The Middle States Commission on Higher Education has told Sojourner-Douglass College that is has until September 1 to show why it should not lose its accreditation, The Baltimore Sun reported. The accreditor cited high debt and questions about financial viability. College officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Marietta College, a private institution in Ohio, is eliminating 20 full-time positions to deal with a budget shortfall, The Marietta Times reported. College officials said that they needed to make cuts to be able to make investments needed to promote the college's long-term sustainability.
Some Harvard University students are objecting to the choice of Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, as commencement speaker. The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper, is divided about the choice, and so ran an editorial endorsing it, but also a dissent criticizing the selection. The dissent cited Bloomberg's support for "stop and frisk" policing that has been criticized as racially based by many black and Latino New Yorkers. "Had Bloomberg been asked to the Institute of Politics, we would have urged our classmates to engage in a respectful dialogue with the former mayor, and to challenge him on his record. But commencement is not a night at the JFK Jr. Forum — every graduate should feel celebrated and included. We realize that no speaker will be acceptable to every single graduate, but to extend an invitation to someone who alienates entire segments of the student body is ill-advised and worthy of condemnation," said the dissent.
The main editorial, however, said that there is value in having a controversial speaker. "Michael Bloomberg is not a dull choice, and that reality is part of what makes him somebody worth listening to," the editorial said. "Whether or not his policies were mistaken or even offensive to some of the student body, he can and will deliver a thought-provoking commencement address. It would be far more troubling if the University chose someone who would deliver a milquetoast speech, devoid of both substance and controversy."
The debate at Harvard comes as some students and faculty members at Rutgers University are questioning the selection of Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state, as the speaker there.
The University of Tennessee can't ban the Knoxville campus's annual "Sex Week," the system president has told state legislators, the Associated Press reported. The week, similar to those at other campuses, features a range of events, and Republican legislators have threatened to punish the university financially because of the program. In particular, lawmakers have objected to a panel discussion on pornography and a contraception scavenger hunt. Joe DiPietro, the system president, said in a letter to lawmakers that the First Amendment protects the event, and that the university can't ban it. Further, DiPietro said that he worried that “the attention focused on this matter by the General Assembly is quickly reaching a point that will cause greater harm and damage to the long-term interests of the university than any programming that may occur as result of Sex Week.”
The top education adviser for Republicans on the House of Representatives education committee will leave his post to lead a trade association that represents private student lenders, loan servicers and collection agencies.
James Bergeron, the director for education and human services policy under House education committee chair Representative John Kline of Minnesota, will next month become president of the National Council of Higher Education Resources, the organization announced Wednesday. Bergeron will succeed the current president of three years, Shelly Repp, who is scaling back his workload at the organization, according to a press release.
The National Science Foundation has selected Fay Lomax Cook, a professor at Northwestern University, to be assistant director for the Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences. The NSF is a major player in supporting social science, although some Republicans in Congress have questioned that role. Cook is a faculty fellow of the Institute for Policy Research and a professor of human development and social policy in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern.
In today’s Academic Minute, Charles Marshall, professor at the University of California at Berkeley, discusses the mitigating factors that can contribute to the eventual dying out of a particular species of animal. Learn more about the Academic Minute here.
An employee group at South Puget Sound Community College, facing criticism, has called off a diversity happy hour to which the white people were not invited, KING5 News reported. The email invitation said that there were other ways for white people to gather. "If you want to create space for white folks to meet and work on racism, white supremacy, and white privilege to better our campus community and yourselves, please feel free to do just that," the invitation said. College officials said it was a "mistake" to organize an event that excluded anyone based on race or ethnicity.
Betabrand, an online clothing store, has an unusual approach for models for its spring collection for women. All of the women in the ads have Ph.D.s or are doctoral candidates. Shoppers looking at the Del Ray Perfect Dress will find it modeled by a Ph.D. candidate in nuclear engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, and those interested in the Gray Confetti Popover Shirt will find it modeled by a woman who earned her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at Stanford University. (The models are identified only with first names and their degrees.) Betabrand's founder, Chris Lindland gave a statement to Adweek about the new strategy: "When you look beyond the ranks of the professionally beautiful, photography becomes a lot more fun. Our designers cooked up a collection of smart fashions for spring, so why not display them on the bodies of women with really big brains?"
Indiana officials are considering whether the state's March 10 deadline for applications for state student aid is too early, and discourages applications from those who may most need assistance, The Indianapolis Star reported. The deadline is earlier than those of most states and the deadline for seeking federal aid. Officials believe that up to half of the state residents who meet eligibility requirements don't apply. Many say that nontraditional students don't figure out their college plans until later in the year, and so are missing the chance at getting state aid. A flip side of this issue, however, is that if more students apply, and the state doesn't provide more aid, the size of grants could shrink.
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