Author Archives: E Wayne Ross

Australia: Uni strike would hit exam results

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on Australia: Uni strike would hit exam results

Sydney Morning Herald: Uni strike would hit exam results

UNIVERSITY lecturers are preparing to take statewide industrial action, including marking bans that could disrupt students’ exam results.

Comments Off on Australia: Uni strike would hit exam results

Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

Tagged ,

California public union OKs strike authorization

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on California public union OKs strike authorization

Reuters: California public union OKs strike authorization

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California’s largest state employees’ union voted on Saturday to approve a strike authorization measure to protest furloughs of state workers and pressure state officials to ratify its labor contract.

Comments Off on California public union OKs strike authorization

Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

Tagged , , , ,

Hawaii: As unions struggle, leaders’ pay goes up

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on Hawaii: As unions struggle, leaders’ pay goes up

Honolulu Advertiser: As unions struggle, leaders’ pay goes up
Labor executives in Islands averaged 9.4% salary hike last year

At a time of rising unemployment and declining membership at some unions, many local labor leaders took home healthy pay increases in 2008.
Advertisement

A computer-assisted study by The Honolulu Advertiser found that top executives of the state’s 27 largest unions and labor organizations earned an average of $135,135 last year, a 9.4 percent increase from the year-earlier period.

Comments Off on Hawaii: As unions struggle, leaders’ pay goes up

Posted in Salary/Economic Benefits

Tagged , , ,

California budget crisis hits students, education workers

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on California budget crisis hits students, education workers

Workers World: California budget crisis hits students, education workers

The economic crisis in California spells hardship at the state’s public universities as budgets are balanced through a combination of tuition hikes and pay cuts for faculty and other workers.

Comments Off on California budget crisis hits students, education workers

Posted in Budgets & Funding

Tagged ,

Oregon U staff rally against pay freezes, furloughs

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on Oregon U staff rally against pay freezes, furloughs

Oregon Daily Emerald: Staff rally against pay freezes, furloughs

Members and supporters of the union that represents classified employees at the University held an on-campus rally Thursday outside of Knight Library, protesting the contract proposed by the Oregon University System for the coming year.

Comments Off on Oregon U staff rally against pay freezes, furloughs

Posted in Protests

Tagged , , , ,

Canada: Staff cuts to boost class size on campus

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on Canada: Staff cuts to boost class size on campus

Globe and Mail: Staff cuts to boost class size on campus
Services hurt as universities strapped for cash

A wave of staff reductions at cash-strapped universities will mean larger classes and fewer services for students at campuses this September.

The budget squeeze – the result of falling investment income and rising costs, especially for pensions – has left many universities scrambling to find millions of dollars in savings for the coming school year. With salaries accounting for the lion’s share of budgets, job losses are the inevitable result, school leaders say. That’s led to a range of actions to reduce head counts on campus, including layoffs, buyout offers, the cancellation of teaching contracts and hiring freezes.

Comments Off on Canada: Staff cuts to boost class size on campus

Posted in Budgets & Funding

Tagged , , , ,

IRAN: Iranian-American academic detained in Tehran

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on IRAN: Iranian-American academic detained in Tehran

World University News: IRAN: Iranian-American academic detained in Tehran

On 9 July 2009 Dr Kian Tajbakhsh, a prominent Iranian-American social scientist, was arrested at his home by Tehran authorities. The agents did not provide any legal justification for the arrest and took him to an undisclosed location.

Comments Off on IRAN: Iranian-American academic detained in Tehran

Posted in Government

Tagged ,

NIGERIA: Supreme court reinstates sacked academics

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on NIGERIA: Supreme court reinstates sacked academics

World University News: NIGERIA: Supreme court reinstates sacked academics

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ruled the dismissal of five lecturers of the Federal University of Ilorin was invalid. The court will decide next month on a similar case affecting a further 44 academics who were also sacked eight years ago for taking part in a national strike organised by the Academic Staff Union. The verdict was hailed by lawyers and civil society organisations as a triumph of the rule of law and due process.

Comments Off on NIGERIA: Supreme court reinstates sacked academics

Posted in Faculty, Legal issues, Unions

Tagged , , ,

AUSTRALIA: Top university slashes 220 jobs

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on AUSTRALIA: Top university slashes 220 jobs

World University News: AUSTRALIA: Top university slashes 220 jobs

The global financial crisis has struck one of Australia’s leading universities with Melbourne University’s shock announcement last week that 220 full-time equivalent academic and administrative staff positions would be cut following a A$30 million (US$25 million) decline in investment returns.

