Author Archives: E Wayne Ross

Debate Rages in Greece About Right of Police to Enter University Campuses

Posted on December 9, 2009 | Comments Off on Debate Rages in Greece About Right of Police to Enter University Campuses

The New York Times: Debate Rages in Greece About Right of Police to Enter University Campuses

A new wave of violent attacks against academics is sweeping campuses in Athens and Thessaloniki, leading Greek professors to question a law that bans police officers from entering university grounds.

The law exists nowhere else in Europe, but it has been sacrosanct in Greece since the fall of a military dictatorship that bloodily suppressed a student rebellion at the Athens Polytechnic in 1973 in which at least 23 people were killed.

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Posted in Legal issues, Protests

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Facing Protesting Workers, College Backs Off Layoffs

Posted on December 9, 2009 | Comments Off on Facing Protesting Workers, College Backs Off Layoffs

San Jose Mercury News: Evergreen College Board backs off plans to lay off workers in wake of chancellor Perez investigation

Facing about 200 angry college employees, the board of trustees of the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District backed off plans to lay off 85 workers and 21 managers, saying it would explore other strategies to fill a $3.5 million dollar budget shortfall.

Employees said their jobs should not be sacrificed in light of allegations that outgoing Chancellor Rosa Perez charged the district and its foundation for lavish perks that included overnight stays at San Jose’s luxury Fairmont Hotel, a tour of El Salvador and airfare to Scotland.

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Posted in Protests

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Another One Bites the Dust: Ambitious online consortium, U21 Global, folds up the tent

Posted on December 9, 2009 | Comments Off on Another One Bites the Dust: Ambitious online consortium, U21 Global, folds up the tent

Inside Higher Ed: Another One Bites the Dust

Of all the projects to build international online universities, U21 Global might have been the most ambitious. Universitas 21, the international consortium of highly reputed research universities that opened U21 Global in 2001, predicted the program would enroll 500,000 students and be netting $325 million annually by 2011.

But the program has been fraught with financial losses over its eight-year run, and currently enrolls only 5,000 students. A number of affiliated universities have walked away, including four in the last two years.

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Posted in Corporate University

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CC prez takes on second job

Posted on December 9, 2009 | Comments Off on CC prez takes on second job

Providence Journal: CCRI president will also head higher education in R.I.

PROVIDENCE — Ray Di Pasquale, president of Community College of Rhode Island, will take on the extra job of acting commissioner of education as the result of a unique plan to keep him from leaving the state altogether.

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Posted in Administration

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Plagiarism Charges Against University President Are Irrelevant, Court Says

Posted on December 9, 2009 | Comments Off on Plagiarism Charges Against University President Are Irrelevant, Court Says

The Chronicle: Plagiarism Charges Against University President Are Irrelevant, Court Says

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled on Friday that plagiarism charges leveled against William Meehan, president of Jacksonville State University, could not be part of a lawsuit filed by R. David Whestone, a biology professor at the Alabama university. Mr. Whetstone’s lawsuit accuses Mr. Meehan of swiping 55,000 plant samples; the plagiarism allegations were included to persuade the court that Mr. Meehan has a history of academic thievery. The court did not say whether it considered the plagiarism accusation valid, only that it was not relevant to the allegedly purloined plant samples. Mr. Whetstone found portions of Mr. Meehan’s 1999 Ph.D. dissertation that were identical to a dissertation published several years earlier. A chart of the similarities has attracted attention on several blogs.

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Posted in Ethics, Legal issues

Higher-Education Group Raises Concerns About Proposed Rules on Handling Disabilities

Posted on December 9, 2009 | Comments Off on Higher-Education Group Raises Concerns About Proposed Rules on Handling Disabilities

The Chronicle: Higher-Education Group Raises Concerns About Proposed Rules on Handling Disabilities

The American Council on Education has voiced concerns that some of the proposed rules to put in place amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act that Congress passed last year could create unintended problems for universities as they hire faculty members.

Some of the equal-employment provisions of the rules, which were proposed in September by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, go beyond the amendments Congress approved and could have serious consequences for universities, the group’s officials say.

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Posted in Diversity, Government

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Fear of Falling: Structural Problems Oust U. of Hawaii Psychologists

Posted on December 9, 2009 | Comments Off on Fear of Falling: Structural Problems Oust U. of Hawaii Psychologists

The Chronicle: Fear of Falling: Structural Problems Oust U. of Hawaii Psychologists

In September architects performing a structural analysis of Gartley Hall, the psychology building at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, made an unpleasant discovery: The building was in danger of imminent collapse. They ordered the faculty to vacate within four days.

