Author Archives: E Wayne Ross

The Professor’s Ten Commandments, Thanks to Notorious B.I.G.

Posted on August 28, 2007 | Comments Off on The Professor’s Ten Commandments, Thanks to Notorious B.I.G.

Inside Higher Ed: The Professor’s Ten Commandments, Thanks to Notorious B.I.G.

By Phil Ford

We’re staring down the barrel of another academic year. Time for a refresher course in professional deportment — by which I mean “The Ten Crack Commandments,” by The Notorious B.I.G. All you professors starting out at new institutions (like me) will be getting orientation sessions to show you the academic ropes — procedures on academic misconduct, FERPA guidelines, sexual harassment policies, etc., but you can save some time and just listen to hiphop. “The Ten Crack Commandments” only looks like it’s about drug dealing. All hustles obey the same logic, so heed Biggie’s words.

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Posted in Commentary

Search for Consensus in California

Posted on August 28, 2007 | Comments Off on Search for Consensus in California

Inside Higher Ed: Search for Consensus in California

The contentious debate surrounding the regulation of for-profit colleges continues churning in California, where Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration put forward a five-year legislative proposal Friday to counter a Democratic leader’s stopgap solution. With only three weeks remaining in the legislative session, the parties in the discussion — the institutions, consumer advocates and their respective political backers — are as diametrically opposed as ever. And time to regulate the 400,000-student sector – essentially left unregulated when an earlier law expired this summer – is quickly running out.

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Posted in Administration

German Universities See Sharp Drop in Number of Professors

Posted on August 28, 2007 | Comments Off on German Universities See Sharp Drop in Number of Professors

The Chronicle New Blog: German Universities See Sharp Drop in Number of Professors

New data from Germany’s federal statistics office indicate that the number of professors at German universities declined sharply from 1995 to 2000. The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers analyzed the government figures and found that 663 faculty openings in the fields of linguistics and cultural studies had been left vacant during the 10-year period, representing a decline in the number of professors in those fields of 11.6 percent. Moreover, 1,451 faculty posts had been eliminated outright.

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Posted in Faculty

Depaul is Terminating the Terminal Year

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Depaul is Terminating the Terminal Year

Inside Higher Ed: Terminating the Terminal Year

When DePaul University rejected Norman Finkelstein’s bid for tenure in June, all the documents in the very divided review of his record suggested no dispute over the high quality of his teaching. The tenure denial also said that Finkelstein would receive a contract for this coming academic year — the “terminal year” contract that is standard for colleges to offer those who have been denied tenure.

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Posted in Tenure & Promotion

DePaul U. Cancels Courses of Professor Who Lost Tenure Bid, but He Plans to Teach Them Anyway

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on DePaul U. Cancels Courses of Professor Who Lost Tenure Bid, but He Plans to Teach Them Anyway

The Chronicle: DePaul U. Cancels Courses of Professor Who Lost Tenure Bid, but He Plans to Teach Them Anyway

DePaul University has canceled all of Norman G. Finkelstein’s courses, taken away his office, and put him on administrative leave for his final year, but the controversial political scientist said that will not stop him from coming back to teach this fall.

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Posted in Employment rights, Tenure & Promotion

150 Injured in Bangladeshi Students’ Protests of Military Presence at U. of Dhaka

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on 150 Injured in Bangladeshi Students’ Protests of Military Presence at U. of Dhaka

The Chronicle: 150 Injured in Bangladeshi Students’ Protests of Military Presence at U. of Dhaka

At least 150 university students in and around Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, have been injured in violent clashes with the police since Monday, when protests began against the presence of the country’s army on the campus of the University of Dhaka.

According to A.F.M. Yusuf Haider, the university’s acting vice chancellor, the clashes began after students at the University of Dhaka demanded an apology from soldiers who got into an argument with and assaulted some students on Monday evening.

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Posted in International, Protests, Students

Bargaining for More Tenure-Track Lines

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Bargaining for More Tenure-Track Lines

Inside Higher Ed: Bargaining for More Tenure-Track Lines

In a move that both faculty union leaders and administrators are calling significant, a new contract at Rutgers University contains a requirement that 100 new tenured or tenure-track faculty positions be created in the system over the next four years.

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Posted in Campaigns & Contracts, Faculty

Alabama: Lawmakers must leave two-year colleges by 2010

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Alabama: Lawmakers must leave two-year colleges by 2010

The Birmingham News: Lawmakers must leave two-year colleges by 2010

Legislators will no longer be able to hold their seats and work in the state’s two-year college system at the end of their current terms in 2010, and maybe much sooner.

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Posted in Administration, Ethics, Government

Oh, Canada

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Oh, Canada

Inside Higher Ed: Oh, Canada

The United States is part of the Americas. Hence not all Americans are citizens of the United States — and it is a sign of imperial hubris to treat those terms as synonyms.

Or so runs a bit of routine language-policing, as practiced by many well-intentioned people. By many well-intentioned Americans, one should say – meaning “citizens of the United States.” I know because I used to be one of them. Then, a few years ago, while on vacation in Canada, my wife and I had an odd conversation with the woman who ran the place we were staying. When she used the expression “you Americans,” our half-baked cosmopolitan reflexes kicked in.

“You’re an American, too,” we insisted. “Canada is part of America!”

