Chegg on Tuesday continued to branch off from textbook rentals with the launch of an online college counseling platform. The service starts at $24 an hour, but members of I'm First, a community for first-generation college students, can receive two hours free of charge. Chegg also offers homework help and career search services.
A group of higher education leaders on Tuesday announced a new initiative to urge colleges and universities to promote climate change solutions. Solution Generation aims to provide new communications tools, research and resources so college and university leaders can educate and engage campus constituents on climate change. Like the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, Solution Generation wants institutions to commit to reducing greenhouse emissions and being leaders in promoting climate change solutions. The initiative is intended to be a more mainstream platform for progress on climate change projects, where colleges and universities can collaborate with leaders in other sectors, such as health and business.
Solution Generation was created in collaboration with ecoAmerica’s MomentUs initiative, which aims to increase support for climate change solutions and clean energy across a wide range of industries. It's funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, ClearPath Foundation and the Linden Trust for Conservation.
In today's Academic Minute, Felicia Keesing, a biologist at Bard College, profiles biodiversity in the savannas of Africa. Learn more about the Academic Minute here.
Urban Outfitters has apologized for selling a vintage sweatshirt that many people assumed (incorrectly, it turns out) was stained with the blood of victims of the 1970 shootings that killed four students. The company had put up for sale a "vintage" sweatshirt. The image (below) appears to show a bloodied sweatshirt, and some on social media assumed that the shirt belonged to someone who was near the victims in 1970. The university released a statement saying: "We take great offense to a company using our pain for their publicity and profit. This item is beyond poor taste and trivializes a loss of life that still hurts the Kent State community today." Urban Outfitters released its own statement, in which the company apologized but also said that the sweatshirt is discolored, but not stained with blood. "Urban Outfitters sincerely apologizes for any offense our Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt may have caused. It was never our intention to allude to the tragic events that took place at Kent State in 1970 and we are extremely saddened that this item was perceived as such," said the statement.
The White House plans on Friday to announce a new program, "It's on Us," to encourage male students to join efforts to prevent sexual assaults, the Associated Press reported. The campaign is based on research showing that many men are reluctant to speak out against violence against women, and that changing that attitude could prevent many assaults.
Many Yale University student groups opposed the idea that Ayaan Hirsi Ali -- a women's rights activist and a vocal, often controversial critic of Islam -- would speak there Monday without a speaker to counter her views. But she was warmly received by her audience, spoke without incident and received a standing ovation, The New Haven Register reported.
The University of California System is creating UC Ventures, a $250 million fund that will seek to invest in research developed by faculty members and students. The fund will be a stand-alone division of the university system's endowment operations, and has been directed to take a long-term approach.
Liberal comedian Bill Maher announced on his show last week that he would work to unseat Representative John Kline, the Minnesota Republican who chairs the House education committee.
The host of the HBO series "Real Time with Bill Maher" cited Kline's support of for-profit colleges -- and the industry's donations to his campaign -- as one of the reasons why he chose to target Kline as part of his "Flip a District" campaign. Maher said he would travel to Kline's Minnesota district and perform a stand-up comedy show in an attempt to swing the seat from Republican to Democratic.
Kline, after heading off a tough primary challenge earlier this year, is facing Democratic candidate Mike Obermueller, a former state lawmaker whom he defeated in 2012.
The Barack Obama Foundation on Monday named four finalists that have been invited to submit full proposals to host President Obama's library. They are: Columbia University, and the Universities of Chicago, Illinois at Chicago and Hawaii.
Faculty members at the University of West Florida criticized their president, Judy Bense, Monday before the university's Board of Trustees; the move followed a Faculty Senate vote of no confidence in the president last week. Faculty members want Bense to step down in June, when her contract expires, the Pensacola News-Journal reported, with some saying that her standards for student admissions are too low and that she puts promoting the university's sports programs ahead of academics.
In response to faculty concerns, the board voted overwhelmingly to pass a resolution in support of the president. They've praised her leadership, saying she helped the university earn its spot on Forbes's "America's Top Colleges" list, among other national rankings. The News-Journal said that Bense had acknowledged that some students who enrolled in the university on her watch should not have been able to, and she pledged to move the university up from last in the state's rating system. That position resulted in a $4 million withholding of state funds this year.
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