John F. Burness, who was Duke University's senior vice president for public affairs and government relations for 17 years, has been named interim president of Franklin & Marshall College. Mr. Burness is an alumnus of the Pennsylvania college, and has served on its governing board for seven years. He replaces John A. Fry, who was recently named president of Drexel University.

The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges has released updated guidelines on the role of trustees, replacing a document from 1998. Thomas C. Longin, a longtime consultant with the group, said the new statement includes an emphasis on accountability and transparency, and a shift toward being more explicit about faculty involvement in shared governance. The American Association of University Professors has weighed in, with a generally supportive statement from Gary Rhoades, the association's general secretary.

The lone black trustee on the University of South Carolina's 22-member governing board may lack support from the state's legislature to earn a permanent seat on the board. So several black lawmakers in the state are asking black football players who have committed to play for the university to reconsider, the Associated Press and The State, a newspaper in Columbia, S.C., reported. State Rep. J. David Weeks, a Democrat and the chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said the lawmakers wanted the recruits to be aware that "there are folks in this state who say it's fine to play ball but not be on the governing board."

Patrick K. Gamble, a retired four-star general with the U.S. Air Force, is the University of Alaska system's new president. He succeeds Mark R. Hamilton, a retired two-star general with the U.S. Army who has led the system since 1998. Mr. Gamble is currently chief executive officer of the Alaska Railroad Corporation. Although he does not hold a Ph.D., he previously served as second in command of the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Stuart B. Dorsey, president of the University of Redlands, on Tuesday announced his immediate resignation, citing divisiveness over the college's deep budget woes, the Contra Costa Times reports. An economist who had led the private university for five years, Mr. Dorsey said negativity around a $13-million deficit had been aimed at him. He said his resignation, which was a surprise on the campus, would give the university a better chance to solve its money problems.

Gretchen M. Bataille lost her job as president of the University of North Texas because of repeated disagreements with the university system's chancellor, reports The Dallas Morning News. Its review of thousands of newly released public documents shows that Ms. Bataille and Lee F. Jackson, the chancellor, clashed over budgets, tuition increases, campus technology, and facilities. In an e-mail message she sent to a colleague just after her resignation. Ms. Bataille wrote: "The irony is that there really isn’t much else! No smoking guns, no actions that warrant termination, and mostly no good sense exhibited in any of this."

The Kansas City Star has published a detailed investigation of relaxed financial controls at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. Karen L. Pletz, the university's president, had her compensation increase from $261,000 in 1999 to nearly $1.2-million before she was fired, in December. The newspaper also describes large pay packages for other ousted officials at the small university, instances of nepotism, and a governing board that never reviewed federal tax filings. The university is now involved in both an internal investigation and an audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

The University of Illinois system's Board of Trustees voted on Thursday to reduce its oversight of the university's financial transactions. For example, the trustees raised the minimum dollar amount of a contract or purchase requiring their approval from $100,000 to $1-million. The board's chairman, Christopher G. Kennedy, said the move would prevent "overreaching" by trustees, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Texas Tech University's firing on Wednesday of the head football coach Mike Leach has kicked up a fuss among sports journalists. The power dynamic between big-time coaches and university leaders may be shifting, one columnist says, citing another recent dismissal of a Big 12 Conference football coach, which like the Texas Tech firing stemmed from player-treatment issues. Others say the university railroaded Mr. Leach, partly over money concerns. Meanwhile, Texas Tech's chancellor, Kent R. Hance, says he fired the coach because of insubordination. For his part, Mr. Leach has promised to sue the university.

Ray M. Di Pasquale, president of the Community College of Rhode Island, was named the state's higher-education commissioner on Monday. He will serve in the two jobs simultaneously, a decision that has drawn no serious complaints, according to The Providence Journal. In a written statement, Mr. Di Pasquale said that he had been a finalist for an out-of-state community-college presidency, but that "overwhelming support" had helped keep him in Rhode Island.