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Posted in Commentary, International

California: UC’S TOP REGENT BASHES SYSTEM

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on California: UC’S TOP REGENT BASHES SYSTEM

San Francisco Chronicle: UC’S TOP REGENT BASHES SYSTEM

The chairman of the University of California’s Board of Regents issued a highly critical analysis of the 10-campus system Wednesday, painting a picture of an impotent administration with a “dysfunctional set of organizational structures, processes and policies.”

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Posted in Administration

Texas: Ex-University Head in Texas on Trial for Money Misuse

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Texas: Ex-University Head in Texas on Trial for Money Misuse

New York Times: Ex-University Head in Texas on Trial for Money Misuse

With Texas Southern University struggling to survive as one of the nation’s largest historically black colleges, the former president once hailed as its savior faced a state jury here Friday, charged with misspending hundreds of thousands of dollars on personal luxuries.

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Posted in Administration, Legal issues

Canada: The (new) idea of a university

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Canada: The (new) idea of a university

Globe and Mail: The (new) idea of a university

Educated citizens and democratic governance go together like the proverbial horse and carriage: They depend on and sustain one another. Without educated citizens, democracy is little more than a sham and likely a cover for elite rule. And without democratic opportunities and outlets, an educated populace will have little incentive or impetus to contribute to society.

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Posted in Commentary

Florida: USF takes easy way on diversity

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Florida: USF takes easy way on diversity

St Petersburg Times: USF takes easy way on diversity

I’ve known St. Petersburg Deputy Mayor Goliath Davis since 1994, when I first came to work for the St. Petersburg Times. As assistant chief of police at the time, Davis invited me to lunch for a welcome-to-town, get-acquainted chat. After he became chief, his telephone lines remained open to me. Now, when I want to know what’s going on in Midtown or elsewhere in the city, I’m always able to speak with him.

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Posted in Commentary

Florida: FSU’s mandatory health insurance may be contagious

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Florida: FSU’s mandatory health insurance may be contagious

Orlando Sentinel: FSU’s mandatory health insurance may be contagious

Florida State just became the first public university in Florida to require health insurance for new students, but it may not be the last.

Other state universities, including the University of Central Florida, are keeping a close eye this year on FSU’s experiment and may soon follow suit.

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Posted in Students

University of Vermont installs ‘gender-neutral’ bathrooms

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on University of Vermont installs ‘gender-neutral’ bathrooms

Boston Herald: University of Vermont installs ‘gender-neutral’ bathrooms

The University of Vermont’s new student center doesn’t just have women’s bathrooms and men’s bathrooms.
It also has “gender-neutral bathrooms,” a feature added for transgendered people. The four single bathrooms in the new Dudley H. Davis Center – each with a toilet, sink, shower and lockable door – cost about $2,500 a piece to build.

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Posted in Equity

Utah: Stats show few guns on campus

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Utah: Stats show few guns on campus

Salt Lake Tribune: Stats show few guns found on Utah college campuses

As the debate over guns on Utah college campuses raged during the 2007 Legislature, lobbyists on both sides quoted statistics and provided scenarios to prove that allowing guns would have either worsened or improved a hypothetical campus crime.
But crime data obtained under the Clery Act, which requires all campuses to report crime statistics to the federal government, shows few incidents between 2001 and 2005 when weapons were found or used on campuses, and in those few incidents, rarely were students involved.

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Posted in Working conditions

Illinois: U. of I., military contractor cut ties

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Illinois: U. of I., military contractor cut ties

Chicago Tribune: U. of I., military company cut ties

The University of Illinois has canceled a partnership between its prestigious police-training institute and controversial military contractor Blackwater USA, citing a possible conflict of interest.University officials say the institute’s director, Tom Dempsey, was not upfront about a personal agreement he made to work as a contractor for Blackwater, even as he planned the official partnership. The university continues to investigate the case while Dempsey remains on leave, using accrued vacation time to work for Blackwater in Afghanistan training local police in drug enforcement.

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Posted in Administration

New Zealand: Student riots rock Dunedin

Posted on August 27, 2007 | Comments Off on New Zealand: Student riots rock Dunedin

The New Zealand Herald: Student riots rock New Zealand

Dunedin’s mayor has been talking about his shock and disappointment at last night’s destructive rampage in the city’s student area.

Fifty-two people will face the courts this week after drunken crowds set fire to cars, couches and mattresses.

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Posted in Protests, Students

Illinois: Harlem teachers union says members will strike this week

Posted on August 26, 2007 | Comments Off on Illinois: Harlem teachers union says members will strike this week

AP: Harlem teachers union says members will strike this week

Associated Press – August 20, 2007 9:04 AM ET

HARLEM, Ill. (AP) – The teachers union for the northern Illinois community of Harlem says its members will strike tomorrow morning instead of starting classes.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

Alabama: Judge places fine on Bishop State in reverse-discrimination suit

Posted on August 22, 2007 | Comments Off on Alabama: Judge places fine on Bishop State in reverse-discrimination suit

Press-Register: Judge places fine on Bishop State

A federal judge in Mobile said Tuesday she would fine Bishop State Community College $3,000 a day until it complies with her judgment in favor of a white teacher who won a reverse-discrimination lawsuit.

Chief U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade said she would wipe away the fines if Bishop State officials comply with her order by Sept. 5. Otherwise, the daily fines will continue.

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Posted in Administration