Tuition goes up 12% at Texas A&M

Action results from Legislature providing less funding than the school soughtBy MATTHEW TRESAUGUECopyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Texas A&M University students will pay 12 percent more to attend classes this fall, continuing a statewide trend of escalating tuition rates.
President Robert Gates announced the increase Tuesday in the wake of a legislative session that produced fewer dollars than the university wanted.
Students will pay $137 per semester hour, up from $122.50 a year ago. The increase should generate about $12.5 million for the flagship College Station campus, officials said.
With most of the extra tuition money, Texas A&M intends to give faculty members and other employees a 3 percent raise, based on merit. The balance would go toward operating expenses, including rising gas and utility costs.
The regents had agreed in March to an increase between $3 and $19 per hour, depending on the amount of money state lawmakers provided.
"We were really hopeful going into the legislative session that we could keep it at $3," said K. Sue Redman, the university's senior vice president of finance. "It just didn't happen."
Student-body president Jim Carlson said he expected to pay more this fall, but the size of the increase troubled him, considering Texas A&M charged $101 per semester hour two years ago. "I'm disappointed," he said. "I wish it wasn't the case. I would like to see results in the future as far as how it benefits students."
Soaring costs have alarmed students and parents since the Texas Legislature deregulated tuition rates in 2003. Some lawmakers sought to regain control of tuition during the session that ended last month, but their efforts failed.
After two years of record increases, the University of Texas at Austin and University of Houston raised tuition about 5 percent for this fall. Prairie View A&M hiked tuition from $94 per semester hour to $113, an increase of 20 percent.
"More than anything, it's catch-up," said Dan Williams, vice president of finance and administration at Prairie View A&M. "We didn't give pay raises last year. We will have to do something for our employees' bottom line."
The situation could have been worse for the university. After warnings from campus leaders, lawmakers provided $4 million a year to pay off debts, eliminating the possibility of an additional tuition increase of $27.50 per hour.
matthew.tresaugue@chron.com

Legislation seeks charter for new Internet university

June 25, 2005
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --A charter for a new online university would be established under legislation before the General Assembly
The online school would be known as Ocean State University, would have no physical location, and would work with businesses to enroll workers.
Sodexho, a food and facilities-management company that runs school-lunch programs in Rhode Island, operated a similar program, called Sodexho University, for the past three years. But it lost its accreditation in April.
The proposed school would accommodate the 32 students in Rhode Island currently enrolled in Sodexho University, along with about 60 Sodexho employees elsewhere who risk losing their credits toward degrees, the Providence Journal reported Saturday.
"It's a last-minute rescue attempt, frankly," said Harry Lenderman, who is seeking the charter for Ocean State University and would be the school's founder.
One of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Peter L. Lewiss, D-Westerly, said he did not expect a hearing on the legislation this year.
"I introduced the legislation to start the discussion," Lewiss said in a statement Friday. "I realize there will not be time to have a hearing this year, but members will now be aware of this and I will reintroduce the legislation next year."
The General Assembly's session ends next week. State approval is required before some accrediting agencies review courses.
© Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Holmes CC president charged with six counts of embezzlement

Associated Press
DURANT, Miss. - Holmes Community College President Starkey Morgan has been charged with six counts of embezzlement for allegedly pocketing more than $10,000 in college funds used to buy dog food and other personal items, District Attorney James Powell says.
The state auditor's office began investigating Morgan on May 31 following an inquiry from the junior college's trustees. Morgan is accused of embezzling between $10,000 and $12,000.
"It's embezzlement, but it's not checks. Each of the counts is more of improper use of his authority as president," Powell said. "He was getting the benefit. It would have been money out of his pocket instead of the college if he had paid for it like he should have."
Powell said Morgan used college money on three occasions to buy tires and have them mounted on a personal vehicle by college employees. The remaining charges were for buying dog food and paying a veterinarian bill and for using college employees to prepare his house and grounds for a wedding ceremony, Powell said.
Morgan was arrested Tuesday and was released on a $30,000 bond.
The state auditor's office said the investigation is ongoing.
Powell said Morgan faces a minimum one-year jail term on each count if convicted. The maximum penalty is 20 years each on four charges and 10 years each on the remaining two counts.
Morgan, reached at home by The Clarion-Ledger, referred questions to his attorney.
Holmes has campuses in Goodman, Grenada and Ridgeland. Morgan has led the two-year college since 1989 at an annual salary of $138,500.
The board of trustees placed Morgan on paid leave after a special meeting June 1 and appointed Glenn Boyce, a Holmes vice president in Ridgeland, to serve as interim president.

University of Connecticut's Computer Server Hacked

University of Connecticut officials have discovered a 20-month-old security breach of a computer server that contains Social Security numbers and other personal information for about 72,000 members of the university community, the school said today. Officials don't believe that any information was compromised, although there was an opportunity for someone to access it. The violation was discovered this week.A computer hacker placed a "rootkit" program in the server in October 2003, said university spokesman Michael Kerntke. The program allows hackers to get into a computer and collect information while masking that the system is compromised.
Click Link for Full Story

EKU regents approve $263.6million budget; tuition, fee increases help fund 24% growth

Hikes in tuition, fees will add $13 million

Associated Press
RICHMOND, Ky. -- Eastern Kentucky University regents approved a $263.6 million budget for 2005-06 that was bolstered by a nearly 23 percent increase in tuition and fees.
The budget approved Saturday is nearly 24 percent larger than this year's budget. The tuition and fees increase, approved by regents in April, will bring in more than $13 million.
The university is getting about $6 million more from the state in the next budget and $30 million more in grants and contracts funded by outside sources.
EKU employees will receive a 3.5 percent raise, and the university will devote more money to scholarships, its contingency fund, deferred maintenance projects and pay equity.
The board also made a change in the way President Joanne Glasser is compensated.
According to a university statement, the regents restructured Glasser's compensation to make the salary supplement that had been contributed by the EKU Foundation part of her university-paid base salary.
Orson Oliver told fellow regents that the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges recommends that a president's salary come from the university's budget, not a foundation.
The regents did not give Glasser a raise, but she will get the same 3.5 percent increase as other EKU employees. Her new salary is $234,470.
Glasser will be evaluated between now and fall, Oliver said.

