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From the issue dated January 5, 2007 |
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Short Subjects'DEFENSE! DEFENSE!'As Robert M. Gates takes over the Pentagon, he might consider importing a few traditions from Texas A&M. 'KUMBAYA': You've probably sung it, but do you know where it comes from and what it means? CINEMATIC NEAR MISS: A planned remake of Revenge of the Nerds was scrapped after Emory University balked at allowing much of the film to be shot on its campus. UPDATES ON THE NEWS: A centenarian retires at Roanoke College. And Georgetown University's "Apostles of O'Neill" are forced to excommunicate three members. The FacultyVIRTUAL MINTLarge online classes have been a bonanza for some professors at Eastern Michigan University, resulting in disputes over both the fairness of the payments and the quality of education in online-only courses. GETTING PRESSES OFF THE HOOKA report from the MLA's task force on evaluating scholarship says academics unfairly expect university presses, already under intense business pressure, to be arbiters of tenure-worthy work. MANAGING UPHere's what every new professor, no matter how autonomous, should know about getting along with the boss. RELIGION NOT REQUIRED: A university committee charged with overhauling Harvard University's core curriculum has dropped its proposal to add a category called "reason and faith." PRISON TERMS POSSIBLE: A professor and his wife at Florida International University have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from accusations that they had been spies for Cuba. PEER REVIEW: Six representatives of academe are among 18 members of a newly appointed federal advisory committee that will help develop travel policies for foreign visitors to the United States. ... Washington State University hires its next president away from the University of Missouri. ... A defeated U.S. senator from Rhode Island lands at Brown University. ... The University of California at Los Angeles has sent to Charlottesville, Va., for its new chancellor. SYLLABUS: A course at the University of Notre Dame takes a serious look at miracles. Research & BooksGETTING PRESSES OFF THE HOOKA report from the MLA's task force on evaluating scholarship says academics unfairly expect university presses, already under intense business pressure, to be arbiters of tenure-worthy work. MY DREAM ARCHIVEA scholar creates his wish list for the ideal, from the hours of operation to the chairs. WORD SCRAMBLEWhat's the role of online archives in academe? Discussing the possibilities are Daniel Greenstein, of the California Digital Library of the University of California; Adam Smith, group business-product manager for the Google Book Search and Google Scholar programs; and Danielle Tiedt, general manager of Windows Live Premium Search. STUDIES CUT SHORT: Circumcision of adult men appears to be an effective method of reducing HIV transmission, an NIH institute reports. VERBATIM: A researcher talks about Indian attitudes that may underlie a recent lawsuit against two Bollywood actors whose on-screen kiss has provoked a charge of criminal obscenity. NOTA BENE: An author examines how contemporary renderings of vampire slayers have tapped into the vein of imagination in the original Balkan tales. MORE MONEY FOR NIH: Congress has approved a bill authorizing modest increases in spending for the agency in the next three years. Government & PoliticsFROM BALLOT TO DOCKETThe status of Michigan's new ban on affirmative action remains uncertain as lawyers fight in court over how — and whether — the measure should be enforced. BLUE PIE IN THE SKYCollege leaders in some states hope for more financial backing as Democratic governors take over, but recent history shows that the two parties support higher education equally. AN EYE ON LOANSThe U.S. Education Department's recent interest in the terms of colleges' agreements with lenders has created concern about possible new regulation. CLASSROOM DIPLOMACYIn a Q&A with The Chronicle, Karen Hughes, an under secretary of state, says higher-education exchanges will improve the United States' image abroad. EDUCATION OVERHAUL: Billions of dollars should be redirected within the U.S. education system, a private, nonpartisan commission has recommended. LEANER TIMES: The Democrats who will lead appropriations committees in the new Congress plan to freeze spending on student aid and place a moratorium on academic earmarks for 2007. OPEN MIND, TIGHT FIST: President Gerald R. Ford, who died last week, took steps early in his administration to please academics but tried to limit spending on student aid. 'INCONSISTENT AND UNCLEAR': In a complaint to the secretary of education, a group representing specialized accreditors has protested what it sees as arbitrary changes in the rules governing accreditation. IN THE STATES: A roundup of higher-education news. EXTENDING A DEDUCTION AND A CREDIT: In one of its final actions, the Republican-led U.S. Senate passed tax and trade legislation that includes two tax breaks related to higher education. MORE MONEY FOR NIH: Congress has approved a bill authorizing modest increases in spending for the agency in the next three years. IN BRIEF: A roundup of higher-education news from Washington. Money & ManagementTHE LAST GRADUATIONWith only one student still attending classes at soon-to-close Ave Maria College, in Michigan, the president and the few remaining faculty members tie up boxes and loose ends. PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH 2.0Amid recriminations following its abandoned attempt to select a new leader, the University of Iowa is trying again. CURRENT CONCERNSKeeping up with information technology is a crucial aspect of university presidents' jobs, say James Martin and James E. Samels, of the Education Alliance. VIEW FROM THE TOPHighlights of a panel on presidents' and IT officials' best practices and biggest concerns. BIGGEST FUNDS DID BEST: College endowments earned an average of 10.7 percent in the 2006 fiscal year, up from 9.3 percent in 2005. CRIMSON AND GREEN: The Harvard Management Company, which oversees the university's $29.2-billion endowment, paid its six top employees a total of $13.3-million in the 2006 fiscal year. RELIGIOUS-DISCRIMINATION CASE: Two employees who were fired by the University of Texas at Arlington after they prayed over and anointed a colleague's cubicle are suing the institution. IN BRIEF: A roundup of higher-education news. ACCREDITATION UPDATE: Regional groups' actions during the past two months. PEER REVIEW: Six representatives of academe are among 18 members of a newly appointed federal advisory committee that will help develop travel policies for foreign visitors to the United States. ... Washington State University hires its next president away