Inside Higher Ed

Taxing Relationships

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Colleges and businesses often work together, but they’re not always allies on tax policy. A downward economy could test their ties.

A Defense of the Lecture

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Adam Kotsko questions the idea that small discussion-based courses are the ideal form of undergraduate education.

A Different Kind of Test

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

One college takes "sound mind, sound body" to a new level, requiring students to lose weight or take a fitness class to graduate.

5 Networking Strategies

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Think you don't know anyone outside higher ed who can help your job search? Sabine Hikel says you do.

Hundreds of Thousands Claimed $532M in Excess College Tax Credits

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

The Hope tax credit is designed to help middle class families pay for college -- but not this much. A Treasury Department audit released Thursday found that several hundred thousand taxpayers sought credit in 2006 and 2007 for more than half a billion dollars more than they were supposed to by claiming the tax credit for a third or even a fourth year; it is limited by statute to two years. The agency's inspector general for tax administration found that the IRS system is not set up to flag taxpayers who seek the credit for more than two years, and that agency officials lack the ability to disallow claims for Hope credits because of "math errors." The audit recommends that the IRS be given that authority. The Hope credit was significantly expanded for 2009 and 2010 as part of the federal economic stimulus package.

Smart Homes

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Case Western researchers explore whether high-speed networks can improve health care, public safety and graduation rates in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods surrounding its campus.

U. of Nebraska Regents Weigh Stem Cell Restrictions

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

The University of Nebraska's Board of Regents is scheduled to vote today on whether to limit embryonic stem cell research at university facilities to studies that would have been permitted under the Bush administration's more restrictive policy. The resolution (see Page 4 at this link), which is backed by several regents supported by Nebraska Right to Life, would put the university out of the mainstream and at odds with policy changes made by the Obama administration, which has cleared the way for far more use of stem cells than was allowed in federally backed studies during the previous eight years.

U. of California Backs 32% Increase for Students

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

As students protested outside, the University of California's Board of Regents on Thursday reluctantly approved a 32 percent increase in "fees" (what the rest of higher education calls tuition) for 2010-11. "We're being forced to impose a user tax on our students and their families," Mark Yudof, the UC system's president, said during a committee hearing Wednesday. "This is a tax necessary because our political leaders have failed to adequately fund public higher education." Under the budget, which also seeks a $913 million increase in state support for the 2010-11 academic year, undergraduates and graduate professional school students will see an increase of 15 percent, or $585, in the forthcoming winter and spring terms, and an additional 15 percent increase, or $1,334, beginning in summer 2010.

Doctorate Production Ebbs

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

1.4 percent increase in number of degrees awarded in 2008 is smallest since 2003; growth in biology doctorates accounts for most of the uptick, and humanities continue to dip.

Faculty Unionize at UConn Health Center

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Medical faculty members at the University of Connecticut Health Center have voted to unionize and to be represented by the American Association of University Professors. According to the AAUP, this is the first time that the faculty at a free-standing medical school will have collective bargaining.

Independence Urged for Community College in DC

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

The new community college at the University of the District of Columbia needs independence from the university to be "credible and legitimate," according to a report being released today, The Washington Post reported. The study praises the establishment of the community college in a city that had lacked one, but says that UDC has lost the confidence of the business community, a situation that would hurt the development of the community college. Officials of the college said that their institution would be judged by the quality of graduates, not the link to UDC.

Klan Enters Debate Over Song at Ole Miss

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

The Ku Klux Klan is planning a rally at the University of Mississippi Saturday to protest the university's ban on shouting the final line of a fight song: "The South shall rise again," The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported. The university has been discouraging the last line -- going so far as to change a song commonly performed at football games -- because the line is offensive to many who see it as a link to the university's racist past. The Klan sees the issue in a different way. "This is not a white or black issue at all. It's freedom of speech. They've got a right to say what they want at the game," said Shane Tate, a Klan leader in the state.

Affair Expenses Aren't Reimbursable

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Jeff Schemmel resigned Thursday as athletics director at San Diego State University after the university determined that he had sought reimbursements for expenses from a cross-country trip related to a tryst he had with an Alabama woman, not university work, The San Diego Union Tribune reported. Both Schemmel and the woman are married to other people and the situation became public in part because of the woman's divorce proceedings.

University Settles Lawsuit by Witch for $40,000

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Without admitting wrongdoing, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln has agreed to pay $40,000 to a former employee who says she was fired after the university learned that she is a witch, The Lincoln Journal Star reported. The woman formerly directed a youth program at the university.