Professors may strike at FAMU's law school

Instructors cite lack of pay for summer classes
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

As many as 10 professors at Florida A&M University's law school who didn't get paid for the first session of summer classes have threatened to stop teaching if they don't get the salaries they were promised.
Interim Dean James M. Douglas said university officials thought the summer faculty's salaries were too generous, but provost Larry Robinson had pledged to pay them in full.
Summer instructors were promised about $20,000 each for teaching four credit hours at the Orlando campus, about the same salary as the past two summers, though only about $13,000 each had been set aside, Douglas said.
"I think a lot of it had to do with the processing of paperwork," Robinson said. "A lot of people are working extremely hard to make sure it does not happen again."
Interim President Castell Bryant said FAMU's human-resources office notified her earlier this week that it had just received a batch of faculty contracts for the ending summer term. That group probably includes faculty members other than those at the law school.
"That has nothing to do with the computer," Bryant said. "Somebody is not processing paperwork when they're supposed to."
Bryant didn't know yet how many faculty were affected. She said she's working to resolve the problem.
The Tallahassee Democrat reported in late May that an undetermined number of faculty received only partial paychecks for the first summer pay period. Bryant said then that everyone who didn't get paid would get their money within a few days.
FAMU has been under state scrutiny for financial mismanagement since audits cited untimely bank reconciliations, poor accounting practices, deficient check-writing controls and late vendor payments.
The school cut athletic scholarships in every sport and has enforced a spending moratorium on cell-phone, travel and other routine expenses.
Douglas said the law school's second summer session would begin Monday as scheduled.
He replaced former Dean Percy Luney earlier this month after an audit showed that a donor who gave $1 million for an endowed chair was being paid $100,000 a year by the school.
The Associated Press and Staff Writer Melanie Yeager contributed to this report.

OSU bids to turn ideas into cash

By Jeff Bell
Business First of Columbus
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET June 26, 2005

A nonprofit corporation is being launched to develop commercial enterprises for research coming out of Ohio State University Medical Center.
UMC Partners will seek commercial funding for business ventures that would apply science and research from the medical center, said Columbus tech-sector veteran Jeffrey Wilkins, who is serving as UMC Partners' president and chief executive.

Royalties from those ventures, he said, would go to the university's research foundation as would some of the proceeds from the sale of startup ventures launched by UMC Partners.
UMC Partners will also work with Ohio State's Office of Technology Licensing, said Wilkins, best known as the Internet pioneer who in 1969 founded CompuServe in Columbus, one of the world's first computer online services.
"UMC Partners will be like any other independent organization that might come to the university to license intellectual property," he said. "We feel this will open a series of new opportunities for working with commercial partners."
Eye on medical science
UMC Partners joins the established efforts to find commercial outlets for research done at Ohio State.
Much of that work is done by OSU's Office of Technology Licensing.
But UMC Partners will specifically target commercialization opportunities for medical research.
Dr. Fred Sanfilippo, chief executive officer of OSU Medical Center, has been a big proponent of such efforts in the life sciences since his arrival at Ohio State in 2000.
UMC Partners already has a few commercialization projects in the works, Wilkins said, but he declined to provide details until they are further developed.
OSU President Karen Holbrook said UMC Partners should help foster the university's role as a catalyst for technology-based economic development and increase OSU's collaboration with the private sector.
"Biotechnology and the entire medical field are exploding with possibilities and opportunities," she said in prepared text. "(UMC Partners) allows us to be responsive to the market in a leadership role."
Big names aboard
Wilkins said he is impressed with the quality of the board of directors that will oversee UMC Partners.
The board includes several leading business figures in Central Ohio and some top OSU administrators, including Sanfilippo and OSU Health System CEO Pete Geier.
Chemical Abstracts Service President Robert Massie is serving as chairman of UMC Partners. Other directors include Battelle Memorial Institute CEO Carl Kohrt, Limited Brands Inc. Chief Operating Officer Leonard Schlesinger and Mark Collar, president of global pharmaceuticals for Procter & Gamble Co.
"The interesting thing is the mix of skills," Wilkins said. "I'm very pleased with what we were able to do there."
The 60-year-old Wilkins said his job at UMC Partners will extend his involvement with OSU Medical Center and mesh with his experience in developing commercial applications of new ideas.
In addition to launching CompuServe, he founded CD-ROM manufacturer Metatec International Inc. in 1985 and led the company until 2001, when it began a reorganization.
Wilkins got involved with OSU Medical Center two years ago, serving as a consultant on technology commercialization projects and partnerships. He also was the medical center's interim chief information officer for a year until agreeing in May to lead development of UMC Partners.
"This is a natural follow-on for me," Wilkins said of his UMC Partners duties.
© 2005 Business First of Columbus

Oklahoma promises Stoops $3M bonus if he stays

From wire reports
Bob Stoops will receive a $3 million bonus if he remains Oklahoma's football coach through the 2008 season under an amendment to his contract approved last week by the university board of regents.
The board also extended Stoops' contract by a year, through the 2011 season, and raised some of the incentives in the contract.
"This is another step to us ensuring Coach Stoops stays with us for a very long time," athletics director Joe Castiglione said.
Stoops earns $200,000 in base salary, but with outside income he is guaranteed $2.4 million in 2005. The contract provides for a $100,000 raise each year. He also can make almost $500,000 more if he achieves every incentive bonus.
School President David Boren stressed the raises and bonuses were funded mostly by private donors and ticket revenue.
If Oklahoma wins the Bowl Championship Series national title, Stoops would get a $250,000 bonus, an increase of $100,000 over the previous bonus.
"I appreciate any consideration the university shows me in the way of contract extension and incentives," Stoops said. "The administration has shown its gratitude for what we've done and its belief in what we still hope to do. I feel very fortunate to coach at the University of Oklahoma."
Stoops is 67-12 in six seasons with three Big 12 titles. The Sooners have played in three BCS title games in his tenure, winning one.

West Central Technical College President quits

Janet B. Ayers, the president of West Central Technical College, quit suddenly last week after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution made inquiries about large pay raises in the last two year for the man she recently married. Several technical college presidents in the state have recently been caught up in nepotism controversies and one was forced to dismiss his wife as a college employee. Ayers told the newspaper that its figures were not accurate and that she did nothing wrong, but that she realized the raises didn’t look good, and she wanted to spare the college any problems.

Source: http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/06/27/qt

Quincy College official admits school hid extra money in budget

By Associated Press
Thursday, June 23, 2005 - Updated: 04:10 PM EST

QUINCY, Mass. - A Quincy College official has admitted the school routinely hid some of its earnings as part of a budget practice intended to ensure enough cash would be available to cover union-negotiated pay raises, The Patriot Ledger reported.
In a Feb. 3 e-mail to chief financial officer Steve Higgins, the school's vice president of enrollment, Tom DeSantes, wrote, ``We used lines to hide revenue and raises,'' the Ledger reported Thursday.
Asked by the newspaper about the practice, DeSantes said, ``You've got me in a weird position. I can't deny that that's my e-mail.''
Higgins prompted the e-mail exchange after discovering a budget irregularity and asking about it.
``I got the impression they thought it wouldn't be appropriate to identify clearly to third parties, like contract people representing other parties, how much we had reserved,'' Higgins said.
Higgins, who was hired as chief financial officer in September, said he has ended the practice. For the upcoming budget year, money for potential raises will be stored in a reserve fund, he said. Previously, some of the money to pay for raises was funneled into a budget line item for the expense of depreciating assets.
DeSantes said his February e-mail to Higgins was intended merely to advise Higgins on how the college worked. He denied the college was trying to show a leaner budget.
``We were looking to have money in the next cycle to honor whatever raises may have been negotiated, not knowing when that might be finalized,'' he said.