A day later, after returning for a follow-up evaluation, the architects decided they were mistaken: Everyone had better get out, they said, within 24 hours.

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Posted in Working conditions

Who’s in the know: Women surge, men sink in education’s gender gap

Posted on December 8, 2009 | Comments Off on Who’s in the know: Women surge, men sink in education’s gender gap

Globe and Mail: Who’s in the know: Women surge, men sink in education’s gender gap
Female students are dominating campuses, a shift that will change ‘who does what.’ But leaving men behind has its costs

In a red-brick building at the University of Guelph, where veterinarians have been schooled for the better part of a century, a demographic shift is taking place that offers a window into the future of human behaviour.

In the past decade, Ontario Veterinary College has seen its student numbers turned on their head: Women account for more than 80 per cent of its students during that time, and now make up more than half of the province’s practising vets.

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Posted in Equity

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Controversial Radford University provost to step down

Posted on December 8, 2009 | Comments Off on Controversial Radford University provost to step down

Roanoke Times: Radford University provost to step down

Radford University Provost Wil Stanton will resign, effective Dec. 31, according to an e-mail from Stanton to the RU community.

Stanton said he will remain at the university as a full-time professor in the college of business.

In a letter to the university community, Stanton said he regrets the decision to leave the provost’s position.

Over the past two months, Stanton has been embroiled in controversy.

On Oct. 22, the university’s faculty senate took a “no confidence” vote against Stanton and asked President Penelope Kyle to replace him.

Some faculty have accused Stanton, the school’s chief academic officer, of refusing to take a stand in favor of the faculty during a series of controversial administrative decisions, including an expedited review program last spring that eliminated programs.

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Posted in Administration

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Judge won’t stop student from promoting illegal downloading

Posted on December 8, 2009 | Comments Off on Judge won’t stop student from promoting illegal downloading

The Boston Globe: Judge won’t stop student from promoting illegal downloading

Four record labels that were awarded a total of $675,000 in damages after a Boston University graduate student illegally downloaded and shared music online have lost their bid to get a federal judge to order the student to stop promoting such activity.

US District Court Judge Nancy Gertner today granted the labels’ request that she order Joel Tenenbaum to destroy the 30 songs that a federal jury found he downloaded and to not commit further copyright infringement. But she rebuffed their request to bar him from encouraging others to break the law.

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Posted in Open access

Racial Gaps in Bowl Teams’ Academic Performance

Posted on December 8, 2009 | Comments Off on Racial Gaps in Bowl Teams’ Academic Performance

Inside Higher Ed: Racial Gaps in Bowl Teams’ Academic Performance

Large racial gaps remain in the academic performance of football players who will appear in bowl games this year, according to a study released by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. Among the findings on 67 teams (with one still to be determined):

  • 57 colleges (up from 56 in 2008‐9) or 85 percent had graduation success rates of 66 percent or higher for white football players, which was more than 2.8 times the number of colleges with equivalent rates for African‐American football athletes.
  • 21 colleges (up from 19 in 2008‐9) or 31 percent graduated less than 50 percent of their African‐American football athletes, while only two colleges graduated less than 50 percent of their white players.
  • Seven colleges (up from five in 2008‐9) or 10 percent graduated less than 40 percent of their African‐American football student‐athletes, while no college graduated less than 40 percent of their white football players.
  • 14 colleges (up from 12 in 2008‐9) or 21 percent had graduation success rates for African‐American football athletes that were at least 30 percent lower than their rates for white players.
  • 35 colleges (up from 29 in 2008‐9) or 52 percent had graduation success rates for African‐American football athletes that were at least 20 percent lower than their rates for white football athletes.
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Posted in Academics

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Iran opposition protesters clash with security forces

Posted on December 8, 2009 | Comments Off on Iran opposition protesters clash with security forces

BBC: Iran opposition protesters clash with security forces

Dozens of people are reported to have been arrested across Iran after violent confrontations between security forces and anti-government demonstrators.
In the capital Tehran, police and militiamen used batons and teargas, and witnesses said there had been gunfire.
The protests, led by Iranian students, were over the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and suppression of academic freedom.

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Posted in Protests

Irish unions call off Thursday’s strike -government

Posted on December 7, 2009 | Comments Off on Irish unions call off Thursday’s strike -government

Reuters: Irish unions call off Thursday’s strike -government

DUBLIN, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Irish trade unions have agreed to call off a fresh public sector strike on Thursday against planned spending cuts in next week’s budget for 2010, Prime Minister Brian Cowen said on Tuesday.

