This spring the Massachusetts Institute of Technology celebrates its 150th anniversary with a series of events and exhibits honoring the Institute's past and envisioning its future. The School of Architecture + Planning — the first architecture department in the country, now 145 years old — will play a central role in the festivities.
[Link to MIT150 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology 150th anniversary]
My university, Texas A&M has floated an interesting (and controversial) proposal for bettering teaching standards – by offering a $10,000 bonus to faculty receiving favorable student evaluations. As expected, there is much consternation and the reality on the ground is that only 300 of more than 2,000 faculty members have opted in the ‘program’.
Matthew Yglesias while understanding that this might not be the best way to better teaching standards, agrees that “financial payoff to effective instruction might be reasonable” but we need to measure that “effective instruction” in a better manner. Measurement issues in a clearly qualitative environment (quality of teaching) is always going to be an issue that no bonus however high is going to solve. The first question ought to be how much really do you enjoy and want to teach as opposed to doing research. Those who love teaching will always do a good job; $10,000 incentive or not.
Colleges could maximize their real estate and financial position if they can bring in boomers as full or part-time residents. This is true not only in metropolitan areas but in broad parts of the country including the rural south, Midwest and places like Pennsylvania. Many boomers do not view retirement as a permanent vacation but as a place to start a “second life.”
Joel Kotin writes on the need to reinvent college towns to take advantage of emerging demographic trends that are highlighted by an increasingly vital aging population.
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