Students on many campuses on Thursday walked out of classes or held protests over the decision in New York City not to indict a police officer in the death of an unarmed black man -- an outcome that rekindled anger over a similar decision last month in Ferguson, Missouri. Here are some local press reports about protests involving students of Clemson University, Hamilton College, Hampton University, Princeton University and Temple University.
Higher Education Quick Takes
Quick Takes
December 5, 2014
A football player at Faulkner University was shot and killed Wednesday night by the owner of a home that the student and three others from the university were trying to break into, AL.com reported. The home owner shot in self-defense and the three other students have been charged with murder.
December 5, 2014
University of New Orleans officials on Thursday announced a series of cuts designed to save money in the wake of enrollment declines. The Times-Picayune reported that the plan includes:
- Closing seven degree programs.
- Eliminating the geography department.
- Requiring department chairs to teach a minimum of two courses in the fall and spring semesters, with the goal of reducing reliance on adjuncts.
- Reducing the budget for adjuncts by $1 million.
- Eliminating 10 instructor positions and 4 library positions.
December 5, 2014
The exam proctoring service ProctorU in October processed its 1 millionth exam, the company said on Wednesday. Zymezia Rivers, an employee at ProctorU's facility in Hoover, Ala., reached the milestone on Oct. 13 as she monitored a student at Troy University taking an exam. The company, which was founded in 2008, proctors about 50,000 exams a month, according to a recent estimate.
December 5, 2014
Matthew Henry Hall has cooked up a seasonal cartoon for our monthly caption contest; click here to put your own personal tagline on this month's cartoon.
You can also choose your favorite caption for last month's cartoon from among the finalists nominated by our panel of judges; click here to do so.
And congratulations go to Mike Jenkins, who won our contest for October. He is communications director at Michigan State University's College of Arts & Letters. His caption for the cartoon at left -- "So, when you flunked me out of English, I got a job here making more than you do. But, thanks to you, I appreciate the irony." -- was our readers' choice for best caption. Congratulations to Mike, and thanks to all of you for participating.
December 5, 2014
In today's Academic Minute, Gary Small, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles, details the effects increased screen time is having on teens. Learn more about the Academic Minute here.
December 4, 2014
The legal pursuit of a defunct for-profit college in Florida and its former owner gets wilder with each filing. A new civil suit filed by a U.S. attorney and the state's attorney general, Pam Bondi, alleges that FastTrain College defrauded the federal government with false claims for millions of dollars in financial aid.
The seven-campus for-profit, which offered credentials in IT and medical professions, closed in 2012. In October the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Alejandro Amor, the college's former owner, and three of its admissions representatives. They were charged with the theft of government funds. FastTrain allegedly submitted fraudulent aid claims for 1,300 students, netting $6.5 million.
According to the civil suit, however, the college received more than $35 million in Pell Grants and other federal aid. And, as The Miami Herald reported, the lawsuit said one campus "hired attractive women and sometimes exotic dancers and encouraged them to dress provocatively while they recruited young men in neighborhoods to attend FastTrain."
Amor, who owned a $2 million home, 54-foot yacht and private plane, faces multiple charges that could include jail time.
December 4, 2014
On Wednesday, students at many campuses joined or led protests following the decision of a grand jury in New York City not to indict a police officer in the death of an unarmed black man. On some campuses, protests over the latest non-indictment merged into ongoing protests over the lack of an indictment in Ferguson, Missouri. Here are local press accounts of protests by students at Virginia Commonwealth University, Stanford University, State University of New York at Albany, Lehigh University and Harvard Law School.
December 4, 2014
Following the suspension of Greek social functions at a slew of colleges and an allegation of gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity, the president of the University of Mary Washington has placed a hold on the university's plans to potentially establish a Greek system on campus. In an email to the student body, Richard Hurley, the university's president, announced the creation of a 15-person task force comprising professors, students, and staff that will explore issues surrounding Greek life and sexual assault. Hurley said now was not the time for the university to consider a Greek system when "much of the current national attention has focused on the role of Greek life organizations within university communities," and that "some institutions are placing restrictions on the activities of these organizations or even disbanding them."
December 4, 2014
More than half of college students (56 percent) want to use their smartphones for educational purposes while in class, but about half of professors (46 percent) say it would be a distraction, according to a survey on smartphone use conducted by Cengage Learning. Less than a quarter of surveyed students, or 23 percent, said they thought smartphone use would be distracting. Curiously, 92 percent of faculty members said students bring their smartphones to class, while only 77 percent of students said the same.