Comments Off on AUSTRALIA: Top university slashes 220 jobs

Posted in Budgets & Funding

Tagged , ,

Hawaii Suspends Football Coach for ‘Faggot’ Comments

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on Hawaii Suspends Football Coach for ‘Faggot’ Comments

UH Manoa announces actions following inappropriate comments by Coach McMackin

At a news conference this afternoon, University of Hawai’i at Mânoa Chancellor Virginia S. Hinshaw and Athletics Director Jim Donovan today announced the following actions based on inappropriate comments made by Coach Greg McMackin at the WAC conference in Salt Lake City yesterday.

Idaho Statesman: Hawaii coach uses gay slur in reference to Notre Dame, then apologizes

SALT LAKE CITY — Hawaii football coach Greg McMackin said Thursday at the WAC media football preview that Notre Dame did “this little faggot dance” at a banquet the night before last year’s Hawaii Bowl. Click here to hear what McMackin said. (WARNING, EXPLICIT LANGUAGE)

Comments Off on Hawaii Suspends Football Coach for ‘Faggot’ Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

For-Profit, For God

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on For-Profit, For God

Inside Higher Ed: For-Profit, For God

“The Bible does not say money is the root of all evil,” says Gregory K. Hollifield, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Bible and Theology at Crichton College, in Tennessee. “What scripture says is love of money is the root of all evil.”

That’s an important distinction at Crichton, which is converting from nonprofit to for-profit status but with the intent of maintaining its Christian mission, even emphasizing it — certainly from a marketing standpoint.

Comments Off on For-Profit, For God

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,

Jury Orders Boston U. Graduate Student to Pay $675,000 for Illegal Downloads

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on Jury Orders Boston U. Graduate Student to Pay $675,000 for Illegal Downloads

The Chronicle: Jury Orders Boston U. Graduate Student to Pay $675,000 for Illegal Downloads

A federal jury on Friday ordered a Boston University graduate student to pay four music companies $675,000, one day after the student, Joel Tenenbaum, admitted in court that he had downloaded and distributed more than two dozen songs that did not belong to him.

Comments Off on Jury Orders Boston U. Graduate Student to Pay $675,000 for Illegal Downloads

Posted in Open access

Tagged , , ,

Board Chairman Quits at U. of Illinois Amid Scandal Over Favoritism in Admissions

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on Board Chairman Quits at U. of Illinois Amid Scandal Over Favoritism in Admissions

The Chronicle: Board Chairman Quits at U. of Illinois Amid Scandal Over Favoritism in Admissions

Three days after an investigative commission called on all politically appointed trustees of the University of Illinois to quit, the board chairman announced his resignation today, amid a scandal over the admission of politically connected applicants who were unqualified academically. According to the Chicago Tribune, which has uncovered a host of examples of students getting admitted because of who they knew, not what they knew, the board chairman, Niranjan Shah, sought advantages for both relatives and friends. His resignation comes days before the investigative panel is expected to release a final report on the affair.

Comments Off on Board Chairman Quits at U. of Illinois Amid Scandal Over Favoritism in Admissions

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

‘Gross academic fraud’ at U Texas at Brownsville rocked Office of Distance Education

Posted on August 3, 2009 | Comments Off on ‘Gross academic fraud’ at U Texas at Brownsville rocked Office of Distance Education

The Brownsville Herald: ‘Gross academic fraud’ at UTB-TSC rocked Office of Distance Education

A two-month UTB-TSC police investigation found school employees in 2008 had committed “gross academic fraud” after student employees and regular staff used their positions to steal test answers, according to a UTB police report obtained by The Brownsville Herald.

Comments Off on ‘Gross academic fraud’ at U Texas at Brownsville rocked Office of Distance Education

Posted in Academics

Tagged , ,

CAUT statement on Carleton University’s dismissal of Dr. Hassan Diab

Posted on July 30, 2009 | Comments Off on CAUT statement on Carleton University’s dismissal of Dr. Hassan Diab

CAUT: CAUT statement on Carleton University’s dismissal of Dr. Hassan Diab

(July 29, 2009) The Canadian Association of University Teachers condemns in the strongest possible terms the Carleton University administration’s unjust termination of the contract of Dr. Hassan Diab. The university’s actions show a blatant disregard of the principles of natural justice and due process, the legal right of an accused to the presumption of innocence, and the responsibility of a university to protect its autonomy from inappropriate outside pressure.

