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MARCH 24–30, 2008 | WEB EDITION
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SCUP Links
SCUP recently published the latest issue of its series, Trends in Higher Education (PDF). We urge you to download and share that document (PDF) with colleagues. Because it contains very useful information, we are using some of its content as our "SCUP Links," this week and for the next two following weeks. This week: Environment and Politics. Underlined text indicates links in support of "Our Observations" or "Our Thoughts." ENVIRONMENT
Observation: Green energy sources will become increasingly important to institutions that have signed the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), and likely for everyone else, too.
- The American Wind Energy Association reported that the U.S. gained 4,000 megawatts worth of wind power in 2007, double what was predicted at the start of 2007 (E/The Environmental Magazine, Wind Power Beats Predictions, November 12, 2007 ).
- Google plans to spend tens of millions of dollars on renewable energy research and development, as well as related investments in 2008. The goal is making renewable energy less expensive than coal power (Energy Ace Newsletter, Google Aims to Make Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal Power, December 2007).
- Green technology offers many opportunities for business growth and creation, and some business schools are preparing the managers for them (The Star, Learning to make money from going green, December 18, 2007, www.thestar.com/printArticle/286157; Knowledge@Wharton, Green Technology Offers Opportunities for Discerning Investors and Entrepreneurs, January 21, 2008).
Our Thoughts: Can we bring green energy sources online in time? Will the combination of conservation and renewable energy be enough to stabilize, if not reduce, greenhouse gases? Human behavior, including politics, may prove to be a bigger stumbling block than a lack of technological advances.
- The U.S. geography should make it a major producer of wind energy, but NIMBY (Not in my backyard) forces are dampening investment (Newsweek, November 12, 2007, page 21).
- While China portrays a growing awareness of environmental and energy issues, it still builds over 31,000 megawatts of coal-fired capacity every four months (The New York Times Green Energy Lags in China, So Coal Steps Up)
- Reducing carbon dioxide may be more difficult than predicted as the ability of the oceans and land to absorb it has apparently begun a clear decline (The Globe and Mail, October 23, 2007).
ENVIRONMENT
Observation: Colleges, with a substantial push from their students, continue to report an increased focus on sustainability, and reduction of green house gases, in particular.
- In a survey of 200 campuses, the Sustainable Endowments Institute found that the percentage of institutions with green building policies rose from 48 to 69 percent; likewise bio-diesel is now made or used on nearly 30 percent of those surveyed; buying food locally and recycling were the most common activities (Inside Higher Ed, October 24, 2007, Progress Seen in College Sustainability).
- Yale University has reduced its green house gas emissions by 17 percent since 2005; its goal is to fall 10 percent below its emission levels of 1990 by the year 2020 (Yale University Bureau of Public Affairs).
- While not yet a groundswell, business schools have increased the content in their MBA programs, and in some cases their research and majors, to include social and environmental issues (The Aspen Institute Center for Business Education, Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2007-2008, October 2007).
- Nine regional universities, Open University, and the Natural History Museum in the United Kingdom are collaborating on a program to connect faculty and other resources to increase awareness of local environments, including the economic and social health of communities (EducationGuardian, September 12, 2007).
Our Thoughts: Higher education has focused on reducing energy and carbon footprints in its sustainability efforts. These are the easiest changes to sell as the dollars and cents benefits are most obvious. Getting to changes in human behavior and other indicators of healthy environments is only going to get harder.
- The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts fundamental shifts in travel patterns over the next 20 years as global warming threatens biodiversity, sea level, food supplies, and disease patterns. How will the ability and cost of travel affect enrollment patterns across the globe? (TravelMole, November 27, 2007, UN Climate Scientists Predict Fundamental Change in Tourism Industry).
- A survey released by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development indicates that key stakeholders in real estate and construction continue to overstate the extra costs of building green by some 300 percent, "creating a major barrier to more energy efficiency in the building sector"; four of the eight factors contributing to this view are based in human behavior (LexisNexis, September 5, 2007).
- Controversy continues to bubble about the green building standards included in various programs, such as LEED or Green Globes, and how well they address life cycle costs and benefits (Professional Builder, February 1, 2008, Reed Business Information, "Green Building Programs More About Bias than Science, Expert Argues").
POLITICS
Observation: The Spellings Commission report raised some hackles and some awareness of issues related to funding, accountability, and access. While accreditation remained a political hot potato, student financial aid legislation actually passed.
- The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 created winners and losers and further confused financial aid counseling. Pell Grant awards increased, but funding for student loans is in jeopardy in many states due to the housing market and reduced support for guaranteed student loan lenders. Uncertainty about loans hits the biggest source of money for many students (Inside Higher Ed, September 28, 2007 and Warning on Tuition, Shift on Accreditation, November 15, 2007).
- Accrediting agencies, judges, institutions, and Congress are all jostling for the best position on accountability. A preliminary ruling suggests that states cannot restrict what regional or institutional accreditation results they will accept—it has been a while since states did their own accrediting and now everyone wants in (Inside Higher Ed, New Legal Challenge for Accreditation, October 5, 2007, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, Colleges and Their Accreditors Seek Compromise, Fearing Education Department Ruling, December 10, 2007).
Our Thoughts: For four years we've been writing about the stalled Higher Education Reauthorization Act, which expired in 2003. Now with at least seven extensions, it's difficult to believe that postsecondary education is actually valued in the face of continued political game playing (National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, House Approves Six-Month Extension of Higher Education Act, October 26, 2007).
- Access to college funding for students has become a strange public relations and lobbying business. Student loan providers were exposed as buying favor at colleges; so financial aid directors aren't sure what's in the rules for meeting students' needs through loans anymore (Inside Higher Ed, What's a Financial Aid Director to Do?, October 4, 2007).
- New student grant programs, the Academic Competitiveness Grant and the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant, together, managed to spend only $430 million of the $790 million appropriated for them (Inside Higher Ed, Where New Federal Student Grant Funds Are Going, October 26, 2007).
- The variety of other provisions that are potentially in a reauthorization bill means more wrangling among Democrats and Republicans and a likelihood of increased federal regulation for higher education (The Chronicle of Higher Education, Pending Bill Would Double Colleges' Reporting Burden, Critics Say, January 25, 2008). Can students and the public possibly be served by increased attempts at micromanaging institutions?
POLITICS
Observation: As with other areas of political interest, states are picking up the slack on higher education policy and funding where the federal government sees needs, but does not act.
- State tax support for higher education climbed 7.5 percent in the 2007-08 budget year, the highest annual increase since 1985 (Grapevine Project); unfortunately, state budgets are already weakening so it may be unlikely that funds legislated will be appropriated in their entirety (American Association of State Colleges and Universities, "Top 10 State Policy Issues for Higher Education in 2008," January 2008, AASCU Policy Matters).
- Previous funding is the best predictor of support for higher education in a state, with public research universities having the least stable support, community colleges having the most stable support, and comprehensive universities falling in between the two. (Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education, D. Weerts and J. Ronca, "Determinants of State Appropriations for Higher Education from 1985-2005: An Organizational Theory Analysis", February 2008, www.wiscape.wisc.edu/publications/wp013/ )
- State funding of research, most prominently embryonic stem cell studies, represents another example, for better or worse, of states enacting policies that the federal government is not.
Our Thoughts: States are tackling a diverse array of opportunities and problems in their higher education institutions. Creative and workable solutions can move more quickly there, as well as to other states .
- Community colleges in Washington can receive additional funding for each student who passes a remedial mathematics examination, earns a degree, or completes the first 15 units of college level courses (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Community colleges to be rewarded for degrees: State campuses get extra money for academic success, September 12, 2007).
- The three public colleges in Rhode Island are collaborating across all academic departments on creating common learning outcomes and assessments (The Providence Journal, R.I. colleges aim to better assess students).
- While states have supported college attendance for illegal immigrants through a variety of mechanisms in the past, the ambiguity in federal laws combined with the presidential election is having a chilling effect on continuing these efforts (American Association of State Colleges and Universities, "Top 10 State Policy Issues for Higher Education in 2008," January 2008, AASCU Policy Matters).
- The rest of the world, particularly Europe, is seeking to unite efforts to provide quality postsecondary education. The United States appears to be headed for increasing fragmentation. What will it mean for students, research, economic development, and the many other ways that higher education contributes to the broader good?
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