Author Archives: E Wayne Ross

Higher Education’s Coming Leadership Crisis

Posted on April 6, 2009 | Comments Off on Higher Education’s Coming Leadership Crisis

The Chronicle: Higher Education’s Coming Leadership Crisis

By ARJUN APPADURAI

What the current recession, with its associated fears, frauds, and free falls, will ultimately mean for American higher education is still uncertain. Yet some things are clear: Many colleges and universities are seeing drops in applications, and several are reconsidering tenure and other forms of long-term faculty autonomy and job security. Many are freezing salaries and stopping or slowing new hires. Others are scaling back plans to build new facilities or invest in expensive programs. Still others are taking drastic steps, such as the sale of their art collections, to deal with shortfalls in their operating budgets.

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Posted in Commentary

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Ward Churchill’s $1 Damage Award Said to Have Been Product of Jury Compromise

Posted on April 3, 2009 | Comments Off on Ward Churchill’s $1 Damage Award Said to Have Been Product of Jury Compromise

The Chronicle News Blog: Ward Churchill’s $1 Damage Award Said to Have Been Product of Jury Compromise

Thursday’s jury verdict in Ward Churchill’s lawsuit against the University of Colorado has given rise to a mystery: How is it that a jury could rule that the university had acted illegally in firing Mr. Churchill, and yet still award him only $1 in damages?

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Posted in Legal issues

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Jury Says Ward Churchill Was Wrongly Fired

Posted on April 3, 2009 | Comments Off on Jury Says Ward Churchill Was Wrongly Fired

The New York Times: Jury Says Professor Was Wrongly Fired

DENVER — A jury found on Thursday that the University of Colorado had wrongfully dismissed a professor who drew national attention for an essay in which he called some victims of the Sept. 11 attacks “little Eichmanns.”

Ward Churchill, who was a tenured professor at the University of Colorado, left, walked with his lead attorney David Lane out of the courtroom after a jury ruled that he was wrongly fired by school administrators, on Thursday.

But the jury, which deliberated for a day and a half, awarded only $1 in damages to the former professor, Ward L. Churchill, a tenured faculty member at the university’s campus in Boulder since 1991 who was chairman of the ethnic studies department.

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Posted in Legal issues

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Amid Talk of High Ideals, Arguments Close in Ward Churchill’s Lawsuit

Posted on April 2, 2009 | Comments Off on Amid Talk of High Ideals, Arguments Close in Ward Churchill’s Lawsuit

The Chronicle: Amid Talk of High Ideals, Arguments Close in Ward Churchill’s Lawsuit

The trial in Ward Churchill’s wrongful-dismissal lawsuit against the University of Colorado drew to a close on Wednesday with the embattled professor’s lawyer telling jurors that nothing less than the fate of the Constitution rested in their hands.

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Posted in Legal issues

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Following the Money in New Mexico

Posted on April 2, 2009 | Comments Off on Following the Money in New Mexico

Inside Higher Ed: Following the Money in New Mexico

At the University of New Mexico, the salary budget for upper administrators and associated professional positions, including directors, grew by 71 percent – in raw numbers an increase of more than $4 million – from 2002 to 2008. Compensation just for those positions above the level of dean (i.e. associate vice presidents and above) grew 42.1 percent between 2002 and 2007, and another 12.3 percent by 2008.

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Posted in Salary/Economic Benefits

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Chicago State University: Faculty, students criticize 2 finalists for president as political insiders

Posted on April 2, 2009 | Comments Off on Chicago State University: Faculty, students criticize 2 finalists for president as political insiders

Chicago Tribune: Chicago State University: Faculty, students criticize 2 finalists for president as political insiders

Disappointed staff, students call them political insiders

When Chicago State University President Elnora Daniel stepped down last year, faculty and students hoped a new president would bring a fresh start to the troubled university.

Instead many on the South Side campus are criticizing the two finalists as political insiders: Wayne Watson, chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, and Carol Adams, secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services. Some students plan to wear black in protest when the finalists visit the campus for meetings this month.

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Posted in Administration

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Churchill jury returns today

Posted on April 2, 2009 | Comments Off on Churchill jury returns today

The Denver Post: Churchill jury returns today

A Denver jury will continue deliberating the fate of Ward Churchill’s civil case against the University of Colorado today after meeting for a half-day Wednesday without reaching a verdict.

The four women and two men listened to the case for four weeks and heard 45 witnesses testify in the courtroom of Denver Chief District Judge Larry J. Naves. Two male alternates were sent home after closing arguments Tuesday.

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Posted in Legal issues

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California: Chico State University President Zingg injured in assault

Posted on April 2, 2009 | Comments Off on California: Chico State University President Zingg injured in assault

Enterprise Record: Chico State University President Zingg injured in assault

CHICO — Chico State University President Paul Zingg suffered minor injuries when he was assaulted by a man at about 10:20 a.m. Wednesday in his office in Kendall Hall.

The alleged assailant, identified as Chico resident Abe Baxter Stutts Jr., 42, reportedly entered Zingg’s office suite and asked an employee if he could “speak with the person in charge.”

