings, you get the cognitive dissonance of many faculty and students when the school appears on the surface to be getting richer while at the same time administrators continue to say that there's no money for salary increases and we need to raise tuition again.

Hitchens on Faith

Hitchens is my favorite curmudgeon, even when I disagree with him, as I do here. But I think he's on to something by emphasizing the fragmented, a la carte nature of contemporary faith and the reluctance of contemporary Christianity to think through its beliefs and respond to the challenges of the modern world. http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/09/hitchens200709?currentPage=1

Why Study Military History?

As a former military historian, I feel obligated to pass along this good summary piece from Victor Davis Hanson - http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_3_military_history.html.

Amazon-type computer ratings mixed with advising?

Okay, maybe I've spent too much time surfing Netflix and Amazon, but I've been wondering whether that technology could be used in our advising context as well. Let's say that we included a student's top 5 strengths, then how they rated certain professors on IDEA. You could then compare that information with other students who shared similar traits and course ratings to come up with a "if you loved Professor X for Western Civ, you're likely to be thrilled with Professor Y for Masterpieces of Lit."

This is obviously similar to what Netflix, Amazon, and other websites do. If you have an on-line evaluation system, we'd have the teacher evaluation data, and if we used a personality profile such as Strenthsfinder or MBTI for all of your students, you'd have the requisite student information. Plug both sets of data into an automated registration database, which many institutions already have, and you could have some computer program do the number crunching. You'd then have to do some validity testing to see whether or not this process is giving meaningful results.

Like I said, it's a little wacky, and it would probably make a lot more sense for a much bigger organization, but maybe it's an idea worth exploring?

More on the collapse of Antioch College

There's been lots of speculation about why Antioch collapsed and what its failure says about the state of higher education. Here's some more on that topic.

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/when-a-college-dies/#more-1730

Natural Capitalism and Higher Education?

My introductory MBA course is focusing on the "value chain," and since the UofA and Wal-Mart are big into sustainability right now, there's lots of related talk about "natural capitalism" and how to rethink our various structures.

One of the basic points is that we currently think in terms of production (make something, use something, and then throw it away) instead of solutions to meeting needs. A company like Carrier, for example, is starting to lease "comfort levels" for a building instead of just building the air-conditioning systems. If Carrier can then find ways to provide the same comfort levels for lower long term cost, then they make more money, even if that means that they're producing fewer air conditioners.

Neat idea, but it hasn't quite caught on yet. We still prefer "owning" our stuff, such as buying music and books that we could get via a music service or check out from the library for less money and with less "waste."

But this has got me thinking about what might be the implications for higher education. Right now, we're often in the business of selling courses and seat time. You "buy" the course, you "use" the course, and then you throw away the books and the notes afterwards. That's the old production model.

Now let's think about this in terms of natural capitalism's service approach. What if (and there are lots of "ifs" here) you made a series of promises about attaining a certain level of content knowledge, demonstrating certain skills, getting placed into graduate school or a job, developing certain critical thinking abilities, etc. and then were told that you'll pay a package rate to get to these marks, however long it takes. You could incentivize both sides to try to accomplish these goals quicker, but the point is that you're putting a price on the outcome (such as Carrier's leasing of "comfort") instead of on the consumption activity.

Of course, this assumes all sorts of things like being able to define and test for those outcomes with enough accuracy that you could sell your product and be able to verify its effectiveness, but it would move us toward this "natural capitalism" approach. Not sure I'd want to attend this type of university, but with many of our JBU students already getting about a quarter of their credits via AP and CLEP tests, we're part of the way there already.

Of Millenials and Libraries

Interesting piece on what Millenials are really like (at least at Rochester) and how they really use their university library - http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i50/50a02601.htm?=attw.

The economics of a draft

As a former military historian who has done a lot of reading about renewing the draft, this was an interesting take from the Freakonomics guys - http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/restore-the-draft-what-a-bad-idea/.

Tornadoes to the rescue?

