The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a real -- albeit rare -- test for human and organisational resilience worldwide, including those in the higher education sector. In this paper, I reflect on my observations of the pandemic's impacts that have rippled through the university sector in Australia in the first three quarters of 2020. The pandemic has not…

The question of whether the presidential spouse should be compensated is one on which it seems everyone has an opinion. "Trusteeship" magazine asked two such people with differing views to weigh in. (Note that the use of the term "spouse" is also meant to include "partner.") David G. Horner, president of The American…

Over the past few years, as cash-strapped states and school districts have faced tough budget decisions, spending on teacher compensation has come under the microscope. The underlying question is whether, when you take everything into account, today's teachers are fairly paid, underpaid, or overpaid. In this forum, two pairs of respected…

Pundits and bureaucrats use the results from international tests, particularly the PISA, to make claims about the quality of the public education system in the United States and make policy recommendations. In this article I argue, with evidence, that the scores and rankings from PISA are not important and that they cannot give policy makers or…

Over the past few years, as cash-strapped states and school districts have faced tough budget decisions, spending on teacher compensation has come under the microscope. The underlying question is whether teachers are fairly paid, underpaid, or overpaid. In this forum, two pairs of respected economists offer very different answers. Andrew Biggs of…

In "Costs and Benefits in the Economy of Honors," Richard Badenhausen identifies several pressing issues regarding the economic status of honors in the current financial climate of higher education, including the role of faculty in addressing those issues. In her response to Badenhausen's essay, Annmarie Guzy, a faculty member at the…

What do college presidents do, anyway? There was a time when American college presidents were looked to for intellectual, and even political, leadership. One of the most famous examples is Woodrow Wilson, who, as the head of Princeton University, was recruited to become governor of New Jersey in 1910 and, just two years later, was the successful…

The forum contributors draw on their personal experiences and insights to put forth ideas about contingent faculty's relations with the profession of English studies in general. (Contains 3 notes.)

A case that the Indiana Supreme Court recently ruled on dealt with the question of whether a professor whose fixed-term contract expires becomes unemployed on a voluntary or involuntary basis. Indiana State University appointed William LaFief as an assistant professor of marketing for the 2004-2005 calendar year. After reappointing him for…

While some presidents are almost as overpaid as their basketball coaches, most campus administrators are not. Instead they work hard at complex and demanding positions and are often paid less than managers with comparable responsibilities in other lines of work. Assessments of compensation typically invoke criteria of fairness and performance.…

The idea of providing returning veterans with benefits as both a reward for their service and as a means of enabling them to reintegrate into civilian life dates to the early history of the United States. Revolutionary War soldiers received military pensions, land grants, and other forms of care, depending on their service and its location. After…

The budget crises will have far reaching impacts on education in California. This CenterView focuses on the critical issues of equity and teaching quality now beginning to emerge for Californians as they struggle to offer students instruction necessary to meet the state's rigorous academic standards. It is absolutely essential for educators and…

Many claim that a college degree is worth a million dollars, but like so many other "facts" about higher education in the United States, it is not quite right. Indeed, using a set of reasonable assumptions that factors in school selectivity, the cost of a college education, and foregone wages, I show that the million dollar figure is…

The 2005-6 executive compensation controversy at the University of California has been explained as the result of a massive breach of compliance with the University's compensation policies by the Office of the President (UCOP). For more than a decade, the explanation goes, UCOP failed to comply with its own compensation policies, embodied in the…

Finding an appropriate policy for setting presidents' pay is elusive, given the dubious nature of salary comparisons. In this article, the author suggests that trustees should determine the president's worth by considering the institution's interests, the limited talent pool, and the multiple demands of the job. He contends that institutions…