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Posted in Administration

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New Strategy at Wisconsin

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on New Strategy at Wisconsin

Inside Higher Ed: New Strategy at Wisconsin

The University of Wisconsin at Madison might be called a victim of its own successes. The state’s flagship institution has recruited prominent faculty, but has been forced to enter bidding wars with wealthy private institutions just to retain them. On top of that challenge, budget cuts and cost increases have made it difficult for the university to fill positions vacated by retiring baby boomers, leaving faculty lines open and forcing the university to cut course offerings.

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Posted in Budgets & Funding

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Employees Revolt Over Layoffs at U. of New Mexico Press

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on Employees Revolt Over Layoffs at U. of New Mexico Press

The Chronicle News Blog: Employees Revolt Over Layoffs at U. of New Mexico Press

Employees at the University of New Mexico Press learned yesterday that three of their colleagues would be let go at the end of April and that nine more positions — in order fulfillment and customer service — might soon be outsourced. That kind of news is all too common these days. More unusual is what happened next: This afternoon, the employees issued their own press release, alleging that the press’s director, Luther Wilson, was partly to blame for the situation. They also questioned whether outsourcing could solve the press’s financial woes.

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Posted in Protests

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Oops, UCSD Accidentally Congratulates 28,000 Rejected Students

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on Oops, UCSD Accidentally Congratulates 28,000 Rejected Students

Los Angeles Times: UC San Diego sends wrong e-mail to rejected students

UC San Diego Admissions Director Mae Brown said this morning that an “administrative error” was responsible for a bogus e-mail that went out to 28,000 students congratulating them on their admission and welcoming them to the campus.

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Posted in Administration, Students

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BC won’t air Ayers lecture by satellite

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on BC won’t air Ayers lecture by satellite

Boston Globe: BC won’t air Ayers lecture by satellite
Decision frustrates student organizers

Boston College, citing pressure from Brighton residents and Boston police officers, refused to allow former radical William Ayers to deliver a student-sponsored lecture via satellite yesterday, frustrating student organizers who accused the college of sacrificing academic ideals to assuage public anger.

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Posted in Free speech

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Washington: 7,000 jobs could be axed to close $9 billion budget gap

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on Washington: 7,000 jobs could be axed to close $9 billion budget gap

The Olympian: 7,000 jobs could be axed to close $9 billion budget gap
Education takes a big hit in plan from Senate Democrats

The Senate Democrats’ budget plan outlined Monday would cut more than $3 billion from state programs, including big slices from public schools, universities and health care over the next two years.

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Posted in Budgets & Funding

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Washington: 6,000 UW workers’ personal information at risk

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on Washington: 6,000 UW workers’ personal information at risk

Seattle Times: 6,000 UW workers’ personal information at risk

About 6,000 University of Washington employees were notified this week that their names and Social Security numbers were on a parking-management computer system that was hacked.

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Posted in Safety & Security

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Texas colleges line up against allowing guns on campuses

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on Texas colleges line up against allowing guns on campuses

Star-Telegram: Colleges line up against allowing guns on campuses

AUSTIN — Texas universities are firing back against a bill that would permit students to carry handguns on campus.

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Posted in Working conditions

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Broke Australian university students marrying for money

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on Broke Australian university students marrying for money

The Sunday Telegraph: Broke Australian university students marrying for money

STRUGGLING Australian university students are getting married for money, exploiting a legal loophole to qualify for government assistance to survive.

Tertiary students have become so desperate for financial support that some as young as 19 are resorting to marrying flatmates, friends and ex-partners so they can be classed as an independent and receive Youth Allowance.

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In Scotland, New Leadership Crumbles Old Barrier

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on In Scotland, New Leadership Crumbles Old Barrier

The New York Times: In Scotland, New Leadership Crumbles Old Barrier

THIS quiet town on the North Sea is the home of golf and the storied Royal and Ancient club, which makes the rules for the sport but does not admit women as members. For the 255 years since the club’s founding this was not a problem. It is now, however, since another of the town’s renowned institutions, the University of St. Andrews, named Louise Richardson, an Irish-American, as its president; her two immediate predecessors had been made honorary members of the golf club.

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California: New UC admissions policy gives white students a better chance, angers Asian-American community

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on California: New UC admissions policy gives white students a better chance, angers Asian-American community

Mercury News: New UC admissions policy gives white students a better chance, angers Asian-American community

A new University of California admissions policy, adopted to increase campus diversity, could actually increase the number of white students on campuses while driving down the Asian population.

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Posted in Students

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Arizona lawmakers must reverse cuts to universities or lose $800M

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on Arizona lawmakers must reverse cuts to universities or lose $800M

Arizona Daily Star: Stimulus money hangs in balance
Lawmakers must reverse cuts to universities or lose $800M

PHOENIX — State lawmakers will have to restore at least $150 million in cuts they just made to higher education to keep Arizona from losing more than $800 million in federal education stimulus funds.

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Posted in Budgets & Funding

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Turn Right at Berkeley

Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off on Turn Right at Berkeley

The New York Times: New Political Study Center? Turn Right at Berkeley

If you’re interested in studying left-wing social movements like organized labor, civil rights or feminism, there are dozens of universities and colleges that have created special programs and research centers devoted to the subject. But hardly any similar institutions exist in academia for those looking for a place to study the right wing in America and abroad.

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Posted in Academics

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