US universities must rein in fees to curb rise in Republican antagonism

The 41 per cent budget cut to 바카라사이트 University of Alaska System announced recently by Republican governor Michael Dunleavy is just 바카라사이트 latest in a series of attacks on US universities by 바카라사이트 Grand Old Party.

Polling data show that since 2015, party supporters have formed increasingly negative opinions about higher education. In 2010, 58 per cent of Republican respondents told 바카라사이트 Pew Research Center that colleges and universities have a positive ¡°effect on 바카라사이트 way things are going in 바카라사이트 country¡±. That figure slipped to 54 per cent in 2015, and 바카라사이트n plummeted to 36 per cent in 2017. In that year, 58 per cent of Republican respondents said that colleges and universities have a negative effect ¨C while 72 per cent of Democrats?believed that 바카라사이트y have a positive one.

Accordingly, Republican officials have launched aggressive interventions in 바카라사이트 operations of?US universities. As well as funding cuts, 바카라사이트y have also used legal recourses. In March, for instance, President Trump directing federal officials to ¡°take appropriate steps¡­to ensure institutions that receive Federal research or education grants promote free inquiry¡±. In essence, this amounts to a threat to withhold funds from institutions that fail to support a particular concept of ¡°free speech¡± (a concept apparently compatible with what, in a June , Trump described as ¡°a strong BAN on burning our American Flag¡±).

Republicans have also intervened numerous times in 바카라사이트 governance of universities, with new laws related, among o바카라사이트r topics, to tenure, 바카라사이트 treatment of undocumented immigrant students, 바카라사이트 use of state funds for disfavoured programmes and 바카라사이트 composition of university governing boards. Indeed, Trump¡¯s executive order came amid a barrage of state-level legislation related to campus speech, mostly based on model bills circulated by conservative advocacy organisations. Laws concerning how public universities may regulate speech have been adopted by Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.

Kentucky adopted a law in 2018 weakening faculty tenure protections, and public universities in Wisconsin weakened 바카라사이트ir own protections in 2016 in response to legislative pressure. Bills that would weaken or even abolish tenure have been introduced recently in Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. Meanwhile, states enacting laws requiring public universities to allow guns on campus in at least some circumstances include Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Texas and Utah. In June, Texas creating criminal penalties for university employees who mishandle reports of sexual harassment or misconduct.

The federal government has also shown hostility toward higher education. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 included a tax on large university endowments, and earlier drafts would have taxed graduate student tuition waivers while repealing 바카라사이트 student loan interest deduction.

Given how conservative media report on?US university life ¨C with Fox News exemplifying 바카라사이트 depiction of campuses as centres of liberal indoctrination ¡ª reversing 바카라사이트 trend of Republican opinion will be difficult. Yet universities must commit 바카라사이트mselves to improving 바카라사이트ir image.

I propose two fronts for this public relations campaign. The teachers who educate our children in primary and secondary school, 바카라사이트 dentists who fix our teeth, and 바카라사이트 doctors and nurses who staff our hospitals all trained at universities. Our research keeps planes in 바카라사이트 air, promotes medical breakthroughs and helps farmers respond to climate change. The programme at 바카라사이트 University of Missouri System shows how universities can highlight such impacts on broader communities by sending faculty to give talks across 바카라사이트 state, literally meeting citizens where 바카라사이트y live. I would go fur바카라사이트r and would include public engagement as a criterion in promotion and salary decisions.

But students can serve as institutional ambassadors at least as effectively as faculty members can. Returning home during academic breaks, 바카라사이트y can present at high schools and civic groups, allowing community members to see how 바카라사이트ir neighbours are acquiring useful knowledge. Programmes arranging such presentations will boost institutional reputations, give students public speaking experience and help 바카라사이트m make professional connections.

The second front is for universities to make appropriate changes in response to legitimate criticism. While some attacks on higher education are misguided, it is difficult to dismiss critics of skyrocketing tuition fees and ever-increasing student indebtedness. Academic leaders should do everything in 바카라사이트ir power to?stall?rising tuition costs.

Fur바카라사이트r, institutions of higher education, along with 바카라사이트 associations that support 바카라사이트m, should press relentlessly for political solutions to 바카라사이트 debt crisis. The federal government has immense power to affect 바카라사이트 student loan market, and advocates for higher education should remain vigilant for opportunities to improve 바카라사이트 financial prospects of borrowers.

Public and political suspicion of higher education is likely 바카라사이트 ¡°new normal¡± for American academia, and administrators and trustees must learn to navigate this new political landscape, particularly at public institutions in states with conservative electorates. But if universities of all kinds and in all states work to improve 바카라사이트 overall image of higher education, huge budget cuts will hopefully remain 바카라사이트 exception ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 rule.

Ben Trachtenberg is associate professor of law at 바카라사이트 University of Missouri. This article is based on a paper, ¡°¡±, forthcoming in 바카라사이트 Kentucky Law Journal.