Source: http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=91276

University of Tennessee approves tuition increase

By Katharine Mosher, kmosher@nashvillecitypaper.comJune 24, 2005
The University of Tennessee (UT) Board of Trustees voted Thursday to accept tuition increases of 13 percent at UT-Knoxville, 9.7 percent at UT-Martin and 9.3 percent at UT-Chattanooga for the 2005-06 academic year.The increases translate into an additional $542 for students at the Knoxville campus, a $342 increase at Martin and a $402 increase at Chattanooga.The finance committee, which met for about an hour and a half Thursday, considered capping enrollment, cutting faculty and increasing out-of-state recruitment before concurring with the administration’s recommendations for tuition increases.“None of those are acceptable options in my opinion because they would have such a negative impact on the quality of the education that we provide and the opportunity for students to attend the university,” board member Jim Murphy said. Murphy said he felt the tuition increase was the only short-term option, adding it is not a good situation to be in.UT President Dr. John Petersen also informed the trustees of ways the university system has tried to reduce operating costs, even with 77 percent of the budget tied to personnel expenditures.UT-Knoxville eliminated two colleges and eight departments to redirect more than $20 million to funding for academics, according to Petersen.Administrative reorganization on the same campus freed up another $250,000, Petersen said. Though higher education budgets are dependent upon the state budget, Board member Susan Richardson-Williams said the board needs to plan for tuition increases further in advance than late June, roughly eight weeks before classes resume.“It’s tough on parents to budget for a certain amount when they apply for their kids to come to school in the fall, and then we come in here in late June and add some additional fees and tuition increases on them,” Williams said. Revenue from increased tuition will be used to enhance university libraries, diversity initiatives, student technology, employee salaries and department equipment.Roughly $770,000 is also earmarked to provide additional financial aid incoming UT-K freshman with the greatest financial need.

Full Story: http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section_id=9&screen=news&news_id=42424

Seattle's Ivy League-Style Public University May Boost Fees 78%

June 24 (Bloomberg) -- College guides list the University of Washington as one of the ``public Ivies,'' a state school that approaches the academic quality of the eight private institutions of the Ivy League for a fraction of the price.
The gap may be narrowing. In Washington's capital of Olympia, Governor Christine Gregoire is considering boosting annual tuition at the Seattle school to $10,000 for state residents, a 78 percent jump from the $5,610 they pay now.
Rising enrollment and declining state funding have forced big increases at other U.S. public universities, where tuition has risen faster in the past decade than private rivals such as Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The schools are trying to soften the blow by boosting financial aid. Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, now charges $21,000 annually, with state residents eligible for a scholarship of as much as $12,700.
Opponents question whether aid will keep pace. At her office in North Seattle, state Representative Phyllis Kenney says she's already receiving e-mail from concerned students and parents.
``What sounds great on paper doesn't always work in reality,'' says Kenney, head of the state House of Representatives' Higher Education Committee. Kenney adds that she is concerned a tuition increase will hurt middle-class students whose parents make too much to qualify for some types of aid.
Tuition has risen 51 percent in the past decade at four-year public schools, compared with 36 percent at private schools, according to the New York-based College Board. At $5,132, average tuition for public universities is still one-quarter that of private schools.

Full Story: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aQhNjbaL.bWo&refer=us

Community college costs luring more students

By Selicia Kennedy-Ross, Staff Writer
Money was a big factor in Michael Collins' decision not to attend California Baptist University in Riverside, despite a partial scholarship that would have covered half of the $10,000 tuition.
The Redlands High School graduate has opted to enroll at Riverside Community College instead and transfer to a four-year college later, possibly Arizona State University.
"I only had a half scholarship and I didn't feel like spending $10,000 to go to that school for a year,' said Collins, 18. "The baseball team at RCC is just as good if not better and it'll be less than half the price.
Two-year colleges are becoming the preferred path for many high school graduates who hoped to attend a four-year institution but are finding themselves unable to do so either financially or academically. As the California High School Exit Exam looms, community colleges are becoming the gateway to a four-year degree.
Valentina Doucette, who graduated from Beaumont High School on Friday, planned to attend UC Riverside.
Now the 17-year-old wonders whether her grades are good enough and has decided on a community college instead College of the Desert in Palm Desert.
Later, she'll transfer to Cal State Fullerton, her second choice.
"Universities are becoming more and more difficult to become accepted to,' said Valentina, who plans to become a teacher or study law. "Why waste my time going to a UC when I can go to a two-year and get the same exact classes, the same quality of education, the same quality of teachers for a cheaper price?'
Community colleges are more appealing because they are less expensive, allow more scheduling flexibility and even offer online degree programs, said Paul Rubalcaba, spokesman for San Bernardino Valley College.

Full Story: http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~2929266,00.html

Pentagon creating database of students

Privacy advocates blast effort to find potential recruits
By Jonathan Krim, Washington Post June 23, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Defense began working yesterday with a private marketing firm in Massachusetts to create a database of all US college students as well as high school students between ages 16 and 18, to help the military identify potential recruits in a time of dwindling enlistment in some branches.

The program is provoking a furor among privacy advocates. The database will include an array of personal information including birth dates, Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, grade point averages, ethnicity, and what subjects the students are studying.
The data will be managed by BeNow Inc. of Wakefield, one of many marketing firms that use computers to analyze large amounts of data to target potential customers based on their personal profiles and habits.
''The purpose of the system . . . is to provide a single central facility within the Department of Defense to compile, process, and distribute files of individuals who meet age and minimum school requirements for military service," according to the official notice of the program.
Privacy advocates said the plan seems to be an effort to circumvent laws that restrict the government's right to collect or hold citizen information by turning to private firms to do the work.
Some data on high school students already are given to military recruiters in a separate program under provisions of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act. Recruiters have been using the information to contact students at home, angering some parents and school districts.
School systems that fail to provide that data risk losing federal funds, although individual parents or students can withhold information that would be transferred to the military by their districts. John Moriarty, president of the PTA at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Md., said the issue has ''generated a great deal of angst" among many parents participating in an e-mail discussion group.
Under the new system, additional data will be collected from commercial data brokers, state drivers' license records, and other sources, including information already held by the military.

''Using multiple sources allows the compilation of a more complete list of eligible candidates to join the military," according to statements provided by Pentagon spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Ellen Krenke in response to questions. ''This program is important because it helps bolster the effectiveness of all the services' recruiting and retention efforts."
The Pentagon's statements added that anyone can ''opt out" of the system by providing detailed personal information that will be kept in a separate ''suppression file." That file will be matched with the full database regularly to ensure that those who do not wish to be contacted are not, according to the Pentagon.

