Worries Over U. of California's Online Agenda
Many faculty leaders are skeptical of plans to expand online offerings at the University of California, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The university is exploring a way to offer more online courses, promising that it can maintain high quality, save money, and expand access to courses. On Wednesday, the Board of Regents will hear about a pilot program in which 25 to 40 courses will be developed to relieve overcrowding in general education courses. But a report from the Berkeley Faculty Association is dubious. "The danger is not only degraded education, but centralized academic policy that undermines faculty control of academic standards and curriculum," it said. "It is also likely that the whole thing will be a boondoggle," the report said. It added that online instruction is "inappropriate for many subjects and types of learning."
Dispute Over Adjunct's E-mail on Gay People
An adjunct professor who has taught courses on Roman Catholicism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is not being asked to teach again, following a dispute over e-mail messages he sent students about homosexuality, The News-Gazette reported. The instructor says that the loss of his position is a violation of academic freedom, while the university states that he is simply not having his contract renewed and that adjuncts do not have an expectation of such renewals. Part of the dispute concerns whether the adjunct was simply explaining Catholic teachings or advocating them in ways that would hurt some students. The newspaper's Web site includes the e-mail that set off the complaints about the adjunct, as well as other documents related to the dispute.
Stanford's Aging Professors
An article in The San Jose Mercury News explores the challenges facing Stanford University as more faculty members delay retirement. Officials talk about their great respect for the senior faculty, but fears that the university is unable to bring in enough new talent. Stanford has tried a series of incentives to encourage retirement, including phased retirement. Between 1993 and 2008, the share of the faculty 60 and older increased from 16 to 22 percent, while the share under 45 decreased from 42 to 33 percent.
Possible Gift to SUNY Linked to Tuition Legislation
A possible gift to the State University of New York at Stony Brook is yet another factor in the ongoing debate over giving SUNY and the City University of New York new flexibility on tuition rates and more control over the use of funds raised with tuition, The New York Times reported. Gov. David Paterson, with strong backing from the university systems, is pushing the legislation, which is facing legislative skepticism. Now word is circulating that James Simons, a former mathematics professor at Stony Brook and already a major donor, may give as much as $150 million, but only if the tuition bill passes, the Times reported. Simons agrees with the governor that more control over tuition policy is essential for the state's universities to improve. Some legislators are not happy about the linkage between the gift and the bill. Deborah J. Glick, an assemblywoman who opposes the legislation, told the Times: “I don’t think it’s out of bounds for someone to say, ‘I want to make a really strong commitment.' But we’re not supposed to be considering legislation on the basis of what could be viewed as some quid pro quo.”
Obama's Missed Deadline on Science
More than a year has passed since President Obama stated his goal for all federal agencies having a new directive on how to promote scientific integrity in decisions, The Huffington Post reported. The pledge was among a series made by the president, who campaigned on a pledge of reversing what many scientists saw as a willingness by the Bush administration to disregard sound scientific advice. John Holdren, director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, recently posted a notice stating that developing the directives was "more laborious and time-consuming than expected at the outset."
Why Was Investment Firm Going After For-Profit Colleges?
For-profit colleges were embarrassed recently by reports about some institutions recruiting students in homeless shelters, attracting students with little chance of finishing a program once they had borrowed money and paid the colleges. ProPublica reported that some of the reporting on these incidents was pushed by an investment firm, which may have encouraged homeless shelter directors to blow the whistle on the practice. According to the article, the motive may be that some investors have "sold short" on for-profit education stocks, suggesting that they would gain if the companies' stock value dropped.
Taking Athletic Branding Seriously
Don't even think about calling Western Kentucky University "Western" in athletic discussions -- even if many loyal alumni and students have done so for years. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that the university is among a number that are taking athletic branding more seriously than in the past. In Western Kentucky's case, the university wants to be known by its acronym, WKU. The University of Louisiana at Monroe has started a move to be called only ULM, not Monroe or UL Monroe. Similarly, the University of North Carolina at Asheville no longer wants any references to North Carolina-Asheville to include a hyphen.
Dispute Over Frederick Barthelme's Departure at Southern Miss.
Frederick Barthelme, the noted writer, has brought considerable acclaim to the creative writing program he directs at the University of Southern Mississippi. But The Hattiesburg American reported that he's on his way out, ahead of his planned retirement a few years down the road. Barthelme said he is being pushed out prematurely, but university officials said that -- facing cuts in funds -- they have been forced to set priorities for other programs, and not to continue "phased retirements" like the one Barthelme wanted.
Male Pioneers at Moore College of Art
Philadelphia's Moore College of Art has its first male students, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. For the last 162 years, the college has enrolled only women, and that is still the case for its undergraduate programs, but the college recently started some graduate programs and they will be open to all. So far, two men are enrolle