Women, Minorities and the Sciences

National Science Foundation programs aimed at increasing the participation of women and members of underrepresented minority groups in science, mathematics and engineering have produced significant results — but “there is still a long way to go before individuals from underrepresented groups have full access” to those fields, a report by an NSF committee says.

The study, "Broadening Participation in America’s Science and Engineering Workforce,” was produced by the foundation’s Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering. The panel takes as its starting point that America is producing fewer and fewer scientists at a time when foreigners who have traditionally come to the United States for graduate science study or to work in academe are increasingly turning elsewhere.
“This context further underscores the value and urgency of NSF’s efforts to expand our home-grown [science, technology, engineering and mathemetics] talent pool, and invite bright U.S. citizens from all backgrounds and regions into STEM,” the report says.
Those efforts — including grant programs designed to encourage undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral education and sponsor research on science and technology learning by underrepresented groups, programs specifically designed to support minority scientists, and policy changes aimed at “embedding diversity” in all NSF programs — have had an impact, the panel finds.
Between 1994 and 2003, for instance, as the number of NSF grant proposals over all grew by 33 percent, the number submitted by women rose by 73 percent, members of underrepresented minority groups submitted 69 percent more, and disabled people submitted 51 percent.
The rates at which those groups’ applications were successful were “comparable,” the report says, to the foundation-wide average of 31 percent. But the grants the successful candidates received were, on average, about 15 percent smaller than those awarded to non-minority males.
Despite those increases, far more needs to be done if women and members of underrepresented minority groups are to make their way into science and engineering fields in sufficient numbers, the panel concludes.
Among its recommendations:
While the foundation targets most of its funds to research-intensive universities, the study finds, “most women, minorities, and persons with disabilities ... start their higher education at other types of institutions, and are taught by pre-college teachers who were educated at other types of institutions.” The NSF should focus “attention on the role of community colleges and other institutions whose mission focuses on workforce preparation for underrepresented groups as a vital pathway for access” into science, math, and engineering fields.
The agency should enhance the research capacity of tribal colleges and encourage more faculty exchanges and scientific cooperation between the Native American colleges and other research institutions.
The NSF should conduct more research on why female and minority students are less likely to enter scientific fields.
— Doug Lederman

School owners accused of bilking $13 million in financial aid

By PATRICK WALTERSAssociated Press WriterJune 30, 2005, 4:04 PM EDT
PHILADELPHIA -- A husband and wife who owned a vocational school with a location in New Jersey bilked the federal government out of $13 million in financial aid grants by falsifying school records, prosecutors alleged in an indictment released Thursday. Alexander Lebed, 36, and Larisa Lebed, 33, of Richboro, face more than 120 counts of fraud and money laundering in connection with Pell Grants obtained for CSC Institute from January 1999 through December. The couple allegedly received $4.3 million for themselves personally and put the rest toward promoting the scheme.

"They tricked and manipulated a system that was put in place to help people improve their lives through education and, in a sense, took the taxpayers to school," U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan said in a statement. Pell Grants are awarded to students who have not earned a bachelor's or professional degree, and they do not have to be repaid. The Department of Education uses a formula to determine if a student is financially eligible for the award, which had a maximum of $4,000 in 2002-2003. The federal government authorized the Pell funds to be disbursed directly to the school to pay the students' tuition and other costs for eligible courses. CSC Institute had locations in Philadelphia, Southampton and Cherry Hill, N.J., and offered training for adult students in business, medical and computer fields and English as a second language. It closed in February after the Education Department determined it was no longer eligible to receive financial aid. The Lebeds had employees falsify answers on students' financial aid applications, create fraudulent supporting documents and create fake records for ineligible students in the name of eligible friends or relatives who didn't attend the school, authorities said. Schools are allowed to keep entire Pell awards for some recipients who don't finish their classes. The defendants allegedly deceived the Department of Education so the school could keep whole Pell disbursements for students who had not attended classes, had withdrawn early or had graduated from ineligible short courses. In addition, the couple is accused of paying employees a bonus or commission of $25 to $150 for each student they enrolled _ a violation of department rules _ and ordering them not to tell anyone. The Lebeds have an unlisted telephone number and could not immediately be reached Thursday. A U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman did not immediately comment on the indictment.