Full Story: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/06/23/pentagon_creating_database_of_students/

Englert ousted as Manoa chancellor

By Beverly Creamer and Treena ShapiroAdvertiser Education Writers
University of Hawai'i interim President David McClain announced yesterday that Manoa chancellor Peter Englert's contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of July, in effect, firing him.

McClain said his recommendation was based on an evaluation of the Manoa campus leader.
Outgoing Board of Regents chairwoman Patricia Lee said the board would "stand behind" McClain's recommendation.
McClain would not go into detail on the decision but did say the situation "is not black and white. It wasn't all bad and all good. On balance were we making the kind of progress we needed to make? I decided not. And I made my decision accordingly."
Englert, a renowned scientist who is part of the international Mars project research team, will assume a tenured faculty position in the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at an annual salary of $165,000, with $100,000 a year for three years as a "startup package" of research support funds.
Yesterday, Englert issued a statement that said he ends his three years as chancellor at Manoa "with pride in what my management team and I have been able to accomplish, but with recognition that there is much unfinished business."

Full Story: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Jun/23/ln/ln09p.html

UA Reaches $1 Billion Goal

By Jeff SmithThe Morning News
FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas reached its $1 billion fund-raising goal Wednesday thanks to a gift by Tyson.The Tyson Foods Foundation donated $12.5 million to bring the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century total to $1.03 billion.University officials expect to announce more major gifts before the campaign officially ends a week from today."It's a great victory, and a great day for the university," said Dave Gearhart, the UA's chief fund-raiser.

The university celebrated the milestone with a tailgate party in the middle of Maple Street. A large banner that reads, "Thanks a Billion" hung in the backdrop on University House, which contains the UA fund-raising offices.UA System President Alan Sugg compared the day to the opening of Old Main to classes in 1875. Both the campaign and the beginning of the university required vision and faith in the future, he said.UA Chancellor John White said most of the success of the campaign will come to fruition in years to come.

Full Story: http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2005/06/23/front/01fzuacampaign.txt

University System of Maryland gets new President

The University System of Maryland Board of Regents, the governing board for 13 public universities in Maryland, unanimously elected Regent David H. Nevins as the new Chairman of the Board. Nevins will begin his term on July 1, 2005 and is replacing outgoing Regent Chairman Clifford Kendall. Robert Pevenstein was named Vice Chair of the Board of Regents. Currently, Nevins serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Regents and is Chairman of the board's Finance Committee overseeing the system's $3 billion budget.

New President choosen for Indiana Wesleyan University

Dr. Henry L. Smith has been chosen as the President-elect of Indiana Wesleyan University. He will become the 11th president of the 85-year-old University on July 1, 2006. The IWU Board of Trustees, in a special meeting, approved the recommendation of a committee that was appointed in April to seek a new president. Dr. Smith will succeed Dr. Jim Barnes, who will become IWU’s first Chancellor on July 1, 2006 – a day after he completes his 19th year as University president.

UA critical of PBS education documentary

Show raps universities for packed classes, overuse of grad assistants, generous grading.LA MONICA EVERETT-HAYNESTucson Citizen

If higher education officials continue to put undertrained educators in college classrooms, let students slide with generous grading and price out low-income students, the nation will spiral into intellectual decay.
That's the thrust of a new documentary, "Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk," that showcases the University of Arizona as a sample research university.
John Merrow, the executive producer, criticizes classes of 100 or more students and universities' increased reliance on graduate teaching assistants.
"These are critical issues because the United States used to be No. 1 in the world in terms of people going to and completing college," said Merrow, who added that the U.S. now ranks seventh. "The rest of the world is about ready to eat us for lunch."
While UA administrators agreed that a comprehensive look at higher education was overdue, they don't agree with the way the 37,000-student UA campus is portrayed.
"It plays on the stereotypes of huge universities," said UA spokesman Paul Allvin, who has seen the documentary's first hour. "There is more to the UA than what these people have chosen to highlight."
Cade Bernsen, UA's student body president, agreed.

Full Story: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=062205a4_uaontv

UB feels pressure to keep up with its peers

Simpson pushes for more students and facultyBy STEPHEN T. WATSON News Staff Reporter6/21/2005

The University at Buffalo needs to hire 250 new faculty and bring in 5,000 more students if it wishes to successfully compete with other public universities, UB officials said Monday.
Expansion is necessary, but it won't come cheap, UB President John B. Simpson said in outlining his vision for the university's future at a University Council meeting.
"We are just a lot smaller than we should be," he said.
As part of this effort, UB must improve its fund raising, which also lags compared to peer institutions, he said.
But Simpson offered few details about the initiative, including when the expansion will begin, how much it will cost and from where the money will come.
This expanded vision for UB comes out of a yearlong review of the university's operations. This planning effort sought to identify in what areas the university should focus in the years ahead.
Simpson told council members that faculty who participated in the planning process had two major complaints: UB is too small, and its facilities are inadequate.
In some cases, an academic unit at UB will be half the size - in faculty and students - of the comparable unit at large public schools in Ohio, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
In terms of faculty, Simpson said the school - which now has about 1,900 full- and part-time faculty - should hire 250 new instructors, though he did not say when that effort would begin.
Provost Satish K. Tripathi said the university is working with the deans of its various schools to hire approximately 50 new faculty by redirecting existing resources within the budget.
"A lot of programs are just too small to have a critical mass to really go anywhere," Tripathi said.
UB also pales in size in terms of its student population. Overall, UB has the equivalent of 25,000 full-time students. That figure is 30,000 at the University of Pittsburgh and 50,000 at Ohio State University.

Full Story: http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050621/1006695.asp

B.C. college abruptly closed

By JANE ARMSTRONG
Tuesday, June 21, 2005 Page A7

VANCOUVER -- School's out forever at a Vancouver business college that suddenly closed its classrooms, leaving approximately 200 students -- about half of whom are from foreign countries -- in the lurch for tuition fees and robbing them of a graduation.
Dozens arrived at the private downtown school yesterday morning to find classroom doors locked, the office ransacked, computers removed and all courses at the privately run Corporate Communications Training College cancelled.
A sign on the door signed by college president Lance Bracken said the 21-year-old college has "ceased operations."
For distraught Canadian students, the abrupt closing is a huge inconvenience and disappointment. Many paid thousands of dollars in tuition and now won't get a diploma.

But foreign students, in Canada on temporary study visas, panicked at the prospect that they are no longer enrolled in a study program.
Some, who are scheduled to renew their student visas in the coming weeks, fear they could be sent home.
"My visa is based on this school and now the school is gone," said Pan Liu, 23, from China. "I have to have that certificate."
Ms. Liu was enrolled in a website design course.
British Columbia has nearly 600 career-training institutes similar to the closed Vancouver college. Many are geared to foreign students, particularly from Asia. Legislation that protects students if an institution folds is enforced by a provincial agency. By midmorning, a provincial representative had arrived at the college to speak with students.
Jim Wright, registrar of B.C.'s Private Career Training Agency, said students who prepaid tuition are eligible for a 50-per-cent reimbursement, and other colleges are encouraged to accept their credits and complete their training.

