Quick Takes

The University of Louisville has concluded that a much-questioned doctorate it awarded -- for one semester of study -- was legitimate, The Louisville Courier-Journal reported. The doctorate was awarded to John Deasy in 2004 -- and appears to violate university rules about residency requirements. Deasy, as a school superintendent, had given money to a research center headed by the then-dean of Louisville's education college, who then went on to chair Deasy's dissertation committee, leading to questions about the legitimacy of the degree. But the university found that the "totality of the circumstances" indicated an appropriate process. At the same time, Louisville announced that it is tightening the procedures about exemptions from normal procedures for doctorates. The former dean, Robert Felner, was for years popular with administrators even as he angered many professors. In October, he was indicted on 10 counts of mail fraud, money-laundering and income-tax evasion related to charges that he fraudulently obtained grants for Louisville and the University of Rhode Island. He has denied wrongdoing.

Robert Shireman has long been a force in Washington, even when he's lived outside the Beltway. But he had probably never been a major player on Wall Street -- until Tuesday, when his appointment to a key post in the U.S. Education Department drove down the stocks of the publicly traded for-profit higher education companies. Shireman has occasionally criticized for-profit colleges during his years as an advocate for low-income students and college access, and some analysts of the commercial college sector anticipate that he will ramp up regulation of the industry. On Tuesday, after Education Secretary Arne Duncan named Shireman to a new position as deputy under secretary, an analyst at Credit Suisse downgraded its rating for several postsecondary companies in light of the possibility of more legal or regulatory changes "that could adversely impact for-profit education sector growth more significantly." Career college officials played down any such possibility, with the head of the Career College Association, Harris Miller, saying in a comment posted on this Web site that its colleges have "worked constructively with Bob Shireman over the years, and we look forward to his assuming his new role." Still, the stocks of the publicly traded higher ed companies fell by between 5 and 10 percent in value. Interestingly, the stock of Sallie Mae -- which has unquestionably been a target of Shireman's over the years -- actually rose Tuesday.

The San Jose City Council Tuesday night voted down a proposal to install filters on public library computers to block access to pornography, The San Jose Mercury News reported. Because the city and San Jose State University jointly run the main public library branch, the issue has concerned the university, where many professors and others believe that filters would violate academic freedom and block material (in many cases non-pornographic, but sexually explicit) used for scholarship. Prior to the City Council meeting, the president of the university, Jon Whitmore, sent a letter to council members in which he said: "Internet filters will violate the spirit of our joint operating agreement by restricting intellectual freedom. Compromising this core value will seriously erode the spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding underlying the city-university partnership."

Marquette University's theology department last year asked the Faculty Council to study the ethics of a Roman Catholic university failing to offer health insurance to adjuncts. The Faculty Council has now come back and raised questions not only about that policy but many others. The group is asking the university to consider a number of questions, such as: Are some departments employing “permanent adjuncts,” and what are the implications if they are? What percent of the teaching load is delivered by adjuncts across the university today, and what is the trend over past 10 years? How many adjuncts regularly teach at least two courses every year? Are there some current adjuncts that should be moved to contract status? Should there be salary adjustments for adjuncts based on factors such as the repeat teaching of two or more courses? Should adjuncts receive health insurance benefits at least equal to the benefits now offered to graduate teaching assistants, when the adjunct teaches a minimum of two courses per year and has no benefits from any other institution? What do our peer institutions do?

Pacific Oaks College, a non-traditional education college in Pasadena, has been facing threats of closure. But on Tuesday, the college announced that it has signed a letter of intent to negotiate a permanent affiliation with the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. The goal of the negotiations is to ensure the continuation of Pacific Oaks programs, according to a joint statement by the two institutions.

An analysis of new Education Department data provides additional evidence that students' use of more expensive private loans is rising sharply. The study, from the Project on Student Debt, finds that the proportion of undergraduates who held private student loans jumped to 14 percent in 2007-8 from just 5 percent in 2003-4, according to data from the federal government's National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. Of the 2007-8 private loan borrowers, a full 26 percent did not take out any federal student loans, up four percentage points from 2003-4, and 14 percent of them did not apply for federal financial aid. The group's survey found that private loan borrowers were disproportionately represented at the more expensive for-profit and four-year nonprofit colleges.

Sixty-two percent of public college and university board chairs and executives believe that the current economic downturn is having a "significant" impact on their institutions, according to a new survey by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Nearly 80 percent of boards reported facing an operating budget cut of at least 5 percent this year. Boards appear to be stepping up their activity in reaction to the cuts. Asked about changes in practices, 26 percent reported additional meetings or conference calls of the entire board, and 28 percent reported additional meetings or conference calls of the board's executive committee.

The State University of New York at Binghamton has received an anonymous $6 million donation that appears to be the latest in a series of seven-figure anonymous gifts, The Press & Sun-Bulletin reported. Like the other gifts, the funds arrived on the condition that the university not try to track the donor, and that the fund be used for financial aid. The Associated Press, which reported the string of gifts last week, noted that so far, all of the institutions receiving funds are led by women.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I Legislative Council has voted to drastically shorten the length of time men’s basketball players have to declare for the National Basketball Association draft. Under current rules, players have six weeks to “test the waters” at professional workouts and eventually remove their name from the draft if they wish to retain their college eligibility. If the measure is approved on April 30 by the Division I Board of Directors – which rarely overturns Legislative Council decisions – then players will only have one week to either declare for the draft or return to college. An NCAA release says the rule change “is intended to encourage student-athletes to refocus on academics sooner after the season ends and decrease the potential for violations of amateurism rules.”

How bad is the economy? Harvard University's career services office has started a new seminar to teach students how to deal with rejection, The Boston Globe reported. Among the lessons for students: the idea that there may be more qualified people than Harvard graduates for some jobs.