Inside Higher Ed

The Juice

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:42:49 GMT

Dermot O'Brien

The Shrunken Student Aid Bill

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

With Congress set to take up health measure, Democrats strip community college funds, accountability provisions and more from loan overhaul.

The Teaching Trap

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Just because you care about your students doesn't mean their needs should take over your life, writes Kerry Ann Rockquemore.

Ranking Confession

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Phil Baty, who oversees a controversial international rating of universities, admits that the process had serious flaws, but argues that rankings serve a legitimate purpose.

Butler Rejects Chief Justice as Commencement Speaker

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Butler University's faculty has rejected a student proposal to invite John Roberts, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, to be the commencement speaker this year, The Indianapolis Star reported. Roberts has a niece in the graduating class. Faculty members said that they voted down the idea not because they object to Roberts's ideas, but because they generally avoid political figures for commencement speakers.

Arizona Universities Ordered to Cut Payrolls

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Arizona's public universities were ordered by the Board of Regents Friday to cut their payroll costs by 2.75 percent, The Arizona Daily Star reported. It is unclear whether institutions will cut salaries or order layoffs. In the last two years, about 2,000 jobs were eliminated and thousands of other higher education employees in the state had furloughs.

A Cure For Meetings?

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Ohio State experiment suggests that wikis could let professors make decisions more collaboratively without gathering in the same room.

Too Young for Foreign Field Work?

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Colin Carlson, a child prodigy who at 13 is a double major (with a 3.9 grade point average) in ecology and evolutionary biology and environmental studies at the University of Connecticut, has filed an age bias complaint with the U.S. Education Department after being turned away from a field ecology class that includes a three-week trip to South Africa, ABC News reported. Carlson's complaint says that the professor said that he was too young for the trip, even though his mother volunteered to accompany him (at her own expense). UConn officials declined to discuss the case while it is being considered by the department's Office for Civil Rights.

The Academic Performance Tournament

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Inside Higher Ed tracks what would happen if the Division I NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament were decided by participating teams' outcomes in the classroom.

Missouri Gov. Wants to End Aid to Private College Students

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon last week proposed ending the eligibility of private college students for various state aid programs, The Columbia Daily Tribune reported. A spokesman said that the savings could amount to $50 million a year. "It’s not that we’re against private colleges in Missouri. There are great private colleges in Missouri. But in this financial situation, it’s a luxury that Missouri taxpayers can no longer afford, in our opinion," said the spokesman. Officials of private colleges said that they were shocked and upset by the proposal.

Unreported Lab Accident Preceded Fatal One at UCLA

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The University of California at Los Angeles failed to report a serious lab accident 13 months before a similar one in 2007 that led to a death, the Los Angeles Times reported. Last week, a state agency fined UCLA $23,900 for the earlier incident.

'New Paradigm' for Economic Development

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Shift in thinking on how states attract business should place role of higher education front and center, and extend beyond its research role, report suggests.

U. of California Must Pay $38M to Former Grad Students

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

A state judge has ordered the University of California to pay $38 million in refunds and interest to former professional school students whose tuition rates were raised despite pledges that they would remain level, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The ruling applies to those who accepted offers to enroll to study business, dentistry, law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy or veterinary medicine prior to August 2003. University officials said that they may need to increase charges for current students to repay the former students.

Detroit Schools to Add 'College Suites'

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Detroit's public high schools are going to add new rooms called "college suites" in which students can receive counseling about college and help filling out applications and financial aid forms, The Detroit News. The new effort is a response to concern that not even half of students in the Detroit schools end up applying to college. Officials came up with the idea after visiting private high schools where most students apply to college.

Israel to Create Centers to Counter Brain Drain

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Israel's government has approved a plan to create a series of research centers at universities -- with a budget of more than $300 million -- to try to attract back to the country scholars who have left for positions elsewhere, Haaretz reported. The issue of brain drain has been attracting more attention in Israel, with fears that many top academics move to the United States. Eventually, 30 research centers will be created. Two of the first centers are expected to focus on economics and on computer science.