Full Story: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050621/BCCHIN21/TPEducation/

Compton Community College Accreditation Revoked

Compton Community College, whose 6,000 students are primarily minority and low income, has lost its accreditation.
Compton is the first community college in California to lose its accreditation. Such a loss can result in students losing eligibility for federal financial aid. But college officials said that they would appeal the decision and the chancellor of the California’s community college system, Mark Drummond, said that he was committed to making sure that the students could continue their education. A spokesman for Drummond said that the chancellor was reviewing options, but declined to elaborate.
Drummond took the unusual step last year of having the state system assume management oversight of Compton, citing a series of problems there. California’s community colleges are highly decentralized and his action followed years of controversies involving the college, its board and its administrators.
The Western Association of Schools and Colleges’ community college group, in revoking accreditation, said that there had been significant improvements at Compton since the state takeover. But accreditors found that the remaining problems were serious enough to merit loss of recognition. Among the problems cited: poor governance, lack of education plans, lack of student support services, and an inadequate administrative staff.

Full Story: http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/06/21/compton

College, president head to court

Board asking judge to toss Barry's lawsuit
By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff June 16, 2005
Details of the internal strife at Quincy College will go public this morning in Norfolk Superior Court, where the college's governing board is scheduled to square off against the president it put on leave three weeks ago.
College president Sean Barry sued its board of governors and chairwoman last week, requesting in his complaint that the officials be stopped from talking to the news media; that chairwoman Theresa Lord Piatelli be removed from discussion about his case; and that no further disciplinary action be taken against him. Barry also called on the board to reinstate him as president.
In the hearing slated for this morning, Superior Court Judge Isaac Borenstein is to hear a motion by Quincy College to dismiss much of Barry's lawsuit. The community college, which operates as a city department, has been reeling since a revelation two years ago that its surgical technology program was allowing students to graduate without the clinical experience required by potential employers.
Recent attention has focused on Barry's management practices. In April, a city audit found that problems with the scandal-ridden surgical technology program could be traced to the upper tiers of the administration. A few weeks later, a report from the state's Board of Higher Education indicated the college had made little progress since it voluntarily shut down the program a year ago. An investigation is now probing a possible misuse of tens of thousands of dollars of college funds for travel and entertainment -- the issue that prompted the board on May 25 to put Barry on paid leave.

Full Story: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/06/16/college_president_head_to/

Myers University President resigns

Myers University President Paul Feingold has resigned abruptly from the university after spending four years as its leader. Feingold told the university Tuesday that he was resigning, said Michael Herzak, board of trustees chairman. The resignation is effective immediately. A press release gave no indication of the reason for Feingold's departure

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology President resigns

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, IN) President Jack Midgley resigned over the weekend after months of criticism from students and staff and two votes of no-confidence. The business executive arrived on the Terre Haute campus amid high hopes he could successfully replace Samuel Hulbert, who retired after leading the college for 28 years.

NYU proposes not renewing graduate union contract

By ELIZABETH LeSUREAssociated Press WriterJune 17, 2005, 9:59 AM EDT
NEW YORK -- New York University, the only private university in the country to recognize a union of graduate students, has proposed not renewing its contract with the union. In a memo to students, faculty and staff on Thursday, the school's executive vice president and provost said a team of deans and senior administrators who studied the issue proposed "that we should no longer use a union as an intermediary with our students."

The current contract with the 950-member Graduate Student Organizing Committee, an affiliate of United Auto Workers Local 2110, expires Aug. 31. The university said it would begin a 30-day period of notice and comment on the proposed decision. In the memo, the university also recommended the creation of a representative group of students to interact with administrators, a grievance process for graduate students and written rights and responsibilities for graduate and teaching assistants. "We think that we can sustain and advance the positive aspects of unionization," NYU spokesman John Beckman said by telephone. "We're dismayed that NYU is refusing to negotiate a second contact with us," Maida Rosenstein, president of Local 2110, said Friday morning. "The first contract that we won made a substantial difference to graduate students at NYU. It improved wages by 40 percent, it improved health benefits. Without the union, these things would never have happened. NYU is engaging in the same union busting a corporate employer would."

Full Story: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--graduatestudentsu0617jun17,0,1732926.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

Cornell president stepping down citing differences with board

June 11, 2005, 9:35 PM EDT
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University President Jeffrey Lehman announced Saturday that he will step down at the end of the month, citing differences in strategic vision with the Ivy League college's board of trustees. Lehman, a Cornell alumnus who also is a law professor at the school, made his announcement at the end of his annual "state of the university" address to alumni attending Reunion Weekend.
Hunter Rawlings III, Lehman's predecessor, agreed to serve as interim president until a search committee identifies a new president, university spokesman Tommy Bruce said. Lehman's announcement, coming at the end of one of his most eloquent speeches, stunned alumni, family members, and Cornell staff at the weekend event, Bruce said. "There were audible gasps," he said. "Gasps, and then a standing ovation that wouldn't end." Lehman became Cornell's 11th president in October 2003. In his speech to alumni Saturday, Lehman noted recent achievements at Cornell. He said that in the past year, applications to Cornell rose by 17 percent, and alumni gifts have been at record levels for the past two years. "But as encouraging as these signs are for Cornells future, there is today an important obstacle to Cornells ability to realize its full potential," Lehman said. "Over the past few months, it has become apparent to me that the board of trustees and I have different approaches to how the university can best realize its long-term vision. These differences are profound and it has now become absolutely clear that they cannot be resolved." Lehman said he has notified Peter Meinig, chairman of the board, that he'll step down effective June 30.

Full Story: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--cornell-president0611jun11,0,210579.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

Nepotism at North Metro Technical College

Being a college president has many burdens and one Georgia chief executive got an added one last week: dismissing his wife.
Steve Dougherty, president of North Metro Technical College, had to authorize the dismissal of his wife, Kate, who had held a part-time job at the college for about a year, helping with its “welfare to work” programs.
Kate Dougherty didn’t do anything wrong. But Georgia’s Department of Technical and Adult Education recently experienced a nepotism scandal. A senior official was forced to quit for hiring her sister’s boyfriend for a $72,000-a-year job for which he lacked qualifications, and then firing him when the relationship didn’t last.
Michael F. Vollmer, commissioner of the department, then set up new anti-nepotism rules, and he’s serious about them.

