By Matt Reed. I say “constructively,” because most of us have heard stories of featherbedding, corruption, and “side door” admissions. That’s not the point at all. (Happily, community colleges have large enough front doors that side doors are unnecessary.) And I say “creative” because most of us are already familiar with scholarships and naming rights for buildings. More...

By Matt Reed. Honestly, I’m embarrassed that I haven’t asked this sooner. But here goes.
Public funding has been so flat for so long that it’s easy to forget that it’s a choice. It’s a choice that could be made differently. More...

By Matt Reed. A month or so ago, I was walking with a few colleagues back to our offices. They were all older than I am, and all of them have worked here much longer. They were discussing the possible phase-out of a retirement benefit that’s only available to people hired before a certain year. More...

By Matt Reed. It would be difficult to come up with a more destructive policy assumption than the idea that public services should be subject to income caps. Yet even folks who consider themselves progressive -- whom I would typically expect to be supporters of public services -- fall into the trap. More...

By Matt Reed. Inspired by the Stonewall riots anniversary, a look back at a piece aimed at my straight male counterparts. More...

By Matt Reed. I'm guessing that others have thought of this, though I haven't seen it done elsewhere. Does anybody use a learning-community model for developmental reading? We're looking at mimicking the structure of an ALP for reading, but appending the extra-help reading section to sections of courses in areas like psychology and history. More...

By Matt Reed. Massive cuts in Alaska may be a bellwether.
The news from Alaska, about a possible 41 percent cut in state support to the University of Alaska, came as a shock. The president of the university declared six-week furloughs, and may declare a state of “financial exigency,” which is the academic-budgeting equivalent of martial law. More...

By Matt Reed. We should think about when students and families have money, not just about how much they have. More...

By Matt Reed. Which problem -- subsidies or learning?About twice a week I’ll see someone on the interwebs say something along the lines of “why don’t public colleges stop messing around and just fix their business model? It’s obviously unsustainable!”. More...