FAMU Trustees Deal With an Array of Problems

By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Ledger Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- Forty-one employees have been fired because of payroll discrepancies. The school will lose its golf, swimming and tennis programs. Administrators must find $1.4 million to settle a dispute over a federal grant.The NCAA should announce within a month or two a long list of violations involving the school's football program.Those were some of the issues the Board of Trustees for Florida A&M University discussed Thursday, as leaders of the historically black university try to deal with a wide array of problems confronting the 118-yearold institution.But the news wasn't all bad. Interim President Castell Bryant, who learned the school was overspending its budget when she took over in January, also announced the university has balanced its nearly $400 million annual budget. She also the school was improving the accountability and efficiency of its programs.The trustees also agreed to begin their search for a permanent president with the creation of a search committee that will be announced in September. The last president, Fred Gainous, was fired last year."This has been a challenging time, a very demanding time," said Bryant, who has said she doesn't want to be a candidate for the permanent presidency. "I feel that we have come a long way on the road that we need to travel."Trustee Al Cardenas said while decisions like firing employees or eliminating sports programs are difficult, they are necessary to help the school in the long run."The pain lasts a lot less if you make the tough decisions up front," he said. He predicted FAMU, which serves 13,000 students, would "emerge as a healthy, vibrant institution sooner rather than later."But the scope and difficulty of the problems that school officials are dealing with were illustrated by the results of an ongoing payroll audit that Bryant ordered shortly after she became president.Based on an investigation of an April payroll, Bryant said 41 employees had been fired, including some 27 members of the school's Institute for Urban Policy and Commerce.Among the reasons for the firings was that some employees were being paid for work on the FAMU campus but actually lived in other cities or states and had other jobs.Some employees were collecting two checks from FAMU but were not showing up for their additional jobs or were leaving their primary jobs early to go to their secondary jobs.Altogether, Bryant said the audit revealed 286 employees were being paid for multiple jobs. She said some were legitimately being paid for multiple jobs, while the validity of other arrangements was still being investigated.Three incidents involving $323,000, have been turned over to the state attorney's office for investigation. Another 21 employees have been referred to the school's inspector general's office for more investigation.And mysteriously, 74 checks or electronic vouchers involving more than $3 million were never picked up or cashed. Those cases have been referred to the state Department of Financial Services for further investigation, Bryant said.Bryant said the payroll audit was continuing and she expected more results to be announced later.Meanwhile, as part of the effort to balance the school's budget, the trustees unanimously agreed to eliminate the men's and women's swimming and diving programs and the men's golf and tennis programs. It will save about $640,000, but will impact about 40 students who participate in those programs.Several trustees said they were uneasy with the decision."People of color are woefully underrepresented in these areas," said Trustee R.B. Holmes. "I'm very, very uncomfortable with cutting these four sports -- it literally gives me the hiccups."Golf coach Marvin Green said he understood the school had to "make a tough decision for financial reasons." He said six golfers would be impacted by the decision.But he also said it was important for a school like FAMU to have a golf program to help produce more minority golfers."The only way African-American golf is going to grow at the professional level is through the historically black colleges and universities," he said.The trustees and Bryant said they would look to other sources, including private fund raising, to try to revive the programs. In another budget adjustment, Bryant announced that the athletic budget would only pay to send the school's famed "Marching 100" band to two football games this season in Orlando and Atlanta. She said if the band travels to other games, the expenses will have to come out of another budget.The trustees were also told they could expect to hear from the NCAA in the next month or two about alleged multiple rules violations in the school's football program. Last month, the school fired longtime coach Billy Joe.Mark Walker, Joe's lawyer, asked the trustees to discuss the grounds of his firing to avoid a lawsuit. But school officials said Joe had been kept apprised of the investigation as it went forward to the NCAA.Bryant told the trustees that the school was working on an improvement plan for handling grant money from the National Science Foundation.In a related issue, she said FAMU has agreed to pay back $1.4 million of a previous NSF grant that could not be properly accounted for. Bryant said she wasn't sure where the school would get the money to reimburse the agency.

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.
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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