AKA Strategy provides executive strategic coaching to higher education leaders and strategic counsel to colleges and universities.
Here are some recent articles that we found particularly informative.
Articles
From The Chronicle of Higher Education Why Colleges Can No Longer Trust the Courts By Peter F. Lake The author examines the rise and recent fall of judicial support for academic freedom under the 1st Amendment to argue that, as courts have rejected precedents kind to higher ed, "academe continues to rely on 20th century legal norms that defer to the academy." Instead, it should use the 2010 Citizen’s United decision prohibiting "suppression of political speech on the basis of the speaker’s corporate identity" to argue that "universities are entitled to no less protection under the First Amendment than a person, association of persons, or corporation." Read this article
From MIT Technology Review How to measure the returns on R&D spending By David Rotman Facing huge cuts in federal science funding, it is not enough to tout past breakthroughs—the internet, CRISPR, GPS. Rather, we should quantify the ROI on all federal R&D investments, including those that go nowhere. New studies provide strong evidence that public funding for basic science is a great investment—driving U.S. productivity growth and making us a more prosperous nation. Yet while it is clear we underinvest in fundamental R&D, the questions of how much more is needed and for what types of R&D will keep economists busy for years. Read this article
From The New York Times Crackdown on Chinese Students Ignores a Startling New Reality By Bethany Allen and Jenny Wong Leung When Republicans fearful of lagging in the innovation race try to block Chinese students from strategic tech fields at U.S. universities, they miss the irony of their efforts. Data highlights that China is already surpassing the U.S. in science and technology research. Barring China’s best talent will only funnel more of it into China’s superpower-building efforts. It will also weaken U.S. competitiveness and security and eliminate "a potent source of soft power that has reenforced core U.S. values such as freedom of academic inquiry and…national prestige." Read this article
From The Atlantic America Needs a Mass Movement—Now By David Brooks People in many nations have risen up to defend their democracies in the past 50 years. Why then hasn’t a resistance movement materialized here? Because there is not yet a narrative to drive a social movement able to counter the anti-elite cultural story Trump tells. With reference to the success of the 19th c. Populist Progressive movement, Brooksoffers three steps to create a more accurate and compelling narrative. "Cultural and intellectual change comes first—a new vision. Social movements come second. Political change comes last." Read this article
From Chicago Booth Review The Incredible Power of Being Wrong By Sanjog Misra This case for the value of "mistakes, misfires, and ‘oopsies’" looks at wrongness in the context of academic research. Figuring out how one was wrong and owning one’s mistakes, especially publicly, invites better ideas and attracts better people. The author’s observations and four-point "Be wrong" strategy apply inescapably to our national polarization (when admitting one may be wrong is anathema to many)—especially when he concludes: "Admitting mistakes…is a prerequisite for honest discourse and the only way to learn and improve." Read this article