Commencement Speakers Announced: Albany Pharmacy, Albright, Cal State Monterey Bay, CC of Philadelphia, Denison, Jacksonville, Johns Hopkins, Le Moyne, Mount St. Mary's, School of Visual Arts, U. of Indianapolis, U. of Mass. Lowell, Wagner

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Why a Canadian University Wants U.S. Accreditation

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Simon Fraser University is currently in the process of being reviewed for accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, an agency for colleges in the United States. Simon Fraser was prompted to do so because it is joining the National Collegiate Athletic Association, but its decision also points to the lack of any national accreditation agency in Canada, Maclean's reported. In some cases, the magazine reported, differing provincial requirements mean that some universities' degrees are accepted as valid in some but not all parts of the country.

Best Majors for High Starting Salaries

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The National Association of Colleges and Employers has released its latest survey on the majors that yield the highest starting salaries, Eight of the top 10 are in engineering, with the non-engineering majors being computer science and information sciences. Topping the list is petroleum engineering at $86,220, followed by chemical engineering at $65,142. That places those new bachelor's degrees holders above the average salaries of many associate professors in the humanities.

OMG! No Texting or Facebook for 24 Hours!

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Some professors, concerned that their students are too wired to e-mail, Facebook, and other new media tools, are assigning their students to take a "fast" from technology for 24 hours, The Star-Tribune of Minneapolis reported. Some faculty members are calling for students to be offline for just a day, while others have been more ambitious, with one professor asking students to refrain for five days from using any gadget not invented by 1984. Some students last only an hour or so.

The Paradox of LMS Feature Choice

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:08:54 GMT

Joshua Kim

Level Playing Field

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:03:45 GMT

Herman Berliner

Some Unabashedly Good News

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:34:32 GMT

Dean Dad

Due Dates

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:16:13 GMT

Susan O'Doherty

PATHOLOGY OF THE LAPTOP

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:50:48 GMT

Fault Lines

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Budget cuts are taking their toll on City College of San Francisco, where limited course offerings bar student access and unfilled vacancies leave jobs undone.

Too Golden a Parachute

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

When a faculty member makes outrageous demands, and an institution wants to encourage more retirements, what's an administrator to do? C.K. Gunsalus weighs the options.

Translation of the Last Department Meeting

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

What they said, and what they really meant: David Galef channels a faculty gathering.

Momentum Builds to Include Loan Reform in Health Bill

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate edged closer Thursday to merging the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act into the budget reconciliation bill being drafted to push health care reform through Congress without Republican support. Among the provisions that would be included: the long-discussed end of the Federal Family Education Loan Program, in which private lenders receive subsidies for making loans to students, and the expansion of the Pell Grant program. At a news conference, the chairs of the House and Senate education committees vowed to ensure that the loan reforms would be included in the bill. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said the chance to adjust federal funding for higher education was "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change Washington and do the right thing, the fair thing, and the fiscally responsible thing for hard-working families."

Student advocates Campus Progress, the United States Public Interest Research Group and the United States Student Association sent a letter to Congress Thursday afternoon applauding the proposal. "We can no longer afford to waste billions on special interest subsidies while higher education budgets are cut, college costs skyrocket, and students and their families are struggling to afford a higher education," they wrote.

But news reports also indicated that Senate leaders seem intent on using a newer, and much lower, figure for determining the savings that the student loan reforms would generate. That decision, if it holds up, would mean that Congress would have much less money to distribute among the many would-be beneficiaries of the bill: community colleges, minority serving institutions, early childhood education programs, and, most prominently, needy recipients of Pell Grants.

Tillman's Legacy

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

The NFL star-turned-soldier's death provoked controversy and admiration for sacrifice, and now a foundation named for him aims to help veterans pursue education.

Some Binghamton Faculty Push to Leave Division I

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Faculty members at the State University of New York at Binghamton are circulating a petition calling for the institution, in the wake of a basketball scandal, to leave Division I, The New York Times reported. Senior administrators have acknowledged problems in the program, but shown no willingness to reconsider big-time athletics. The faculty statement, however, says: "“Withdrawal from membership in Division I is in the interest of this university that aspires to be a ‘premier’ public research institution. It will send a strong message to [SUNY System] Chancellor [Nancy] Zimpher, our students and alumni that we intend to end the spirit of cover-up that was encouraged from the top, raise our academic standards, and restore BU’s reputation.”