Full Story: http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/06/13/nepotism

3 Colleges added to the AAUP Censure list

The American Association of University Professors on Saturday added three colleges to its list of censured institutions, and took two institutions off the list. The net change leaves 47 colleges on the list of colleges “not observing the generally recognized principles of academic freedom and tenure.”
The association voted at its annual meeting to censure Meharry Medical College, the University of the Cumberlands, and Virginia State University. Southern Nazarene and Wingate Universities were voted off the list. In addition, the association condemned recent actions at Benedict College and at the City University of New York.
Institutions are placed on the list following investigations by an AAUP investigating committee and a review by the association’s Committee A on Academic Freedom. Typically institutions are only removed from the list after negotiations with the association and changes in policies.
Joan W. Scott, chair of the academic freedom committee, said that the cases of censure this year illustrated a continuing problem with “autocratic presidents” who ignore faculty rights.
Two of the colleges censured Saturday (Meharry and Virginia State) along with one of the colleges criticized (Benedict) and the only college added to the censure list last year (Philander Smith) are historically black. Scott, a professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, N.J., said that she thought there was “a culture of autocracy” at some historically black colleges. A similar problem exists at small religious colleges, she said, a group that is also disproportionately represented on the AAUP’s censure list.
“Too many presidents at these institutions have a sense of being outside the general rules of shared governance,” she said.

Full Story: http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/06/13/aaup

University of Minnesota regents likely to back dramatic chnages

Today's vote on President Bruininks' proposal to overhaul the university is seen as a test of leadership.
BY PAUL TOSTO
ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS

MINNEAPOLIS - University of Minnesota regents today are expected to back a controversial plan to overhaul the university's academic programs and schools, setting in motion some of the most dramatic changes in decades to the Twin Cities campus.
The plan will close or merge several colleges, including General College, which for nearly 75 years has offered low-performing students the chance to enter the university, catch up and graduate with a degree. It also creates new programs, particularly in design.
Regents haven't said publicly how they'll vote, but observers believe overwhelmingly they'll back the package pressed by University President Robert Bruininks -- both because they agree with much of it and because Bruininks has put so much of his professional credibility on the line that a no vote might cripple his ability to lead the U.
"I think Bruininks is going to get support from the regents," said Nils Hasselmo, the former University of Minnesota president who now heads the Association of American Universities.

Full Story: http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/11861426.htm

Cornell University President resigns

Most of Jeffrey S. Lehman’s speech to Cornell University alumni Saturday consisted of what reunion attendees expect from such presidential addresses. Praise for a music professor’s Pulitzer Prize and a student’s Rhodes Scholarship. A report on applications (way up). An update on fund raising (setting new records).
But in the final minutes, he stunned the audience by announcing that he was leaving the presidency, after only two years in office, because of disagreements with trustees. “Over the past few months, it has become apparent to me that the Board of Trustees and I have different approaches to how the university can best realize its long-term vision. These differences are profound and it has now become absolutely clear that they cannot be resolved,” he said.
The hundreds of alumni present were totally quiet during the surprise end to the speech, gave the outgoing president at rousing standing ovation, and then — like faculty members and students at the university — tried to figure out what happened. Lehman, the first Cornell alumnus to serve as its president, was popular with many alumni (as well as with students and faculty members). And while he has had his share of controversies in two years in office, none of them appeared to be of the sort that ends a presidency.
In an interview Sunday evening, Lehman said that the Cornell presidency was “a dream job” and that there was no one reason for his departure. He offered the analogy of a long car ride. “Let’s say you are driving down a road for 18 months and it’s smooth and then you hit your first bump. You think, ‘it’s still a smooth road,’ and then you hit another bump, and then in a few months, you realize you’ve hit 20 bumps. None of them is a mountain, but this is a bumpy road,” he said.

Full Story: http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/06/13/cornell

Audit cites irregular spending at SUNY

Comptroller lists 'inappropriate' expenditures by foundation
Yancey RoyAlbany bureau
(June 10, 2005) — ALBANY — The State University of New York's Research Foundation made questionable expenditures — such as paying tuition for a SUNY employee's child to attend an out-of-state college and providing extra housing allowances to college presidents — according to an audit released Thursday by state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
The audit found that the foundation made millions of dollars of purchases without competitive bidding and paid $1.3 million to the lobbying firm of Bill Paxon, a former Republican congressman from Amherst, Erie County, even though it wasn't clear what the firm did for SUNY.
The audit covered an 18-month period ending Dec. 31, 2003. The foundation is an arm of SUNY that administers gifts and grants.
Hevesi called the foundation's practices "highly inappropriate and unfair to the students and faculty on all SUNY campuses — and indeed to all New Yorkers."
Foundation officials disagreed. "We believe that the expenditures singled out in the report were all in support of the university's mission," said spokeswoman Cathy Kaszluga.

Full Story: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050610/NEWS01/506100409/1002/NEWS

Harvard's Summers Says U.S. Shouldn't Shut Out Foreign Students

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers said restrictions that make it more difficult for foreign students to study in the U.S. have become ``a serious issue'' for the nation.
He said in a speech today in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that the U.S. has never been more misunderstood in the world and one of the ways that will change is if U.S. students study abroad and students from other countries are encouraged to continue their education here.
``Wars can start or end depending on what leaders do or do not understand about history or religion or culture,'' Summers said, according to a printed copy of the speech delivered to the Harvard Alumni Association. ``Economies can grow or contract depending on what policy makers do or do not understand about economic theories.''
Since the 2001 terrorist attacks on Washington and New York, the U.S. has clamped down on visas for students from other countries. Some of the attackers that flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were in the U.S. on student visas.
In today's speech, Summers said that while the U.S. needs to guard its citizens, it can't shut out foreign students who could build the foundations of understanding that could end wars, promote economic growth and contribute to medical and scientific breakthroughs.

Full Story: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=au_wz6aqfxqg&refer=us

David Rockefeller Gives University $100M

By PAT MILTON
The Associated Press
Thursday, June 9, 2005; 6:13 PM

NEW YORK -- Philanthropist David Rockefeller is celebrating his 90th birthday by donating $100 million to the Manhattan university founded by his grandfather, the Standard Oil Co. magnate.
Rockefeller, whose birthday is Sunday, is listed by Forbes magazine as one of the 100 wealthiest Americans, with an estimated $2.5 billion. He plans to join family in southern France for a big birthday bash.