Here's one of those "it's so wacky, it just might work" ideas. Tame tornadoes to generate electricity and perhaps eventually to serve as global air conditioners. Hmm . . .

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/08/12/the_underworked_american/?page=1

And more wacky power generating ideas in this Business Week article.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2007/tc2007096_843326_page_2.htm

The underworked American?

An interesting article that runs counter to the general perception that we're increasingly overworked in America. It may be that we're spending more time at work, but because of technology (dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, fast food, etc.), we're apparently spending a lot less time (the equivalent of 7 weeks a year on average) doing "other" work.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/08/12/the_underworked_american/?page=1

The case worker approach to admissions?

As I was sitting in orientation for my Managerial MBA program, I was struck by how many different people and offices I was supposed to work through as a new student, despite the fact that this was a cohort model. I heard similar consternation recently about how Veterans Affairs handles its patients in that these wounded vets are being shuttled from one office to another. That's caused me to wonder about whether a case worker model might be more appropriate to the way we move students through our system, especially during their initial transition to JBU. I wonder if there are any good examples of universities doing that?

Are we investing too much in higher education?

http://www.american.com/archive/2007/august-0807/backing-back-to-school

Yes, but as the author also points out, for an average investment of about $20,000, the average person makes over half a million dollars over a lifetime, so how can we be "overinvesting" in higher education if the financial rewards are still so high?

On the other hand, I tend to agree that our overall standards in higher education have declined and that we're probably enrolling as many or more people in college than our economy really needs. See this article for those arguments.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NGY0NmY3MzMzOWU1NDZmYmE0MTE0NGJkZGVmYzNiZWU=

What's the value of Second Life?

After hearing lots of buzz about Second Life, I thought I'd give it a try. But within a few minutes, I was being asked to pay real money to do things in this virtual world. Not having any already existing contacts to lure/guide me into Second Life, I bailed.

And that's essentially the question that the Freakonomics guys asked on their blog today. What's the value of a social networking game like Second Life? Here's the discussion -
http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/2007/08/07/why-spend-time-on-second-life/#comments.

Review of "An Education for Our Time"

Think of a mixture of Newman's "The Idea of a University," the Virginia Military Academy, and Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged." Let's take classical 18/19th century educational ideals, combine them with military school rigors, and sequester our budding "ubermensch" in an isolated Western retreat where they will develop the skills that one day might save our country from the decadence currently overtaking it.

This is something of a "if I had unlimited resources, I would . . . " book. The author, Josiah Bunting III, novelist, decorated officer, and superintendent of VMI, is a good writer and intriguing thinker, but this book feels like it was written pre-9/11, and it was. It's very much of a piece with the other disgruntled, pessimistic, anti-Clinton, "Slouching Toward Gomorrah" works that conservative circles were particularly prone to in the late 90s.

As such, I didn't find too many things worth adopting in our contemporary JBU context, though I could certainly see what the appeal might be of the kind of education Bunting is promoting. Part of me wishes that I had had a school experience along these lines. And I think some of the "Classical Christian" groups would be particularly supportive of many the ideas mentioned.

But in the end, I'm much more optimistic about the current state of America and the world as well as being wedded to the blessings (and yes, I see them by and large as blessings) of our contemporary society to desire to create something like what Bunting is suggesting. Would it be nice if such a thing existed? Sure. Am I at all interested in trying to implement even small pieces of this particular vision? Not really.

Mike Huckabee wins the Republican debates?

I mention Mr. Huckabee because his wife served on our board of trustees and on my Academics Committee in particular. Glad to see that he's finally getting noticed. He's a good man.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5257_Page2.html

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/951kqrer.asp

Opportunity matters more than equality?

http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_3_economic_inequality.html

This article raises an issue I've been struggling with in my job since day one. I like to believe that I'm a "fair" person, and I've spent a decent amount of time trying to insure that resources are equitably distributed across the academic areas that report to me.

