News
Quick Takes: Bridgepoint Buys Another College, $100 Million for Baylor College of Medicine, Iowa University Chiefs Call for Arming Police, Hawaii Coach Alleges Gender Bias, Explosive Decision at Nebraska, Probe in NJ, Sexual Health Rankings
September 13, 2007
- Bridgepoint Education, a growing for-profit higher education company, announced Wednesday that it has purchased the Colorado School of Professional Psychology, which is located in Colorado Springs and offers master's and doctoral degrees in psychology. The institution, which has been nonprofit, will be renamed the University of the Rockies and additional degree programs will be added. Bridgepoint's purchase comes at a time that for-profit purchases of nonprofit colleges appear to be on the rise.
- Baylor College of Medicine announced Wednesday that it has received a $100 million gift from a Houston couple to help it recruit scientists and doctors. The gift from Robert and Janice McNair -- he is a trustee of the medical college, and together they run a foundation -- will expand their McNair Scholars scholarship program for students (not to be confused with a federal program with a similar name) to include faculty members for the first time.
- The presidents of Iowa's three major universities recommended Wednesday that police officers on their campuses be armed for the first time, the Des Moines Register reported. Gregory Geoffroy of Iowa State University, Sally Mason of the University of Iowa and Benjamin Allen of the University of Northern Iowa jointly urged the Iowa Board of Regents to agree to let certified officers carry guns, arguing such a move was necessary to protect the safety of staff and students. Faculty leaders at Iowa and Iowa State endorsed such a move in close votes Tuesday, but the Faculty Senate at Northern Iowa opposed it, the Register reported.
- A University of Nebraska at Lincoln professor who brought explosives to class last fall has agreed to resign under a settlement with the institution, the Associated Press reported. John Belot Jr., an associate professor of chemistry, had been arrested after passing a bag of explosive devices around to students in his class, but the charges were eventually dropped. A university investigation called his firing, but a faculty panel backed him. "This settlement is best for all concerned," the university's chancellor, Harvey Perlman, said in a prepared statement.
- State investigators in New Jersey, who have been conducting a probe into the management of public four-year colleges, are now seeking information from community colleges about buyout deals and vacation time for top executives, spending in various categories, and other financial practices, The Record reported.
- The women's track coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has filed a lawsuit charging the institution with violating federal sex discrimination laws by financially shortchanging her team and women's sports generally and by retaliating against her for complaining about inequities, the Honolulu Advertiser reported.
- Trojan, the condom company, has issued its second annual rankings on sexual health on college campuses. A revamped methodology, featuring more data and more categories, resulted in significant changes in the rankings. Institutions in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association were evaluated on such factors as sexual health education, condom availability, testing services for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, student health center hours of operation and other factors. The University of Minnesota topped the list, with a series of improvements leading it to jump to that spot from the 54th position last year. Also making a significant improvement was the University of Wyoming, going from 92nd to 2nd place. Rounding out the top five are the University of Washington, Rutgers University and Purdue University. In bottom five institutions (starting from last) are Louisiana Tech University, University of Louisiana, Arkasnas State University, the University of Arkansas and Villanova University.
