Author Archives: E Wayne Ross

Drug Maker Told Studies Would Aid It, Papers Say

Posted on March 20, 2009 | Comments Off on Drug Maker Told Studies Would Aid It, Papers Say

The New York Times: Drug Maker Told Studies Would Aid It, Papers Say

An influential Harvard child psychiatrist told the drug giant Johnson & Johnson that planned studies of its medicines in children would yield results benefiting the company, according to court documents dating over several years that the psychiatrist wants sealed.
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The psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Biederman, outlined plans to test Johnson & Johnson’s drugs in presentations to company executives. One slide referred to a proposed trial in preschool children of risperidone, an antipsychotic drug made by the drug company. The trial, the slide stated, “will support the safety and effectiveness of risperidone in this age group.”

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Posted in Ethics

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College of DuPage Board Tables Policy Changes That Stirred Academic-Freedom Debate

Posted on March 20, 2009 | Comments Off on College of DuPage Board Tables Policy Changes That Stirred Academic-Freedom Debate

The Chronicle News Blog: College of DuPage Board Tables Policy Changes That Stirred Academic-Freedom Debate

The College of DuPage Board of Trustees last night postponed a vote on several policy changes that had come under intense criticism from its faculty and organizations concerned with faculty rights and academic freedom.

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Posted in Academic freedom

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New Adjunct-Faculty Union Gets a Name

Posted on March 20, 2009 | Comments Off on New Adjunct-Faculty Union Gets a Name

The Chronicle News Blog: New Adjunct-Faculty Union Gets a Name

The nascent national voice for contingent faculty members now has a name: The New Faculty Majority.

Adjuncts have been trying to form a national union and met in a teleconference at the end of February to hash out preliminary details. This past Sunday, during another call, the 18 members of the organizing committee picked “The New Faculty Majority” as their calling card, with a subtitle: The National Coalition for Adjunct and Contingent Equity. Nearly 70 percent of professors at the nation’s colleges and universities work off the tenure track.

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Posted in Unions

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SUNY Binghamton wins The K Street College Classic (lobbying tourney) but loses in first round of hoops tourney

Posted on March 20, 2009 | Comments Off on SUNY Binghamton wins The K Street College Classic (lobbying tourney) but loses in first round of hoops tourney

opensecrets.org: The K Street College Classic

The colleges and universities competing in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament aren’t just powerhouses on the court. Some of them are influential in Washington, too. In their pursuit of research funding, financial aid for students and other federal money, colleges and universities have become big spenders on Washington lobbyists. In total, higher education spent $75 million on federal lobbying last year. So we at the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics wondered how March Madness would turn out if these schools’ 2008 lobbying spending determined the tournament’s outcome.

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Posted in Administration

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England and Wales: Universities push for higher fees

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on England and Wales: Universities push for higher fees

BBC: Universities push for higher fees

Many universities in England and Wales want a sharp increase in tuition fees, a survey by BBC News has concluded.

Two thirds of vice-chancellors, speaking anonymously, said they needed to raise fees, suggesting levels of between £4,000 and £20,000 per year.

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Posted in Students

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State Colleges Also Face Cuts in Ambitions

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on State Colleges Also Face Cuts in Ambitions

The New York Times: State Colleges Also Face Cuts in Ambitions

TEMPE, Ariz. — When Michael Crow became president of Arizona State University seven years ago, he promised to make it “The New American University,” with 100,000 students by 2020. It would break down the musty old boundaries between disciplines, encourage advanced research and entrepreneurship to drive the new economy, and draw in students from underserved sectors of the state.

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Posted in Budgets & Funding

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New threat to the middle classes: Universities’ plan to double student fees could leave millions in debt into their 50s

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on New threat to the middle classes: Universities’ plan to double student fees could leave millions in debt into their 50s

Daily Mail: New threat to the middle classes: Universities’ plan to double student fees could leave millions in debt into their 50s

Tuition fees could be more than doubled under a blueprint to be put forward by universities today.

Some students would find themselves with debts of £50,000 they could be paying off into their 50s.

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Posted in Economics

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York wants more civil Israeli-Palestinian debate

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on York wants more civil Israeli-Palestinian debate

Globe and Mail: York wants more civil Israeli-Palestinian debate

TORONTO — A month after rancorous and polarizing on-campus fights about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, York University will announce today its plans to steer the debate back toward civility.

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Posted in Free speech

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Enrollment overwhelming community colleges in Fla.

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on Enrollment overwhelming community colleges in Fla.

Tallahassee Democrat: Enrollment overwhelming community colleges in Fla.

The worst recession since the Great Depression is sending the unemployed streaming back to school, and Florida’s community colleges are at the breaking point, officials told the state board of education Monday.

The system grew by 41,000 students between 2007 and 2008, at a time when the Legislature slashed budgets by $38 million. This year, the system expects to absorb 66,566 students and another $42.5 million cut.

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Posted in Students

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University heads win 9% pay rise as they call for student fees to double

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on University heads win 9% pay rise as they call for student fees to double

Daily Mail: University heads win 9% pay rise as they call for student fees to double

Nottingham University boasted the highest paid vice-chancellor with Professor Sir Colin Campbell, with £585,000

Nottingham University, above, boasted the highest paid vice-chancellor

University heads won a nine per cent pay rise to £194,000 last year.

Vice-chancellors enjoyed the ‘ exorbitant’ pay rises at a time when they are stepping up calls for a rise in tuition fees.

