Author Archives: E Wayne Ross

Having kids costly for educated moms

Posted on March 26, 2009 | Comments Off on Having kids costly for educated moms

Globe and Mail: Having kids costly for educated moms

Highly educated women face a much more severe loss of earning power when they have children compared to mothers with less education, says a report published yesterday by Statistics Canada.

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Posted in Salary/Economic Benefits

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Anti-abortion activists defy university

Posted on March 26, 2009 | Comments Off on Anti-abortion activists defy university

The Calgary Sun: Anti-abortion activists defy university

Potential new trespassing charges didn’t scare away anti-abortion crusaders who are back at the University of Calgary campus with their controversial display.

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Posted in Free speech

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Mid-Level Administrator Pay Up 3.5%

Posted on March 26, 2009 | Comments Off on Mid-Level Administrator Pay Up 3.5%

Inside Higher Ed: Mid-Level Administrator Pay Up 3.5%

The median salary increase for mid-level administrative positions in higher education for 2008-9 is 3.5 percent, according to data being released today by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. Increases are larger at private than at public institutions, and smaller at doctoral universities than in other sectors of higher education.

Because the Consumer Price Index increased by about 3.8 percent during this period, median salaries for these positions did not keep pace with inflation. And that may be understating things. The CUPA-HR data were based on salaries in place on October 15, 2008 — which is before many colleges and universities announced some combination of furloughs, pay cuts, pay freezes and layoffs that have cut significantly into the take-home pay of many college and university employees. CUPA-HR releases a series of salary reports each year around this time — and has already reported that the median increase for faculty members at four-year colleges and universities this year is 3.7 percent and that the median increase for senior administrators is 4.0 percent.

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Posted in Salary/Economic Benefits

Critics Challenge Diversity Language in Virginia Tech’s Tenure Policy

Posted on March 26, 2009 | Comments Off on Critics Challenge Diversity Language in Virginia Tech’s Tenure Policy

The Chronicle: Critics Challenge Diversity Language in Virginia Tech’s Tenure Policy

Virginia Tech has come under criticism from some outside groups for a set of new guidelines that, the critics say, appear to require faculty members to show a commitment to diversity as part of their bids for tenure and promotion.

The critics, including the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, say the guidelines establish a “loyalty oath” that violates professors’ academic freedom.

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Posted in Tenure & Promotion

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John Hope Franklin, 1915-2009

Posted on March 26, 2009 | Comments Off on John Hope Franklin, 1915-2009

John Hope Franklin, 1915-2009

The eminent historian John Hope Franklin died yesterday at the age of 94, according to reports by the Associated Press and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Duke University has set up a special web site dedicated to his life and work.

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Posted in Academics

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Undercover Student at Liberty U.

Posted on March 26, 2009 | Comments Off on Undercover Student at Liberty U.

Inside Higher Ed: Undercover Student at Liberty U.

A new book, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University, details the experience of Kevin Roose at Liberty University. Roose was an unlikely Liberty student because he was there on leave from Brown University to explore an institution with different values. As detailed in The Daily Beast, Liberty — known under its founder, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, for taking on critics — is taking a mellow response to the book. University officials have no plans to promote the book, nor to ban it.

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Posted in Diversity

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Ethics event spawns a tussle at Tufts

Posted on March 26, 2009 | Comments Off on Ethics event spawns a tussle at Tufts

Boston Globe: Ethics event spawns a tussle at Tufts
Speaker is out; now organizer is, too

Tufts University has withdrawn an invitation for a top aide to US Senator Charles E. Grassley to give the keynote speech at a conference on conflicts of interest in medicine and research, leading one conference organizer to pull out and question the university’s commitment to academic freedom.

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Posted in Ethics

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California: Even in recession, UC spends big on top brass

Posted on March 26, 2009 | Comments Off on California: Even in recession, UC spends big on top brass

San Francisco Chronicle: Even in recession, UC spends big on top brass

The University of California’s worst financial crisis in years has not prevented the hiring of high-salaried administrative talent or the awarding of pay raises, promotions and perks to a dozen executives, university records show.

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Posted in Salary/Economic Benefits

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Texas: UTMB faculty members fight for old jobs

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on Texas: UTMB faculty members fight for old jobs

The Galveston County Daily News: UTMB faculty members fight for old jobs

GALVESTON — Hearings have begun for about 30 University of Texas Medical Branch faculty members who are fighting for jobs lost in mass layoffs after Hurricane Ike.

The 30 are among 127 faculty members dismissed after the Sept. 13 storm flooded more than 1 million square feet of buildings on the island campus, knocking John Sealy Hospital, its main revenue maker, out of commission for months.

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Posted in Legal issues

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NYC: Teachers at two charter schools want out of teachers’ union

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on NYC: Teachers at two charter schools want out of teachers’ union

Gotham Schools: Second set of KIPP teachers strike back, separating from union

Teachers at two New York City KIPP charter schools today asked state labor officials to sever their ties from the city teachers union, in petitions signed by every single teacher at the two schools. The move is a powerful response to efforts by teachers at another KIPP school in Brooklyn, KIPP AMP, who in the past few months have sought to join the politically powerful union, the United Federation of Teachers.

