Inside Higher Ed

Revamped Aid Bill on Track

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Compromise legislation, clearing several key hurdles, would provide billions for Pell Grants, minority institutions -- and, in a late reversal, community colleges.

Soldiers in the Classroom

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

There's a lot of talk about returning veterans going to college, but are we really doing as much as we can for them? Mike Rose asks.

Why I Attend Small Conferences

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

For meaningful interaction with colleagues, avoid the national mega-meetings, writes Kevin Brown.

Cal State Will Require Remediation Before Enrollment

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The California State University System has adopted a new "early start" policy in which those needing remediation will have to complete those courses before the start of their first year at the university, The San Jose Mercury News reported. The remedial courses will be available in the summer, or online to be finished during high school. Cal State officials say that the program will encourage more students to take the necessary steps to truly be ready to start college. But critics fear that the requirements will be difficult for those who must work at jobs after school or in the summer.

Capital City Rumble

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Years of political infighting between unions, lawmakers and system leaders come to a head at California State, and Sacramento is a particular hot spot.

The Latest Jobs Data From MLA

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The Modern Language Association on Thursday released revised projections on the job market for the year, and while the MLA is still projecting a terrible year, it might not be as terrible as it appeared in December. At that time, the association expected this academic year to see a decline of 35 percent from last year in positions in English language and literature listed with the association, while positions in languages other than English were expected to fall 39 percent. Now, the MLA is projecting a 28 percent drop for English and a 27 percent drop for foreign languages.

When Writing Class Moves Online

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Composition association finds that colleges are just beginning to consider implications of shifting key part of the curriculum away from face-to-face instruction.

An Arrest in Class, Caught on Video

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee is investigating an incident Thursday in which a student's disagreement with a faculty member led authorities to be called and to the student's arrest. Details about the situation are limited, but WISN 12, a local news station, broadcast a video of the arrest (with profanities edited out) filmed by a student who is a WISN employee. That employee said that the dispute started with a discussion of an exam.

'On Fact and Fraud'

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Author of new book discusses scientific ethics and what constitutes research fraud.

History Association Announces New Director

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The American Historical Association said Thursday that James Grossman, vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library and a researcher at the University of Chicago, would replace its long-time executive director, Arnita Jones. Grossman is a scholar of urban and ethnic history and has published widely (in multiple formats) on the city in which he lives and works. Jones, who will retire in August, has spent 11 years as head of the AHA, following a similar period leading the Organization of American Historians.

Immigration Plan Would Give Green Cards to STEM Grad Students

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

A bipartisan immigration reform plan would give a boost to efforts by American universities to recruit the top science and graduate graduate students from around the world. The plan -- unveiled in an op-ed in The Washington Post by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, a South Carolina Republican -- would give a green card to those from outside the United States who receive a doctoral or master's degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. "It makes no sense to educate the world's future inventors and entrepreneurs and then force them to leave when they are able to contribute to our economy," wrote the two senators. Countries that compete with the United States for top graduate students generally make it much easier for them to stay after they finish their educations than does the U.S., and that difference has become a key differentiator. While the plan is far from a sure thing and anti-immigration politicians have had success in killing off reform efforts in the past, the involvement of a leading Republican in the plan gave some hope that this one might receive more consideration.

Berkeley Student Senate Wants Ban on Israeli Investments

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The Student Senate at the University of California at Berkeley has voted to sell investments in companies that do business in Israel, and to ask the university system to do so as well, The San Jose Mercury News reported. While the Student Senate is not known to have any such investments, the university does. Discussion of the proposal has been contentious, with supporters urging the move as a gesture of support for the Palestinian cause, while critics have accused the divestment movement of oversimplifying the situation in the Middle East, ignoring violence by anyone other than Israel, and holding Israel to standards not applied to countries with far worse human rights records.

Yale Makes Few Changes in Investment Strategy

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Yale University's investment strategy -- much praised during the decade or so before the 2008 Wall Street decline, and subject to much scrutiny since then -- doesn't appear to be changing much. The Wall Street Journal analysis of the university's new investment report noted that while it made some minor adjustments, it was largely consistent with the university's approach in the past, which received an explicit defense in the report. "Anyone expecting a mea culpa from Yale University's investment chief can forget it," the Journal said.

The Costs of Cheating

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Physics students who copy their classmates’ work learn less than students who don’t plagiarize, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found in a study released yesterday. The researchers created algorithms to determine when answers submitted by MIT physics students through a popular online homework and e-tutoring program had been copied, then tracked how the serial plagiarists did on their final exams. Students who copied answers on problems that required the use of algebra scored two letter grades worse than non-copiers on such problems in the final, while students who copied more concept-based homework problems did not fare any worse than their more honest peers. Those who copied 30 percent of homework problems were three times more likely than the others to fail. The study recommends several measures that can reduce academically dishonest behavior, including getting away from lecture-based courses and toward more interactive teaching methods.