"Now that I am getting to be 90, I thought it was time to take stock of my past and present," Rockefeller told The Associated Press on Thursday. "It was time to provide more funds to these institutions that I have been involved in since I was a child."
Rockefeller University received its gift Wednesday.
In April, the philanthropist donated $100 million to the Museum of Modern Art, which Rockefeller's mother helped found. That gift came on top of a $100 million donation years ago and a $5 million-a-year commitment for the rest of Rockefeller's life.
Rockefeller said that with opportunity comes responsibility, something his grandfather and parents instilled in him.
The latest gifts bring Rockefeller's total lifetime donations to more than half a billion dollars. And he says additional donations are coming.
Rockefeller, who retired nearly 25 years ago as chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank, said he plans gifts for Harvard University, where he studied as an undergraduate, and the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, which was created by his late wife.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901424.html

Wentworth Institute selects 1st female president

(Boston) Boston-based Wentworth Institute of Technology, a technical college, announced on Wednesday that its Board of Trustees has appointed Dr. Zorica Pantic-Tanner as president. She becomes the first female president in the 100-year history of the Institute. Pantic-Tanner comes to Wentworth from the University of Texas at San Antonio. http://www.wit.edu/WITnews/pantic-tanner.html

University of Washington gets new provost

After more than two years, the University of Washington has a new provost, ending the management shuffle sparked by the controversial departure of President Richard McCormick. Phyllis Wise, dean of the division of biological sciences at the University of California, Davis, will assume the No. 2 job at the UW Aug. 1, subject to approval by the UW Board of Regents.

Does Harvard 'brand' matter anymore?

By Greg Farrell, USA TODAY
Harvard. Just the name exudes superiority, if not smugness. From its "Veritas" coat of arms to the Georgian-era brick edifices that dot its campus, everything about this storied institution, founded in 1636, smacks of that most un-American trait, elitism.

As Harvard prepares to confer degrees on yet another batch of graduates Thursday, academic experts scratch their heads at how this institution maintains its reputational dominance in an era of academic parity. But a marketer would understand the Harvard aura in a nanosecond: It's the ultimate brand, at least in the academic world.
"There isn't any doubt that brand matters and that Harvard is the prestige brand," says Stanley Katz, director of Princeton University's Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies. "It's the Gucci of higher education, the most selective place."
Never mind the price tag (upward of $40,000 per year for tuition, room and board), or the fact that guides such as the U.S. News & World Report ranking of colleges and universities say the differences between Harvard and other top-ranked schools are microscopically small. The gulf that separates Harvard from the rest in terms of reputation remains enormous.
"It used to be the case that of students who were admitted to Harvard and Princeton or Harvard and Yale, seven of 10 would choose to go to Harvard," Katz says. "It may be more now. There is a tendency for the academically best to skew even more to Harvard. We just get our socks beat off in those cases."

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-06-06-harvard-usat_x.htm

St. Olaf College

St. Olaf College president Christopher Thomforde will leave his position at the end of the 2005-2006 school year, the Northfield, MN college said Monday. Thomforde has served as St. Olaf's president since January 2001. A Princeton and Yale graduate, Thomforde was president of Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS., before being selected for the St. Olaf presidency. Both colleges are affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Study suggests smaller board, autonomy for UNC campuses

The Associated PressThe body that oversees the 16-campus University of North Carolina needs no more than 15 members and local trustees should be given more authority, a new study says.The independent study released Monday by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni also said the governor, not the General Assembly, should select members of the UNC Board of Governors."Essentially, it's an issue of accountability," said council President Anne Neal. "The governor is essentially not at the table," Neal said. "The power to appoint is the power to lead. This (would allow) one person to set the agenda and take responsibility."The council is a Washington organization started a decade ago in part by Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney and former chief of the National Endowment for the Humanities.Phyllis Palmiero, a senior consultant to the council and former executive director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, wrote and researched the report. She concluded that North Carolina should retain its higher education system, with an overall governing board that makes policy for the 16 UNC campuses and keeps watch over strategy, cost controls and quality measures.Palmiero commended the board for its hard work and clear commitment to its biggest priority - affordable access to higher education. But the system could be improved, she said.

Full Story: http://www.the-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050607/APN/506070741&cachetime=5

Edward Waters Reaches Settlement To Keep Accreditation

POSTED: 3:07 pm EDT June 3, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Edward Waters College has reached a settlement with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools that should let the college keep its accreditation.
The motion filed in federal court Friday stays the lawsuit EWC filed after its accreditation was revoked for plagiarism, pending a meeting by the SACS June 23 in Ponte Vedra Beach.
EWC attorney Mike Freed is optimistic the association will go along with the settlement, which would mean the lawsuit would then be dismissed.
EWC challenged the revocation by saying the SACS didn't follow due process or its own rules in revoking the accreditation, and maintained the punishment was too harsh, given the infraction.
EWC officials have warned that loss of accreditation, and the subsequent loss of federal tuition assistance for students, could be disastrous for the school. Students at non-accredited schools are also not eligible for scholarships from the United Negro College Fund.
An estimated 90 percent of the college's students receive financial aid.

Full Story: http://www.news4jax.com/entertainment/4566669/detail.html

Nebraska lawmakers demand regent's resignation

Embattled University of Nebraska Regent David Hergert found no support from the Legislature Thursday as overwhelmingly said Hergert should resign for breaking campaign finance laws to win his election.Hergert reached a settlement with the Accountability and Disclosure Commission in April after admitting to accepting an illegal campaign loan and failing to file reports on time. He agreed to pay a $33,000 fine.
Full Story: http://www.theomahachannel.com/news/4562328/detail.html

Enrollment up at Maine Community Colleges

Two years ago Maine converted from a technical to a community college system with the hope of attracting a greater share of students directly from high school. That mission has been accomplished.Enrollment is up 41 percent in that category, Alice Kirkpatrick of the Maine Community College System said. But that 41 percent increase is seen as only the start. The expectation is that an even greater percentage of students graduating from high schools across the region and the state in the next two weeks will choose the community college path to a higher education, Kirkpatrick said.
Full Story: http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/1674135.shtml

US student census finds record boom

Schools facing challenges with staffing, language
By Ben Feller, Associated Press June 2, 2005

WASHINGTON -- A record 49.6 million students filled US schools in 2003, breaking a mark set by their baby boomer parents and giving educators a new generation of challenges. The growth is largely due to all the children who were born in the late 1940s to early '60s and have since become parents themselves, the Census Bureau said yesterday. Rising immigration played a part, too, in pushing enrollment past the 1970 record of 48.7 million.
''You could have predicted this back in 1970 when we had all those kids," said Mark Mather, a demographer for the Population Reference Bureau, which assesses population trends. ''We knew they were going to have kids of their own. We have this classic echo effect going on."
Even if it is not surprising, the record tally of students poses steep challenges for schools: recruiting teachers, helping children who do not speak English, keeping class sizes manageable, and finding enough financial aid for students who go on to college.
In population rings outside urban areas and in Western states such as Nevada and California, for example, the growth has been concentrated, increasing demands on schools.
''They just really don't have the fiscal capacity to match this," said Scott Young, senior policy specialist in education for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In districts outside Atlanta, Houston, and Las Vegas, enrollment has soared more than 20 percent in the past five years, said Bruce Hunter, who directs lobbying for the American Association of School Administrators. His group has identified about 400 such districts.