This article, however, would indicate that I'm worrying too much about the wrong thing. People are, perhaps, happier when they're better off than their peers (when they get more resources than the next person), but concerns about inequality are generally overrated. What matters much more to most people is "opportunity."

One conclusion I could draw from this article is that the system by which resource decisions are made needs to be as objective and "fair" as possible, but the results do not. As long as people have opportunities to better their resource position, whether they actually do so is less of a concern.

Lessons from "The Prince"

I'm sure others have written more and written better reflections on how Machiavelli's The Prince might apply to their particular field. And I'm somewhat chagrined to admit that I've never read the whole book cover to cover. So what am I learning from this reading?

1) The competitive rivalries of Renaissance Italy still seem pretty relevant to today's world.

2) For most of my life, on the other hand, I would have said that "hereditary monarchies" have little relevance to contemporary America. Then we started the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton (?) years, and that's made me wonder whether we really are that different some 500 years later. Working at an institution named "John Brown" with lots of continuing influence by the remaining "John Browns" reinforces that thought. In some ways, the old city-states are now the "family businesses" over which the heriditary "monarchs" retain great influence in large part because they established the company culture, and the organization reveres them for it.

3) Conquering a "country" that is used to living under its own "laws" reminds me a lot of the situation confronting a new President or Provost of a univesrity in which faculty are used to doing their own things and are therefore fairly reluctant as a group to carry out much change. "A thousand points of NO" is the way I believe the USC President in The Contrarian Leader described it. In those circumstances, Machiavelli suggests "laying them waste" or residing with them. The former not being much in favor in our 21st century democratic culture, that means that any new leader of a highly individualistic group needs to spend a lot time getting to know that group, becoming one of "them," before he or she makes any major changes. Interestingly, this is exactly the advice that modern leadership and business books usually make that hiring outsiders as leaders typically fails, except in those circumstances where the new person spends a lot of time getting to know the organizational culture first.

4) It's even easier to "rule" when you've become the boss of your own group through your own skill and hard work. That again would make sense with the modern organizational advice that it's better to hire from within and that if you want to experiment with significant change, it's much easier to do by setting up an entirely new unit instead of trying to alter substantially the existing organization.

5) Here's one I've referred to a lot in my own life. "Injuries should be done all together, so that being less tasted, they will give less offence. Benefits should be granted little by little, so that they may be better enjoyed." In other words, if you've got bad news, a budget downturn, for example, get out all of the bad news in one fell swoop. But if you've got good news, then dribble it out bit by bit. Easier to say than to do, but it's been my experience that this insight is very true of human and organizational psychology.

6) And then there's the famous quote that a prince should have no other aim or study than war. But I think the more revealing and appropriate quote for our contemporary purposes is that
"when princes think more of luxury than of arms, they lose their states." A contemporary business study, for example, shows that when CEOs are building or remodeling homes, the performance of the companies they lead declines. In general, the bigger the homes, the worse the organizational performance. In our contemporary context, this quote is typically translated as "grow or die," which doesn't have to be equated with growth in quantity, but can be associated with growth in quality as well. If you're not always striving to get better, others who are will eventually pass you by.

7) Another famous quote is that "it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good." As harsh as that sounds, it's probably not so different than our biblical injunction to be "wise as a serpent" because Machiavelli then goes on to say that the prince should use this knowledge as it is appropriate, not that the prince should always act with evil intentions.

8) Perhaps the most recognized Machiavelli quote comes from chapter 17. "It is better to be feared than loved." But then Machiavelli goes on to explain that being hated is even worse, so "fear" in this context is more like "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." It has more to do with awe and respect. A prince can be thought cruel and harsh, but not rapacious. Which means that taking the occasional "life" (translated, perhaps, as firing someone) is warranted, but taking people's property (reducing "budgets" and/or "salary" while you the leader continue to live in comparative luxury) is what will really doom your leadership. I'm always reminded of the historical discussions regarding revolutions is that they do not typically occur because people are oppressed, especially if they have been so for some time. They occur when large numbers have something taken away from them that they feel is "theirs."

