By Matt Reed. It took me a few attempts to read this piece in the New York Times, about for-profit colleges, to figure out why it bothered me as much as it did. It’s not the subject matter, exactly. It’s the inattention to basic detail, based, I think, on a fundamental theoretical mistake. Read more...02 mars 2014
Markets and Rules
By Matt Reed. It took me a few attempts to read this piece in the New York Times, about for-profit colleges, to figure out why it bothered me as much as it did. It’s not the subject matter, exactly. It’s the inattention to basic detail, based, I think, on a fundamental theoretical mistake. Read more...Privacy in Higher Education
By Tracy Mitrano. Last week I wrote about the weak points in higher education regarding advances in promoting privacy and information management. Today I would like to suggest three objectives every institution should strive to achieve to build awareness and promote good policies and best practices.
1. Reform the Family Rights Education Privacy Act (FERPA)
Congress passed FERPA in 1974. It is one of the first federal public privacy laws. Its age shows by comparison to more contemporary ones. It has no specific technical security safeguards, for example, and it famously has cost higher education much anxiety and yet not a dime. Read more...
Addendum on Privacy
By Tracy Mitrano. As I read last week about data breach at the University of Maryland and now about Indiana, what can be said about the relationship between privacy and security? I left the conclusion out of yesterday’s post. Consider this one an addendum. Information management is what must be said, and done. It is the bridge between human practices and technical safeguards. It is what connects “information” and “technology.” It is the higher business order of these two necessary components, privacy and security, to the comprehensive institutional goals of effective and efficient governance, compliance and risk management. Read more...
What's Current in Privacy?
By Tracy Mitrano. The last two blogs were about what should be done. This one is about some progressive initiatives. In terms of national policy, the Snowden disclosures have re-opened an important conversation about electronic surveillance laws. We are all in charge of keeping that conversation going to the very least conclusion of updating privacy laws such as the Family Education Rights Privacy Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986; the Electronic Communications Privacy Act also of 1986; the U.S.A.-Patriot Act of 2001 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, originally of 1978, updated in 2008, but evidently in need of further revision to balance civil rights and national security. Under the heading of consumer privacy, President Obama commissioned a study a couple of years ago that compiled a consumer Bill of Rights. Recently, he pushed the issue further by asking John Podesta to explore more carefully “big data” consumer issues. Read more...Interview With a Person Who Paid Off $48,000 in Student Loans in Four Years
By Jacqui Shine. Marnie Gallowy! The Internets told me that last week—eight years after you graduated from our ol’ alma mater—that you paid off the last of your $48,000 in student loan debt. IS THAT TRUE? Are you a wizard?
Hey JShine—you found me out, I’m a wizard! My student loan debt totaled $48,000 and change ($33-ish from undergrad, and $15K from a poorly advised year in grad school). The bulk of my undergrad debt was federal student loans, but bundled in there was a nasty $8K Sallie Mae with a 12 percent interest rate. My grad school debt was also a mix of federal and private, but the private loans I got at that time were comparatively reasonable. More...
Teaching evaluations
TA 1 overall score: 5.64/7.00
"Great presentation of subject matter, just a little too wordy sometimes." More...
What the hell is my professorship for?
The other day, I came across this article from The Guardian that lamented the fact that Obama seems to have mitigated the second term of his presidency away by drifting from one crisis to another. The author contrasts Obama’s “drift in principle and policy” with LBJ’s response when an aide argued that his desire to pass the civil rights bill was not realistic. More...
Cathy Davidson Will Move From Duke to CUNY
Cathy Davidson, a major player in the digital humanities and discussions of new models of higher education, is leaving Duke University for the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Davidson is currently the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Ruth F. DeVarney Professor of English at Duke University. She is also co-founder of HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory), and the Graduate Center will become the main home of the organization. At CUNY, Davidson will be a professor of English at the Graduate Center and will direct the Futures Initiative, a CUNY-wide program to promote collaborative and participatory innovation in higher education. Read more...Obama to Unveil University-Industry Manufacturing Centers
President Obama will announce Tuesday the opening of two new "manufacturing innovation instititues" in the Detroit and Chicago areas that pair research universities with private sector firms. The administration will provide $140 million for the two centers, and non-federal sources will provide an additional $140 million, according to a White House official. Read more...
First State Approved for Distance Ed Reciprocity
Indiana has become the first state to join a national initiative aimed at making it easier for distance education programs to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals when they enroll students across state lines. Read more...
