Month: July 2025

Philip G Altbach and Hans de Wit

Much of the higher education world, in the United States and beyond, is ecstatic that Donald Trump will be leaving power – although, as of this writing, his willingness to step down is unclear. His departure will bring some immediate and positive changes that will affect the American and also the international higher education landscape – both in tone and in American policy.

But Trumpism is far from gone. The kind of populism and nationalism that Trump exemplified remains part of American reality – and the realities of many other countries. Keep in mind that 70 million Americans voted for Trump even after experiencing four years of his erratic leadership. The United States remains politically polarised, with Republicans in control of the Senate and many of the state governments.

While Trump was voted out of office, pro-Trump Republicans did well in the election. And elsewhere, Trump-alike leaders of governments and big opposition parties are still strongly present, for instance, in Brazil, Hungary and Poland.

The divide between climate change deniers and those who are anti-internationalist and anti-immigration on the one hand, and those in favour of international collaboration to solve key problems locally and globally, is bigger than ever in the United States but also in the rest of the world.

American higher education retains its global reputation and attraction. America’s best universities still hold the top rankings, and the rest of the system remains popular, although the economic crisis and demographic changes will negatively impact some colleges and universities.

Surveys carried out during the COVID-19 crisis show that students around the world still want to study in the United States, although its market share, which was already declining before Trump came to power in 2016, continues to decline and will do so even under a Biden presidency.

Quick changes

The great rhetorical fog of Trump is already lifting from the American higher education landscape, even before President Biden takes office on 20 January 2021. The idea that the United States is an active participant in global higher education is being restored.

Of course, the American higher education community continued to engage internationally during the Trump years, but both the policies and the rhetoric of the Trump administration had an impact.

Visa restrictions, elements of the ‘Muslim ban’ that may still be in practice, the time restriction on student visas, tight regulations on Optional Practical Training and H-1B visas and other elements are likely to be ended quickly. Regulations concerning post-doctoral appointments are likely to be returned to traditional practice.

The path to obtaining green cards for foreign graduates is likely to be made easier. And the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, which does not directly affect international higher education but provides protection to 643,000 immigrants, will be reinstated.

Existing programmes, such as Fulbright and other exchanges, which were under threat and suffered budget cuts, will be safe. The partisan politicisation of international initiatives of all kinds, such as the Voice of America and including those relating to higher education, will be ended.

Possible policy shifts

In general, American governmental policies relating to international higher education will revert to pre-Trump norms. There is likely to be greater scrutiny of the for-profit higher education sector domestically – and this will have some impact on the international operations of for-profits.

But due to the continuing COVID-19 crisis and the fiscal and economic disruptions related to it, new initiatives relating to international higher education are very unlikely.

Important issues such as racism and inequality in higher education in general, as well as in study abroad and international student policies, will get attention, given the strong focus of incoming vice-president Kamala Harris on these issues. But given their systemic presence in the sector, they will not be easy to overcome.

The China problem

It is likely that the highly negative rhetoric from the Trump administration concerning Chinese students, scholars and programmes in the United States will end, as will some of the often irrational restrictions imposed by the Trump administration, and academic relations with China will ‘normalise’.

But there is a broad consensus in the US government that there is a problem with, for example, intellectual property theft and concern with restrictions on academic freedom in China and related topics, and thus it is likely that tensions will continue – but in a context of rationality. On this geopolitical topic, there will be more alignment with European partners and Canada.

Broader trends

Overall, the transition to a Biden presidency in the United States will imply a substantive shift in tone toward more international collaboration in research and education and a revision of several of the draconian measures toward international students, faculty and partnerships. But one can wonder if it will be possible to correct the enormous damage to its international reputation of the past four years.

The trend of increasing competition from Asia will be difficult to reverse. European universities, although challenged by Brexit, as well as Canada seem better prepared for the end of the pandemic than higher education in the United States, even though its top institutions will continue to lead the rankings.

At best, one can say that international higher education will be in a less deplorable state under Biden than under Trump, and that in itself is something one has to be pleased about.

Philip G Altbach is research professor and academic advisor at the Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, United States. Hans de Wit is professor emeritus and academic advisor at the Center for International Higher Education, Boston College.

Source: Nirvana’s not coming – IHE implications of the US election

Countless schools have had to close their gates because of the pandemic. They simply could not risk the health and safety of the students, the faculty, and the staff. Instead, they have had to switch to remote learning with profound consequences for those involved. While some are happy to be home with their families in relative safety, others are having a hard time transitioning to this new mode of study. The heavy dependence on technology is a burden on those who may not have the resources or the know-how to face the challenges that they encounter. Fortunately, useful software tools are available online including MyCleanPC.