9) Of course, there's the usual political advice that even if you personally don't have all of the wonderful traits people might want (which Machiavelli defines as "mercy, faith, integrity, humanity, and religion" and notes that no one can really possess all of them in great measure), then at least you have to appear to have those gifts. Appearance, in the public realm, matters more than substance.

10) Since the biggest danger for the leader is to become hated, "princes should let the carrying out of unpopular duties devolve on others, and bestow favours themselves." Unless, of course, people come to see you as the "weak" leader who has to have others do your dirty work for you. In which case, they'll "fear" the person doing the unpopular duties and "hate" you. Pithy quotes are always difficult to implement, especially when they contradict other pithy quotes.

11) Leaders gain their reputations from great causes, great prowess, and firm decisions (being a "great friend" or a "great enemy"). The one I've been struggling with the most is the "great cause." How do we define that greatness? We have various conversations with faculty members and other constituents, and the responses are all over the map. Even the top academic administrators can't come to some consensus on that score. I'm still pondering this one.

12) A leader has to be completely devoted to his ministers and vice versa. The USC President, obviously a student of Machiavelli, makes a similar argument. Of course, Machiavelli has also contended that a "new" prince may have to "lay waste" to the allies who brought him to power, because there's no way that he can satisfy all of their demands and preserve the state he is now ruling. Once again, this one's easier to read than to implement.

13) Princes need to be great listeners and seekers of advice, but only from a limited group and only when he asks for it, otherwise he'll appear indecisive and get overwhelmed with contrasting perspectives. Guess you'd say that this is the "representative" model of governance as opposed to the "democratic" model? One of the complaints about Bush is that he's allowed Cheney too much of a private, back-door advisory capacity that has made him appear weak and has disaffected the rest of the "ministers."

14) Finally, all else being equal, it's better for a leader to be "impetuous" than "cautious." This is similar to "fortune favors the bold." Of course, this advice runs counter to "first, do no harm" and lots of other quotes. Since I clearly tend toward the "impetuous," I agree with Machiavelli's argument, but as with much else in this short book, and as Machiavelli himself frequently notes, a lot will depend on the circumstances in which the prince finds himself.

The rise of the non-traditional "traditional" student?

Some of the articles and books that I've been reading contend that more and more students want that "consumer-friendly" variety of course offerings that allow them more convenience and flexibility. On-line, low-residency, and once-a-week night courses all fit that bill, even now for traditional on-campus students. I personally haven't seen too much evidence of that desire at a place like JBU, but perhaps that's mostly because we're so rural and our student population is so heavily (and increasingly so) residential.

But if we were to leverage that approach, what might it look like for our sort of institution, and how might we get there? A reasonable first step might be to develop some of our existing "elective modules" into more standardized courses that could be offered in more systematic ways. That step could be leveraged as follows.

1) Offered in a low-residency format (in addition to our existing on-line Core courses) so that students from around the state could have access since their numbers aren't always concentrated in just one area.

2) Offered to students who don't yet meet our existing work and age requirements (coupled, perhaps, with changing those requirements to emphasize work experience or completing a certain number of these JBU modules and removing the age requirement).

3) Offered to on-campus students as well as an alternative delivery mechanism that could run year round? We might then have both on-line and low-residency Core/Electives available to all of our PS and TUG undergrad students.

3A) These combined student populations would likely entail some careful calibration between TUG and PS. Differential pricing might become an issue, for example, but we'd probably just do what we do now with the on-line courses and charge traditional undergrads their full rate (except in the summer, in which case we use the summer rates) because what they're really paying for with their extra tuition dollars is the on-campus experience, and they're still getting that even if the course delivery in this case is different. Faculty teaching these courses, however, would probably need to continue teaching them as overload/adjuncts for cost reasons and to be consistent with the Advance model. To assure compatibility and quality with the on-campus program, we'd likely need to include some type of pre and post tests as well, an idea we might want to consider for our existing courses also (if we want to buttress Dick's concept that these are programs are "comparable" to TUG and if we want to make that case to the government and to accreditating agencies).