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Posted in Salary/Economic Benefits

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England: Colleges face £170m projects loss

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on England: Colleges face £170m projects loss

BBC: Colleges face £170m projects loss

Colleges in England have indicated they face losing more than £170m because of delays in getting funding they say was promised for refurbishment.

Some 144 building projects are on hold while funding is being reviewed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).

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Posted in Budgets & Funding

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£300,000 for university chiefs but they want student fees to go up

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on £300,000 for university chiefs but they want student fees to go up

Evening Standard: £300,000 for university chiefs but they want student fees to go up

UNIVERSITY vice-chancellors were condemned today for taking home huge pay rises as they demanded the power to charge students higher tuition fees.

In London, three vice-chancellors were paid more than £300,000 during 2007/08 after receiving what critics called “exorbitant” increases.

Five university leaders in the capital made it into the top 10 in the UK vice-chancellors “rich list”, compiled by the Times Higher Education magazine.

Across the country, the average pay rise for vice-chancellors last year was nine per cent taking salaries to an average of £194,000.

The details emerged two days after vice-chancellors called for undergraduate tuition fees to be doubled to £6,500 a year. They claimed that without more funding degree courses would have to be cut and Britain’s status as a world leader for research and education would be put at risk.

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Posted in Salary/Economic Benefits

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Terence Kealey: Why Oxford University had to resist Sir Victor Blank

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on Terence Kealey: Why Oxford University had to resist Sir Victor Blank

The Independent: Terence Kealey: Why Oxford University had to resist Sir Victor Blank

In the year 2000, Gordon Brown set out to destroy the 800-year tradition of academic self-government at Oxford and Cambridge. The man he chose to execute his policy was Sir Victor Blank. Sir Victor is the chairman who severely damaged the share price of Lloyds Bank, and on that evidence he is less than competent – as of course is Gordon Brown. So how did those two men position themselves nearly to destroy the governance of two of the greatest universities on the globe?

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Posted in Governance

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Art colleges lose research cash as ministers opt to protect science

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on Art colleges lose research cash as ministers opt to protect science

The Independent: Art colleges lose research cash as ministers opt to protect science

Some of London’s top art colleges are seething about cuts that mean that the University of the Arts London is losing £3m and the Royal College of Art £500,000 of research money next year. The cuts have come as a shock because the colleges actually did better in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), but this improvement was not reflected in cash.

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Posted in Budgets & Funding

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‘Bribe’ to keep Welsh students at home universities scrapped

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on ‘Bribe’ to keep Welsh students at home universities scrapped

The Guardian: ‘Bribe’ to keep Welsh students at home universities scrapped

Grant given to Welsh students who study in Wales is to be cut in favour of helping those from the poorest families

Welsh students will no longer be “bribed” to stay in Wales for university after a grant that covered the cost of their tuition fees was scrapped today.

Students from Wales currently receive a grant of £1,940 a year if they go to university in Wales, to cover the cost of top-up fees, regardless of their background.

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Posted in Students

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Who’s Your Academic Buddy?

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on Who’s Your Academic Buddy?

The Chronicle: Who’s Your Academic Buddy? New Study Suggests How Fields Are Intertwined

University leaders often talk about the need to break down academic silos on campuses, but they don’t necessarily have a good road map for doing it.

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Posted in Faculty

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Canada: Native education program gets an F: audit

Posted on March 19, 2009 | 1 comment

Chronicle Journal: Native education program gets an F: audit

OTTAWA – The Harper government flunks accountability, says a new audit that blasts lax controls over almost $300 million meant to help native students get to college or university.

The bruising report calls for tighter tracking of that cash and says funding has not kept pace with tuition hikes.

Ottawa does not trace how many native kids beat staggering odds to make it through high school only to be denied help to go on.

It spent $292 million last year to help 23,000 students – that’s down from a high of 27,000 funding recipients a decade ago.

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Posted in Accountability

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Faculty Speed Dating

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on Faculty Speed Dating

Inside Higher Ed: Faculty Speed Dating

For all of their big ideas, sometimes faculty are a bit like wallflowers at a high school dance; they need a little push to make the first move. So it’s perhaps no surprise that the University of Southern California is using “speed dating” techniques to encourage professors to work together across disciplines.

Later this month, about 60 Southern California faculty will assemble at a long rectangular table, pitching research ideas to other faculty they may have never even met before. In the style of speed dating, faculty will move across the table in a round-robin fashion, taking just a few minutes to chat before moving on to talk to other faculty. After these brief sessions, organizers hope a special chemistry will develop between some of the participants, prompting the beginnings of a new research relationship.

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On Israel, Shifted Ground

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on On Israel, Shifted Ground

Inside Higher Ed: On Israel, Shifted Ground
March 6, 2009

The ground seems to have shifted, activists on all sides say. What they make of it varies.

A shift toward more visible pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel sentiment has been profound on some campuses, prompted, in part, by the winter war in Gaza. Where some describe a corresponding disintegration of civil discourse or a scapegoating of Israel for a complex set of problems, others celebrate a newfound space in which to be critical of Israel — to mount a challenge to what they see as a dominant discourse, so to speak.

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Posted in Protests

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Wanted: £1bn to save economy

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off on Wanted: £1bn to save economy

The Guardian: Wanted: £1bn to save economy

As the recession deepens, ministers are looking increasingly to universities for ideas on how to boost the economy. Universities have been asked to train those in work and the recently unemployed, help improve businesses’ performance, and give new graduates advice, training and work experience with the help of a £50m scheme launched by the funding council, Hefce, last month.

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Posted in Economics

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