In today’s Academic Minute, David Luther of George Mason University explains how urban-dwelling birds have responded to an increase in man-made noise. Learn more about the Academic Minute here.
Higher Education Quick Takes
Quick Takes
June 18, 2012
Foreign language instructors at Italian universities, typically born outside Italy, have some of the worst working conditions in Italian academe, The New York Times reported. Under various provisions of Italian law, they work at lower salaries than other university instructors, and tend to lack basic sick and family leave, among other benefits. Despite a series of legal challenges to this system as inconsistent with European regulations that are supposed to promote equity across national borders, and a series of court wins on the issue, most of the language instructors have seen little progress.
June 18, 2012
Yale University has been falling short in dealing with and preventing sexual harassment on campus, the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has found, after an investigation prompted by a 26-page complaint ended Friday with the announcement of a resolution agreement. The university under-reported cases of sexual harassment and assault by “dozens” of cases (OCR could not be more precise), had in place confusing and unclear procedures for reporting cases, and failed to inform students about the resources the university did have. But in a call with reporters Friday, assistant secretary for civil rights Russlyn Ali said the university already put in place corrective measures that will “ensure proper compliance” with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. “They showed a lot of courage really early on and made some proactive steps,” Ali said. The initial complaint, which alleged that Yale failed to eliminate a hostile campus environment of sexual discrimination, was filed by 16 students in March 2011, just before OCR issued a “dear colleague” letter to colleges across the country reminding them of their obligations to address sexual harassment under Title IX.
Yale came under intense scrutiny after a group of students from the fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon, which has since been all but booted from campus, chanted “no means yes, yes means anal” outside the women's center during a pledge initiation in fall 2010.
Yale said in a statement that it was pleased with the terms of the agreement, which, among other things, requires the university to improve and publicize its resources, periodically assess the campus climate to evaluate its efforts, and coordinate compliance efforts. “The university is pleased that the Office of Civil Rights has closed its Title IX investigation without any finding of non-compliance by Yale. We are gratified that OCR has recognized Yale's extensive efforts and ongoing commitment to prevent and address sexual misconduct,” the statement said. “Over the past two years, the university has committed extensive resources toward improving its policies, procedures, practices and services to provide an environment in which all students feel safe and well supported, and protected from sexual misconduct.”
June 18, 2012
Daniel Strickland, an assistant professor of engineering at Santa Clara University, was tragically killed last fall. A feature in The San Francisco Chronicle details how several recently graduated students are staying on at Santa Clara to try to finish a project Strickland launched with the goal of improving the way power is provided in the developing world.
June 18, 2012
In today’s Academic Minute, Daniel Krupp of Queen’s University (Ontario) reveals how our unconscious beliefs about life expectancy can influence major life decisions. Learn more about the Academic Minute here.
June 18, 2012
"Irregularities" have been found in an executive master's degree in business program of Baruch College of the City University of New York, The New York Times reported. While all details have not been released, the problems involve a program head accused by college officials of faking signatures of professors to improve the grades of some students who might otherwise have dropped out of the program. Students whose records were affected are being given the chance to make up work so that their degrees will not be affected.
June 15, 2012
A new document leaked Thursday raises yet more questions about the ouster of Teresa Sullivan as president of the University of Virginia. Board members have suggested that Sullivan was not "bold" enough or engaged in the kind of strategic thinking that they wanted. But in the memo to board members, Sullivan said she had been explicitly told not to do a full strategic review, but went on to outline a series of strategic issues that needed addressing. Sullivan also outlined difficult challenges -- including a view that some departments at Virginia are resting on their laurels -- suggesting a willingness to ask tough questions. On campus Thursday, faculty members were saying that the memo suggested board members had been terribly unfair in their (minimal) explanations of their decision to seek a new president. The Daily Progress published information about the leaked memo.
Amid all the anger, someone has decided to make a humorous criticism of the university's board by offering it a "final exam." One of the multiple choice questions:
The University of Virginia’s core principles include:
A. short-term return on investment
B. bowing to pressure from rich and powerful alumni in the name of strategic dynamism
C. egregious mismanagement that’s secretive, misguided, and without clear public rationale, according to the head of the AAU
D. excellence, honor and self-governance, innovation and collaboration in the pursuit of knowledge, leadership for the public good, and providing a vibrant breadth of academic offerings within and across our schools.
June 15, 2012
Instructure, the learning management provider, today announced a deal with the Cisco Networking Academy, an educational program of Cisco Systems that partners with universities, community colleges and high schools to prepare students for the company’s certification exams. Under the deal, Cisco Networking Academy would use Canvas, Instructure’s open-source learning management system, to deliver its I.T. courses to about 1 million students worldwide, according to a press release. It is a coup for the young company, which captured a modest 1.2 percent share of the LMS market last fall.
June 15, 2012
A feature in The Los Angeles Times explores the role of the humanities and social sciences at the California Institute of Technology, which this year will see only one person graduate with a major in the humanities and social sciences who does not also have a major in the sciences. While it is rare to major in the humanities, many humanities courses are popular and Caltech requires students to take the equivalent of a humanities or social sciences course each semester. Warren Brown, who teaches medieval history, said: "These kids are going to become scientists, engineers and mathematicians, and they are going to move out into a world that often doesn't understand what they do, doesn't understand why it is important or tries to manipulate what they do for financial or political reasons.... These kids have to know they are moving out into a human society and have to understand how human society works."
June 15, 2012
In today’s Academic Minute, Jeffrey Marlett of the College of Saint Rose examines how ethnic Catholics have embraced the American spirit of competition. Learn more about the Academic Minute here.