Full Story: http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/06/02/us_student_census_finds_record_boom/

New Audits Pan 'UConn 2000'

Two separate audits have strongly criticized the University of Connecticut's construction management practices, saying that poor oversight, lax budgeting and inadequate communication and staffing resulted in cost overruns and building and health code violations in several recent building projects.The wide-ranging audits, requested by the university's trustees and presented to the board Wednesday, focused primarily on problems with the university's ambitious $2.3 billion UConn 2000 construction program.

Full Story: http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-trustees0602.artjun02,0,5439785.story?coll=hc-headlines-education

Harvard Business School Dean to Step Down

Kim B. Clark Named President of Brigham Young University-Idaho

BOSTON, June 6—Harvard Business School Dean Kim B. Clark announced today that he will step down on July 31, 2005, in order to accept the role as President of Brigham Young University-Idaho shortly thereafter. Clark was named Dean of HBS in 1995; he is the eighth Dean in the School’s ninety-seven-year history.
“I have been fortunate to lead the finest business school in the world during a remarkable period of renewal and growth,” said Clark. “As I move on to a new phase of my life, I look back on my tenure at HBS as an extraordinarily rewarding experience, both personally and professionally. This is a unique and very special place that is totally dedicated to its mission of educating leaders who make a difference in the world, and I am proud to have been part of this School for nearly three decades.”
Clark also noted, "I have thoroughly enjoyed working with President Larry Summers, and helping him carry out his vision for Harvard University. I greatly appreciate the support he has offered me in leading Harvard Business School during one of the most exciting periods in its history."
"Kim Clark has been an extraordinarily effective leader of Harvard Business School, and someone whose wisdom, perspective, and openness have contributed a great deal to the University," said Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers. "HBS has thrived under his leadership, further strengthening its faculty, enhancing the experience of students, pursuing research that bridges theory and practice, and extending its international reach. It has also forged important new connections with different parts of Harvard. I join Kim's many admirers in saluting his accomplishments and wishing him all the best in the new challenge before him. He will remain a valued colleague and friend."

Full Story: http://www.hbs.edu/news/060605_clark.html

Boston University's New President Is Called Consensus Builder

The man chosen Saturday to be the next president of Boston University, Robert A. Brown, comes from a humble background in San Antonio, where he was raised by a single mother and became the first in his family to go to college.As provost of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown has overseen many endeavors that are anything but humble, from a $300 million genomics collaboration with Harvard University to the costly and architecturally bold Frank Gehry-designed Stata Center, to dramatic forays into new disciplines such as computational biology and biological engineering.

Full Story: http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/06/06/bus_new_president_is_called_consensus_builder/

Perex named Chancellor of San Jose-Evergreen Community College District

Rosa Perez, president of Cañada College in Redwood City, CA was named chancellor Friday of the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District. District trustees selected Perez, 55, after a national search. They are scheduled to approve her compensation package June 14, said Mike Hill, the interim chancellor. The former chancellor, Geraldine Evans, who left the district last year, earned $191,885 annually.

Colleges slip in racial diversity

Colleges sports programs made some progress in hiring women the past year but slipped slightly when compared to five professional sports leagues in racial diversity, according to a report released Thursday.The study by Richard Lapchick, head of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, compared college sports to the NBA, NFL, WNBA, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer in racial and gender diversity. College sports received an overall grade of B on the report card, trailing the WNBA (overall A) and the NBA (B+). Colleges received a B+ for their hiring of women, a slight improvement over last year's B grade. Only the WNBA, which had an A, scored higher in that category.

Full Story: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8074544/

Conservatives see liberal bias in the classroom

So far this year, at least 14 state legislatures have considered bills aimed at colleges that would restrict professors and establish grievance procedures for students who perceive political bias in teaching. None have become law, but the movement has momentum: Four state universities in Colorado, for instance, adopted the principles under legislative pressure in 2004."The last six months [have] been kind of a watershed for the academic-freedom movement," says Bradley Shipp, national field director for Students for Academic Freedom, a group founded by conservative activist David Horowitz in 2003. "It is going to filter itself down to the K-12 level."
Full Story: http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2005/0606/p01s03-legn.html

Alumni turn to Alma Mater

Colleges and universities have come to realize that their relationship with their alumni is a two-way street. If they want support from their graduates, they must give them something back in return."Schools are taking seriously the question of what's in it for the alumni," says Steve Calvert, director of alumni relations at the University of Denver. They now understand, he says, that it is not the faculty and staff but the alumni who are "the permanent constituency" of the university.The change in attitude comes at a time when the proportion of alumni who contribute to their alma mater is in decline--from 13.1 percent in 2002 to 12.4 percent last year. To build relations with graduates, colleges are launching initiatives to address a range of issues alumni face as they move through different life stages, including motherhood and retirement. "We are trying to figure out what is it that will make alumni support their institution," says Andrew Shaindlin, executive director of the Caltech Alumni Association in Pasadena, Calif.
Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-06-01-college-alumni_x.htm

A community college professor has been charged with using his students' names and Social Security numbers to obtain department store credit cards.Bradley Neil Slosberg, 49, of Winter Haven, was arrested Friday on charges of criminal use of personal identification and scheming to defraud, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said. Slosberg and his girlfriend, Deborah Hafner, stole the identities of at least three of the students from his anatomy and physiology class at Polk Community College, sheriff's office spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said.
Full Story: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/06/id.theft.ap/index.html

University of Connecticut weighing plans for Veterinary School

A board of trustees committee listened to various options on the topic Wednesday. Among them was a consultant's report indicating it would cost between $35 million to $95 million to build the school for 100 students. It could take up to $14 million a year to operate, the report said. Other reports suggested partnerships with an existing veterinary colleges.Andrew Maccabe, associate executive director of the Association of American Veterinary Colleges, told the trustees there is a high demand for certain types of veterinarians. He cited a need for veterinarians in infectious disease work, food security and biomedical research.

Full Story: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/state/hc-02082351.apds.m0447.bc-ct-brf--jun02,0,6738597.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire

Air Force to Investigate Cadet's email

On the eve of his graduation, the top cadet at the Air Force Academy sent a religious-themed e-mail to thousands of fellow cadets, even as the academy is grappling with complaints that some evangelical Christians are harassing others at the school.The Associated Press obtained a copy of the e-mail sent Tuesday by Wing Commander Nicholas Jurewicz to the freshmen, sophomore, and junior classes--about 3,000 cadets total. ''Wing commander" is the title held by the top senior at the school in military ranking.
Full Story: http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/06/02/air_force_to_investigate_cadets_e_mail/

Leaders Pressed on University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's Fiscal Ills

State lawmakers yesterday accused the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey of "scandalous" financial practices and vowed to continue pressuring the administration to permanently change the way the state-funded health care university is managed.During a four-hour hearing in New Brunswick, the Assembly Health Committee raised questions about an array of UMDNJ spending issues, from hundreds of millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to millions more spent on outside consultants with political connections, to the multimillion-dollar errors now delaying the new outpatient care building in Newark.

Full Story: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1117777401309220.xml&coll=1