4) Eventually perhaps offered in both low residency and on-line formats as a package Associates Degree that would largely replicate our existing Core Curriculum. So, in addition to supporting our current PS and TUG students, this program might eventually draw in students on its own basis as well as potentially feeding students into our various PS degrees and TUG majors.

We'll see if anything comes of these ideas, but they certainly seem to be effective approaches at other institutions.

VPAA vs. Provost?

The definitions are overdrawn in order to make the argument, and I think everyone in academia struggles with these competing pressures of idealism (VP) vs. pragmatism (Provost), but the article lays out the issues fairly well - http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2007/08/2007080201c/careers.html.

Don't give the customer what he wants?

Here's another example of how students are both the customer AND the product. So if businesses say they need MBA grads with more leadership and communication skills, but students say they need more courses in fundamentals such as accounting, which do you emphasize in your curriculum?

http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/08/2007080204n.htm?=attn

Combined Liberal Arts & Economics/Finance degree?

Since I started out as an econ/liberal arts person, and am now in some ways coming full circle back to that combination, this program was interesting to me. It appears to combine the "liberal arts" side of Business with a traditional liberal arts degree. Not sure this would work at a lot of places, but it's intriguing - http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/08/02/bard.

Where's the CCCU in the Southwest?

This one's confused me for a long time. I have a map of the CCCU members and affiliates. There's a dozen such institutions in Southern California. Add another dozen in Texas and a dozen in Nebraska and Oklahoma (counting JBU in this group since we're on the Oklahoma border).

And then what? The only CCCU member school is Colorado Christian in the Denver area, and it's struggling. Then you have a smattering of marginal CCCU institutions: Grand Canyon in Phoenix with only 500 traditional undergrads and a Mormon as president, Southwestern College in Phoenix with less than 500 and pretty much a Bible school emphasis, and College of the Southwest in small town New Mexico 100 miles from Lubbock with less than 500 students and also something of a Bible school emphasis.

So you've got maybe 3000 students in traditional undergraduate settings in anything remotely related to Christian higher education for a region of the country with a current population base of 18 million (Arizona - 6, Nevada 2.5, Utah 2.5, New Mexico 2, Colorado 4.5, and Wyoming 0.5) and still growing. Given that most students attend college within a 300 miles radius of where their families are, this failure on the part of Christians to establish a strong presence in this region of the country is perplexing.

Perhaps it's just that the population growth has occurred in the last two decades, and Christians haven't quite caught up with that demographic change? Perhaps the weaker denominational ties in the 21st Century and in this part of the country are hindering these developments? Maybe what we'll need is an interdenominational institution like JBU or APU that can connect better to the megachurches in the area to start a branch campus in the area the way Midwestern University from Illinois has done in Glendale, Arizona. Hmm . . . I'll have to give that one more thought.

From assessment to good teaching

I attended an assessment conference last week. That sounded pretty mind-numbing, and most of the presentations were (though the food was excellent!). But then somewhere in the three days, the focus shifted from "assessment" to helping students learn. That's what I needed to hear.

My general perspective has been that assessment is primarily educational bureaucracy from an accrediting agency (HLC) designed to keep other educational bureaucracies (state and federal government) from hounding us even more. But the new HLC criteria and much of what I heard at the conference was much more focused on how do we really help students get better. If by doing that we also happen to satisfy outside agencies looking for "accountability," great. But that's not the main concern--good teaching is. Amen.

Here's an example of how that approach seems to be going well at Alverno - http://insidehighered.com/views/2007/08/14/engelmann.

A war we can win?

I haven't really commented on current events in this blog, other than my on-going complaint about how we complain too much, but I found this NY Times piece on the state of the debate concerning Iraq to be helpful - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/opinion/30pollack.html?_r=2&oref=slogin.