One of the most common issues that students face is computer slowdown. They are completely dependent on their laptops and desktops in completing their schoolwork. They cannot afford to have a slow system that frustrates them at every turn. Imagine having to wait for several minutes just for the machine to boot up. The same thing could happen when trying to launch programs and doing intense work. These issues are particularly frequent with older machines. Buying a new laptop can help but that’s out of the budget range for most students. It would be best to look for other solutions to speed up the existing computer.

Understanding why machines slow down will help immensely. Several things can lead to this unfortunate situation including low disk space, excessive startup programs, active malware, registry problems, and so on. If each of these could be solved, then the speed of the computer can drastically improve. Wait times can shorten from minutes to seconds. Students can read all of the pages that cover their exams and reports. They can pass their assignments before the deadlines. They can create their presentations and videos in time for their next classes. MyCleanPC has the power to automate troubleshooting and boost speed in one click.

MyCleanPC looks for all unnecessary files that can be erased without problems. Your important documents, pictures, videos, spreadsheets, and personal files will still be there but the clutter will be gone. By getting rid of these, you can free up a massive amount of space on the hard drive. This lets your system function smoother since it uses free space as temporary storage when opening programs and doing various tasks. Instead of crawling through every click, your machine will feel snappy and responsive. Instead of frustrating you at every turn, it will be helping you accomplish whatever you set out to do which is exactly how it should be.

MyCleanPC also has a built-in Startup Manager which makes it a breeze to edit the settings for your startup programs. These are the software that automatically opens up when you turn on the machine. This feature is definitely convenient as you don’t have to keep opening items that you always need. However, it can backfire if you include too many programs on the list. If you have an unusually long boot-up time, then this may be the culprit. Open the MyCleanPC manager and trim the startup programs on the list. Leave only what is essential.

The MyCleanPC software is available for download through the official website at https://www.mycleanpc.com/ so there is no need to look for a CD at stores. Students can try it for free and diagnose their system. This will show the issues that can be resolved by the program. You can unlock the full features by activating the software online. The process is fast and easy. Anyone can get their system up and running quickly with just a few clicks. It’s perfect for college students who want their computer to be the ideal learning companion.

Classified the episode as ‘discrimination’ and ‘harassment.’

In November 2019, a George Mason University professor stumbled upon a Bible and an accompanying CD in her classroom. The professor collected the items and immediately reported the items to the school’s Bias Incident Reporting Team, which classified the episode as “discrimination” and “harassment” against “religion.”

The professor accompanied her report with photographs of the Bible, and the items were collected by the Bias Team.

The incident was one of 12 filed with the school’s bias reporting website between January 1, 2019 and January 1, 2020 and obtained by The College Fix through an open records law request. The documents provided by the university were redacted to protect the privacy of students involved.

The reports were obtained as The Fix continues to investigate the types of complaints that are lodged through bias response teams at college campuses across the nation. Nearly two dozen universities have been included in the investigation so far since it launched in 2019.

According to George Mason’s Campus Climate website, students and professors are encouraged to report and “act of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, violence or criminal offense committed against any person, group or property that appears to be motivated by prejudice or bias.”

According to the school, “bias” could mean “negative feelings and beliefs with respect to others race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age social class, political affiliation, disability, veteran status, club affiliation or organizational membership.”

“Such bias incidents may be intentional or unintentional and affect the individual or Mason community,” according to the school’s bias reporting website.

“Our bias reporting and response protocols appropriately balance our efforts to strive for a bias free environment while protecting the individual rights to free speech,” said GMU spokesman Michael Sandler in an e-mail to The Fix.

“Our policies have been vetted by university counsel and have been endorsed by free speech advocates outside the university,” said Sandler, adding, “Mason also has the highest rating from The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which rates universities on their ability to protect students and faculty members rights to free speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty and sanctity of conscience.”

In a September 2019 incident, a student reported a communications professor for asking the student to give up an accommodation that allowed them to turn in assignments late. The student said the professor made them feel “very unsafe” because she implied the student was “taking advantage of disability services.”

The professor then allegedly asked the student what the special accommodation was for, which the student said “is not something that I feel comfortable sharing.”

“She also pulled my [study] partner out of the room and tried to pressure her into making me present,” said the student. “My partner currently has a concussion and the professor claimed that she was faking,” reported the student.

“I feel that this teacher has a pattern of discrimination which goes against George Mason’s code of ethics,” the student wrote. “I feel that she is not a safe person to have in the classroom,” reported the student.

The student said among those notified were the GMU Compliance, Diversity and Ethics Office, the Office of Disability Services, and “all my friends.”