from the University of Missouri. ... A defeated U.S. senator from Rhode Island lands at Brown University. ... The University of California at Los Angeles has sent to Charlottesville, Va., for its new chancellor. Information TechnologyYOU WENT WHERE?People who got their degrees online often face employers' skepticism about the substance of their studies, surveys have shown. VIRTUAL MINTLarge online classes have been a bonanza for some professors at Eastern Michigan University, resulting in disputes over both the fairness of the payments and the quality of education in online-only courses. WIRED FOR KNOWLEDGEArden L. Bement, director of the National Science Foundation, says cyberinfrastructure will be at the heart of the next IT revolution. HERE AND THEREGene I. Maeroff, of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Columbia University's Teachers College, and Robert Zemsky, chairman of the Learning Alliance for Higher Education, discuss whether e-learning has lived up to its potential. SE HABLA ESPAÑOL: An international foundation is working with American organizations to offer online courses in Spanish to the United States' growing Latino population. THE WIRED CAMPUS: A roundup of news in higher-education technology. INTO THE BREACH: UCLA has warned 800,000 people that their personal information was exposed when a computer hacker broke into a campus database. COMPUTING OFF THE CAMPUS: Outsourcing of information-technology operations is increasing among colleges, an annual survey has found. StudentsMILLENNIALS' PERENNIALSRichard T. Sweeney, university librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, chats with students from Nevada State College and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas about their academic and technological habits. WARNING PROMPTS AND PROMPT WARNINGSStudents should understand cybersecurity risks before they arrive at college, says Samuel C. McQuade III, of the Rochester Institute of Technology's Center for Multidisciplinary Studies. BEDEVILED AT DUKEThe university's president found himself under fire from two directions after the local district attorney dropped rape charges against three members of the lacrosse team. THE 40-60-80 RULE: A 50-50 REACTIONAn NCAA requirement intended to raise academic standards in college sports has unintentionally penalized some high achievers. Four athletes at Kent State University serve as examples. AN EYE ON LOANSThe U.S. Education Department's recent interest in the terms of colleges' agreements with lenders has created concern about possible new regulation. YOU WENT WHERE?People who got their degrees online often face employers' skepticism about the substance of their studies, surveys have shown. SPEAKING ONE'S MIND: Most campus speech codes would not survive a legal challenge, says an advocacy group. HIRE EDUCATION: Eduventures, an education consultancy, says freshmen find career preparation the most crucial factor in determining the value of their postsecondary education. LOAN-PROCESSING OPTIONS: The College Board has announced a partnership with the Student Loan Corporation, a subsidiary of Citibank. IN BRIEF: A roundup of student news. AthleticsTHE 40-60-80 RULE: A 50-50 REACTIONAn NCAA requirement intended to raise academic standards in college sports has unintentionally penalized some high achievers. Four athletes at Kent State University serve as examples. DIVERSITY AT A CRAWL: While minority groups and women made some progress in the NCAA in 2005, a report says, the most powerful positions continued to be filled by white men. SETTLEMENT ENCOURAGED: The judge presiding over the University of North Dakota's lawsuit against the NCAA over the Fighting Sioux nickname has moved the trial to December. 'SNAP' COURSES: Auburn University has suspended a sociology professor at the center of a controversy over classwork that was allegedly designed to help athletes remain eligible to play. InternationalCLASSROOM DIPLOMACYIn a Q&A with The Chronicle, Karen Hughes, an under secretary of state, says higher-education exchanges will improve the United States' image abroad. NO OUTSIDERS, PLEASE: Faculty and staff members at the University of Oxford have rejected proposed changes in governance. CLOSED HEARING: A leading Chinese sociologist has been sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of divulging state secrets in his published work. Notes From AcademeTHE LAST GRADUATIONWith only one student still attending classes at soon-to-close Ave Maria College, in Michigan, the president and the few remaining faculty members tie up boxes and loose ends. Special Supplement: Information TechnologyWIRED FOR KNOWLEDGEArden L. Bement, director of the National Science Foundation, says cyberinfrastructure will be at the heart of the next IT revolution. CURRENT CONCERNSKeeping up with information technology is a crucial aspect of university presidents' jobs, say James Martin and James E. Samels, of the Education Alliance. MILLENNIALS' PERENNIALSRichard T. Sweeney, university librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, chats with students from Nevada State College and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas about their academic and technological habits. VIEW FROM THE TOPHighlights of a panel on presidents' and IT officials' best practices and biggest concerns. HERE AND THEREGene I. Maeroff, of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Columbia University's Teachers College, and Robert Zemsky, chairman of the Learning Alliance for Higher Education, discuss whether e-learning has lived up to its potential. WORD SCRAMBLEWhat's the role of online archives in academe? Discussing the possibilities are Daniel Greenstein, of the California Digital Library of the University of California; Adam Smith, group business-product manager for the Google Book Search and Google Scholar programs; and Danielle Tiedt, general manager of Windows Live Premium Search. PEDAGOGY AND TECHNOLOGYEdward J. Maloney, of Georgetown University's Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, urges academe to draw educational advances from technological ones. TALKING TEXTTextual and oral cultures are interacting in interesting and sometimes counterintuitive ways, writes Luke Fernandez, of Weber State University. WARNING PROMPTS AND PROMPT WARNINGSStudents should understand cybersecurity risks before they arrive at college, says Samuel C. McQuade III, of the Rochester Institute of Technology's Center for Multidisciplinary Studies. Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersMY DREAM ARCHIVEA scholar creates his wish list for the ideal, from the hours of operation to the chairs. MANAGING UPHere's what every new professor, no matter how autonomous, should know about getting along with the boss. DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe |