Squeezing the Tower: Are We Getting All We Can from Higher Education?

Presented by the Cato Institute and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity.

CONFERENCE
Friday, November 18, 2011
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM

Featuring: Richard Vedder, Professor of Economics, Ohio University, and founder of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity; Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, President Emeritus and University Professor of Public Service, The George Washington University; Mark Bauerlein, English professor, Emory University, and author of The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future; Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30; Jeff Sandefer, Master Teacher, Acton School of Business; Arthur Hauptman, Public Policy Consultant;Ronald Trowbridge, Senior Fellow, Center for College Affordability and Productivity; and Neal McCluskey, Associate Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute.

Because of the ongoing construction in our building expansion, this Conference will be held at
Mount Vernon Place, Undercroft Auditorium
900 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20001

Viewed from a traditional perspective, higher education gives people both new skills and enlightenment, making it indispensable to economic growth and personal fulfillment. But is that what we are getting? Viewed from other perspectives, we may not be: The Ivory Tower, it seems, is often weighed down by waste and excess, such as gold-plated sports programs, and highly compensated, yet inaccessible, faculty whose jobs are set in tenure stone. And tuition costs find new stratospheric highs every year.

This special conference provides an opportunity for a number of national experts to examine how well our higher education system is really working and how – or even if – it can be improved. One key question the conference will take on is how to assess the productivity of faculty members, including examining the groundbreaking – and highly controversial – efforts recently undertaken in the state of Texas. In addition, conferees will debate whether higher education, as now structured, maintained, and funded, can possibly be made more efficient, or whether a fundamentally different model must be created.

With hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into colleges and universities every year, the questions that will be raised and energetically debated at this conference are of vital importance. We hope you will be able to join us.

Conference Schedule

8:30 - 9:00 a.m.	REGISTRATION
9:00 - 9:15 a.m.	WELCOMING REMARKS Richard Vedder Professor of Economics, Ohio University, and Founder, Center for College Affordability and Productivity
9:15 - 10:30 a.m.	PANEL 1: How Should We Define and Measure Faculty Productivity? Moderator: Liz McMillen Editor, The Chronicle of Higher Education Richard Vedder Professor of Economics, Ohio University, and Founder, Center for College Affordability and Productivity Mark Bauerlein English Professor, Emory University, and Author, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future; Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30 A. Lee Fritschler Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University Download a Podcast of Panel 1 (MP3)
10:30 - 10:45 a.m.	BREAK
10:45 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.	PANEL 2: Is Raising Productivity Enough or Do We Need Fundamental Change? Moderator: George Leef Director of Research, John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy Neal McCluskey Associate Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute Arthur Hauptman Public Policy Consultant Ronald Trowbridge Senior Fellow, Center for College Affordability and Productivity Download a Podcast of Panel 2 (MP3)
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.	LUNCHEON
1:00 - 1:30 p.m.	LUNCHEON SPEAKER Stephen Joel Trachtenberg President Emeritus and University Professor of Public Service, The George Washington University Download a Podcast of Luncheon Address (MP3)
1:30 - 2:45 p.m.	PANEL 3: The Texas Saga: Needed Reform or Impending Disaster? Moderator: Mary Beth Marklein Higher Education Reporter, USA Today Jeff Sandefer Master Teacher, Acton School of Business Jaime Grunlan Associate Professor, Texas A&M University Diane Auer Jones Vice President of External and Regulatory Affairs, Career Education Corporation Download a Podcast of Panel 3 (MP3)
2:45 - 3:00 p.m.	CLOSING ADDRESS Neal McCluskey Associate Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute

Registration

Online registration for this event is closed. If you are interested in attending the event, please email events@cato.org. Video will be available at https://www.cato.org/events/archive.html.

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