Explores how the governing structure of Florida's state universities has become a political "football" that none can catch. (EV)

College administrators, trustees, politicians, and coordinating boards in several states continue to argue over control of higher education institutions. Some state coordinating boards are criticized for governing more than coordinating, creating an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy between colleges and the state; others are seen as not adequately…

Lynne V. Cheney, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has charged liberal scholars with using college classrooms to advance their political agendas and indoctrinate students, blaming feminists in particular. She urges trustees and alumni groups to become more involved in protecting academic freedom. Some critics are alarmed. (MSE)

A special committee studying possible changes in Texas higher education is considering a variety of politically troubling alternatives including institutional reclassifications, faculty salary and tenure changes, funding alternatives, restructured governance, and mergers and closings. (MSE)

Saudi Arabia has been developing at breakneck speed since the end of World War II, when oil production transformed this country of Bedouins into one of the richest polities in the world. Its higher-education system, however, has not kept pace. The Ministry of Higher Education was not established until 1975, and its task was to educate a population…

College and university governing boards, spurred by pressure for accountability, feel increasingly compelled to formally evaluate presidents. Use of consultants, reduced faculty involvement, and political issues at public institutions are also factors in this trend. (MSE)

The Kentucky governor's plan to remove the state's 14 community colleges from the control of the University of Kentucky and create a new system to administer technical and community colleges has created rancor in the university's community. Many business leaders and presidents of the seven other state universities have endorsed the governor's…

The president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Texas) is the latest in a series Baptist seminary presidents to be fired or resign after conflict with conservative trustees. Critics are concerned about implications for academic freedom; donors are withholding gifts; and an accrediting agency has questioned the firing. (MSE)

The firing of the director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia after a 20-year tenure and similar changes in other states have raised concerns that higher education policy boards face tightened political control. Some Virginia legislators feel the dismissal has left the council with little credibility, and substituted political…

State governors' comments about higher education in their state of the state addresses include the effects of recent reforms, in-state retention of students, education and industry's needs, high college costs, academic preparation for college, faculty dissatisfaction, statewide cohesiveness, efficiency, economic development, and governance reform.…

The University of California Board of Regents' decision to end racial preferences in hiring, contracting, and admissions represents the most dramatic scaling-back of affirmative action policy in American higher education. The highly controversial decision is accompanied by a policy of increased outreach to low-income and otherwise disadvantaged…