Dr. Diab has been accused of being involved in a bombing of a synagogue in Paris nearly three decades ago and is currently on bail awaiting an extradition hearing. The conditions of his bail permit him to work as an academic. The Carleton University administration was aware of Dr. Diab’s situation when he was hired to teach an introductory sociology class. However, after media reports of his employment at Carleton appeared this week and B’nai Brith issued a statement condemning the University for engaging him, the Carleton administration terminated his contract the next day, in the midst of a class he was teaching.

Carleton University’s actions represent a serious violation of basic rights and procedures. CAUT calls upon the university administration to immediately reinstate Dr. Diab.

Comments Off on CAUT statement on Carleton University’s dismissal of Dr. Hassan Diab

Posted in Faculty

Tagged , , ,

U. of California Cuts: a Faculty Member’s Dispatch From the Front Lines

Posted on July 29, 2009 | Comments Off on U. of California Cuts: a Faculty Member’s Dispatch From the Front Lines

The Chronicle: U. of California Cuts: a Faculty Member’s Dispatch From the Front Lines

By Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom

Budget cuts at the University of California have generated a lot of attention, especially after a plan of across-the-board salary cuts, combined with mandatory furlough days, was recently announced. How will such drastic financial measures threaten the strengths of that system and other large public universities? Are certain fields of study in the humanities and social sciences especially vulnerable to state cuts because those areas of inquiry—even when dealing with topics of broad importance—rarely get large infusions of national, foundation, or corporate monies of the sort that routinely support work done in areas such as engineering and medicine?

Comments Off on U. of California Cuts: a Faculty Member’s Dispatch From the Front Lines

Posted in Budgets & Funding

Tagged , , ,

Lab worker hoped to beat ‘bad karma’ by destroying research

Posted on July 29, 2009 | Comments Off on Lab worker hoped to beat ‘bad karma’ by destroying research

Palo Alto Daily News: Former SLAC worker hoped to beat ‘bad karma’ by destroying research

A former SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory employee hoped to reverse her “bad karma” by destroying what amounted to $500,000 worth of research at the facility earlier this month, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit released by the FBI on Tuesday.

Comments Off on Lab worker hoped to beat ‘bad karma’ by destroying research

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,

Sonoma State U foundation’s strategy in question

Posted on July 29, 2009 | Comments Off on Sonoma State U foundation’s strategy in question

Press-Democrat: SSU foundation’s private land loans

Acting with little oversight, SSU nonprofit invested tens of millions of donors’ dollars in private loans for more than a decade; now critics are asking why

When Ruben Armiñana arrived as president at Sonoma State University in 1992, the SSU Academic Foundation was a tiny organization that helped professors apply for federal grants.

A year later, Armiñana ordered the foundation be transformed into a fund-raising machine, ending its role managing academic grants and turning it into a vehicle that would ultimately be used to pursue his vision of building a $110 million music center on campus.

Comments Off on Sonoma State U foundation’s strategy in question

Posted in Administration

Tagged ,

University of Illinois trustee resigns over admissions scandal

Posted on July 29, 2009 | Comments Off on University of Illinois trustee resigns over admissions scandal

Chicago Tribune: University of Illinois trustee resigns over admissions scandal
Trustee Lawrence Eppley urges other board members to quit

A University of Illinois trustee’s resignation Tuesday made him the first casualty of the school’s high-profile admissions scandal, though fellow board members and those investigating abuses suggested that others are likely to fall.

Trustee Lawrence Eppley quit in a two-page letter to Gov. Pat Quinn that implored his fellow board members to step down along with him. He also urged administrators at the Urbana-Champaign campus to take responsibility for their actions in order to help the university regain the state’s trust.

Comments Off on University of Illinois trustee resigns over admissions scandal

Posted in Administration, Ethics, Governance

Tagged , ,

Ontario: Man wanted in France teaching at Carleton

Posted on July 28, 2009 | Comments Off on Ontario: Man wanted in France teaching at Carleton

Canadian Press: Man wanted in France teaching at Carleton

Hassan Diab, who denies involvement in a fatal Paris synagogue bombing, returns to job while awaiting extradition hearing

An Ottawa university professor accused of playing a role in a deadly Paris bombing nearly three decades ago and currently awaiting an extradition hearing is back teaching at Carleton University.

Hassan Diab, 55, is teaching a part-time introduction to sociology summer course every Tuesday and Thursday for a few weeks, according to the university.

Comments Off on Ontario: Man wanted in France teaching at Carleton

Posted in Legal issues

Tagged , , , , ,