Guest Book Review: Give My Poor Heart Ease

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:16:52 GMT

Oronte

Politics of Hiring: Riffing on Profgrrrrl

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:30:31 GMT

Dean Dad

Challenges and Opportunities of the Small Screen

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:21:04 GMT

Joshua Kim

Math Geek Mom: Altruism and Aging

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:10:27 GMT

Rosemarie Emanuele

All Eyes on Pittsburgh

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Mayor pushes 1 percent tax on tuition, stirring up anger at the city's colleges and worries elsewhere that other localities might try similar approaches.

Reviving the Academic Library

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Instead of trying to turn themselves into something they're not -- a center of fundamental learning -- campus libraries should focus on their traditional core mission of supporting education and research, writes Johann Neem.

U.S. Finds Little Reporting on Research Conflicts

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

A federal agency report expected to be issued today finds that most universities do not report their researchers' financial conflicts of interest to the government as required, The New York Times reported. The report by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services examines how National Institutes of Health grantees complied (or not) with federal rules governing researchers' financial conflicts, and concludes that most institutions do not report conflicts and that when they do, few require researchers to eliminate or manage the conflicts.

Bishops Discuss Catholic Colleges

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops held a closed-door meeting Wednesday to discuss, among other things, relationships between the bishops and Roman Catholic colleges and universities, the Associated Press reported. Plans for the discussion started in the wake of the controversy over the invitation to President Obama to be the commencement speaker at the University of Notre Dame.

Congress's Dueling Moves Over Student Loans

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

As Democrats in the House of Representatives joined the Obama administration in urging college leaders to prepare for the government's seemingly likely switch to 100 percent direct student lending, Congressional Republicans issued a challenge of their own, introducing legislation (with the support of one key Democrat) that would extend a stopgap 2007 law that sustained the lender-based guaranteed loan program with a massive infusion of federal funds. That legislation, the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act, made the federal government the backstop for federal student loans issued by banks and other lenders. Education Department officials have cited the June 30 expiration of the law as a major reason why the administration's plan to shift all student lending to the direct loan program must proceed apace, and Reps. George Miller and Ruben Hinojosa sent a letter to college presidents Wednesday urging them to get their campuses ready for the switch, even though the legislation has passed only the House and faces a fight in the Senate. But by proposing an extension of ECASLA, Republicans are essentially giving lawmakers uneasy about pushing ahead with a massive change in federal policy a potential alternative.

Campus Flu Reports Down, but Survey Captures First 2 Deaths

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Colleges and universities reported a 27 percent drop in the number of new cases of likely H1N1 flu, but the closely watched weekly survey by the American College Health Association included the first two deaths attributed to the outbreak. The ACHA survey of 263 campuses found 6,373 new cases of suspected swine flu, with 95 percent of campuses reporting new cases, down from 98 percent the week before. The institutions cumulatively reported 21.3 cases per 10,000 students, down 27 percent from the November 7. Five states -- New Jersey, Louisiana, Missouri, Idaho and the District of Columbia -- reported increasing numbers of cases, with the rest noting declines.

Staffing Up, Part Timers Down

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Federal data on postsecondary employees show work force growing through fall 2008, and slight dip in proportion of instructors working part time.

Tragedy Strikes During Biology Assignment

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Jessica Goode, 23, a student at Ferrum College, was shot and killed Tuesday, and another student was shot in the hand, when a hunter mistook the students for deer, The Roanoke Times reported. The students were collecting specimens for a biology class. The hunter has been charged with manslaughter, reckless handling of a firearm and trespassing.

Rates on the Rise

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

NCAA study finds continued progress in athletes' graduation success.

Metro State Dismisses Tenured Professor

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

The board of Metropolitan State College of Denver has voted to fire Angelina De La Torre, a tenured professor of criminal justice and Chicana/o studies based on incorrect information submitted on her post-tenure review paperwork, INDenver Times reported. De La Torre submitted a report listing a paper as having been published in a journal in 2005, but an investigation found that the paper hadn't been published, and the college cited that in dismissing her. De La Torre, however, said that she never intended to misrepresent anything, and that she made a harmless mistake in not finding out if the article had appeared or in properly recording the issue in which she thought it had appeared. She said she plans to sue the college.

Professors of the Year

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

This year's 4 winners all find ways to encourage students to teach themselves.

Qualities That Promote Transfer

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Using community colleges in Texas as models, a new report suggests that there are common features present at colleges that have success at promoting transfer to four-year institutions by low-income and first generation college students. The report, by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, found that the common themes are a "structured" pathway to transfer, featuring clear articulation agreements; a "student centered culture," with a range of academic support services; and leadership that is sensitive to the challenges facing disadvantaged students.