In another incident, a student in the multi-cultural/multil-lingual education program overheard two middle-aged women in the admissions office discussing their frustration with so many students waiting until the last minute to turn in their transcripts. One of the women allegedly said she was particularly frustrated with international students who used excuses like time differences and language barriers to ask for filing extensions.

“The adviser then went on to say that she felt that the international students just plagued the various advisers and offices looking for the answers they wanted, not the answers they were given,” reported the student, adding “She said that if an exception is made for any international student, then they will come to expect it, because they talk together.”

“This sort of discrimination and prejudice from the university’s own admissions office is completely egregious and unacceptable,” wrote the student. “It is also entirely unprofessional that these employees were having this conversation in a public area in front of other students,” the student said, adding they now feel “extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome” at George Mason University.

Other reports filed with the school included:

· At a Presidential Search Community Session in October 2019, a transgender student rose to offer an opinion and ask a question. The student said the leader of the search committee “cut me off before I could finish my question and very aggressively and very condescendingly confronted me, in front of the entire room, about my question without providing an answer.”

“I could not help but notice that the only trans woman in the room was silenced while others were allowed to go on, essentially as long as they wanted to,” reported the students, adding, “To me, this incident very clearly displayed an act of casual, if not outright, transphobia.”

The student never reported the question asked or the opinion offered.

· In November, a group of campus police officers began asking students in the Mason Global Center if they could recognize a thin black man in a photo taken by a security camera. According to one student, “It was clear to me that he was insinuating that he wanted me to direct him to anyone matching the suspect’s description, no matter if I was sure it was them or not.”

“It was an extremely uncomfortable situation that was not only undoubtedly rooted in racial discrimination, but one that makes the entire community very discontent [sic]” the student reported.

· A student complained that the Facebook group “GMU GeneralPosting” is “well known for its systemic bias against African Americans and other POC.”

Updated to include a statement sent by a George Mason University spokesman after the article was originally published.

MORE: Student files bias complaint after dry-erase message fails to refer to MLK as ‘doctor’

Source: George Mason U. professor finds Bible, reports it to ‘bias’ hotline | The College Fix

It took 404 days, five extensions, and a lawsuit for the University of California, Los Angeles to fulfill a single open records request.

Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education announces a victory in the lawsuit — filed to remind UCLA and public institutions around the country that they have a moral and legal obligation to fulfill public records requests.

“It shouldn’t take over a year and litigation to get 13 pages of documents from a public university,” said FIRE Director of Litigation Marieke Tuthill Beck-Coon. “The people of California deserve far better from the institutions they fund.”

The Superior Court of California entered judgment in FIRE’s favor on Oct. 20, ruling that UCLA’s handling of a 2018 records request from FIRE violated the California Public Records Act. As part of the resolution, UCLA admitted that it violated the law by failing to fulfill the request for over a year.

FIRE’s suit stemmed from a 2018 speaking engagement by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin. On Feb. 28, 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mnuchin “retracted his permission” for UCLA to release a video of his speaking appearance at a campus forum two days earlier. During the appearance, several protesters were escorted from the facility, leading to five arrests.

Seeking to learn more, FIRE issued a public records request to UCLA on March 2, 2018 for a copy of the video and any communications about its release, as well as any agreements between Mnuchin’s office and UCLA about the secretary’s appearance. UCLA publicly posted the video to its website on March 9, but failed to release any of the other requested documents. Instead, UCLA responded to FIRE with a succession of emails repeatedly awarding itself extensions — five in all — before FIRE filed a lawsuit on March 27, 2019.

UCLA finally handed over the 13 pages of requested documents on April 10, 2019 — more than 13 months after FIRE filed its original request.

The California Public Records Act requires that public institutions like public colleges make copies of public records “promptly available,” and not delay the production of records. By stipulating to the judgment entered by the Superior Court of California, UCLA admitted that it violated the CPRA by failing to make the documents promptly available to FIRE and unlawfully delayed its response.

FIRE was represented by Kelly Aviles of the Law Offices of Kelly Aviles and FIRE attorneys Beck-Coon and Greg H. Greubel. FIRE is grateful to Aviles for her excellent work on our behalf and her dedication to governmental transparency.

UCLA, like many public institutions, has a checkered history with fulfilling public records requests. The Daily Bruin, UCLA’s independent student newspaper, houses a database on its website listing unfulfilled requests to the university.

“With this suit fresh in their minds, we encourage UCLA to finally fulfill the Daily Bruin’s many ignored requests for documents,” said Beck-Coon. “Government actors like UCLA can’t ignore the law and let records requests languish indefinitely. This lawsuit is proof of that.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of students and faculty members at America’s colleges and universities. These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience — the essential qualities of liberty.

Source: LAWSUIT VICTORY: UCLA admits to violating the law after stonewalling open records request for over a year