Up to 250,000 nurses, teachers and other public workers held a one-day strike last week over government plans to cut the public sector pay bill by 1.3 billion euros in the Dec. 9 budget and they had threatened a second day of action for Thursday.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

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DPS teachers decry $10,000 deferment

Posted on December 7, 2009 | Comments Off on DPS teachers decry $10,000 deferment

Detroit Free Press: DPS teachers decry $10,000 deferment

Thousands of Detroit Federation of Teachers members railed Sunday against a tentative contract with the district that calls for radical changes, including deferring $10,000 from each of their pay over the next two years.

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Posted in Protests, Unions

Teachers go on strike at suburban Chicago school

Posted on December 7, 2009 | Comments Off on Teachers go on strike at suburban Chicago school

Sun Times: Teachers go on strike at suburban Chicago school

MARKHAM, Ill. — More than 3,000 students won’t be in class after teachers with Prairie Hills District 144 voted to strike. The teachers in the suburban Chicago district went on strike Wednesday night after negotiators couldn’t reach a deal on salary issues.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

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Pro-Maoist teacher union shuts down schools across the country

Posted on December 7, 2009 | Comments Off on Pro-Maoist teacher union shuts down schools across the country

NepalNews.com: Pro-Maoist teacher union shuts down schools across the country

Educational institutions throughout the country have remained closed Monday due a strike called by a Maoist teachers’ union.

The Unified CPN (Maoist) affiliated All Nepal Teachers Organisation (ANTO) has forcibly shut all schools in the country in line with the mother party’s policy to mobilise its sister organisations to make its third phase agitation a success.

UCPN (Maoist), agitating against an incident in May when the President had overruled the erstwhile Maoist-led government’s decision to fire the then army chief, had instructed its sister organisations to organise their own programmes sector-wise in support of the agitation.

Some six million students studying in about 10,000 community and institutional schools across the country have been deprived of their right to education today due to the strike.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

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California Faculty Association offers restructuring proposal for CSU and UC

Posted on December 7, 2009 | Comments Off on California Faculty Association offers restructuring proposal for CSU and UC

Daily Titan: California Faculty Association offers restructuring proposal for CSU and UC

The California Faculty Association discussed the issue of restructuring in the Cal State University and University of California systems on Tuesday. The CFA authored a white paper, a report addressing the issue, entitled “’Restructuring’ the CSU or Wrecking It?”

The press conference call focused primarily on the effects that restructuring has had on CSUs because of the elimination of academic programs that are significant in higher learning.

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Posted in Budgets & Funding

Maine faculty union clashes with administration on negotiations

Posted on December 7, 2009 | Comments Off on Maine faculty union clashes with administration on negotiations

The Maine Campus: Faculty union clashes with administration on negotiations

The Associated Faculties of the Universities of Maine appears no closer to reaching compromise on a new contract with the administration after nearly nine months of negotiations.

The contract expired June 30 but was extended to Dec. 31. The union has been negotiating on and off with the administration since March, which decided in October negotiations weren’t cutting it and brought in a mediator from the Maine Labor Relations Board. James McClymer, physics professor at the University of Maine and vice president of AFUM, said the administration has been less than willing to come to the table.

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Posted in Campaigns & Contracts

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Adjuncts rally at Temple U

Posted on December 7, 2009 | Comments Off on Adjuncts rally at Temple U

Temple News Online: Adjuncts rally for union at Bell Tower

The Adjunct Organizing Committee is pushing for unionization with the support of TAUP.

The Adjunct Organizing Committee, a group that aims to unionize Temple’s part-time faculty, declared the week of Nov. 16 Adjunct Awareness Week. Members of the committee stood at the Bell Tower around noon every day through Nov. 20.

The AOC has worked for several years to unionize adjuncts. Its goals are to gain some predictability in adjuncts’ courses, a clear path for promotion based on performance in teaching and research and equal pay and benefits for equal work.

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Posted in Contingent labor

Professors union declaration: State university system caters to corporations

Posted on December 7, 2009 | Comments Off on Professors union declaration: State university system caters to corporations

Contra Costa Times: Professors union declaration: State university system caters to corporations

SACRAMENTO — Leaders of a statewide professors union issued a statement of position, or white paper, Tuesday claiming the California State University is abandoning its mission of providing a good liberal-arts education to qualified students seeking one.

Instead, they said, CSU administrators seem to be re-making the university as a profit-seeking institution that stresses preparing students not primarily for good citizenship, but mainly to meet the needs of corporation

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Posted in Corporate University

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