Teachers at KIPP Infinity and KIPP Academy charter schools, considered the two premier members of the high-profile charter network’s New York City branch, sent the petitions. The schools’ affiliations with the union were loose to begin with: KIPP Academy is represented by the union only because it was one of the city’s original charter schools, and it could only transition to charter status on the condition that it remained represented by the teachers union, and KIPP Infinity teachers are represented by the union only in order to get health benefits through the union’s services, KIPP leaders have told me.

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Posted in Unions

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France: General strike shakes government

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on France: General strike shakes government

Green Left: France: General strike shakes government

21 March 2009

On March 19, record numbers of people took to the streets as part of a general strike against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s anti-worker economic policies, a British Guardian article said the following day.

The demonstrations, involving more than 3 million people, followed a general strike called by the union movement on January 29, which involved 2.4 million workers.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

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France hit by national strike

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on France hit by national strike

Press Association: France hit by national strike

More than a million people have marched in cities and towns across France to back calls for President Nicolas Sarkozy to do more to alleviate the economic crisis.

Police estimated that 1.2m supported the action, with nearly 100,000 marching through Paris, while trade union organisers claimed up to three million attended 200 rallies nationwide.

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Posted in K-12 issues, Strikes & Labor Disputes

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France shifts from striking to marching

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on France shifts from striking to marching

International Herald Tribune: France shifts from striking to marching

PARIS: French strikes aren’t what they used to be.

In December 1995 and November 2007, unions brought all transportation to a standstill across the country for more than a week. Thursday, in a one-day strike by the same eight unions, metros in Paris and Marseille ran normally, most Air France-KLM Group flights took off on time, and fewer people struck at French schools and government offices than in previous actions.

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Posted in Commentary

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GUINEA-BISSAU: Teachers strike over non-pay

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on GUINEA-BISSAU: Teachers strike over non-pay

IRIN News: GUINEA-BISSAU: Teachers strike over non-pay; Children have missed four months of schooling in the 2008-09 academic year

BISSAU, 20 March 2009 (IRIN) – Intermittent teacher strikes that have disrupted the school year since October 2008 are on again as most of the country’s teachers went on strike on 19 March over salary arrears, according to the Union of Teachers.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

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Zimbabwe: Teachers threaten return to strike

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on Zimbabwe: Teachers threaten return to strike

The Zimbabwe Telegraph: Teachers threaten return to strike

Zimbabwe cannot guarantee teachers will be paid this month, the new government’s education minister said triggering a call for another teachers strike which can make it harder to get Zimbabwe schools working again.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

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Profs fret that quality of Ont. education falling

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on Profs fret that quality of Ont. education falling

CTV Toronto: Profs fret that quality of Ont. education falling

TORONTO — Students at Ontario’s universities are getting short-changed when it comes to their education as their schools struggle with larger class sizes, outdated facilities and less full-time hiring, according to a new report.

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Posted in Working conditions

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Regents tell U Iowa, ISU and UNI to freeze salaries

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on Regents tell U Iowa, ISU and UNI to freeze salaries

Chicago Tribune: Regents tell Iowa, ISU and UNI to freeze salaries

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Iowa’s Board of Regents unanimously approved Thursday a resolution directing the state’s three public universities to freeze the salaries of non-union employees for 2009-2010.

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Posted in Salary/Economic Benefits

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FRANCE: Academic and student anger grows

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on FRANCE: Academic and student anger grows

World University News: FRANCE: Academic and student anger grows

The nation’s universities continued to be disrupted by strikes and protests against proposed teacher training reforms last week, while university presidents called for a year’s delay in introducing the changes to allow time for reflection and consultation.

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Posted in Protests

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KENYA: Riot after murder of former student leaders

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on KENYA: Riot after murder of former student leaders

World University News: KENYA: Riot after murder of former student leaders

Kenyan students rioted last week, demanding the resignation of the country’s police commissioner following the murder of two former student leaders in a suspected assassination by security agents. Outgoing chairman of Kenyatta University Students’ Association Martin KO Luther told University World News that the former students, who were shot dead in their car, had been involved in human rights work.

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Posted in Protests

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Protection for For-Profit Colleges

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Comments Off on Protection for For-Profit Colleges

Inside Higher Ed: Protection for For-Profit Colleges

Arbitration clauses in contracts are designed to give parties a clear-cut and less expensive route to resolving potential disputes. But provisions that require parties to go through arbitration and relinquish their right to pursue other legal avenues have been controversial, particularly when one of the parties is viewed as being at a disadvantage to the other, as in the case of nursing homes and their clients.

Those issues took center stage in a decision issued Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which reversed a lower court’s ruling last year forcing a for-profit college to defend itself in court against 38 students’ charges of fraudulent misrepresentation and negligence. In its ruling, a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit said that the arbitration clause contained in the enrollment agreement that students signed before entering High-Tech Institute, a vocational institution in Missouri, compels the student plaintiffs to enter arbitration before they can rightfully pursue their claims in state or federal court.

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Posted in Corporate University, Legal issues

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