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Consultants
I didn’t have much contact with the world of educational consultants before I became Provost. As department chair and then dean, I certainly benefited from outside advice, but this came mainly in the form of external reviewers from other schools who could provide some independent perspective on programs. A bit of money changed hands but […]
International Students
As we near a decision about a project to increase significantly the number of international students at Mason, at both graduate and undergraduate levels, a word on the most commonly asked, and perfectly appropriate, question. Why do this? Note that my answer applies to our strategic commitment to grow the numbers, regardless of the current […]
Partnering with For-Profits
It’s no secret that Mason, like a number of public universities, is actively partnering, or considering partnerships with, various for-profit organizations. Of course educational institutions have long done this in some nonacademic sectors, like food service, where commercial firms can arguably do a more efficient job, with more economies of scale, than the universities themselves. […]
Mason and the Region
To me, the most interesting thing to emerge from the University’s annual planning retreat last week was the reminder of our historical connection with Northern Virginia and the opportunity to renew and redefine this connection to mutual benefit. It’s pretty well known that regional leaders first sparked an interest in having a higher education institution […]
Education and Inequality
Let me make it clear in advance: I fully recognize that higher ed will be discussing major changes (though not everything will change), and I’m looking forward to that conversation. We’ll need to think about new uses for technology, some different pricing structures—all sorts of things. I do think some of the current faddish assumptions […]
Research
This effort is designed to stimulate intelligent discussion around a topic that is more complex than many realize. We’re heading into a strategic planning process, and the subject of research will be central. Mason is a strong and rising research university, though not in the top tier as yet. Funded research has grown by about […]
The Mason Forum on the Future of Higher Education
Spurred by our incoming president, Ángel Cabrera, Mason will host a discussion of issues and innovations in higher education on Nov. 2-3 of this year. Most seats will be available for the Mason community — a ticketing system will be announced later. Speakers will combine distinguished visitors with Mason faculty. Topics will include what […]
The Vision Series
April 30th is the last in the Visions Series lectures for this year, with a discussion in Fairfax of Obama and presidential powers by Mark Rozell of the School of Public Policy. We’ve been running this series for four years now. The goal is to get Mason faculty, from the whole spectrum of disciplines, to […]
Obamaschool
The President’s appeal for accessible higher education at the University of Michigan (a higher cost school than Mason), deserves a reasoned response and discussion. The goals are splendid, but without being defensive, there are also problems attached. I hope we can give the issues wide airing. I was pleased that the President acknowledged that the […]
Getting Real on Budgets
I know I’ve written about budget issues before (they have to be a preoccupation in my job, so I don’t feel abashed about inflicting periodically on others). Besides, it’s the season — the governor will announce his budget on Dec. 19. I know there’s sincere interest in “doing something” for higher education, so we will […]
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A Real Path Forward for AP World History
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Conference on Emotions History: some thoughts about the field
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We Need No More War
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