TCCTA Blog

Legal Action Seeks to Block Campus Carry

Three University of Texas at Austin professors sued their university and the state on Wednesday, July 6, claiming Texas' new campus carry law is forcing the school to impose "overly-solicitous, dangerously-experimental gun policies" that violate the First and Second Amendments, according to an article by Matthew Watkins, in The Texas Tribune. 

The article says the suit in federal court has a low probability of success. 

The professors are asking for an injunction that would block the law before it goes into effect on Aug. 1. (It takes effect a year later for community colleges.) In the suit, the professors say they teach courses that touch emotional issues like gay rights and abortion. The possibility of guns on campus could stifle class discussion, which is a violation of the First Amendment, the suit says.

Here is the professors' take on the Second Amendment—normally cited to support gun rights:

"The Second Amendment is not a one-way street," the suit says. "It starts with the proposition that a 'well-regulated militia,' (emphasis added), is necessary to the security of a free state. The Supreme Court has explained that 'well-regulated' means 'imposition of proper discipline and training.'"

The suit adds: "If the state is to force them to admit guns into their classrooms, then the officials responsible for the compulsory policy must establish that there is a substantial reason for the policy and that their regulation of the concealed carrying of handguns on college campuses is 'well-regulated.' Current facts indicate that they cannot do so."

Please read the entire piece for additional arguments, and a response from supporters of campus carry. 

Michigan State Drops Algebra Requirement

A prestigious public university in a state with a good reputation for quality higher education has dropped algebra as a requirement for all students. It's covered by Maxine Joselow, in Inside Higher Ed. 

It certainly looks as if the dominoes are falling nationwide, algebra-wise. You can compare the Michigan approach to the Texas New Mathways Project here. 

In certain academic programs, students in Michigan will be allowed to substitute courses in quantitative literary for algebra. The IHE piece gives a nice description the replacement courses. Please read the piece, especially if you are unfamiliar with the concept. Consumer-oriented statistical analysis is the goal, to better fit a society in which we are bombarded with studies and empirical data—on health care, for instance. As those of us who struggled with statistics can testify, the field can be very rigorous. 

Many mathematicians worry, however, that we are losing our intellectual ability as a general society to reason logically, especially when compared to other countries. 

An earlier post here indicated that Wayne State University, also in Michigan, intended to eliminate mathematics altogether for general education students, but the new article reports that Wayne State will opt for quantitative literacy as a general requirement. At both schools, and at institutions around the country enacting similar plans, students who plan to major in fields that use a lot of math will still be required to complete algebra. In fact, in many such programs, calculus is the introductory class. 

Some critics of algebra have called it the "new Latin," in the sense that a subject once deemed fundamental to an educated mind has become extinct in most degree plans. 

If graduation rates go up in Michigan and elsewhere with similar strategies, some observers may attribute the rise to less algebra. But this leap could involve a spurious assumption, given the plethora of efforts to get more students through the pipeline. It's very hard to untangle cause and effect with so many variables, requiring more than …well, quantitative literacy. 

Leaders Call for Budget Cuts

Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Joe Straus asked state agencies in a letter last week to cut their budget requests by four percent. “Overall, the letter makes a plea for holding back the growth of state government as Texas continues to deal with a downturn in the oil and gas industry,” as reported in the Texas Tribune by Madeline Conway and John Reynolds. 

Here is the letter from the governor's website. The leaders told agency heads to trim four percent from their "baseline budget" requests, a term used to describe money needed to continue providing current services, accounting for inflation and population growth.

The final amount for each agency will be determined by the Legislature in the next Regular Session, which convenes in January 2017. The letter represents only a preliminary step, but is disturbing nonetheless to leaders of public entities that depend upon state revenue, including community and technical colleges. 

The Tribune article also points to prospective hard times for local school districts that rely upon property tax revenue from the oil and gas industry. This observation by definition must also apply to two-year schools in the oil patch. It might be added that college enrollment tends to go up in difficult times, so we can expect additional budgetary pressure in future months. 

Regarding health and retirement benefits, this important category of spending is listed with several other stipulated exceptions to budget cut recommendations, but the language is troublesome:

•  maintain funding at fiscal year 2017 budgeted levels plus amounts necessary to cover the impact of payroll growth for state pension systems and employee group benefits (not including payroll contributions made by state agencies and institutions of higher education for retirement and group health insurance), though group benefit modifications may be considered;

It is clear that health and retirement programs will be examined carefully during the Regular Session. Interim committee hearings have already commenced. 

 

Campus Carry and Cost

Money is generally not the chief concern of most educators as we anticipate the "campus carry" law, which takes effect on August 1 at public universities, and a year later at community colleges. 

However, as reported by Emma Pettit, in the Chronicle of Higher Education, some institutions are already spending a considerable amount of revenue. A few Texas universities are discussed in the piece, and one two-year school, Collin College, where a law enforcement official doesn't anticipate a drastic increase in costs. From the article:

Some officials, like William F. Taylor, think the Texas legislation will cause only a marginal shift in campus policing.

Mr. Taylor is president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and the chief of police at Collin College, in Texas. To hold a right-to-carry license, Texans usually have to be at least 21, which limits the number of students who might be armed, said Mr. Taylor.

He remembers a similar anxiety about guns hit Collin College when Texas became an open-carry state, in January (meaning licensed firearm holders may carry guns openly in public spaces). But on campuses, that issue "is nothing, now," Mr. Taylor said.

He predicted the changes in Collin’s police department would be minimal (the law does not apply to community colleges until 2017), and he expects the same for other Texas campuses.

Colleges and universities might install gun lockers or safes in public areas like laboratories, but the price of doing that will be "kind of like a bump."

"But once it happens," he said, "it won’t be a major ongoing cost."

Universities have an extra challenge if they have dormitories, while most community colleges do not. Some schools intend to hire new security personnel, at considerable expense, the article reports. 

Obviously, cost will reflect each school's unique infrastructure. Such variety is an important factor—one reason for TCCTA's position that institutions should be able to decide for themselves whether to allow guns on campus. This exemption would require a change in current law. 

Interestingly, the University of Connecticut recently installed a gunshot-detection system in a busy campus building. The system was donated by an alumnus of the university and chief executive of Verbi Inc., a threat-detection company that entered the higher-education market this year.

15-Hour Semester Produces Results

A new study from the respected Community College Research Center indicates that students who enroll in 15 semester hours in their first semester are more likely to graduate than those who enroll with only 12 credits. Here is the abstract, with links to the full report. 

The announcement is attracting a lot of media attention. The study was designed to measure the potential success of the Compete College America's "15 to Finish" initiative—the subject of a previous post.

Some community college educators are nervous that 15 semester hours will become the new standard for full-time attendance in order for students to qualify for financial aid. Twelve hours is the present threshold for most programs, but, if you do the arithmetic, this pace won't produce a bachelor's degree in four years without summer school. The four-year model is perhaps a creature of nostalgic fiction involving elite residential colleges, but for some reason we still carry it around in our heads, like raccoon coats and freshman beanies. 

The new initiative is supported by the Obama Administration. Minority students also performed well, according to the report. 

As we all know, two-year college students usually have jobs and family responsibilities, precluding enrollment in a full load. In fact we often advise students to ease into college at first. If the 15 to Finish initiative gains momentum, the modest strategy may be discouraged. 

It's hard to measure cause and effect with such studies, since there are so many variables. Many times students who succeed already possess certain qualities to help foster academic progress. A student who is persuaded to enroll in more semester hours may have available time in the first place, fitting the profile of early college success. All the same, this is a trend worth watching.