Teaching and Research

Intellectual property (IP) at colleges and universities refers most importantly to the products of faculty, staff, and student research and scholarship. IP falls into two groups—work covered by patent law and work covered by copyright law. Both categories have undergone significant change over the last generation. In response, university policies have either evolved or been radically revised. The most troubling changes have occurred in university patent policies, with major research universities leading the way in limiting or eliminating faculty members’ traditional rights to decide what happens to their discoveries or inventions.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, when faculty members were forced to adapt their courses abruptly for remote learning, corporate-run online programs were being developed at more and more colleges and universities across the country, with administrators often emphasizing increased access to higher education as a core value of online initiatives. This trend is likely to continue and even accelerate. In corporate-run online programs, emphasis on the quality of education may get lost in the pursuit of revenue. If online education programs focus simply on increasing the number of students, without consideration for quality, are students really being well served?