More 'Matches' for Family Medicine

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Thursday was the annual "match day" for fourth year medical students, and more of them are getting residencies in family medicine (up 9 percent) and related fields such as pediatrics (up 2 percent), according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. The association and others have been hoping for more such matches, as opposed to narrow specialties.

Commencement Speakers Announced: Alma, Loyola, MIT, Meredith, Messiah, Saint Michael's

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

NCAA to Release Datasets

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Data on college sports and athletes will be much more accessible than it has been, under an arrangement announced by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. The new Web site will eventually feature longitudinal datasets of team-level graduation rates and Academic Progress Rates, an NCAA-developed score judging teams' performances in the classroom. In addition, the site will present results from two ongoing NCAA projects, “the Study of College Outcomes and Recent Experiences” (SCORE) and “the Growth, Opportunities, Aspirations and Learning of Students” (GOALS). Some of these figures are already available from the NCAA but are not readily accessible in an open-source, searchable format. NCAA officials say that “the data-sharing initiative will enhance research directly benefiting student-athletes, colleges and intercollegiate sports, and will broaden the dialogue between NCAA research staff and outside scholars.”

British Universities Face Large Cuts

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The British government, which has been warning universities of looming cuts for months, unveiled details on Thursday, with most universities facing cuts of up to 14 percent, The Guardian reported. The cuts are the largest in more than a decade, and educators predicted that they would lead to layoffs and to larger class sizes.

The Way of All Art

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:59:05 GMT

Oronte

Scale

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:25:32 GMT

Dean Dad

The iPad and the LMS

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:05:44 GMT

Joshua Kim

Math Geek Mom: Parallel Lines and Parallel Lives

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:53:17 GMT

Rosemarie Emanuele

Motherhood After Tenure: dark night of the soul

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:56:59 GMT

Aeron Haynie

Teaching the Writing Teachers

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Is it time for a new approach to the master's programs that produce the instructors who teach community college composition?

Our Role in Haiti

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Tracy Fitzsimmons offers advice for colleges in the United States that want to help -- and are willing to make a long-term commitment.

Revamped Aid Bill Boosts Pell -- and Provides $2B for Community Colleges

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Congressional Democrats and the White House reached agreement Wednesday on the higher education portion of revamped budget reconciliation legislation, the text of which is available here. The measure would provide $36 billion in new spending on Pell Grants (allowing the maximum grant to reach $5,975 by 2017 and linking increases in the grant to the inflation rate, but only from 2013 to 2017), $2.55 billion for historically black and other minority-serving institutions, and $750 million for college access completion grants. And in a turnaround from a few days ago, when it became clear that the legislation would not finance the community-college focused American Graduation Initiative, the measure would provide $2 billion for a competitive grant program for two-year community college and career training programs, aimed at supporting careers of the future. The legislation would also funnel $9 billion to help pay for the health care provisions in the overall budget legislation, and another $10 billion to reduce the deficit. A fuller report on the legislation will appear on Inside Higher Ed Friday.

Missed Chance at Aid for California Community Colleges

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

California community college students who are eligible for financial aid but don't apply for it may be losing up to a half billion dollars, according to a new analysis by the Institute for College Access and Success. While many community college students in California enroll part time, and such students nationally are less likely than others to seek federal aid, the study said that even among full-time students, those at California community colleges who are likely to be eligible are less likely than those in other states to apply.

Jewish Groups Seek Protection for Jewish Students

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish organizations have written to Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, urging him to assure that the Office for Civil Rights protects Jewish students from harassment or intimidation based on their ethnicity or religion. OCR under the Bush administration gave conflicting signs about whether it considered that it had authority to explore such issues. A statement from the ADL said: "ADL has significant concerns about harassment and intimidation of Jewish students on college campuses – including in the context of heated debate over Israel. We believe the Department of Education should use its civil rights enforcement power to investigate and remedy serious incidents in which Jewish students are threatened, harassed, or intimidated to the point where their college experience is impaired."

Evaporating First Amendment?

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Judge's finding that controversial columns by a university professor lacked Constitutional protection has a variety of legal watchdogs worried.

The Latino Completion Gap, Examined

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Analysis shows graduation rates of Hispanic students lag those of white peers at institutions of all levels of institutional selectivity -- but that colleges' practices matter.